Description:During the early 1930s Stoke-on-Trent City Council, following guidelines laid down in Parliament, commissioned a housing survey in the city. Slum dwellings were to be cleared and a massive housing programme was embarked upon. The new housing estates were in Meir, Abbey Hulton, Hanford, Trent Vale and other sites around the Potteries.
John Street, now the site of Longton Fire Station near Normacot and renamed Calvin Street, was one such area to be cleared. This official photograph shows the living conditions in arguably one of the most notorious areas of the city. It was demolished in the late 1930s.
Official City Council Photograph.