Work to replace the second crossing began in 1980.[The third bridge is very different from its two predecessors. It is a pre-stressed concrete structure with a central span of 160 m, 26 m above the river, and two side spans of 100 m each – including the approaches, it is a total of 897 m long and 15.8 m wide. It can carry abnormal loads of up to 400 tonnes, and has a life expectancy of 120 years.
It was constructed by Edmund Nuttall Ltd to a design by Mott, Hay and Anderson’s young engineer, Alan Yiu Lun Wan.
The two supporting concrete piers were fluted to create an impression of lightness and were designed to withstand the impact from a vessel of ten thousand tonnes travelling at a speed of five knots, although this is highly unlikely as large ships rarely come this far up the Tyne and the shipping lane has now effectively been blocked by the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. Due to the exposed location, strong winds can cause problems for high-sided vehicles. Early in the bridge’s life, a double-decker bus was nearly blown over the side.
The total cost of construction amounted to £15,350,000.
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.
So on a light bright sunny day, I took another look around.
Salford’s town centres are important to the city’s future. They provide employment for local people, retail and leisure opportunities, homes, a sense of community, and a place for local people to interact. However, it is well known that town centres are changing and that they need to adapt and reposition themselves so that they can thrive and meet the needs of the local communities.
Despite Swinton’s many strengths, it faces similar challenges to other towns. The shopping centre and other buildings in the town centre are dated and in need of investment. Demand for local housing has grown by 23% in the last five years, but there is a lack of high-quality family and affordable housing in the right locations in the area.
The city council has identified Swinton town centre – along with Eccles, as a priority area for regeneration. On that basis, the council has engaged with the community and local stakeholders to establish a clear vision for the town that will help to guide change and future investment, whilst protecting what local people consider important for Swinton.
Swinton Square is in private ownership and therefore not something that the council has any direct control over. It is also important to acknowledge that the issues facing Swinton precinct are not unique to Swinton and those challenges are varied but linked to changing shopping habits, decline in the retail offer, competition from out-of-town centres as well as changes in the wider economy.
We do have an open dialogue with the owners of Swinton Square, the West Bromwich Building Society, who are aware of the vision and aspiration for Swinton.
One of the aims of the council’s events and animation programme is to encourage additional footfall and dwell time within the town centre.
Along with my almost lifelong friend Mr Tim Rushton – I took a trip along a short stretch of the River Weaver, walking from east to west.
River Weaver – rising on the boundary between the counties of Shropshire and Cheshire and then flowing 45 miles north to reach the Irish Sea estuary of the River Mersey to the west of Runcorn.
Below Winsford, the course of the river has been altered several times, by the construction of cuts and locks, to enable small ships to trade on it. The river formerly joined the River Mersey at Weston Marsh, but since the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, begun in 1887, it has flowed into the canal, from where surplus water enters the Mersey by the Weaver sluices, just upstream of the junction. The tidal river section below Frodsham has been bypassed by the Weston Canal since 1810 and is no longer navigable, as Frodsham Lock is derelict.
Railway viaduct over River Weaver and adjoining land by A Rendel Engineer and Thomas Brassey, contractor 1848-1850 – for Birkenhead Lancs & Cheshire Junction Railway Co.
Red sandstone, brown brick and cast iron, two segmental-arched iron spans of circa thirty metres over river; two round arches on west bank and twenty one on east bank. Piers to iron spans are rusticated tooled ashlar; the other spans have rusticated voussoirs, pier faces and quoins and rock-faced spandrels with brick reveals, cornice to iron-span piers, plainer imposts to others.
Top of central pier to river modified to take mid C20 concrete track bed.
Weaver Viaduct is one of the outstanding features of M56 and its design was approved by the Royal Fine Arts Commission. The three-quarter mile of elevated motorway and approach embankments over the River Weaver and Weaver Navigation Canal opened on 21 February 1971.
Design was by Husband and Co of Sheffield – acting for Department of Environment, who also supervised the project.The contractor was Christiani Shand with a tender price of £3,146,387 in March 1968.
Work began in April 1968 – the eventual cost was put at £3.5 million.
Thirty two 125-foot concrete 100-tonne beams were put into place in July 1970; the concrete beams were made by Matthews & Mumby of Windmill Lane Denton.
High-VoltageFrodsham Substation – Rock Savagepower station
Rock Savage Power Station is an 800 MWe gas-fired power station.
It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 31 July 1998, and owned by InterGen, a company that is now jointly owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and China Huaneng Group, it cost £375m.
It sponsors the Runcorn Jets baseball club, the Highfield Male Voice Choir and the Weston Angling Club.
The name comes from the nearby ruined Elizabethan mansion – Rocksavage.
KouraGlobal – leader in the development, manufacture, and supply of fluoro products and technologies, opened a new HFA 152a production facility at their Runcorn site in the UK.
Chiesi, the international research-focused pharmaceuticals and healthcare group, signed a commercial agreement to use the new low carbon footprint medical propellant for inhalation product development and clinical trials in 2019.
Britain from Above 1948
Ineos Chemical Complex formerly ICI Rocksavage Works on the banks of the River Mersey River Weaver and Manchester Ship Canal in Runcorn formerly ICI works of Rocksavage and Castner Kelner Works which produced fluorcarbons such as aerosol propellants dry cleaning solvents and chlorine UK January 2007
Frodsham Wind Farm is one of England’s largest onshore generating stations, and the largest in the Cheshire region, with an installed capacity of more than 50 MW. Construction of the wind farm began in March 2015 and became fully operational in February 2017.
The A5103 is a major thoroughfare running south from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre to the M56 in Northenden. The road is two-lane dual carriageway with a few grade-separated junctions. It is used by many as a link to the airport and to the motorway network south.
The road starts at Piccadilly Gardens where it meets the A6. It heads along Portland Street – at one time it ran along the parallel Mosley Street, past fast-food outlets and off-licences and then meets the A34 Oxford Street. It multiplexes with that road north for 200 yards into St Peter’s Square and then turns left into Lower Mosley Street, initially alongside the tramlines and then past the former Manchester Central station, now a conference centre with the same name. The road becomes Albion Street and goes over the Bridgewater Canal and under the railway line east of Deansgate station. The road then meets the A57(M) Mancunian Way at a roundabout interchange. This is where most of the traffic joins and leaves.
The road is now 2×2 dual carriageway with the name Princess Road. It passes under the Hulme Arch, a grade-separated junction with the A5067, with an unusually large central reservation. This is presumably because of the proposed plans from the 1960s of a motorway. However, after passing under the junction, there are innumerate sets of traffic lights, with the B5219, the A6010 and the A5145, as well as many other unsigned roads. There are also many speed cameras set at 30 mph.
The road picks up pace as we exit the sprawl of South Manchester and the road becomes Princess Parkway, with a 50 mph speed limit. We cross the River Mersey and almost immediately hit the M60 at J5.
Except for the Manchester City Centre section – which was numbered A5068, this road did not exist on classification in 1922. Princess Road was built in 1932 to serve the new southwestern suburbs; initially it ran between the B5219 and A560 and was numbered B5290, with the road later extended north into the A5068 on the southern edge of the city centre and renumbered A5103.
The northern extension through Hulme initially followed previously existing roads, so followed a zigzag route. As part of the road’s upgrade and the reconstruction of Hulme in the 1970s the road was straightened and the original route can no longer be seen. The A5068 was severed around this time with the construction of the A57(M) and the A5103 took on its city-centre section, taking it to the A6.
The A34 is a major route from the ports on the South Coast of England to the Midlands and the North West, with the standard varying from rural dual carriageway sections in the south to urban single carriageway in the north, and everything else in between.
Slade Lane junction, Rushford Park to Parr’s Wood, East Didsbury – to connect to Manchester Road to Cheadle. It continued on to Laneside Road as a residential road. Opened on 11 April 1923 by Mary Cundiff, Lady Mayoress, and Margaret Turnbull, daughter of Alderman Turnbull, Chairman of Manchester Town Planning Committee. Width was 100 feet and it was designed for tram tracks in the central reservation. The dual road carriageways were 20 feet wide. Manchester’s tram system was closed in 1949. The carriageways were widened and central reservation grassed over. Originally opened as A5079.
Laneside Road, East Didsbury to Schools Hill/ Wilmslow Road junction, Cheadle. Opened on 12 October 1959. The official opening was on 15 October 1959. Planning for the bypass had been halted by the war. In December 1949 Manchester Corporation stated that it was not a priority since the Corporation was only responsible for the 200 yards to the proposed bridge over the River Mersey and Cheshire County Council had not asked for a joint approach to Ministry of Transport to build it. Work was finally authorised in January 1957 and started in the June. Width was 90 feet with dual 24 foot carriageways. Expected cost was £600,000 to £700,000.
The road now begins slightly further south than it used to. Instead of starting on Fairfield Street in Manchester city centre, it begins immediately as the Mancunian Way ends, which at this point is the unsigned A635(M). The motorway flows directly into our route. There’s a TOTSO right at a set of lights, and we pick up the old alignment, which now starts as the B6469.
We can see the new City of Manchester Stadium on the left, site of the 2002 Commonwealth Games and now home to Manchester City FC. The road switches between S2 and S4 as it passes through the rather run-down urban areas of Ardwick and Gorton. A short one-way system at a triangular-shaped junction with the A662 leads onto a wider stretch as we near the M60 junction. This area is set to see significant industrial growth, with whole swathes of land either side of the now D3 road cleared and ready for development.
On the day, I was eager to visit the Westfield Estate for the first time.
Westfield Estate Mosborough, formerly Waterthorpe Farm Estate, a rural township which was subsumed by Sheffield’s expanding housing schemes.
Mosborough, a vastly expanding village, eight miles North East of Chesterfield and six miles South East of Sheffield.
Waterthorpe Housing Estate near Beighton named after Waterthorpe – formerly Walterthorpe Farm.
Path which goes behind houses on Short Brook Close 1974
The Waterthorpe and Westfield housing estates were built from mid-1970s and were added to over a number of years. Eventually linking with both the old council estate of Beighton and the new estate of Halfway, the estates house a condensed significant number of almost wholly local authority owned properties following the phasing down and demolition of the original estates around Parson Cross and Shiregreen in the north of the city.
April 2020 a history and appraisal of Pomona Gardens – the undergrowth having recently having had a trim.
What were once opulent Pleasure Gardens now await the Midas touch of Peek Holdings.
What knows what fates awaits you?
Long-awaited plans to redevelop the 26-acre swathe of land will not come forward until Peel L&P and Trafford Council reach an accord on the level of affordable housing to be provided on a separate project.
In 2021, Peel lodged plans for a 162-apartment build-to-rent scheme on part of Pomona Island.
The project featured no on-site affordable housing provision – although Peel did offer a ‘significant financial contribution’ towards off-site affordable housing – and Trafford Council subsequently recommended the development be refused.
This promoted Peel to withdraw the £35m proposals before they were discussed at committee.
The 2023 iteration of the project, part of the developer’s Manchester Waters masterplan, also features no on-site affordable homes.
However, as part of the proposals, Peel will be making a contribution equivalent to 20% affordable housing within Trafford, the developer said. The earlier iteration proposed 5%.
The proposed nature reserve seem like a distant dream
Despite suggestions that Pomona could become the Eden Project of the north, 3,000 homes are planned for the site by owners Peel L&P and the first development, Pomona Wharf, is already complete.
This green space could have been a globally significant urban park, and a powerful statement of Manchester’s commitment to fighting climate change and protecting green spaces.
Unfortunately, the city chose more apartments and financial growth over the natural world and not for the first time – Luke Blazejewski.
The earliest known multi-story car park in the UK was opened in May 1901 by City & Suburban Electric Carriage Company at 6 Denman Street, central London. The location had space for 100 vehicles over seven floors, totaling 19,000 square feet.
It is estimated that there are between 17,000 and 20,000 non- residential car parks in Great Britain, including those run by councils, commercial parking companies, shops, hospitals, businesses, railway stations and airports, providing between 3 and 4 million spaces.
The Manchester Airport multi-storey car park is one of the largest car parks ever built; in fact, it’s the second largest in Europe. This mega-park was designed to house a staggering 8,000 cars, split over a six-level facility that stretches out over 330 metres.
In the city centre NCP has over 13,000 car parking spaces across 43 sites
Good location but the access to the shopping centre is dirty. Lifts dirty – discarded soiled underwear, urine, spit and rubbish in the lifts. Car park also full of litter.
The most unnecessarily complicated ticketing system I have ever seen for a car park. Designed to fail so that the system can fine you. Beware. Better avoided for overseas visitors
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.
The Shudehill Interchange car park and bus station, designed by Jefferson Sheard Architects working with Ian Simpson, replaced the former Cannon Street bus station, under the Manchester Arndale; since the redevelopment of Manchester city centre, the latter has disappeared along with Cannon Street itself.
Great location but narrow roadway between floors. Pay in advance so you need to know how long you’re staying for.
£20.40 for 4 hours is expensive but you are minutes from Deansgate shops.
Only given one star because there wasn’t an option for zero. Not secure, car broken into theft of personal effects, pedestrian gate was un locked, no CCTV that I could see anywhere. Cost me over £25 to park for 6 hrs and lost over £200 of personal effects, complained to council, no response. Wouldn’t park here ever again.
Maple gave architects Aedas RHWL the freedom to express themselves on a prominent multi-storey car park development in Salford. Their imaginative design created a great concept – the nine storey New Bailey car park appearing to be wrapped in ribbons that echo the lattice patterns and intersections in the ironwork of nearby Victorian bridges.
A good, clean and modern carpark. Easy to navigate and sensibly sized spaces. The only downsides are that it’s not cheap and getting into it from Trinity way is hard, as the traffic blocks the junction meaning it takes may cycles of the traffic lights to get across the junction.
Part of the Piccadilly Plaza development of 1965 by Covell Matthews and Partners
Nice central location with a large entrance so you dont have to risk scratching your car as you pull in. Found there was a lack of signage to direct to nearest pay machine or walkway exit. Also had trouble when it was time to pay. I typed in my registration and yet it wasnt recognised and so I had to estimate my time of arrival. I ended up paying £10.50 for around 3 hours, which probably is the going rate for city centre parking.
Sadly after seeing several reviews that cars were broken in to, I would certainly reconsider parking here in future. I got lucky here, I had suitcases locked in the car, with several hundreds of pounds worth of travel money.
Worst place to park on earth, we had our car broken int0, everything stolen, it’s common knowledge that the drunks in the town hang around the car park to steal and then use your cards to buy their booze
Secure and easy to find while driving, struggled to get back in through side door, had to walk up the ramp.
Expensive.
Stairwell stinks like piss and I’ve seen homeless people sitting in there. Doesnt feel safe.
Great car park, security is great, right in the city centre above the bus station that goes Scotland to Cornwall, Wales to Norwich and many more, Manchester city centre literally with Piccadilly Gardens around the corner.
Great car park we use all the time in Manchester, easy to book online, no messing with cash machines. Takes your car reg by camera for easy access in and out. Plenty of spaces mainly upper floors, just tight around corners.
Fielden Clegg Bradley were concept architects while Leach Rhodes Walker were delivery architects.
A series of four × two-storey-deep lattice girders and a single one-storey girder, all measuring up to 27m-long, span over the zone where the underground pipes are located. In these parts, the car park has no first-floor level as the local water board needed a 5m ground-to-ceiling clearance in case they had to undertake any maintenance works. Consequently, the first floor is only a partial level and is set within the depth of the larger lattice girders, as is the second floor, while the third level is supported on top of these members.
Supporting a hotel would be challenging enough, however the design has also had to incorporate large bridging elements as there are two subterranean 600mm-diameter water pipes crossing the site. “It’s a very unusual design and one that was originally designed as a concrete-framed structure,” says James Killelea Senior Structural Engineer Charlie Twist. “However, the bridging parts would have proven to be too difficult to build and consequently a steel-framed solution was chosen for the car park, which in turn supports a precast concrete hotel.”
This car park is one of the cleanest and most well maintained in Manchester.
JHA Pulmannwere commissioned via network rail to deliver an extension to, and re-cladding of an existing 1970’s concrete frame carpark outside of Manchester Piccadilly station.
The carpark is fine but as a lone female arriving off the train in the early hours of the morning, I felt quite vulnerable getting back there. It’s in a very quiet dark place accessed by going through a tunnel going under a bridge.
Easy to find, plenty of spaces and only a short walk to Piccadilly station – great!
Itreplaced the former Cannon Street bus station, under the Manchester Arndale; since the redevelopment of Manchester city centre, the latter has disappeared along with Cannon Street itself.
The project realises a strategy for integrating city centre circulation comprising an interchange for public and private transportation. It unifies stands for buses, a tram stop and multi-level parking for cars, to provide a convenient, attractive and safe public concourse. The high-quality contemporary design establishes a new positive identity for a transport interchange that complements the heritage values of the Shudehill conservation area.
The pedestrian in a car park found it to be accessible and vaguely commodious – affording fine views across the city.
Sadly the decorative mosaic is woefully neglected, careworn and forlorn.
Kendals is of course long gone – absorbed by House of Fraser.
The store had previously been known during its operation as Kendal Milne, Kendal Milne & Co, Kendal Milne & Faulkner, Harrods or Watts.
The store was designed by Harrods’ in-house architect Louis David Blanc, with input from a local architect JohnS Beaumont, in 1938 and completed in 1939 – it is a Grade II listed building.
Great location but narrow roadway between floors. Pay in advance so you need to know how long you’re staying for.
£20.40 for four hours is expensive but you are minutes from Deansgate shops.
Only given one star because there wasn’t an option for zero.
Not secure, car broken into theft of personal effects, pedestrian gate was un locked, no CCTV that I could see anywhere. Cost me over £25 to park for six hrs and lost over £200 of personal effects, complained to council, no response. Wouldn’t park here ever again.
Get there whilst ye may.
The pedestrian in a car park presses on!
Manchester City Council is set to hand over a multi-storey car park and close a row of shops, including a Greggs and a barbers, in the hope of driving huge development in Deansgate. The multi-storey car park on King Street West, behind the iconic Kendals building, is set to be demolished if plans are passed by the council’s executive committee, with proposals to turn it into an office block.
The demolition of this car park and ground floor retailers would facilitate the redevelopment of the site, according to a report by the council’s strategic director, and will pave the way for the refurbishment of the adjacent grade II listed Kendals building, which currently has House of Fraser occupying it. Engagement with the retailers has been ongoing for some time, according to this report, with guidance being offered to them as to their next steps.
Plans were approved last year to transform the Kendals building into ‘high end’ offices with the car park to be turned into a 14-storey office block, along with improvements to the public realm. For this to go ahead the council will need to surrender the lease of the car park building, according to the report.
Maple gave architects Aedas RHWL the freedom to express themselves on a prominent multi-storey car park development in Salford. Their imaginative design created a great concept – the nine storey New Bailey car park appearing to be wrapped in ribbons that echo the lattice patterns and intersections in the ironwork of nearby Victorian bridges.
The pedestrian in a car park is happy to shine its tiny light on Salford’s regeneration – and has lead a Modernist Mooch around the area named Salford Nouveau!
English Cities Fund and National Car Parks have officially launched the new 615 space, nine storey car park at New Bailey, which is due to open in early December.
The £12 million car park, which was designed by architect Renton Howard Wood Levin Architects and constructed by Morgan Sindall has been forward funded by Legal and General and let to NCP on a 35 year lease.
This purpose built flagship multi-storey car park features a number of benefits for customers. These include state of the art larger and quicker lifts, energy efficient LED lighting and automatic number plate recognition. The online booking service includes pre booking facilities and level monitoring communicates to drivers which levels have available parking spaces. There are also direct links to the NCP customer contact centre via a number of help points throughout the car park, as well as 27 CCTV cameras for increased safety and six charging spaces for electric cars.
The car park is also conveniently located adjacent to Salford Central train station.
A good, clean and modern car park, easy to navigate and sensibly sized spaces.
The only downsides are that it’s not cheap and getting into it from Trinity way is hard, as the traffic blocks the junction meaning it takes may cycles of the traffic lights to get across the junction.
Secure and easy to find while driving, struggled to get back in through side door, had to walk up the ramp.
Expensive.
Stairwell stinks like piss and I’ve seen homeless people sitting in there, doesn’t feel safe.
Great car park, security is great, right in the city centre, above the bus station that goes Scotland to Cornwall, Wales to Norwich and many more, Manchester city centre literally, with Piccadilly Gardens, around the corner.
We have been snapping here afore in the guise of Mr Estate Pubs – checking out the Thompsons Arms.
For this is a car park with coach station and boozer attached.
The pedestrian in a car park approaches cautiously – along the ramp.
Retreating the better to circumnavigate the site.
I was quickly losing light – so I called it a day.
Fielden Clegg Bradley were concept architects while Leach Rhodes Walker were delivery architects.
A series of four × two-storey-deep lattice girders and a single one-storey girder, all measuring up to 27m-long, span over the zone where the underground pipes are located. In these parts, the car park has no first-floor level as the local water board needed a 5m ground-to-ceiling clearance in case they had to undertake any maintenance works. Consequently, the first floor is only a partial level and is set within the depth of the larger lattice girders, as is the second floor, while the third level is supported on top of these members.
Supporting a hotel would be challenging enough, however the design has also had to incorporate large bridging elements as there are two subterranean 600mm-diameter water pipes crossing the site. “It’s a very unusual design and one that was originally designed as a concrete-framed structure,” says James Killelea Senior Structural Engineer Charlie Twist. “However, the bridging parts would have proven to be too difficult to build and consequently a steel-framed solution was chosen for the car park, which in turn supports a precast concrete hotel.”
This car park is one of the cleanest and most well maintained in Manchester.
What a refreshing change for the pedestrian in a car park!
As a coda my hero Bob Mould late of Hüsker Dü posted this pic this week!
I assume that he was staying in the Premier Inn which sits atop the car park.
Good location but the access to the shopping centre is dirty. Lifts dirty – discarded soiled underwear, urine, spit and rubbish in the lifts, car park also full of litter.
The most unnecessarily complicated ticketing system I have ever seen for a car park. Designed to fail so that the system can fine you. Beware, better avoided for overseas visitors.
The pedestrian in the car park presses on – encountering structural engineers along the way, who have given the concrete construction a clean bill of health.
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.
Modern Mooch 