MJ Maccardini (trailerfullofpix)'s photos with the keyword: margaret hardman

Most of the large Georgian house was devoted to the photography studio, darkrooms, changing and waiting rooms, and rooms for processing film, retouching and mounting photographs. The Hardman's lived very simply in four rooms: a bedroom, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom.

The last room of the tour. This is where the staff of Hardman Studio mounted and framed photos, and packaged them for mailing.

Mrs Hardman died in 1970, and Mr Hardman in 1988. They devoted their lives to the photography business, didn't spend any time on decorating or housekeeping, and lived pretty much as if still in the 1950s.

In the waiting room at Mr Hardman's Studio.

In the Hardmans' kitchen. When the National Trust took over management of the house, there were still tinned goods with ration labels in the pantry, and they found an exploded tin of treacle.

In the Hardmans' kitchen

Looking in to the finishing and mounting room from the garden, where we waited for the tour to begin. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-59rodneystreet

In the Hardmans' kitchen. Rozalex: www.rozalex.co.uk/rozalex-history

An example of one of Mr Hardman's studio photographs, in the waiting room. In addition to studio photography, the Hardmans took landscape and cityscape photos, often loading up their car (with a retractable roof) with large-format cameras and heading out to parts of Liverpool or the countryside. Mr Hardman's photos of pre- and post-war Liverpool were beautiful and fascinating. There's a small collection of them hanging in one of the rooms of the house, and the National Trust has an archive of thousands more. PDF of lots of these images here .

The National Trust found wardrobes and dressers full of Mrs Hardman's clothing -- but none of Mr Hardman's -- when they took over the house. In one drawer, they found over 100 bars of soap. The couple never threw anything out. He amassed boxes of electrical and mechanical bits and bobs that were all over the cellar.