Built between1954-5 by the Manchester City Architect’s Department, Chief Architect Leonard C Howitt, for the Manchester Corporation Waterworks. Alan Atkinson, engineer. Incorporates large relief by Mitzi Cunliffe, signed and dated 1955. Yorkshire sandstone, with Westmorland greenstone from Broughton Moor used as relief. Roof not seen above dentiled overhang.
Carved relief is a highly stylised depiction of the bringing of water from Haweswater to Manchester with contemporary figures supporting the pipeline and a curious flat relief designed to be seen from below. It was designed to commemorate those who constructed it as well as the origin and course of the aqueduct. Beneath it five plaques tell the history of the Haweswater supply.
Completely preserved interior fully lined in beige marble, with contrasting green marble skirting continued as door surround. Behind the Cunliffe mural is a wood relief section in sycamore depicting the 82 mile route of the pipe.
The bringing of water to Manchester from a new reservoir at Haweswater was a major undertaking which cost £14,000,000. The sectional relief plan and the mural were conceived as part of the original brief to give a ‘monumental’ character to the city’s remarkable achievement. Included as a remarkable synthesis of architectural design and fine sculpture, with the dominance of the latter in this tiny building. The building materials and the reliefs are all symbolic of the achievement in bringing of water from the Lake District to Manchester.
In 1929 work started to build the dam wall across the valley floor. At the time of construction, its design was considered to be at the forefront of civil engineering technology because it was the world’s first hollow buttress dam.
Before the valley was flooded in 1935, all the farms and dwellings of the villages of Mardale Green and Measand were demolished, as well as the centuries-old Dun Bull Inn at Mardale Green. The village church was dismantled and the stone used in constructing the dam; all the bodies in the churchyard were exhumed and re-buried at Shap.
I have previously led Mitzi Cunliffe walks in south Manchester – taking in her works at Owens Park and Manchester High School for Girls.
Mitzi Cunliffe is primarily known as the designer of the BAFTA Award, but her work encompasses both ceramics and textiles, in addition to her extensive public art works – as illustrated here.
Mitzi Cunliffe – An American in Manchester is available from the Modernist Shop.
I took the tram to Heaton Park Station and walked the rest of the way.
The imposing structure, clad in the dramatic relief dominates this domesticated street of well behaved semis. As I stood admiring the work, a passerby joined me in a mutual appreciation of its beauty and significance.
Do yourself a favour – take a trip, take a look for yourself.
William Thompson was born at Richmond Yorkshire, the son of John and Catherine Thompson. William came to Burnley in 1908 and gained a place at Burnley Grammar school. Later he learned the trade of cotton weaving at his uncle’s shed. In time he was to become the managing director of this firm. William lived at Oak Bank Todmorden road, where in spite of his great wealth, he led a remarkably simple life. He had neither television nor radio, and his greatest pleasure appeared to be strolling in the nearby Towneley Park. About 1970, ill health forced William to move to his sister’s house at Ingleton Yorkshire. His illness became worse, and he was removed to a nursing home at Silverdale, near Lancaster, where after a prolonged infirmity he died on 18, August 1972. It was William and his sister, Sarah Witham who donated the £333,000 that was eventually used to build the Thompson Recreation Centre. William was never to see the gift he bestowed upon the town, for his death came just a few days before the official opening of the centre. It was his sister, Sarah who performed the opening, and she too was to die a short time afterwards on 8, December 1975. She was the last link in the Thompson family of Burnley.
Many thanks to local historian and author Jack Nadin
The Thompson Recreation Centre was decorated by a large concrete frieze by Scottish artist Charles Anderson.
Town Architects 1975
Formed from precast concrete panels against expanded polystyrene moulds – it stands 150ft long and 9ft high.
It was gifted from funds provided by the estate of local Cotton Manufacturer and major town benefactor, William Thompson. The building was a flagship symbol of progress for Burnley in 1973, it was demolished in 2006.
Fortunately, the frieze was carefully dismantled, stored and reinstated by Andrew Brown.
Mr Brown said:
This frieze has a massive place in our community. It gives me enormous pleasure to give this magnificent artwork a new home. It breathes new life into the legacy of William Thompson who did so much for Burnley.
Charles Anderson designed the sculpture over months at his studio in Paisley said:
I was a young man of 34 when I was approached by Burnley Council to design a frieze for the centre.
It’s one of my proudest pieces of work and definitely one of the most challenging. I was inspired by the sculptures of the Parthenon so perhaps this is Burnley’s own Elgin Marbles. It features the Three Graces from Greek mythology as well as sporting scenes such as wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, archery, football, tennis and cricket.
I walked from the town centre along Princess way in search of the work – it’s at the rear of the site, just turn right before you reach the hotel.
The University of Leeds has a long established collection of public art, this has now been formalised into an Art Trail around the campus. Each of the pieces on this largely accessible display, has a QR code with a supporting audio tour, along with an information panel.
Printed guides are also available from the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, or online here.
Burton’s – The Tailor of Taste, have long been benefactors of the collection – here’s a little of the company’s history.
Sir Michael Sadler, University Vice Chancellor 1911-1923, was instrumental in developing an interest in Modernist art, through his own collection.
Sadler felt that a student’s education was greatly enhanced by a cultured and harmonious environment. He set about creating such an environment through the public display of pictures from his collection.
Take some time to wander around and consider the works in context, set against two centuries of architectural style and fashion, along with generous open and green spaces.
You can devise your own route around the trail, this is mine.
#4 Christ Driving The Moneylenders From the Temple – Eric Gill
The trustees operate within these two positions: we absolutely condemn Eric Gill’s abuse of his daughters with no attempt to hide, excuse, normalise or minimise, yet we also have a duty to protect, display and interpret the art work we hold in our collections.
Arriving by train and ascending into the light – here’s the station lights.
The railway station has sharpened up its apron and facade.
We have transformed the station forecourt. It has become a quality gateway which delivers a great first impression for visitors arriving in Doncaster by train. This will help stimulate interest from investors and developers, helping to attract new investment and create jobs for the borough and wider region.
Celebrating engineering, speed and connectivity and stretching forty metres in length the public art at Doncaster Station consists of forty seven monoliths which are a nod to Doncaster’s past, present and future. With a fountain and three impressive water walls, the art takes centre stage in the new public space as you step out of the train station and head into the town centre.
The concept was devised by Doncaster Council and further developed by Chris Brammall.
Typically the high and low streets of Britain’s industrial towns and cities, are an amalgam of architectural style and fashion, spanning at least two or three centuries.
Behind the buff faience frontage is a lovely, small two-room pub with a well preserved interior created under plans of 1934. It was remodelled by the Grimsby brewers Hewitt Brothers Ltd who were Doncaster’s biggest pub owners for many years.
Of course, every town had a Burton’s – the tailor of taste.
This post war infill has that distinctive Festival of Britain feel, original metal window frames, Portland stone and blueish slate like panels.
The revamped Frenchgate Shopping Centre, officially opened on October 4th 1968, has in places an upper tier, resistant to zinc over cladding.
The centre has been the heart of the city for over 40 years and was originally called the Arndale Centre because it was built, owned and managed by the Arndale Group. It was renamed in 1988 after a change of ownership, with the new name reflecting the name of the street which passes to the east of the centre and which is one of Doncaster’s main shopping streets.
The sale of the centre came just a year after Frenchgate had undergone a £200 million facelift to transform it into the country’s first shopping centre with integrated public transport and retail interchange.
We propose this is fundamentally transformed though the addition of apartments that wrap along the back of the first-floor retail with a further 2.5 new storeys placed on top. We also feel additional height -up to seven or eight storeys, is justifiable to the corner of Frenchgate and Trafford Way.
The Lovers were once located in the Arndale, removed to a local garden, unloved – then later reinstated in the Waterdale Centre, where we will embrace them a little later.
Turn right to take in the 1920s mosaic remake remodel of the Grade II listed Blue Building.
The Blue Building which used to be the Doncaster Design Centre and Tourist Information Centre was originally the home of John Whitaker, a wine merchant, and son of James Whitaker who was Mayor of Doncaster in 1758.
In 1925 the complete building was demolished apart from the facade which was retained and given a facing of decorative blue tiles. The intention was to build a shopping arcade from High Street to Printing Office Street. Only part of the arcade, known as the Westminster Arcade was built. It had a number of shops, the largest being that of Woodhouse & Co Furnishers.
Two adjacent 60s extensions – to the right a redundant post office to the left an almost redundant telephone exchange, with the earlier brick built exchange in smack dab the middle.
Turn another corner and it’s all at the Co-op now – the Grade II listed Danum Co-operativeBuilding, department store and offices: 1938-40 designed by T H Johnson & Son for the Doncaster Co-operative Society Ltd.
Over the road a zig-zag Halifax Building Society branch, tightly contorted by its corner footprint.
To the right of the Danum, this former Boyes store, having relocated to the Wilko site, the building is ripe for residential conversion.
To the left the Colonnades Shopping Centre a fierce angular glass and brick bunker of mixed office and retail space – the sole occupant seeming to be Home Bargains.
A £3.3m makeover of the Colonnades shopping mall in Doncaster town centre was completed in 2019.
The scheme of works was co-ordinated by Doncaster Council and funded by the Sheffield City Region Local Growth Fund.
Built in the 1980s, the brick built building received a major overhaul. The investment saw the visual appearance enhanced inside and out. The five floors were transformed into the prime office space needed in the town centre and the enhancements to the retail area were also finished.
The shift in the town’s axis to the Frenchgate and Market areas, seems to have taken the wind out of its sails.
The former flicks now a redundant pale brick behemoth – no more and ABC.
Doncaster’s new £250,000 ABC cinema, part of the Golden Acres development near the town centre, was opened on May 18th 1967.
Closed in January 1981 for conversion into a triple screen it re-opened on 9th April 1981 with seating in the three screens for 477, 201 and 135.
The Cannon Group took control in the mid-1980’s and it was re-named Cannon and it closed on 18th June 1992, screening its opening film Doctor Zhivago.
Cinema Treasures
The Golden Acres development seemed to have morphed into the Waterdale Centre.
It is currently being reshaped to provide a line of desire twixt the Civic and Cultural areas, from the town centre. There are still the remnants of homes, shops and a pub amongst the demolition – almost inevitably there is new paving.
Waterdale is a well-known part of Doncaster’s town centre. During its heyday it was a bustling area with people flocking to shops and the like – it was a place you had to visit while you were in town. However, it had suffered a steady decline which continued when the southern bus station closed – Frenchgate Interchange opening, and Doncaster College moved to the Hub at the Waterfront. With limited public transport entering the area and no student population on its doorstep, less people had reason to pass through.
Demolition of the College.
The Civic and Cultural Quarter is transforming Waterdale reconnecting it to the town centre. The quality and content of the plans is raising the profile of this part of town to new levels. The carefully thought out layout and consistent building design is giving the area a clear identity. It is already becoming a big attraction that draws people in and encourages redevelopment in the neighbouring areas.
The weary walker is diverted toward the Civic Quarter Car Park.
The former Civic Offices are to be demolished.
Demolition of the Central Library is well under way.
Facing the former library we find the CAST Theatre, Civic Buildings and Savoy Cinema, grouped around Sir Nigel Gresley Square.
Within the square is a frieze, salvaged from the former Gaumont Cinema, the work of sculptor Newbury Abbot Trent.
The Gaumont Palace Theatre in Hall Gate at the corner of Thorne Road, Doncaster opened on 3rd September 1934 with Jesse Matthews in Evergreen.
It was designed by architects WE Trent and W Sydney Trent.
In 1949 WH Price the Borough Surveyor produced an outline plan for the area, with a green space at its heart, it was never realised. In 1955 Frederick Gibberd produced his plan to include a ten storey Town Hall, Art School, Technical College and Civic Theatre, revised and reduced in 1963 – eventually his Police Station and Law Courts were completed in 1969.
The former NHS Clinic at the ‘T Junction’ is transformed into a day care service.
The building was designed in the office of the Doncaster Borough Architect’s Department in a team led by borough architect Mr LJ Tucker.
The ceramic designs were a later addition when it was discovered that the large open areas of glass overheated almost everything inside, the work was undertaken by LJ Tucker and family.
The sculptural work by Franta Belsky, now has a skip for company.
As a footnote the work by Fabio Barraclough reveals a murky past.
Barraclough was born in Madrid in 1923, to a Spanish mother and Yorkshire father who founded Madrid’s Chamber of Commerce. He moved to London with his family in the 1930s as a refugee from Francoist Spain. He taught fine art and sculpture at Rugby School, where colleagues considered him “highly entertaining, a most unorthodox and highly gifted” teacher. He established himself during the 1960s and early 1970s as an authority on sculpture, publishing in academic journals and becoming a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.
In 2000, it was revealed that Barraclough, while outwardly living the life of anti-apartheid activist since the 1970s, had been a paid informant of the South African state security police. The media was used to promote his image as a “brilliant, liberal artist with apparently impeccable credentials” in order to gain public trust, while he was funnelling money from anti-apartheid groups to the police. He died on 6th January 2019.
Over the way faros the green sward is St Peter in Chains RC – A large and striking design by JH Langtry-Langton, incorporating important furnishings by J F Bentley from the predecessor church, along with good furnishings of the 1970s. The churches houses the modern successor to the medieval shrine of Our Lady of Doncaster.
Figurative stained glass by Patrick Feeny for Hardman in 1973 and abstract glass fitted in 2000 as part of reordering and revival of the shrine.
Designed by architects Bond Bryan and built by main contractor Willmott Dixon, the new cultural and learning hub has been created following the restoration of four existing buildings.
A key focal point of the scheme is the restored frontage of the Edwardian former Doncaster High School for Girls, which has been framed by Senior’s slimline SF52 aluminium curtain wall and showcased within a new steel-frame building. The glazed facade, which was fabricated and installed by Senior’s supply chain partner Chemplas, also features Senior’s aluminium commercial doors.
It all began way back when I was a raw youth living in Ashton under Lyne – the precinct was our playground, cycling and running, often against the grain, up and down the travelator.
Some sixty years later I am still enthralled by the nation’s shopping precincts – including the very local Merseyway.
We arrive at and begin our journey at the Interchange – the bus station is closed, along with the station entrance.
Bradford accepts that it is a part of the Northern Supercity stretching from Coast to Coast – Liverpool to Hull. Every existing town and new settlement must be unique. People belong to their own hotspot as well as Coast to Coast. Bradford as a dispersed centre will give it individuality as well as becoming synonymous with the whole new city. Bradford is a mini version of the whole. It is composed of a series of mini hotspots which will each act as a focus for each square kilometre.
Bradford has the topography to allow every citizen to wake up to a view – both physical and mental. Their collective ambition can create a place of extraordinary difference.
The Interchange opened in 1971 was the first of its kind in the country, designed by the BR regional team headed by RL Moorcroft and the City Architect.
Onward to the Magistrates’ Courts designed by City Architect Clifford Brown in 1972.
Bradford is in the process of paving and puzzling pedestrians, as it becomes City of Culture in 2025.
So we wind our way over the inner ring road, advisedly avoiding the filled in underpasses.
The former Central Library awaits us, designed in 1965 by Clifford Brown – a striking podium and tower, currently home to council offices.
Next door the Sir Henry Mitchell House home to the Children’s Services.
Sir Henry Mitchell 1824 1898 was a mill owner and Mayor.
Moving further along the Telephone Exchange of 1936, design by architect FA Key.
Partner to the Telephone Exchange of 1976 by architect Trevor H Hanson for PSA
The gates were open and we were afforded a view of these delightful vents.
Next to the Ice Arena topped off with Wardley House – Sanctuary accommodation for key workers and students.
Wardley House is equipped with all the modern amenities you need for a comfortable and connected life as a key worker. The rent includes high-speed broadband and building-wide Wi-Fi, utility bills, and contents insurance. Our top-notch facilities comprise a large common room with a pool table, flat-screen TV, and live BT Sport – the perfect social space.
Up the hill and around the bend totheUniversity of Bradford – the main Richmond Building fronted by Joe Mayo’s tiles.
At the University of Bradford our focus is oncreating the conditions for social, cultural and economic impact. We will achieve this by using our proud heritage as a springboard and remaining steadfast in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. We will harness our strengths in research, innovation, teaching and partnerships to extend our reputation, influence and impact. All of this will create a values-led culture that is inclusive and effective in enriching lives and benefitting society.
The undercroft has undergone a major refurb rethink – transformed into a Goth Disco.
We emerge unscathed into the clear light of day and the BDP designed Chesham and Horton blocks.
The mosaic covered columns remain unclad.
Let’s hop to the Grade II-listedCo-op designed by CWS in house architect WA Johnson and JW Cropper in 1935.
Architect W A Johnson worked for the Cooperative Wholesale Society from 1899 until 1950. He was heavily influenced by the German architect Erich Mendelsohn after 1930, evident in his embrace of the International Modernist style. Johnson travelled widely in Germany and Holland, and Mendelsohn’s Schocken store in Stuttgart 1928 is quoted as being a particular inspiration for the Bradford Co-op.
Demolished despite protests in 1960.
In 2019 the Architectural Heritage Fund announced a £5,000 Project Viability Grant to Freedom Studios Ltd.
The money funded a viability study to investigate the potential of building becoming a multi-use cultural hub.
In 1979, the building won a European award from the International Council of Shopping Centres.
But the Historic England report described its design as mundane and repetitive.
Janice Ivory and Lisa Donison didn’t hold back in their criticism of the centre in its current state.
Thank God for that, was Janice’s reaction to the news the building was set to be bulldozed, although an exact date for its closure remains unknown.
It’s just a concrete monstrosity, she said of its design, which Historic England said was lacking architectural flair.
It’s just an ugly building, added Lisa.
Once dubbed Bradford’s space age retail destination, Kirkgate Shopping Centre will soon be no more.
The city centre landmark, which opened for business as an Arndale in 1976, has been denied listed status by Historic England – paving the way for its demolition.
Geoffrey Cowley from Wibsey, who was in town for an eye appointment, said demolishing it:
Might be the right thing to do.
There are plans to remove and display the William Mitchell panels along with these other examples of his work.
In-situ at Highpoint.
In storage – removed from the Bradford And Bingley Building Society.
Artist Bernd Trasberger plans an artistic project, which involves repurposing Fritz Steller’s tile works.
As Ken Kesey so rightly said – Further!
Up to Highpoint designed by John Brunton and Partners 1973.
The derelict former headquarters of Yorkshire Building Society, on one of the highest parts of the city centre, looms over the city centre, and to many people is the city’s ugliest building.
High Point is the perfect site for the first Radii development. Now perceived as an exemplar of the Brutalist style, this eight-storey titan, has languished derelict and in disrepair for many years in the heart of Bradford City Centre.
Our regeneration of High Point into an innovative residential apartment complex with a community at its heart, embraces ideas of sustainability, preservation, and rejuvenation that will bring a new lease of life to this abandoned landmark.
Sharp, chic and spacious apartments available. Furnished to the highest standards throughout and with the flex to provide you with office space if required – this is modern city living that’s easy on your eye and your pocket.
And finally the cafe that is not a cafe – Fountains, where the griddle no longer grills, the lights are always out and the shutters tightly shut, ain’t nobody home.
Wishing nothing but well for this West Riding gem – Bradford City of Culture and cultures and culture.
The Gallery is housed in a modern, custom-built facility that is part of the extensive Glasgow University Library complex, designed by William Whitfield.
Sir William Whitfield had roots in concrete and brick brutalism but took contextual postmodernism to a Palladian mansion that traditionalists admired. Principal of a small office for almost 50 years, his diversity of work was shot through with recurring themes and was distinguished by thoughtful synthesis of precedent.
The Mackintosh House is a modern concrete building, part of the gallery-library complex.
The Mackintosh House comprises the principal interiors of the original house – including the dining room, studio-drawing room and bedroom, largely replicating the room layout of the old end-of-terrace building. It features the meticulously reassembled interiors from the Mackintoshes’ home, including items of original furniture, fitments and decorations.
The Masonic Hall has an extension of 1967 by Hadfield Cawkson Davidson & Partners
The Masonic Hall has an extension of 1967 has a concrete mural by William Mitchell.
Symbolising the turmoil and chaos of the outside world, contrasting with the order of the Masonic Temple – a Freemason told me so.
I thought to propose the idea that this may well be a false dichotomy – then thought I’d better not.
These are the constituent panels.
These are the details.
Having been asked to speak to the Sheffield University Alumni Women’s Group – on the subject of Modernist Sheffield, I had easy access to the interior space.
I was ever so excited to discover these decorative panels on the stairway – I assume that they are also the work of William Mitchell.
Nobody knew.
The Masonic Hall is now a venue in addition to being a Masonic Hall.
Vickers was a successful miller who invested his money in the railway industry. In 1828 he garnered control of his father-in-law’s steel foundry business, formerly Naylor & Sanderson, and renamed it Naylor Vickers & Co. He went on to be Alderman and the Mayor of Sheffield and was the first President of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce before he died in 1897.
On the day of my visit building surveyors were measuring up the upper tier for resurfacing – the stairwells were unclean, and an air of dank neglect permeated my hesitant ascent.
Immerse yourself in the eclectic vibe of the Northern Quarter, the heartbeat of art, culture, and urban lifestyle. Whether you’re heading to its vintage shops, art studios, or chic cafes, finding the cheapest, best parking is paramount.
Stairs smell of stale urine and cannabis.
The pedestrian in the car park carries on regardless!
The sculpture is called Big Boys Toys – the work of artist Peter Freeman.
Illustrating a wide range of building types in and around Sheffield sheltering beneath the broad umbrella of Modernism.
By way of context the photographs are all Topographic in nature – in which a landscape subject is photographed, devoid of people, framed orthogonally and lacking artifice or effect.
Practiced most famously by the 1970s New Topographics photographers, including Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Nicholas Nixon, and Bernd and Hilla Becher.
A shocking paroxysm of a building, an explosion in reinforced concrete, a bunker built with an aesthete’s attention to detail, a building which is genuinely Brutalist in both senses of the term.
With a hyper parabolic roof a doubly-curved surface that resembles the shape of a saddle, that is, it has a convex form along one axis, and a concave form on along the other.
Featured in the video for the Arctic Monkeys’ 2006 number one hit – When the Sun Goes Down at 1.21.
5 Park Hill – 1957 and 1961 Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith under the supervision of JL Womersley,
Grace Owen Nursery – with two Wicksteed climbing frames
The Play Ground should not be put in a corner behind railings, but in a conspicuous and beautiful part of a Park, free to all, where people can enjoy the play and charming scenery at the same time; where mothers can sit, while they are looking on and caring for their children.
The Sheffield Blitz in December 1940 killed almost 700 and damaged some 82,000 homes, over half the city’s housing stock. As the city looked to rebuilding, its 1952 Development Plan estimated the need to replace 20,000 unfit homes and build a further 15,000 to cater for the natural increase of population.
Supreme, but often overlooked, achievement … is the Gleadless Valley Estate which combined urban housing types and the natural landscape so effectively that it still looks stunning, especially on a bright winter’s day.
7 Hallam Tower Hotel 1965 Nelson Foley of Trust House Architectural Department
It opened officially on 24th March 1965 and was the first luxury hotel to be built in the north of England since the Second World War. The exterior was designed to complement Sheffield’s post-war modernist developments; the interior by Colefax and Fowler of Mayfair offered warm, gay colours to contrast with the black and grey tones of the city.
The plant started its first full year of production in 1929
The plant was located at Hope, because it is at the edge of where carboniferous limestone of the Monsal Dale Group, meets Edale Shale, the two main components of finished cement.
Since 1951, when the Peak District National Park was created, most of the outbound traffic from the plant has been exported by rail.
Colleagues in the team included Bill Varley, Ron Bridle, Sri Sriskandan and FA Joe Sims. The team was responsible for the introduction of a great deal of new computing technology into bridge design, as well as for some of the most imaginative bridge engineering going on anywhere in the country. Their design efforts were supported by close involvement in research and testing work, for example, on half-joints and concrete hinges. All the above named engineers went on to considerable seniority, some in the Department of Transport, and Sims and Bridle in particular have published various papers and contributed to books on the history of Britain’s motorway development.
Plans are in place for redevelopment of the site and the demolition of the tower block and adjacent housing.
The scheme, designed by Sheppard Robson, would see 3,300 new bedspaces brought forward, taking the total number of units at the complex to 5,400, a net increase of 950. This is an increase of around 1,000 new units compared to the previous iteration of the project, approved in 2015.
April 2023 and the shops and homes are being prepared for demolition.
The company responsible for the demolition also dropped the Robert Tinker, on nearby Dalton Street.
While it is not yet clear exactly what will replace the shopping parade, work has already started nearby on other projects within the scheme. The first phase of development in Collyhurst will see 274 new homes built in the area.
The council has pledged to reinstate the William Mitchell totem nearby.
However the weight of the concrete sculpture and its base have presented unforeseen challenges.
Siting a crane above the Victorian rail tunnel is an issue, as is the cost, a quote for £100,000 was deemed excessive. So stasis is the order the day – the immovable object awaits an unstoppable force.
The sculpture is one of four around Manchester – the Hulme exemplar is long gone.
The weir and former causeway stands across the River Dee. It was originally built in 1093 by Hugh Lupus, first Earl of Chester. It was built for St Werburgh’s Benedictine Abbey – now Chester Cathedral. It channelled the water to allow it to power a series of mills along the Dee. These mills were amongst the largest and most valuable in England during the 13th century. They were in use until 1910.
The weir was restored in the early 20th century to serve the City Council’s hydro-electric power station
Chester generated its own clean carbon-free electricity for almost half of the city’s needs from the hydroelectric building on Castle Drive between 1914 and 1949.
From 1932 the city was buying electricity from the Central Electricity Board’s embryonic national grid in order to cope with demand which grew to over 23,000 consumers by 1946.
At nationalisation in 1948 the corporation’s system came under the Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board – Manweb, which in 1968–70 built its administrative headquarters in Sealand Road. The buildings had as their centrepiece a seven-storey Y-plan office block, which dominated the skyline looking west from the city centre until it was demolished in the 1990s.
I was wandering the streets of Chester when I came upon this decorated doorway in Newgate Street.
In consultation with the current owners panda mami – we concurred that the building was once in service to the electrical generating industry.
Architecturally pre-National Grid, this implies that it would have been part of Chester’s independent provision.
It can be seen in the top left of this archive photograph.
Electricity House in the days of Chester Corporation Electricity Department.
If she’s put together fine and she’s reading my mind I can’t stop I can’t stop myself Lightning is striking again Lightning is striking again and again and again and again
Lou Christie and Twyla Herbert
The arch above the entrance is adorned with these carved stone electrical emblems – also rendered in the Futurist Moderne manner.
The pumping house is to become a visitor’s centre – named the Hydro Hub.
Singin through you to me Thunderbolts caught easily Shouts the truth peacefully Electricity
We begin at the Railway Station – recently refurbished, overwriting its 60s iteration – completely rebuilt by the architect Ray Moorcroft as part of the modernisation programme which saw the West Coast Main Line electrified.
Across the way an enormous brick clad multi-storey car park – skirted by the lines for the tram, which travels to and from Birmingham.
Walk across the brand new pedestrian footbridge over the ring road.
Architectural glass artist Kate Maestri was commissioned to produce the artwork design which features glass with blue and green strips of colour running through it.
Linking the Rail Station with the brand new Bus Station.
The normal practice of the Wolverhampton Bus Service is to have dirty, smelly buses, that are cramped and extremely hot in the summer and freezing cold in winter. They offer no announcements apologizing for delays they know about and don’t appear to care how long passengers wait with no idea of how or when they’ll be getting a bus.
The best thing you can do is learn to drive as quickly as possible and get your own vehicle or car pool.
Midland News Association managing director Matt Ross confirmed the company is now looking at the building’s future.
For a number of years we have been exploring opportunities surrounding our historic Express & Star offices in the heart of Wolverhampton.
After removing the printing presses from the site and restructuring our departments we now have significant spare capacity available and so are looking at the various options available to us, be that redeveloping the current site or exiting the building altogether.
Extension is by architects: H Marcus Brown & Lewis 1965
With further work at the rear.
Along Princess Street this corner group, with an impressive clock tower – originally HQ for the South Staffordshire Building Society
Architects: George A Boswell of Glasgow 1932.
On to the Mander Centre – opened on 6th March 1968, refurbished 1987, 2003 and 2016-17.
The Mander Shopping Centre in the heart Wolverhampton is your one-stop shopping destination for all things fashion, home, beauty, food and technology.
Architects: James A Roberts principal architect Stanley Sellers.
Developed by Manders Holdings Plc, the paint, inks and property conglomerate, between 1968 and 1974. The site occupies four and a half acres comprising the old Georgian works and offices of the Mander family firm, founded in 1773, as well as the site of the former Queens Arcade.
Architects: T & PH Braddock and also Bernard Engle & Partners.
Along St Georges Parade, an abandoned Sainsbury’s church combo – store designed by J Sainsbury’s Architects Department opened 1988.
The church was built between 1828 and 1830 – architect: James Morgan, at a cost of £10,268. It was consecrated on Thursday 2 September 1830 by the Bishop of Lichfield, it was made redundant in 1978.
The site is currently under lease to Sainsbury’s for a further three years and will come forward on a phased basis subject to their lease concluding. The council is in active dialogue with prospective development partners on the redevelopment of this site and in wider consultation with Homes England.
Notable cases included trial and conviction of four members of The Stone Roses, in October 1990, for criminal damage to the offices of their former record company.
Thence up Snow Hill to the former Citizens Advice former Barclays Bank currently empty.
Architects: John HD Madin & Partners 1969
Take time to have a look around the back.
Off to Church Street and Telecom House
Sold for £4.25 million to Empire Property in 2022.
It had previously been sold for more than £3m in July 2018, also for use for apartments, to Inspired Asset Management which later went into receivership.
Located on a popular apartment block on Church street in the Wolverhampton centre, this 1 bedroom property has been newly renovated throughout and compromises an entrance hallway, open plan lounge/kitchen with in built appliances, shower room and double bedroom.
Next to this modern piazza New Market Square – Architects: Nicol Thomas from a concept by head of planning Costas Georghiou.
Formed from the former Market Square, a mix of flats and shops opened in 2004, in an Italianate version of the modish school of streaky bacon.
In 2021 the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck visit to the Midlands was cancelled.
It was meant to arrive at Market Square in Wolverhampton at 11am today but failed to show up.
One fan had waited since 7am this morning to see the Coca-Cola truck.
While schoolchildren were left gutted when the truck didn’t turn up – and one boy had been so excited his mother said he had been talking about the red truck all morning.
Retail Market – Late 1950s market hall and offices above.
Architects: Borough Surveyor.
Excellent example of the Festival of Britain style of architecture, won Civic Trust Award 1960.
Locally Listed March 2000.
demolished January 2017.
Photo: Roger Kidd
This development that wraps itself around Salop, Skinner and School Streets appears to be of a similar period to the Retail Market – and sports a Lady Wulfrun in relief.
There is access to its roof top car park.
And also an exit back to street level.
Where we find at street level the former Odeon Cinema, opened on 11th September 1937 with Conrad Veidt in Dark Journey.
In October 2000, the former Odeon was designated a Grade II Listed building by English Heritage.
RIBA pix
In recent years it was a Mecca Bingo Club, but this was closed in March 2007 In October 2009, it had been refurbished and re-opened as the Diamond Banqueting Suite. In April 2021 police raided the vacant building to discover an illegal cannabis farm operating in the building.
Four men were arrested.
Let’s take a turn around the corner to Victoria Street where we find the complex of Beatties Buildings.
Architects: Lavender, Twentyman and Percy 1920’s – 30’s
The C20 Beatties store is a multi-period site developed first in the 1920s-30s. A Burton’s men’s clothes shop was built on a curved corner site at Victoria St/Darlington St and Beatties themselves replaced their existing Victoria St store in the 1930s with a building by local architects Lavender, Twentyman and Percy. Beatties later acquired and incorporated the Burton’s shop into their store. These two buildings form the locally listed building to which were added a mid-C20 extension along Darlington St and a late-C20 development to the rear at Skinner St.
An imperious Portland stone clad mixed us block on Waterloo Road, with a delightful clock.
Formerly the Gas Showrooms then SunAlliance & LondonInsurance offices – aka Clock Chambers
The showroom in Darlington Street was also the centre of a radio network that controlled a fleet of service vans. This enabled customers to receive service within minutes of making a telephone call. Demonstrations of cookery, washing and refrigeration were given by the Gas Board’s Home Service Advisers and a number of the company’s engineers, who specialised in designing gas equipment for industrial processes operated an advisory service for manufacturers.
Architects: Richard Twentyman 1939.
Nineteen Waterloo Road latterly First City House formerly home to Eagle Star Insurance 1970
8-10 Waterloo Road architects: Richard Twentyman 1959 extended 1966.
This has narrow ramps up and down, and narrow parking spots.
One ticket machine upon entry wouldn’t dispense – the other was covered with a bag but did work, very weird.
Becky T
Anyway, a way must have a name, so why not Maid Marion?
Olivia De Havilland
Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circumstances are obscure, but she commanded high respect in Robin’s circle for her courage and independence as well as her beauty and loyalty. For this reason, she is celebrated by feminist commentators as one of the early strong female characters in English literature.
Robin Hood and DH Lawrence apart it seems most apt – so Maid Marion Way it is then.
In November 1945, the city council decided to ask Parliament for the go ahead for a scheme likely to cost more than half a million pounds.
However, it would cut a swathe through medieval streets, wiping some from the map and spelling the end of a community life which had thrived for centuries.
The arguments, discussions and negotiations rumbled on for years. It would be 1963 before work finally got underway and the new road was built.
Less than two years after it was completed, it was given a label that has stuck over the past four decades — the ugliest street in Europe.
Dual carriageways mean cars, cars mean car parks and car parks mean business.
Whether you’re visiting a student or are one yourself, parking at our car park on Maid Marian Way gives you easy access to the University of Nottingham.
For those who want a bit of retail therapy, look no further than the Intu Victoria shopping centre. Located within easy walking distance of our Maid Marian car park and right in the heart of the city centre, you’ll have a choice of over fifty shops to browse.
If you’re a bit of a history buff then Nottingham Castle should definitely be on your ‘to do’ list. Park near the castle at Maid Marian Way, and you’re just minutes away from reliving tales of the past as you explore the original hidden caves equipped with a dungeon. Make sure you don’t leave without taking a picture with Nottingham’s most famous resident, Robin Hood, found just outside the castle.
Had a lovely conversation with a lady in the machine after my parking ticket was swallowed and learnt lots about the poor acoustic in car parks. They charged me twice to park my car which made me feel lots of negative emotions towards them. So all in all, a bit of rollercoaster. Highly recommend this experience for anyone looking for somewhere to park that enjoys conflict and has lots of money they don’t need.
Having taken a particular interest in this particular piece of public art for some time – I need to go and take a little look.
But what will we see along the way, as we hasten along Rochdale Road?
Which once looked like this, way back when in 1904.
Though some things inevitably come and go, as some things are prone to do.
The city is undergoing yet another reinvention as Manchester becomes – an attractive place to invest and do business.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19
Once there was a gas works here – adjoining Gould Street, seen here in 1958.
The Gould Street Gas Works was a gas manufacturing plant located in Manchester, England. Originally built in 1824, the plant was operated by the Manchester Corporation Gas Department and was in operation from 1833 to 1969. It was named after the street on which it was located, which was named after John Gould, who was a prominent Manchester businessman in the 19th century.
The Gasworks New Town neighbourhood is one of seven envisioned by the £4bn Victoria North masterplan. It will feature nine buildings ranging from 8 to 34 storeys. The 6.6-acre site has most recently been home to a car park but the green development will overwhelmingly prioritise walking and cycling over driving. It will result in tens of millions of pounds being pumped into the city’s economy over the lifetime of the development.
Plans for a trailblazing city centre regeneration scheme that will create more than 1200 homes has been approved by Manchester City Council.
A total of 85 of the 1200, will be affordable homes available through Shared Ownership.
Though as of March 31st 2023 ground is yet to be broken, no signs of the:
New centre of gravity for central Manchester that will create thousands of jobs and inject tens of millions of pounds into the city’s economy.
So you zig-zag wanderers, make the most of these wide open expanses of affordable car parking, while you can.
The future may yet be here today – or the next.
Let’s duck under the railway, through this sad damp pedestrian tunnel – the domain of the cash strapped daytime drinker, transient tagger and disaffected leaflet distributor.
Next thing you know you have emerged into the daylight on Dalton Street – we have been here before seeking the Collyhurst Cowboy.
Photograph: Dennis Hussey
Onwards to Eastford Square.
The shops and maisonettes are due to be demolished any day now – no longer to gaze open-eyed upon the former quarry of Sandhills.
Around the front the diggers have been a digging – digging up around the base of the totem.
The work is to be re-sited by the nearby tower blocks.
The end is nigh.
Heading now for Collyhurst Road and the Irk Valley – seen here in 1960.
Looking back on the Square and the Dalton Street flats – Humphries, Dalton, Roach, Vauxhall and Moss Brook Courts under construction.
Vauxhall Street now but a shadow of its former self – the last traces of industry long gone.
Reclaimed over time by trees and dense underbrush.
Crossing Collyhurst Road and up and over the railway via Barney’s Steps also known as the Lowry Steps.
LS Lowry
By the late 1950’s the whole of this area which we called Barney’s Tip became a refuse tip for Manchester City Council.
The area is in the process of being reconfigured as a delightful country park.
The investment will also help develop an initial phase of the planned City River Park incorporating St Catherine’s Wood as part of a network of public open space, including improvements along the River Irk and works to improve flood resilience, unlocking the potential of the Irk Valley that will characterise the wider Northern Gateway project.
The first phase of the City River Park will begin work to transform former railway architecture to develop the new Viaduct Linear Park north of Victoria Train Station, new stepped public realm space – Red Bank Terraces, along with new green space by the River Irk and the key improvements to St Catherine’s Wood.
Collingham Street is lined with trucks, trailers, stalls and mobile homes.
But there’s nothing temporary about this Cheetham Hill neighbourhood; most residents have lived here for years and many plan to spend the rest of their lives here.
Founded more than forty years ago, it was created by the Showman’s Guild of Great Britain – and it’s reserved exclusively for fairground workers both retired and current.
Built on Queens Road tip, a former rubbish dump, and rented out by Manchester Council, many of the 52 homes belong to older retired showmen or families for whom an itinerant lifestyle has become more challenging.
It’s a close-knit community with a unique shared history.
Though not without its own particular issues it would seem, according to the MEN.
The licensing out of hours team has received noise complaints relating to the premises which was found to be open beyond permitted hours when visited. Officers also identified breaches of the Health Act during inspections in which people were seen smoking shisha pipes in an enclosed extension at the back.
We will leave the Flamingo be and head back into town – but not without giving a nod to this confusing collision between this self-made scrapyard-man chic gate and the ever changing skyline of overheated urban regeneration.
The new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Modern Mooch 