Gore Town

I’ve been photographing Gorton in East Manchester for the last couple of weeks for a magazine feature (more details later). I know the area a bit as I briefly worked there. It’s a microcosm of what’s going on all over the country. Once its people worked in the engineering industry (it was home to a massive railway engine works). The engineering jobs went and part time supermarket work was all that was offered in its place. Local services such as Gorton Tub (swimming baths) were closed and social housing that was only built in the 1970s cleared to make way for redevelopment led by market forces. Despite the apparent bleakness, there is still a strong community and some of it is as picturesque as any village. And as I walked round I met some strange but wonderful people.