A new stage version of the of the kitchen sink drama, A Taste of Honey, opened at the Lowry last week.
Hazel Blears, MP for Salford, was an extra in the film, as a street urchin, with her brother Stephen.
Hazel said of the experience:
“Having film people in our street was completely out of this world. The whole neighbourhood was talking about it; it was the main topic of conversation in the corner shop.
“We felt really proud that our area was in the film but it also showed poverty and really poor housing. “I remember one old lady on our street whose house was taken over for
filming, basically to show how awful the houses were. And she was in the local shop proudly telling everyone ‘They chose my house because it was so de-la-pi-dated.’ She just didn’t know what that
meant.
“Even though people didn’t have a lot of money, people didn’t feel poor because everyone was in the same boat. They all worked really hard and tried to do the best for the
families. It had a really good community spirit.
“I think it really was groundbreaking, it challenged established stereotypes – what’s irritated me my whole life is that people put you in a box if you are working class and come
form the north.
“Of course Salford itself has changed enormously physically since then. But one thing has stayed constant; they are still gritty people with a real sense of humour.”
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