The Hive in the Cliff: A Case Study in Intergenerational Relations and Culturally Led Regeneration

Abstract

This paper reports on a current program, the Hive in the Cliff, geared toward initiating social and economic renewal in Broughton, Salford, through a culturally led regeneration and conservation program. Case studies examined included a focus on activities and relationships between individuals at different stages of the life course, but they were not branded as intergenerational activities. Intergenerational relations outlined are implicit outcomes of cultural activities in which knowledge about people, life stories, and evolution of a community are shared and preserved between and across generations. The focus on shared spaces and places shows how intergenerational solidarity may be made knowable through activities involving different generations.

Keywords:

• intergenerational
• place
• knowledge
• identity
• community of practice

Acknowledgments

This is a revised version of a paper presented to the FCMAP New Cultures of Ageing Conference, Brunel University, April 8–9, 2011.

We would like to acknowledge the support of the 2010 Vice-Chancellor's Iconic City of Salford Award research project, for which Sarie Mairs Slee was the principal investigator. We would also like to thank the people of the Broughton area who have given generously of their time.

Notes

1. SURegen is a £2.5 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project developing sustainable urban regeneration processes including bottom-up, culturally led redevelopment.

2. Details on ethnic groups come from a meeting with the regeneration team at Salix Homes Salford, which is leading the Broughton Area Renewal Area program and has long experience working in and with this community.

3. The role of the strong, female matriarch in traditional working-class communities has been documented in English community studies of the 1950s and 1960s (Frankenberg, 1966).