I saw the film Made in Dagenham – set in 1968 and about the dispute which led to the equal pay act in Britain. It is not the attitudes which take me back – it is the griminess that evokes the era for me. Brick walls, crumbling concrete and a feeling of decay – old buildings, damp spots, smears of dirt and rubbish in the streets. The smell of it: smoky and damp, or dry dust in the summer. Broken edges, falling walls, crusted with mortar. Factories – the feel of making things. The impossibility of cleanliness which the act of creation necessitates.
Now, there is cleanliness and smooth walls. There are no gaps between buildings – no-one has missing teeth any longer. Grime has been banished and along with it a connection to the creative process of making things from raw materials. It is impossible to be pretentious when the raw facts of impermanence surround you. There was no pretence in the streets in 1974. In many ways, you were stripped bare and in contact with your environment – now you slide along the surface of it.
Salatheel 