Granby 4 Streets & other activisms

For many years now I’ve been involved with the people in Granby 4 Streets, helping them to reinvent the future of their place. A place now widely celebrated for what they’ve achieved so far and the truly community led way they’ve done it. A collection of stories are here: of a determined community; of multiple failed regeneration initiatives; then the gradual revival of a place by its own people. The deepest community led learning of my life and where I continue to be a member of their Community Land Trust.

But this is an archive of more than these Granby blog posts. An archive I’ve been putting together as part of the PhD I’m currently writing. which is called ‘Particular cases of the possible’ and includes work on how a good many of us in particular places in and around Liverpool have been going about the activist business of creating better lives in better places over this last decade or so. So not just a Granby archive, as you’ll see. Because activisms, I’m thinking, don’t just happen in one neighbourhood or area of concern. They leak into each other as groups of friends help each other out, as so many of us have done over the years you can read about here.

So this is a living archive I’m still adding to as I work on the PhD, which I’m also planning to publish on here in its own series of blog posts before when it’s done. The pulling of this archive together, early in 2021, being itself a part of my conscious roles separation of having now become a social researcher into activist work that was never originally viewed or intended as research at all. So that now when I’m working as a volunteer in Granby, still at their request, this separation needs carefully handling. So that when I’m helping out I’m as fully activist as they are. And the other times, when I’m the researcher, are clear to all, including me. It’s a challenge, of course.

Anyway, here are the stories of a decade and more’s activism. Preceded by some foundations on how this helping out and and working with communities on better lives in better places came about. This is the work of my life, which continues.

• Foundations
• From Shelter: Growing Up in Granby 1969-72
• Working on Council Housing 1972-75
• Social Housing in Liverpool & me 1975-95
• The Story of A Sense of Place 1995-2007
• 2011/13
• Working with Granby residents April 2012
• Granby 4 Streets, the market’s back April 2012
• The May Market May 2012
• The June (& July) Market June 2012
• Making a film, the August Market August 2012
• Talking Granby 4 Streets – Gardening Granby September 2012
• The silence of the streets September 2012
• The Street Market September 2012
• The Anfield Home Tour October 2012
• Granby 4 Streets, what’s going on? November 2012
• The Enclosures November 2012
• An oven at the heart of Anfield March 2013
• Living for the City, back in Granby June 2013
• Inspecting Liverpool September 2013
• Across in the Welsh Streets October 2013
• Homebaked – Open for business October 2013
• 2014
• A new kind of bleak? February 2014
• In Granby on Saturday April 2014
• Granby 4 Streets – at last April 2014
• Street Market May 2014
• In Liverpool: Granby and Homebaked July 2014
• Street Market August 2014
• In Granby: Getting ready for the street market – a site inspection September 2014
• In Granby: The September street market September 2014
• The Wondrous Day October 2014
• Saturday Sun November 2014
• Granby 4 Streets, in The Guardian November 2014
• A Christmas Invitation December 2014
• Social enterprise mentoring, a podcast December 2014
• The Christmas Market advert December 2014
• In Granby: The Street Party December 2014
• 2015
• CLT on site, January 2015
• February 2015 news
• Homebaked in Anfield, the CLT February 2015
• Get the word out: Training in Granby 4 Streets February 2015
• On site, March 2015
• Writing at Homebaked March 2015
• March 2015 Newsletter
• A look at Granby on site April 2015
• April 2015 news
• The Severn Project, Bristol April 2015
• L8 Unseen April 2015
• The bollards of Liverpool 8 April 2015
• Of the people, by the people: the CLTs April 2015
• In Leeds with Homebaked May 2015
• The May Market May 2015
• Rain & inspiration on Ducie Street May 2015
• Granby 4 Streets nominated for the Turner Prize May 2015
• Sunshiny Day in Granby May 2015
• Community led: Moving beyond victims and heroes, May 2015
• Community led: What it looks like May 2015
• A Granby 4 Streets Poem May 2015
• Donkeys in Granby June 2015
• On the road to Emmaus, Leeds June 2015
• Street of the Year? Cairns Street June 2015
• Granby 4 Streets: The story so far June 2015
• Considering the Street Market June 2015
• Liverpool’s urban renaissance? July 2015
• Street Market Garden July 2015
• Between the raindrops July 2015
• Competing with loneliness, by bus July 2015
• Inspecting the City July 2015
• Real Junk Food Liverpool August 2015
• The Great Street? August 2015
• Being Yourself August 2015
• What’s your Granby story? published September 2015
• Street Market, September 2015
• Opening the first houses September 2015
• Sectors are where movements go to die September 2015
• Governing social enterprise September 2015
• Restoration October 2015
• Pay as you feel, Everton October 2015
• At The Hive in Dalston October 2015
• Inspecting the City 2 October 2015
• Great Places, Academy of Urbanism Awards November 2015
• A Foggy Night in Anfield November 2015
• Afternoon tea at Real Junk Food November 2015
• Launch Pad North Liverpool November 2015
• The Beautiful Ideas November 2015
• Getting to the Turner Prize December 2015
• There will be Donkeys Christmas Market 2015
• Two days in Granby December 2015
• On winning the Turner Prize December 2015
• Art for the people December 2015
• Homebaked: The Thing On The Rec December 2015
• What’s your Beautiful Idea? December 2015
• Happy Christmas from Granby December 2015
• 2016
• With Homebaked: Designing January 2016
• Pictures from an exhibition January 2016
• Willing to Work? In Granby January 2016
• In North Liverpool: At Rotunda January 2016
• Talking Welsh Streets & Homebaked February 2016
• Granby, working on the houses: Part One February 2016
• Eldon Grove & Rotunda February 2016
• The cranes of Anfield March 2016
• In Blackpool, Jobs Friends & Houses March 2016
• Granby, working on the houses: Part Two March 2016
• Making Make Liverpool March 2016
• And now: The Street Market on Granby Street March 2016
• Conference day at Make Liverpool April 2016
• Without These Walls April 2016
• Writing On The Wall April 2016
• In Granby, Goodnight Sweet Prince April 2016
• Coming Home, introducing an idea April 2016
• An activist’s day out April 2016
• Coming Home, Jayne Lawless May 2016
• All in an L8 day May 2016
• Eleanor Rathbone & the 1918 Club May 2016
• At The Invisible Wind Factory May 2016
• Walking with Municipal Dreams May 2016
• Street Market June 2016
• On Lime Street, The Futurist June 2016
• Talking Housing Market Renewal June 2016
• Red Brick Vintage June 2016
• Makers, bakers, bikers, creators… June 2016
• The Welsh Streets: On site soon July 2016
• City of Sanctuary July 2016
• The Walton Festival July 2016
• Katumba at Brazilica July 2016
• Shadow days July 2016
• Summer in the City, Street Market July 2016
• The Peaceful Warrior August 2016
• The End of The Futurist September 2016
• The Granby Office of Useful Art September 2016
• Peaceful Warrior at Red Brick Vintage September 2016
• Real Junk Food Phase Two November 2016
• Coming Home at The Florrie December 2016
• 2017
• Coming Home in the Liverpool Echo January 2017
• Coming Home advert January 2017
• Thinking About TenStreets & Regeneration February 2017
• Coming Home: Photography by Jane MacNeil February 2017
• Coming Home: Big Issue North March 2017
• Coming Home: At Home March 2017
• Beautiful Ideas in Birkenhead April 2017
• Walking Round Birkenhead April 2017
• Better Places Together: Ed, the camper van June 2017
• We Are Make advert July 2017
• Streets Apart: Talking social housing August 2017
• Granby Street Market, September 2017
• In Aigburth, Liverpool’s Magdelene Laundry October 2017
• Not waving but drowning October 2017
• The Story of the Beautiful Parks October 2017
• The Stranger in Skelmersdale November 2017
• The Story of Coming Home November 2017
• 2018
• The Mystery Literary Festival advert January 2018
• The 4 Streets and The Welsh Streets, February 2018
• Talking with Aditya: In the Guardian, February 2018
• The Preston Model and other questions March 2018
• The high street & how it’s doing March 2018
• Kitty’s Launderette: Soon in North Liverpool April 2018
• Squash: Food for Real on Windsor Street L8 April 2018
• Eldon Grove: It’s got site boards May 2018
• From Pitt Street to Granby May 2018
• Home as a Human Right: Ten Thoughts May 2018
• Kitty’s Launderette: The Kickstarter May 2018
• The Scottie Press: A Liverpool Institution June 2018
• Kitty’s Launderette: A Work of Art June 2018
• George Henry Lee & the Independents Biennial July 2018
• Ed’s Place advert July 2018
• Walking to Make Liverpool August 2018
• September Street Market 2018
• Breathing Spaces, Ed’s Place September 2018
• Rotating debating at Ed’s Place September 2018
• The Mystery Literary Festival September 2018
• The Elephant’s Head of Ducie Street October 2018
• Kitty’s Launderette: My Favourite Idea December 2018
• 2019 to now
• Granby 4 Streets, telling our story podcast February 2019
• Introducing Homegrown Collective February 2019
• Foundation: Martial Arts Done Differently March 2019
• Introducing: Granby Winter Garden March 2019
• Introducing: Raising The Ralla March 2019
• Introducing: Placed Academy March 2019
• The Winter Garden Opens, March 2019
• On a halcyon day, the Street Market May 2019
• Opening Day at Kitty’s Launderette May 2019
• Imagining Liverpool Afterwards? May 2019
• Playing With Fire: Lawrie Vause July 2019
• At Rice Lane City Farm August 2019
• Rimrose Valley Litherland August 2019
• Love Wavertree: The car free day September 2019
• The Street Market, a beloved astonishment October 2019
• The Beginning of Spring in Granby February 2020
• On a Utopian Morning February 2020
• The RED Project March 2020
• Writing for the Soul April 2020
• To Trespass If We Must April 2020
• Something is happening: Squatting the economy May 2020
• From Peloton: An Agile book delivery May 2020
• “ReLoved” on Wavertree High Street July 2020
• Granby Street Market Appeal, September 2020
• Granby good news, September 2020
• Sustainable and Resilient Cities Podcasts September 2020
• Writing For The Soul.2 September 2020
• On an L8 day September 2020
• Because of the Street Market, October 2020
• Particular Cases of the Possible October 2020
• The Quiet City October 2020
• Til we reach the Higher Ground February 2021
• About Surprise March 2021
• A community led Liverpool Show? March 2021
• Bleak: At the crossroads April 2021
• The Abbey: At the crossroads April 2021
• From Granby: In the Winter Garden May 2021
• The Street Market Returns July 2021

And there will be more. It’s a living archive after all.