Childhood in the Liverpool Slums

The author was born just after the Second World War at the Mill Road Maternity Hospital Liverpool. His childhood years were spent in the slum housing of the Everton District of Liverpool where he attended Primary and then Secondary School until 1961. On leaving school he had a number of jobs before working for the City Council in their Children’s Homes, then running a residential unit at the Cotswold therapeutic Community in Wiltshire, before returning to Liverpool as a social work Staff Development and Training Officer. Before taking retirement Bob was a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood, Childhood and Youth Studies at Edge Hill University in Lancashire.

Bob and his partner have four sons and five grandchildren.

Bob Dunn was born at 6 A.M. on 27 May 1947 at the Mill Road Maternity Hospital in Liverpool (closed 1993). He has two younger brothers, Graham and Trevor and they lived at the family home at 16 Louis Street, Everton, Liverpool 5, with their parents, William (Bill) and Ethel. It is worth noting that Trevor, the youngest brother, was actually born in this house.

After leaving school, he worked in one of Liverpool’s first small supermarkets situated on Granby Street (Scotts). He then worked for the Midland Bank (Dale Street) before joining the Liverpool City Council, first in their Children’s Homes and later as a Social Services Staff Training and Development Officer. His previous responsibilities included running a unit at the Cotswold Therapeutic Community for disturbed adolescent boys.

Before taking retirement, Bob was a senior lecturer in Childhood and Early Childhood Studies at Edge Hill University’s Faculty of Social and Psychological Science.

Bob and his partner have four sons and five grandchildren.