Wellington Road New Brighton Wallasey CH45
Almost high on a hill overlooking Liverpool Bay, and the Irish Sea on the edge of the Mersey Estuary, there stands two separate private high rise housing developments.
Portland Place interwar Seaside Moderne, built between 1938 and 1939.
Further along the road The Cliff – two Seventies high rise blocks, with double decker garages.
Described by a residents as two Bourbon biscuits.
Previously on Modern Mooch – cycling from Prestatyn to Colwyn Bay.
Today I chose to walk.
Just as I had done in Scarborough, just the other day.
I arrived by train just in time for the rain, took a look around Prestatyn town, waiting out the passing clouds.
The coast was overcast but dry, the pale marine light and light breeze caressing the wet concrete promenade.
This is a contested coastline, the concrete a first line of resistance to rising sea levels.
There is a history of serious flooding, particularly the area around Tywyn.
On 26 February 1990, the sea defences were breached for four hundred metres at Tywyn when a ferocious storm coincided with hide tide and a surge of water one and a half metres high. Lifeboats and helicopters were brought in to evacuate residents as seawater swept past the railway and flooded houses and caravans. Roughly ten square km of land were inundated.
Much work has been done to protect the land.
The Central Rhyl Coastal Defences Scheme forms part of the Welsh Government’s £291m Coastal Risk Management Programme, which is responding directly to the challenges posed by climate change.
Dechrau a diwedd – Beginning and End 2009 by CAMM Design
The name of the sculpture acknowledges the nature of the Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail and Prestatyn as a point of departure or arrival. The trail is symbolised by a stylised representation of the sun. To either side of the sun sculpture are paved areas, and large blocks to provide seating.
It is known locally as the ‘Polo Mint’.
The light continually changes over the placid surface of the Irish Sea, the off shore wind turbines spin slowly, seemingly silent on the distant horizon.
There was rain blowing in from the Orme – I cut and ran at Bae Cinmel, boarding the bus for Bae Colwyn.
Here we are in Oldham, tracing the path of dense industrialisation, demolition, rebuilding and refurbishing.
Here in 1936, the area dominated by enormous mills, surrounded by terraced housing.
Postwar clearance leaves a blank canvas for the Municipal Modernist.
A network of culs de sac, open green spaces, and a variety of brick built low rise housing.
Seen here in 2008.
Here on Drake Close is a record of the estate’s refurbishment, cladding and colouring in the new render.
Fast forward to 5th September 2026 – a day which began overcast and wet, latterly blessed by bright sunlight.
So here we are at RIBA North to take a closeup wide angle view of the past.
In 1969, the Architectural Review magazine launched Manplan, a ground-breaking and often uncompromising assessment of Britain’s built environment at the end of the sixties.
Combining pioneering graphic and print techniques with powerful photojournalism, the attention grabbing magazine sought to question and critique architectural ideas at the time.
Photography lay at the heart of the series- through striking black and white reportage, Manplan revealed how architecture and urban planning shaped people’s daily lives, highlighting social issues that continue to be relevant today, such as inadequate housing, community, and loneliness.
Workers’ housing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with Dunston Power Station behind.
Image: Tim Street-Porter Architectural Press Archive RIBA Collections.
Bold in tone and innovative in style, Manplan reframed conversations on urban development and brought attention to socially conscious design within the built environment.
The Wide-Angle View exhibition reflects on its legacy and highlights the powerful role photography and design can still play in communicating and challenging over half a century on
Lillington Gardens Estate Pimlico
Image: Tony Ray-Jones
My Visit to the estate in 2018
Constructed in phases between 1961 and 1980 to a plan by Darbourne & Darke.
The estate was among the last of the high-density public housing schemes built in London during the postwar period, and is referred to as one of the most distinguished. Notably, seven years before the Ronan Point disaster ended the dominance of the tower block, Lillington Gardens looked ahead to a new standard that achieved high housing density within a medium rather than high-rise structure. It emphasised individuality in the grouping of dwellings, and provided for private gardens at ground and roof levels.
Blackburn Corporation office tower and shopping centre.
Image: Peter Baistow
My visit in 2025 – the tower and shopping centre having been significantly remodelled.
Architects: BDP
Preston Bus Station
Image: Peter Baistow
My visit in 2018 – prior to refurbishment and listing.
Architects: Keith Ingham for BDP.
Newcastle Civic Centre with bronze statue of Tyne God by David Wynne.
My visit in 2017 which also included the Interiors and the Council Chamber.
Architects: George Kenyon.
The companion exhibition catalogue to the RIBA’s photography exhibition: Wide Angle View: Architecture as social space in the Manplan series 1969-70.
Given the current government’s drive for new build housing and new towns, I feel that the time is right to reassess the role of our citizens planners and architects own shaping this new New World.
Let’s all plan The Plan.
In July 2025, the government published its five-step plan to deliver a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing. This plan committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, alongside a transformational and lasting change in the safety and quality of social housing.
Consideration should also be given to all the infrastructure that the housing may require – the schools, hospitals, libraries, shops, play areas et al.
No more shabby PFI, but substantial public buildings of real quality and distinction.
No more developer led, overseas capital fed, elite inner city out of town cookie cutter ghettoes.
1915
The Oldham area was once home to several railway stations – many of which have since closed.
There is currently no rail link to and from the town.
Tram services between Manchester and Oldham have returned – for the first time since trams stopped running in Oldham in 1946.
The first service to Oldham Mumps left Manchester Victoria at 05:24 BST – calling at the eight stops on the line.
The tram then made the return journey, leaving Oldham at 06:00 BST and taking about 25 minutes to reach Manchester city centre.
Oldham Central
To the right an huge Sainsbury’s supermarket 1999-2001 Pringle Richards Sharratt.
To the left can be seen the semi-derelict Grade II Listed Prudential Assurance Building 1898-91 Alfred Waterhouse & Son – now in the ownership of Oldham Council.
Image – Victorian Society
Back tracking toward Phoenix House – with its implausible heron.
It’s been four years since the Department of Work and Pensions left their Union Street office and eighteen months since plans were submitted to turn it into eighty two flats.
However, apart from hoardings being installed around the building, there doesn’t appear to have been much movement at the site – at least not legally.
Turning the corner to Metropolitan Place.
Currently in use by Oldham Council – formerly home to the Registry Office, wedded couples referred to it as the Hobson Street Cathedral.
Though there seems to have been plans for both office and co-working space, along with conversion to apartments.
Back out onto Union Street and down to Gallery Oldham 2002 Pringle Richards Sharratt.
Linking to the older Library and Art Gallery 1883 T Mitchell with sculpture by JJ Milson.
Today the building has been restored to include the Council Chamber and Mayor’s Dining Room, public exhibition spaces and a new home for Oldham Theatre Workshop.
The Old Library is one of the earliest examples of an ashlar faced, in-situ formed concrete multi story building.
Take a turn up Greaves Street and here’s a faience clad Victoria House a former Billiard Club 1912 Winder & Taylor – subsequently the hall was used as council housing offices and a college before becoming vacant.
Oldham Boxing moved into the building in 2011.
Next door a Ponsonby And Carlile Solicitors Office 1902 Edgar Wood – Grade II Listed.
Back now onto Union Street and the GMB Offices.
Onwards to the former Oldham Evening Chronicle
Down the hill and left to the Walshaw Street Bus Depot 1936
Image: Jeff Smith Oldham’s Past
Home to the Pennine Lounge.
Next we head up Yorkshire Street to Harry’s Bar – formerly The Artizans Rest 1937.
Architects: CT Taylor – Roberts & Bowman.
In 2025, it was revealed by the Manchester Evening News that Oldham council planned to buy the building and demolish it with the price tag for the project reported to be £1m. The money comes from a £2.5m pot of regeneration finding given to the local authority by the government.
Image: Oldham’s Past
Image: George Symes
These two carved panels have been removed.
Just around the corner is the former Kings Picture Hall – currently Bees Knees.
Located in the town centre, directly opposite the Coliseum Theatre. The King’s Picture Hall was opened 18th September 1911. In October 1912 a café was opened in the building adding a further amenity to the cinema. In 1929 it was equipped with a British Thomson Houston sound system.
The King’s Picture Hall was closed on 25th June 1966 with Ryo Ikebe in Battle in Outer Space and Randolph Scott in Comanche Territory.
On 2nd July 1966 it was converted into a bingo club.
In 2006 it was a nightclub.
A stand of shops – stepped the accommodate the incline, partially clad in Westmorland Slate.
Oldham Town Centre now has a new high-quality public space – Parliament Square
Six new restaurant units will be located within the Old Town Hall alongside a brand new 800-seat, seven screen ODEON cinema.
BDP 2017
A stunning glass extension to the side of the Grade II-listed building provides access to the various levels of the cinema and is also the frontage to the new restaurants.
George Woodhouse of Bolton 1841, extended by Edward Potts of Oldham 1879-80.
To the left is a statue of Springhead born Annie Kenney – political activist, socialist feminist and suffragette, modelled by Denise Dutton, unveiled 14 December 2018.
The Egyptian Room Food Hall project extends BDP’s partnership with Oldham Council and the rejuvenated Grade II listed Old Town Hall building in Oldham town centre, the main transformation of which was also designed and delivered by BDP.
The Loom is a brand new events space next to Oldham’s new indoor market on Parliament Square in the town centre. The gala-sized event space can fit up to one thousand standing guests, seven hundred seated, or five hundred dining, or can be split-off into smaller rooms for exhibitions, gigs, or theatre performances.
Design for a war memorial chapel, St Mary’s Church 1920.
Architect: Nugent Francis Cachemaille-Day.
Artist: H Lewis Curtis.
Image: RIBA pix
Next to the former Yorkshire Bank 1970 John Brunton & Partners.
Under construction 1970
Image: Kayla Chadwick
Down to the Spindles Shopping Centre 1991
Originally the site of St Peter’s Shopping Centre architect Richard Seifert
St Peter’s House – housed Oldham Area Health Authority Administrative Offices
Images: Yesteryear Oldham then & now
Spindles has been revamped by AEW Architects.
Stained glass by Brian Clarke installed in 1993.
Between 1990 and 1993, Brian Clarke designed a series of three interrelated roof lights in stained glass for the Spindles Shopping Centre in his hometown of Oldham, Lancashire. Among the largest stained glass windows in Europe, and some of the largest public artworks in the UK, these panels connect the main public areas of the principal shopping centre in the town.
No town walk would be complete without a former Burton’s.
Next to the Bus Stations 2008 Austin-Smith Lord situated either side of the Civic Centre.
In the midst of it all is the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
The Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham will soon open its doors for the last time before it permanently closes to the public and is prepared for demolition. Since being condemned for containing Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete – RAAC in 2023, its days have been numbered.
Now the old theatre is part of plans to bring 2,000 new homes into the town centre in a partnership between Oldham Council and the developers Muse.
Chris Connor as Elvis at the Oldham Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Surrounded on two sides by the Civic Centre – the lower parts are by Richard Seifert & Partners 1962, the fourteen storey Tower and Hall 1974-78 are by Cecil Howitt & Partners.
Plans are underway at the civic centre, the largest site in the regeneration project, to create a vibrant community providing eight hundred and thirty eight homes rising up to fifteen-storeys with mixed-use commercial spaces on the ground floor. This development will integrate seamlessly with the surrounding neighbourhood, particularly the nearby Former Magistrates’ Court site. The Civic Tower at the edge of the site will be retained and redeveloped as a hotel in a later phase.
Where have the Magistrates’ Courts gone?
Architects: Leach Rhodes Walker 1977.
Demolished in 2019 to make way for further redevelopment.
The proposals for the Former Magistrates Court site include two hundred and nineteen new homes with the tallest block ten-storeys and a green route connecting Manchester Chambers with King Street. The designs have been developed to ensure a unified neighbourhood with a common design language and seamless movement between other sites.
Oldham Council and Muse intend to work in partnership over the next 15 years to develop the sextet of council-owned brownfield sites across the town centre.
Next door the Police Station – architects: Leach Rhodes Walker.
Next to the Mecca Bingo formerly Shopping Giant.
We conclude at the Telephone Exchange.
Viewed across the site where Bailey’s used to be – aka Romeo & Juliet’s, Butterflies, Astoria ballroom and Bowling Alley, Froggies and Riley’s.
The site originally started out as the Grand Theatre, a performance space designed by London architects Thomas Taylor and Ernest Simister who also designed Chadderton Town Hall.
In 1937, Gaumont Super Cinemas took over the building, gutted the auditorium and transformed it into stalls and one circle seating totalling 1,842 to open their 1930s cinema.
In 1991, the Chronicle reported on a mysterious haunting which was thought to have taken place in Butterfly’s nightclub in Oldham.
Before Butterfly’s had been a nightclub the building had been used for many purposes, and in 1939 was known as the ‘Grand Theatre.’ The building was undergoing renovations when Mr Lloyd was killed. ‘Witnesses said that Mr Lloyd was crushed underneath the beam which he was trying to guide down with a rope.’
However, Derek Lloyd’s theory of the origin of the ghost was not accepted by everyone at the time. Due to the fact the ghost appeared to be wearing a white T-shirt, people believed it was unlikely to be the spirit of a 1930s man. In response, Derek argued that ‘my father always had his sleeves rolled up at work because he suffered from a skin complaint.’
In 2011 the building was converted into a roller derby centre known as the Thunderdome, once home to the Rainy City Roller Derby who moved out in 2020.
It was announced in April 2023 that the building was proposed for demolition and the end came in May 2025.
Image: Mark Hughes
This is one of many walks from South Bay Bathing Pool to South Bay Beach.
Today we begin at the Scarborough Library.
The Edward Bawden map was commissioned in 1931 by Tom Laughton, the hotelier of Pavilion Hotel in Scarborough.
I discovered Edward Bawden myself. I saw some illustrations of murals in the Illustrated London Newswhich had been carried out by Bawden at Morley College. The principal subject was a lodging house with a classical pediment and with the front walls taken out, so that the life in the house was shown from the basement to the attic. I found it delightful. I managed to find out where he lived, and I went to see him. I rang his bell; waiting on the steps I looked across the road and recognised the building that was the subject of the mural. At length a young and seemingly timid man came to the door; “There is your mural”, I said. He told me that I was the first person to spot his subject. He took me on a bus to see the paintings on the walls of Morley College.
The outcome was that he designed a wine list for the Pavilion Hotel, decorated a large ordnance map of Scarborough – (which when I left the hotel I gave to the children’s public library and also made an amusing perspective peepshow, which is still in my possession – Pavilions by the Sea was published in 1977.
The peepshow is on display on the first floor of Scarborough Art Gallery, where it still enchants children and adults alike.
Scarborough Museum and Galleries
The map is hand painted and based on the OS Map of 1926.
The map was fully restored and reframed in 2012 and now lives in Scarborough Library.
Bawden’s postcard for the Pavilion Hotel.
Tom Laughton was brother to Charles Laughton – the plaque is attached to their home the Victoria Hotel.
Enthused by Edward’s exquisite map I set off strolling along the seafront.
I always stop to pay my respects to these seriously neglected concrete beach chalets.
Thence to the former South Beach Bathing Pool designed by Scarborough’s former Borough Engineer, Harry W Smith.
Construction began shortly before the outbreak of WWI, and was taking place in December 1914, when Scarborough was bombarded by German ships. Workers were able to shelter, coincidentally, behind the new wall they had recently constructed for the pool.
Built in the Art Deco style, it measured 330ft long and 167 ft wide, and was filled naturally by fresh sea water, propelled into the pool by the tide each day – officially opened in 1915.
The pool closed in 1989.
Stories From Scarborough
Concrete Colonnade in the Post Modern manner.
Filey Brigg is barely visible through the mist.
The Scarborough Spa – boldly stands over the bay, beaches, and harbour, providing unrivalled views. With a lengthy and impressive past, it is a popular venue for touring performers and meetings, conferences, and training sessions.
The Spa dates back to the C18 when a mineral spring there became a place of fashionable resort. Originally there was just a timber embanked terrace to the shore. Later, in the early C19 a castellated building was raised. In 1858 Sir Joseph Paxton designed the new ashlar faced Spa pavilion raised on terrace with arcaded ground and first floor articulated by pilaster strips, seven bays, with projecting pilastered corner towers with balustraded parapets.
Grand Hotel was chosen as one of Historic England’s seven wonders of the English seaside, as featured in the Daily Mail
Located in the town centre and built in 1863, the Grand Hotel Scarborough takes pride of place overlooking the town’s picturesque harbour and South Bay. This stunning Victorian building is an instantly recognisable landmark, and stands out amongst other hotels in Scarborough.
We’ve stayed here a few times and we’ve never had a problem with our room. If you dont like lifts theres a lot of stairs but we like to keep fit anyway. Fridge was a bonus. Hairdryer, towels, three loo roll, towels, fan, iron, ironing board Good stock of tea and coffee, nice clean kettle. Paid for a room with a window and got unexpected sea view which was fab to wake up to. Gorgeous main area, singers on at nine, stayed in room thirteen no ghosts lol.
Will defo come again – thank you Grand Hotel.
Samantha K
Absolutely disgusting, the rooms was very dirty, full of dust, the room hasn’t been cleaned since the last person stayed as there body shape was still in the bed, bathroom had toothpaste all in the sink and the shower was absolutely filthy. Curtains are hanging off. Carpets are dirty. The food is very bad, cheap and under cooked. And most the food on the menu wasn’t even available. When speak to the staff I got verbal abuse from them and the chef told my partner to “f off”.. it’s just horrible experience. Do not wish this on anyone. You go outside to loads off homeless doing drugs and been drunk also. I actually ended having to leave and book an alternative accommodation.
Don’t stay here
Chloe S
Architect: Cuthbert Brodrick – 1863-67 an immense structure in red brick with tawny terracotta dressings, four storeys, basement, and storey at eaves cornice level, and two storey attic
This is the place to be, either to meet friends, make friends or just book a Party event for friends and family. With twelve lanes our Ten Pin Bowling Alley, with its modernised interior and updated scoring system is a fantastic place to relax.
We have fabulous balcony views of Scarborough’s Seafront and Bay and a Smoking Area. It’s the perfect venue for an office or workplace party, student celebration, holiday activity, or just a regular get together of friends.
Formerly the site of the Futurist Theatre
The Futurist Theatre was built to the design of Scarborough architect Frank Tugwell and opened on 27 June 1921 as a cine-variety theatre operated by William Catlin.
Originally it boasted a grandiose, ornate façade of robust, self-cleaning white glazed Carraraware tiles, the design of Henry Doulton.
This was later obscured during spring 1968 by a facelift of rectangular plain yellow cladding.
Demolition of the building began in June 2018 and was completed in August 2018.
The demolition and associated land works cost local taxpayers £3.91 million.
Coney Island is a popular amusement centre located on Foreshore Road in Scarborough, offering a vibrant dose of classic seaside entertainment. It’s known for its unique architectural style and cool retro vibes that captivate visitors. This lively spot provides a welcoming atmosphere for all ages looking for fun by the coast.
Step inside Coney Island and discover a fantastic array of arcade games, ranging from exciting racing simulators where you can ‘drive’ sports cars and motorbikes, to a decent selection of both older and newer games. Beyond the flashing lights and sounds of the arcade, the centre also features a bowling alley, perfect for some friendly competition. Guests appreciate the ease of exchanging notes for coins at the desk, ensuring continuous play.
I have been to t’other Coney Island – it looked like this.
We are on a collision course on the coast.
The sky collides with the sea
The sea collides with the land
We wash up in Morecambe’s West End.
This is where the past meets an uncertain future, the best laid plans are eroded by the backwash of interminable economic decline.
The whole tale is best told here by East of the M60.
Postcard 1919
Postcard 1976
Busy bustling streets lined with large bed and breakfast establishments, rail and road links that led the holiday makers to town.
Supplanted by budget airlines, that took them far away.
The pier disappears along with subsequent short term attractions.
Social deprivation ensued, the shadow of Thatcher’s economic experiment looming large over the hollowed out streets.
2007
The café has been and gone no more Tasty Bites.
There were projects to support the rebuilding of the community, WEM closed in March 2026.
The area has been allocated £20m from the government’s Pride In Place fund.
Phased over 10 years, it aims to empower local people to tackle empty buildings and boost the local economy, public spaces and community amenities.
The former land of Frontierland may yet be saved as the cavalry, in the form of the Eden Project, comes down the line.
Photo: Dave Clark
It was a sunny day in August so I went to take a look around.
Come along to the Coffee Pot – 93 Marine Road
All day breakfast, burgers, panini, hot dogs and much more.
Outside seating on this lovely sunny day, come try us out.
Permanently closed.
Offering sea views, The Wellington Hotel & Holiday Flats is an accommodation set in Morecambe, the accommodation offers a 24-hour front desk and free WiFi is available throughout the property.
The aparthotel is fitted with one bedroom, a fully equipped kitchenette with a microwave and a fridge, and one bathroom with a shower and a hair dryer.
Photo: The Guardian
Best shop ever – Gabrielle Gibson
Olive Tree Ministries – serving the Polish Community.
Lancaster City Council’s ambitions to bring back to life the site of a former department store have moved one step closer thanks to the award of a government grant worth nearly £750,000.
Bought by the city council as part of the West End masterplan, the intention is to refurbish the building’s upper floors to provide affordable housing, retaining the Co-Op late shop that occupies one-half of the ground floor.
The Well Communities is a peer-led recovery organisation built on support, inclusion, and lived experience. For more than a decade, we’ve helped people across North Lancashire and Cumbria overcome drug and alcohol challenges, rebuild confidence, and move toward healthier, more hopeful lives.
Established in 2016 and winner of The Visitor “Business of the Year” award in our opening year.
This is by far the best, friendliest and cheapest pub I have been to in the fifteen years I have lived in Morecambe.
Initially they owned the Ranch House on the promenade but moved to the Exchange – then called the Imperial, some years ago.
Rob and Debbie completely turned the place around, barring all the undesirables and introducing live music every weekend.
Rob has kept the ale prices down which is reflected by the numbers of regulars and visitors it attracts.
Duffy’s Irish Bar on Springfield Street is officially opening its doors on Saturday June 6th from 12 midday.
A spokesman for Duffy’s Irish Bar said:
Expect great craic, ice-cold drinks, live entertainment, and the warm Irish welcome you’ve been waiting for.
We are a Morecambe based organisation & shop located ran by volunteers dedicated to helping local pets.
Loaded jackets, fresh smoothies and delicious panini.
Morecambe, I love this place for treasures – Anna’s Charity
Four soup cups £2, 70’s piggy bank £1, 80’s and 90’s curtains £2
David Thurlwell, baker and proprietor – taken on the 26th of April 1991.
I remember the excellent meat and potato pies – George Smith.
More Music is a music and education charity based in the West End of Morecambe, with 30 years of experience delivering workshops, training, performances and festivals across the district, region and beyond. More Music seeks to build confidence and spirit in individuals and communities through the arts, especially music. More Music is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation.
Action is needed to tackle empty shops and rundown buildings in Morecambe’s West End, councillors have said.
Coun Whitaker “Do you agree that we need to stop the rot and the domino impact of more boarded up properties which residents are getting really fed up of? We need to prioritise getting boarded up properties back into use, as business or arts opportunities. Hopefully, we can make the West End a good arts hub when the Eden Project arrives?”
Coun Bottoms replied: “Yes, there are lots of ideas and lots of talk at these meetings. But there is no real vision or strategy. That’s what we need to move things forward. We need positive action, not just words.”
See how the other half live on my Morecambe Walk.
1920
As a consequence of the geology, geography, and topography of the area Stockport became an industrialised town.
Coal, water cotton and hats coalesced into a viable local economy, with a viaduct to carry goods, services and people over the River Mersey.
Beneath the viaduct and alongside the river is Grade II Listed Wear Mill
The first record of a mill on this site was when John Collier, a cotton manufacturer built a mill on this site in 1790. It was water powered. The mill probably consisted of two multi-storey spinning mills and attached weaving sheds, one destroyed by fire in 1831 and the other rebuilt in 1884.
Thomas Fernley bought the mill in 1824, and in 1831 needed to replace one mill with a new one that was of fireproof construction. This mill was eleven bays long and six storeys tall. The floors were sprung on transverse brick arches supported on cast iron columns. It was driven by a beam engine in an internal engine house to the east of the mill. It was over this engine house that the Manchester and Birmingham Railway built the Stockport Viaduct in 1840, and again when it widened in 1880. The second mill was replaced in 1884, but not the original wheelhouse. It is a five-storey, 15-bay mill of fireproof construction with narrow longitudinal vaults springing from iron joints. The original weaving sheds have been replaced with two-storey structures, creating a complex site.
Employees at Wear Mill c.1907
I have circumnavigated the site on a previous post concerning the viaduct.
Way, way back in the Twentieth Century Mr LS Lowry came to take a look around.
As did photographer John Davies.
However cotton and hats do not last forever and the mill became home to a variety of small business operations, its future seemed precarious.
Along comes Capital & Centric wearing their developers’ hats to transform the site into an oasis of modern living.
Hundreds of youthful stock photographic figure illustrations were ordered to fill the proposed dwellings and contemporary leisure outlets.
Work began the future began to take shape.
The Weir Mill project in Stockport is breathing new life into a historic site, transforming the former cotton mill into a vibrant mixed-use community.
Lo, it came to pass – opened to the public August 2026.
I went to take a look around.
Available to rent right now – one bed from £1250 two bed from £1600
Living here comes with a stack of resident perks too. On-site amenities include a fully kitted out gym and studio, co-working spaces, mini-cini, residents lounge, private dining for big get togethers, and a rooftop garden fitted with electric BBQs.
Once upon a time you were not a bingo hall.
You were a Shopping Giant – a Co-op superstore.
Pioneer co-op opened King Square superstore in 1974, changing to Shopping Giant, then eventually Discount Giant.
Dominating Oldham for most part of the decade was Co-op’s Shopping Giant. It was a great place where you could stock up on your groceries and buy non-food items. It boasted its own Handybank, had a separate chemist opposite the main store and a fast food restaurant – qv Food and Drink section. Cars parked on the roof and at ground level with access via trolley-friendly escalators.
Other delights included Mario’s salon – on Manchester Street underneath the main store, and an ice cream stand by the entrance nearest the Bank Top Tavern.
Nothing, like everything lasts forever – so you became the Mecca Bingo Hall.
Being something of a car park aficionado I couldn’t resist walking up the ramp to take a look around.
To the right is the tower of the Civic Centre, it was designed by Cecil Howitt & Partners, and the topping out ceremony was held on 18 June 1976.
Plans are underway at the Civic Centre, the largest site in the regeneration project, to create a vibrant community providing 838 homes rising up to 15-storeys with mixed-use commercial spaces on the ground floor. This development will integrate seamlessly with the surrounding neighbourhood, particularly the nearby Former Magistrates’ Court site.
The Civic Tower at the edge of the site will be retained and redeveloped as a hotel in a later phase.
Images have revealed how the site of Oldham’s Mecca Bingo was envisioned to be transformed into a new state-of-the-art ‘commercial quarter’.
However the council says that while the site is still potentially earmarked for redevelopment – it is not likely to come forward any time soon.
A visit to Preston on our Modernist Walks would not be complete without a visit to Telephone House.
Local enthusiast George Sharples, a chemist by trade who was familiar with telegraph engineering, also had ambitions in this field and successfully applied for a licence to operate from his premises at 7 Fishergate.
His Preston Telephonic Exchange opened a few weeks later, having recruited local businesses who at first were reluctant to move away from the highly efficient telegraph message services and embrace the new technology.
Things progressed quite rapidly after that and by 1886 Sharples had sold his business to the county operators, who in turn were taken over by the National Telephone Company in 1889. Within a year the £9 subscription rate offered by Sharples had increased to £12 – a familiar tale. Within three more years this organisation had set up its telephone exchange in Guildhall Street and a decade later moved operations to the old Preston Gas Company offices in Glover Street, where the multi-storey Avenham car park now stands.
Despite the NTC being taken over in 1912 by the Post Office, the Preston Telephone Exchange remained at the Glover Street premises until 1931, when an automatic telephone system was installed in the General Post Office building in the Market Place. Subscribers now had the freedom to dial most calls themselves. At the official launch of the new system it was stated that 15,000 calls were handled daily in Preston.
From the mid-1940s the increase in telephones was dramatic, with modern technology and underground cables leading to greater efficiency. A reflection of this progress was seen locally in June 1964 when the main Preston telephone exchange was moved to the purpose-built structure on Moor Lane. The era of trunk dialling had arrived and by 1980 two out of three homes within the Preston Telephone Area had a telephone installed.
Images and further information Lancashire Post.
Image – Norwyn Photographics
Twixt Walker Street and Moor Lane the mighty BT Building – Telephone House by Building Design Partnership, 1960-64.
A decent office block with rough patterned concrete end walls.
Pevsner
The front elevation was re-clad in 1992 the back is intact
BDP’s founder Professor Sir George Grenfell Baines, known affectionately as GG, was born in 1908 and set up in practice as an architect in Preston in 1937.
Four years later he teamed up with two other Preston practices and the Grenfell Baines Group was born. Expansion in various locations in the UK continued throughout the 1940s and 1950s and in 1951 GG was the only northern architect appointed to design a building for the Festival of Britain in London.
In 1961, his long cherished ambition of establishing the world’s first interdisciplinary practice was realised and Building Design Partnership was founded. It was a successful formula and on the occasion of his retirement in 1974 GG’s advice was
“keep going, getting better.”
1900
1920
1960
2026
I often wander these streets and write about the area’s history, or record the current state of affairs, then returning with 35mm film to photograph a black and white world.
On this occasion I am concerned with the tight little rectangle formed by Cheetwood Road, Broughton, Alison and Sherborne Streets.
Cheetwood Road is a postwar construction, a straight route replacing the meandering Cheetwood Lane. The road is lined with low level functionalist brick, steel and concrete industrial units.
Having fallen into disrepair they are now being renovated and reused.
In the early Twentieth Century the area was a mix of semi-derelict Victorian housing and industry.
Corner of Sherborne Street 1905
Cheetwood Lane 1917
The huge Holt’s Cheetwood Hotel has since been demolished, lasting until c1990.
Cheetwood Lane 1920
Images: Thomas Baddeley
Progress House 1969 – Domtar Howard Smith Ltd Paper Manufacturers.
Norweb Electricity
Images: Louis H Price Manchester Local Image Collection.
So here we are on Friday 7th August, taking yet another look.
The whole area and beyond is now the centre of a plan for regeneration.
Salford City Council and Manchester City Council have developed a joint Strategic Regeneration Framework to transform the Strangeways and Cambridge areas.
This plan addresses long-standing challenges such as counterfeit crime, poor-quality buildings, and flood risk, while creating opportunities for new homes, businesses, and green spaces.
The Strangeways and Cambridge strategic regeneration framework sets out a vision to deliver around 7,000 homes in buildings up to 30 storeys and 3.1m sq ft of new or improved commercial space across 320 acres spanning both Manchester and Salford.
HMP Manchester & Jury Street: A catalytic neighbourhood at the heart of the SRF. Home of the existing HMP Manchester with potential for long term change subject to the relocation of the prison.
Derby Street: An intensified business district, supported to ensure the long-term preservation and evolution of the business base in the area.
Copper Park: A regional destination, multi-functional open space delivered to create positive amenity and biodiversity in response to future flood risk.
Overbridge: Gateway to Copper Park from the city centre, an area of significant residential potential – up to 2,000 homes – but with important economic assets and heritage.
Cheetham Park: A new urban-suburban residential neighbourhood of up to 1,000 homes, building on the heritage of the Victorian Cheetham Park and the nascent residential community around it.
Dutton Street: The Dutton Street area is a natural extension of the city centre. Subject to the existing Great Ducie Street SRF, it is identified as residential-led mixed use area – up to 4,000 homes – where significant development and investment is already evident. This part of the SRF could accommodate 1.75m sq ft of new commercial space
Lord Street: A transitional neighbourhood, connecting the residential-led change in Dutton Street with the economic focus of Derby Street to the north, and with Red Bank and Victoria North to the east.
1807
1821
1860
1908
1960
Collyhurst Rd Manchester M40 7TW
Image 1939 – Britain from the Air
Situated at the western end of the Irk Valley – there’s a brand new urban woodland park.
We worked together with Copenhagen practice, Schulze + Grassov on the Red Bank Masterplan in Manchester for Far East Consortium. It combines the wilderness of the riverside park setting and the metropolitan urbanity of Central Manchester.
Set within this wilderness, social, community and commercial infrastructure will support a thriving residential neighbourhood to foster an equitable, active, local, and resilient urban dwelling.
It is one of the first seven neighbourhoods being regenerated as part of the £4 billion Victoria North project, which is one of the largest in the UK and expected to build 15,000 new houses over the next decade.
2022 plan – here’s one we made earlier.
The 2.7 acre St Catherine’s Wood, part of the emerging 5,000-home Red Bank neighbourhood within Victoria North, welcomed its first visitors on Friday.
Manchester City Council and Victoria North development partner FEC unveiled the city’s newest park at an event last week that gathered local stakeholders to the previously forgotten patch of woodland next to the River Irk.
Accessed via a pre-existing bridge off Collyhurst Road, the site has been transformed using part of a £51.6m Housing Infrastructure Fund grant from Homes England and £7m from the GMCA.
This is the first phase of wider plans for Red Bank.
Red Bank forms the first phase of Victoria North that will see the regeneration of Manchester’s neighbourhoods running north of the city centre along the River Irk.
Red Bank forms the first phase of Victoria North that will see the regeneration of Manchester’s neighbourhoods running north of the city centre along the River Irk. The fast-flowing river is nested at the bottom of a valley, with its dramatic topography providing a respite from the general flatness of the central Manchester. The surrounding area was formerly at the centre of Manchester’s industrial might. Red Bank itself had held gasworks, a railway depot, mills, small factories and workers’ housing. Infamously, it was this neighbourhood that Engels used to describe the appalling quality of urban living in the “Conditions of the Working Class in England”.
The park is named for long gone St Catherine’s Church on Collyhurst Road.
Architects – Speakman and Charlesworth, built by, Messrs A Cochrane and Company, Manchester
On 5th November 1859, St Catherine’s Church Collyhurst was consecrated, with the service from the Book of Common Prayer, which gave thanks for the delivery of Parliament from the Gunpowder Plot and for the landing of William of Orange at Torbay in 1688. The church was named after a daughter of Lord Derby.
The rector of St Catherine’s in 1959 was Rev Robert C Tootel a Deputy Grand Chaplain of the Loyal Orange Institution of England. Due to dry-rot and a declining population the church had to close and the building was demolished in the 1960’s.
Image 1968 Lawrence Kaye Manchester Local Image Collection.
Collyhurst Road 1968 Manchester Local Image collection.
So the industry is all but gone, the older houses and their occupants displaced, the church and its congregation demolished and dispersed. A new world awaits the incoming population, a demographic and architectural leap into a high rise high rent future.
In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.
Friedrich Engels – The Communist Manifesto
Let’s take a walk in the park.
Collectively, we developed the idea of – Wild Urbanism, uniting the wilderness of the re-naturalised post-industrial landscape with the urbanity of the metropolitan world directly adjoining it. Merging nature and city life, it will offer the naturalised River Irk, the extended existing St Catherine’s Wood and a myriad of other interconnected green spaces to Mancunians. Cafes, restaurants, shops, community spaces and homes will be set among the nature to bring a dose of urbanity to the wilderness.
MACCREANOR LAVINGTON
When is a wilderness not a wilderness?
When it’s Wild Urbanism.
For further context see previous posts Dalton Street, Eastford Square, Sandhills and Collyhurst Circular.
This wilderness was and is home to a significant community of people with a sense of their history.
This is a story of streets which almost existed in 1836, an area enclosed by Gould Street, Bromley Street and Rochdale Road.
Further developing my Collyhurst Cheetham Circular.
By 1870 there are a number of streets which now no longer exist, along with the homes and industry, they have been subsumed by car parks.
In 1960 the Rochdale Road Gas Works built in 1824, is then still extant.
The expansive site spanned over nine acres, including four retort houses, with a capacity of producing 8,500,000 cubic feet of gas daily. Since the end of the 18th century, the site was home to a locomotive/goods shed outside of the main works tramline infrastructure which was used for coal transportation for off-site refining. In the early 1940s, reorganisation and reconstruction ledto alterations and clearance of existing above-ground structures.
Image – Britain from the Air
Image 1907 J Jackson Manchester Local Image Collection.
Image 1958 Lawrence Kaye Manchester Local Image Collection.
Bromley Street.
Image 1964 Lawrence Kaye Manchester Local Image Collection.
Image 1966 Thomas Brooks Manchester Local Image Collection.
It’s 2026 and almost everything has been erased.
This is the only remnant of the former gasworks, preserved on Gould Street car park.
The raggle-taggle gaggle of businesses cling on to the Bromley Street arches beneath the railway.
The other side of the tracks.
Bilbrook Street just about hanging in there.
Burstock Street.
Here we are at the former home of Isomax Construction Company Ltd.
Manufacturing and execution of liquid waterproofing systems since 1990. All products are unique development, protected by patents and trademarks. All products are water-based and thus are 100% ecological. More than 1,200,000 sqm of executed projects with ten years warranty, since 1990.
Export to Serbia, Poland, Spain, Montenegro, France,
Latterly the former industrial premises have become temporary home to a Warehouse House Party – under the banner of We Are Nowhere.
In 2024 the are was becoming Victoria North – with the incipient intrusion of gargantuan residential blocks.
A far cry from the workers’ homes of Sudell Street.
The redevelopment project will create better-connected public spaces, new and improved transport links, and more homes, parks and retail spaces for the city’s growing population. Victoria Riverside is at the forefront of the new, distinct residential neighbourhood at Red Bank and New Town, benefitting from its location within Manchester City Centre, but offering something new to its community.
St John’s College was founded as a men’s college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979. Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to provide a source of educated Roman Catholic clerics to support the Counter-Reformation under Queen Mary.
St John’s is the wealthiest college in Oxford, with assets worth over £790 million as of 2022, largely due to nineteenth-century suburban development of land in the city of Oxford of which it is the ground landlord.
The Beehive North Quad: the entrance elevation.
Architects 1960 Co-Partnership
Reginald Hugo de Burgh Galwey 1960
The Beehive North Quad: seen from the archway on the western side.
Bill Toomey 1960
The Garden Quadrangle.
Architect 1994 MacCormac Jamieson Prichard – MJP.
Detail of spiral stair.
The entrance courtyard.
A study bedroom at topmost level.
The lecture theatre.
Charles Martin 1994
Sir Thomas White Building.
Architects 1972-75 Philip Dowson of Arup Associates.
The pavilion looking through to the dining room.
A study bedroom.
The roof scape and service tower.
John Donat 1975
See also: St Catherine’s College, Materials Science, Worcester College, Keble College and The Florey Building
The original buildings of the College were designed by William Butterfield 1814-1900. Although the darling of the Tractarian movement, Butterfield was a controversial choice, as his style – a form of High Victorian Gothic had long provoked argument in Oxford. The original Gothic revival of the 1840s was purely imitative, seeking to blend new buildings with the pre-existing architecture of the city. However, this did not satisfy Butterfield, who “sought a new form of Gothic which would both convey eternal truths and would express the spirit of the age”.
The College was lucky in that the ambitious vision of its founders allowed it to house the majority of its students for decades. However, by 1967, it had become clear to the College that there was a need to expand on a large scale. With the £500,000 cost funded via the Centenary Appeal, the project remained challenging – the site available was wedge-shaped, construction had to be phased, as funds became available, and the buildings had to stand next to Butterfield’s imposing work. To meet this challenge, the College chose an up-and-coming firm of architects, Ahrends, Burton and Koralek ABK.
We have previously taken a look at the Halls through the RIBA pix archive.
Paul Ahrends, architect, with a model of the ABK buildings, explaining them to HRH Princess Margaret, the Chancellor and the Warden.
Here are the photographs which I took on my flying visit of July 2nd 2026.
I was walking from the railway station, a map of Oxford folded in my back pocket.
Having no real notion of anything really, I simply followed my intuition and ended up here.
Worcester College was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet 1648–1701 of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was adopted by the college. Its predecessor, Gloucester College, had been an institution of learning on the same site since the late 13th century until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.
Founded as a men’s college, Worcester has been coeducational since 1979.
This Mediaeval terrace is thought to be the oldest surviving domestic building in the city, known as the cottages – forming one side of the Quad.
This is the Casson Building – undergraduate accommodation.
The Linbury Building is a dedicated conferencing and private dining venue enjoying a beautiful natural setting among mature trees and landscaped lawns.
Accommodating up to one hundred guests for receptions or forty eight on a fully-catered basis, the Linbury Building offers the perfect venue for your mid-sized event. Set among the College’s award-winning gardens, the Linbury allows you to enjoy our unique natural setting thanks to floor-to-ceiling glazing which can be retracted to create an al fresco space in the summer.
With its own bespoke furniture made from English oak and College-crested leather chairs, the main conferencing space can be adapted into a wide variety of configurations, from seminar, cabaret or theatre to private dining and drinks receptions. The adjacent foyer area is a perfect space for delegate registration, break-out coffee and pastries or buffet lunch service.
John Davan Sainsbury – Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover 1927 – 2022 was a British businessman and politician. He served as the President of Sainsbury’s, and sat in the House of Lords as a life peer and member of the Conservative Party
Robert Alfred Maguire 1931–2019 was an influential British modernist architect and leading thinker in the British liturgical architectural movement of the Church of England. Maguire and Keith Murray formed an architectural practice in 1959.
Nazrin Shah ascended the throne of Perak in 2014. As Sultan of Perak, he has been a strong advocate for education, Islamic moderation, and national unity. He has served as deputy king under Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, Sultan Abdullah of Pahang, and Sultan Ibrahim of Johor.
The Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre is a new building of 2017 housing a large lecture theatre, a student learning space, seminar rooms and a dance studio. The project is not simply the provision of new facilities, but also the development and enhancement of the setting of this significant part of the College site. Whilst the relationship between the new buildings and the listed parkland is important, it is only one part of a complex arrangement.
Elizabeth Frink’s sculpture Seated Man II – on loan from Yorkshire Sculpture Park, in accordance with the wishes of the artist’s late son, Lin Jammet, 2020.
He overlooks The Sainsbury Building student accommodation – 1983 Architect: Richard MacCormac
View from the loggia to the upper terrace.
Archive images 1983 – Charles Martin RIBA pix
The common room.
The central lobby.
A study bedroom.
The College Chapel was built in the 18th century. George Clarke, Henry Keene, and James Wyatt were responsible for different stages of its lengthy construction 1720–1791, owing to a shortage of funds. The interior columns and pilasters, the dome, and the delicate foliage plastering are all Wyatt’s work. His classical interior was insufficiently emphatic for the tastes of militant Victorian churchmen, and between 1864 and 1866 the chapel was redecorated by William Burges.
It is highly unusual and decorative; being predominantly pink, the pews are decorated with carved animals, including kangaroos and whales, and the walls are riotously colourful, and include frescoes of dodos and peacocks. Its stained glass windows were to have been designed by John Everett Millais, but Burges rejected his designs and entrusted the work to Henry Holiday.
Wikipedia
My first visit to Oxford and the centuries wide cornucopia of architectural styles and fashion.
See also: St Catherine’s College, Materials Science, and The Florey Building.
I visited St Catz on a student open day, and wandered amiably around the accessible areas – restricted by the refurbishment work being undertaken.
To better illustrate the beauty of Arne Jacobsen’s 1961- 68 Grade I Listed buildings I searched the RIBA pix archive.
In 1956, with University considering plans for expansion, Alan Bullock obtained approval to transform St Catherine’s Society into a fully residential college – the search for a site and funding began.
An ambitious fundraising campaign began, focusing on the national shortage of scientists and on Bullock’s proposal of an increased number of science students at St Catherine’s than was usual for an Oxford college. In 1960 almost eight acres of Holywell Great Meadow was acquired from Merton College and the College’s chosen architect, Arne Jacobsen of Denmark, began to implement his design. His modernist masterpiece was to become the most important 20th-century collegiate buildings in Oxford, and is now Grade I listed.
In 1962 St Catherine’s College opened its doors – while still under construction, with Alan Bullock as its Master. The first undergraduates were admitted, and were quickly dubbed the ‘Dirty Thirty’ owing to the lack of running hot water. 1964 saw the ceremonial opening of the College by the then Chancellor of the University, Harold Macmillan, and ten years later in 1974, staying true to its forward-looking ethos, it became one of the first colleges to admit women.
This is what I saw:
As a footnote – it’s possibly not a great idea to rush around an unfamiliar city trying to snap as much as possible on a very hot day time limited by budget train bookings largely underfed and thirsty.
St Catherine’s College: 1961-66. Arne Jacobsen – Grade I Listed
Podium and all buildings upon it. GV I College buildings, raised on a podium, including dining hall, common room blocks; two residential blocks; library; Bernard Sunley Lecture Theatre; bell tower; piers and covering to walkways to east and west of library and east and west of hall; bridge adjoining west side of podium; brick walls enclosing canal and patio areas on western edge of podium; brick walls to patio areas to eastern edge of podium; twenty five short stretches of garden wall all running east-west, some incorporating seats; paving to podium surface and steps to east and south sides.
The dining hall seen from the east 1970 – Roy Herman Kantorowic
The dining hall 1963 – Edwin Smith
The Fellows’ dining table with ‘Oxford’ chairs designed by Arne Jacobsen at the south end of the dining hall 1964 – Eric de Mare.
The cruciform-section columns which carry the precast beams of the dining hall 1964 – Bill Toomey.
The south elevation of the Master’s house 1964 – Bill Toomey
The music room located in the south-west corner of the campus 1964 – Bill Toomey.
Close-up of the fenestration of a residential block overlooking the quadrangle 1964 – Bill Toomey.
A student room with fitted bookcase 1964 – Eric de Mare.
The bell tower and library block seen from the north-west 1964 – Gilbert Davies.
Library block 1963 – Eric de Mare
The library seen from the gallery 1964 – Eric de Mare.
The library 1964 – Colin Westwood.
The bicycle store 1964 – Colin Westwood.
The small lecture room in the auditorium block furnished with ‘Pot’ chairs designed by Arne Jacobsen 1971 – Johnathan Moor.
The quadrangle seen from the junior common room with the gable of a residential block on the left and the dining hall on the right 1964 – Bill Toomey.
The east elevation of the Master’s house 1964 – Eric de Mare.
The living room with connecting dining room in the Master’s house 1964 – Eric de Mare.
Close-up of the covered way to the dining hall from the west residential block 1964 – Bill Toomey.
Tthe junior common room furnished with ‘Swan’ armchairs by Arne Jacobsen 1964 – Bill Toomey.
The main auditorium of the lecture-room block with raked seating of swivel ‘Series 7’ chairs by Arne Jacobsen 1964 – Bill Toomey.
All images from RIBA pix.
Once upon a time it was 2022 and I was in Chorley.
Then all of a sudden it wasn’t and I was elsewhere – fast forward to yesterday and I was in Chorley again.
Arriving at the Railway Station.
The current railway station is a modern version from the 1980s that was built on top of the original station – it is entirely functional, but more than somewhat undistinguished.
Crossing over the road to Market Walk.
Whether it’s fashion, gifts, everyday essentials or an entertaining day out that you’re after, Market Walk has it all. With over thirty shops along an outdoor parade, plus entertainment and hospitality venues, there’s something for everyone.
AEW Architects were appointed by Chorley Council in 2015 as Architects for the Market Walk Scheme.
The Council’s aspiration was to breathe life back into the town centre by enhancing Chorley’s retail and leisure offer and refocusing Chorley’s centre as a destination for local residents and surrounding towns. The development needed to entice new, and retain existing, businesses in the town. Aesthetically, the development also needed to be a landmark for, and create a modern gateway into, the town – driving footfall towards Chorley’s commercial centre.
Next door is the Bus Station, opened in February 2003 replacing the previous structure.
Opening of the previous Bus Station – Ribble the area’s operators, before the Stagecoach arrived.
The Post Office – with its later extension.
Though dated 1935 the architect Charles Wilkinson died in 1927 – posthumous construction following his earlier plans?
Former Fine Fare finds a new occupant the Big Bargain Store.
The NatWest Bank is still a NatWest Bank.
Next the Royal Bank of Scotland presenting and passing as a Post Office.
My good friend Mainstream Modern informs me that the architects were Cruickshank & Seward.
The distinctive white tiles of 2020 having become a living wall.
Long gone – this swish interior with its alarmingly charming calendar.
Let’s have a look around the back.
Next door this sinister functionalist brick structure.
Next to the Chorley Theatre, formerly the Empire Electric Theatre and currently the Empire Cinema.
Opened on on 3rd September 1910, one of the nation’s longest continuously running cinemas.
I spent some time chatting to the chatty guardian of the booking office, I learnt that the recently installed blue plaque commemorates the areas links to esteemed Beano artist Leo Baxendale.
Leo attended St Mary’s School which was sited opposite the theatre, he had a miserable time there, an experience which formed the basis for the famed Bash Street Kids.
He may well now chuckle to himself in comic book heaven, knowing that the school was demolished in 1982.
It’s only right that the town boasts a Leo Baxendale Trail.
Furthermore, I was ever so excited to hear that the really surreal Leonora Carrington, was a local lass and that the theatre were screening her biopic Leonora in the Morning Light.
Back down to earth with a bang and just around the bend – here’s a former Social Services building, very much in the post-war manner.
Next thing you know we are at the Police Station.
County Architect’s Report: 1963-64.
The design team was Roger Booth, Lancashire County Architect; CA Spivey, Assistant County Architect; DB Stephenson, Design Architect; and DG Edwards, AG Gass, responsible for the detailed design and construction. The seven-storey in-situ concrete framed main block was the last bespoke police station to be built in Lancashire, following this the department developed a systemised concrete construction method which was deployed across the county. The dramatic cantilevers gave the new building a stature and presence that signalled authority. The lower levels were accessed by ramps and provided space for police vehicles. To enter the police station one ascended a set of external stairs across a pool that once contained koi carp – fittingly, one boy described the new building as a ‘fishtank’ upon its completion. The magistrates’ court was finished externally in a grey brick and carried the signature pyramid rooflights that were synonymous with the Department.
Many thanks to Richard at Mainstream Modern
Next door its partner in crime the Magistrates Courts.
Opened in 1968.
The courts are up for sale – offers in the region of £800,000 – the property has planning permission for an eleven storey apartment building with fifty two flats, three ground floor retail units and roof terrace.
The disused court building was last sold in 2022 for £300,000, according to the Land Registry.
Designs for the scheme were drawn up by FWP Group.
Next door is a pub no longer a pub.
Once upon a time a Vaux Brewery house the White Hart – implausibly renamed the Snooty Fox for a brief period.
Photo Alan Winfield 1988 – The Never Ending Pub Crawl
This was a really big looking pub.
The pub was decent enough inside with a large room which was empty on our Friday dinner visit, the pub was a Vaux tied house so we were well pleased as we had not done many of them.
We had a drink of Vaux bitter which went down well.
Interior from Red Rose Collections.
Currently the Ukraine Unit Donation Centre.
Our group was created in February 2022 to try and help raise awareness of the crisis in Ukraine and to help organise and coordinate local efforts to send support from across the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire. We have since grown into a major hub for donations.
Across Chorley & District multiple educational facilities, community groups and organisations reacted and began to spread awareness and collect donations. In order to sift and sort a lot of local donations, a unit has been loaned by Chorley Council. A large percentage of the region’s aid has come into this unit and we are regularly packaging aid and supplies in preparation for the next leg of the journey to Ukraine, whether it’s transported there by us or other charitable organisations.
Our philosophy is that if we can all do a little bit, together we can make a big difference.
Bouncing back to what was and never shall be no more Barclays Bank.
Almost finally we find ourselves at the Council Offices 1982.
You will be delighted to hear that Chorley Council has a Masterplan
Self Architects generated a high level Masterplan for this prominent site. The scheme proposes a boutique hotel, offices, restaurants/bars, along with apartments, aiming to transform the town centre by intervention to enhance the overall vision by:
Having a moment or two on my hands I ventured to the land beyond beyond – the land of the concrete bench, bin and planter combo.
They are on Hollinshead Street.
Google Streetview 2022.
Nevern is a rural village in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
The surrounding land is devoted largely to agriculture.
The church was founded by St Brynach in 540AD and the present building dates from around 1400.
Tim Rushton and I were cycling from Fishguard to Aberteifi on the Route 82 Lôn Teifi, which passes through Nevern.
So we stopped to have a look around.
1955
The most probable reason Brynach chose Nevern was the protection afforded it by its obscurity and the Castle above the village which had been a fortified stronghold since Iron-age times. He was a kinsman of the Goedelic Tribal Chieftains who occupied it.
Though the Peregrinatio had learned their theology and scholarship by travelling to monasteries on the Continent under the rule of Rome, the Celtic Church was very different. The ‘churches’ were in essence small monasteries or ‘clas’ peopled by monks. They had a leader or Abbot such as Brynach but were centres of learning and small-scale industry as much as for worship.
Evangelising by monks took place from the ‘mother churches’, so when a church is said to have been founded by a certain saint it was probably named after the leader of the ‘clas’. The life of the ‘clas’ and its form of worship, essentially different to that of Rome, changed very little from its formation in the 6thC into the century after the Norman Conquest, except that in the C8th repeated persuasion by the Continental conquerors of middle Britain converted the Celtic Church to Catholicism, henceforth adopting its dates and some of its rites.
The Vikings sacked St. David’s in 878, killing the bishop, and were a constant scourge along the coast for the next three hundred years. This is where the Castle played its most important role in the life of the church. They built a tower stronghold on a spit of land separated from the main castle where they would ‘sit out’ the Viking raids literally burning their bridge behind them. Fortunately for them the Vikings had a short attention span and were loath to lay siege preferring to push on to other targets, so, apart from having to occasionally rebuild their church, the Christians at Nevern were left relatively unharmed.
Having landed in the country in 1066 the Normans arrived at Nevern in the latter years of the 11th Century. They usurped the local chieftains from the Castle – though their descendants still live in the parish to this day and rebuilt the Castle in their usual Motte and Bailey manner. They evidently intended to make Nevern their manor in this area, which accounts for an unusually large church in a small village, but changed their minds moving to Newport, building a much larger castle, and populating the town with their loyal English supporters.
The church as it presently stands was built in this period, the oldest part being the Tower dating from about 1380 and the nave and Chancel following 1420-1450, built in the ‘Late Perpendicular’ style learned from the Normans. indeed, quite possibly supervised by French overseers. The church obviously held some status before this, because in 1291 Archbishop Baldwin and Giraldus Cambrensis came through raising money for Pope Nicholas IV’s 3rd Crusade, Nevern’s annual value was £16, more than double any other church in the Deanery.
The church as it stands today has a Norman tower and Tudor nave, but it was rigorously restored in 1864.
Legends abound here: one of the yew trees is called the Bleeding Yew, and has dark blood like sap that oozes year round. And the first cuckoo of Spring is supposed to sing from Nevern Cross on 7 April, St Brynach’s Day.
