Eric Stanway Reflects on his "Dirty Old Town"

Growing up in Manchester, England, writer and artist Eric Stanway reflects on his hometown as a world markedly different from the one that exists today. "It was a universe away from New Hampshire," Stanway recalls, contrasting his old life in England with his new experiences in the United States. “I went back a few times, and all these places got wiped out.

They tore down the houses and put up flat blocks. They thought they were doing a good thing, but in a way, they destroyed the community and the things that bound people together.” Stanway’s poignant memories and observations about his hometown are vividly captured in his latest artistic endeavor — a series of ten oil paintings entitled “Dirty Old Town.

” This evocative exhibition opens on Sept. 21 and will run until Oct. 31 at the Ingalls Memorial Library in Rindge.

An opening reception is scheduled for Sept. 21, from 9 a.m.

to noon, where attendees can view Stanway's work and engage with the artist. Having relocated to the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, Stanway has witnessed significant changes in Manchester. The city he once knew has been reshaped by extensive urban redevelopment.

Entire neighborhoods that were once bustling with life have been replaced by towering skyscrapers and luxury condominiums. The slum clearance program, which began in the 1970s, displaced thousands of working-class families and replaced their communities with stark, brutalist housing projects. While intended as a solution to po.