Abstract

This article gives a broad assessment of a number of photographs taken in the early 1970s of
children on a post-World War Two British council estate in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. As
one of the cornerstones of postwar social reconstruction in Britain, the provision and design
of new public housing often had the well being of the future citizen – the child – in mind, and
the photography of these estates at the time often included children as a way to promote a
sense of well-being and community. This article offers a reading of these photographs as a
representation of the child’s day-to-day life in this particular environment, and to present an
understanding of how the planning and layout of the estate was intended to function as a
crucial influence on the development of the children who lived there.