Heaton Lane car park is closed while demolition works take place.
Plans to demolish the car park were submitted by Stockport Council in September this year.
The plans propose removing the multi-storey car park down to ‘slab level’
The work itself will be carried out by removing floor slabs one by one from the parking bays, from the ground upwards. Contractor PP O’Connor has said it will take noise and dust into consideration when completing the works.
Dust suppression systems will be in place to minimise pollution.
Noise levels are not considered likely to be a nuisance, however the site manager will be able to review the demolition process if it’s deemed too high.
There car park is almost at the heart – on the edge of plans to regenerate the town centre.
The Strategic Regeneration Framework for Stockport Town Centre West set out how up to 4,000 new homes and 1m sq. ft of new employment floorspace and 5,300 new jobs could be delivered across Town Centre West by 2035.
In order to assess the overall economic benefit of an expanded Mayoral development area Stockport Council have developed an SRF for Stockport Town Centre East. This SRF sets out an illustrative masterplan to guide the creation of Stockport’s new neighbourhoods and achieve comprehensive urban regeneration by 2040. Together the SRFs for Town Centre West and Town Centre East will guide the development of a total of 8,000 new homes alongside services and amenities. The development set out in the SRFs will drive a transformational impact on the Stockport economy.
The Corporation is expected to be established in early 2026. It will provide a single, focused body for local decision-making; engagement with stakeholders including government departments, public agencies; private sector landowners, and developers; and to drive investment across the public and private sectors to realise the shared vision for the regeneration of the Area.
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Offley Wakeman, a former chairman of the county council, on 25 July 1964. It was designed by Ralph Crowe, the County Architect, in the Modernist style, built at a cost of £1.8 million and was completed in April 1966.
Having visited and snapped way back in June 2024, I returned in October 2025.
I had been asked to speak to the Shrewsbury Civic Society, regarding the history of Modernism in support of their campaign to save Shirehall.
The previous County Council were disposed toward demolition, the current administration are a little more circumspect.
Shropshire Council is considering a return to its former headquarters, less than a year after it moved out. The authority moved from 1960s-built Shirehall in Shrewsbury to the Guildhall in Frankwell, and said doing so would save up to £600,000 per year.
At a meeting on Wednesday, cabinet member for finance Roger Evans said the Liberal Democrats, who lead the council, had paused the demolition and sale of the land, and may retain parts of the building – but only if it could afford to do so.
“We would like to retain the council chamber and some of the associated buildings, but we do need to take account for the cost both in cash terms and in net zero terms,” he said. “What we have done is paused this decision and asked experts to look at it again, look at the whole site, do a reappraisal. The results are just now being recieved.
“I want to keep it as much as we can afford, both environmentally and cash-wise. Whether we can or not will depend, the council is strapped for cash.”
The current station was built in 1962, by the architect William Robert Headley, as part of the modernisation programme which saw the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.
On leaving the station there is an as yet partially un-let Sixties office block to let – Victoria Park House.
Onward to the County Technical College 1937 Grade II Listed – interior completed 1946.
The shell of the building was completed in 1937, after which it was used as an American army hospital during the war, then completed afterwards.
Heavily loaded with Art Deco details.
The new £28m three-storey Skills & Innovation Centre at Stafford College, completed in August 2023, was one of the first further education college schemes to be delivered under the DfE framework and a pathfinder scheme for delivery in accordance with the Further Education Output Specification. The new Centre is equipped with cutting-edge equipment and state-of-the-art facilities for construction, engineering and hybrid / electric vehicle maintenance facilities, as well as IT rich seminar suites and open learning break-out spaces along with a 4-court sports hall, a fully-equipped gym and a flexible 300-seat auditorium.
A 1970’s block was demolished to make way for the new development.
Almost everywhere we go we find a PoMo Crown Courts 1991 – architects: Associated Architects of Birmingham, cost of £10.4 million.
The war memorial of 1922 is by Joseph James Whitehead.
Sneaking through the alley to and before the McDonalds – one many more recent buildings with jetted lead clad bays.
Keeping the town Tudor one bay at a time..
Further along a Sixties Boots.
The Classical stone frontage of the Guildhall Shopping Centre.
Working with Mercia Real Estate, Glancy Nicholls Architects have designed a contextual mixed-use scheme in the heart of Stafford Town Centre, within the footprint of a disused shopping centre. This includes the regeneration of the 1930’s Guildhall building that serves as the main entrance to the shopping centre and the listed Market Square building.
Around the corner a somewhat neglected retail development.
And a long lost Wilko.
Amidst it all the curious time warp that is Trinity Church 1988.
It is used by Methodist and United Reformed Church congregations.
Tucked away in a minor maze of retail a piece of figurative commemorative public art by Glynis Owen Jones, entitled Stafford Faces.
Around the corner a big B&M.
Further along a brick FoB Telephone Exchange of 1959.
Adjoined by the County Records building.
Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects have been appointed by Staffordshire County Council to create a new History Centre for Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent.
The new £4m centre will be located on Eastgate Street in Stafford and will hold historical records and collections up to 1,000 years old.
The scheme will help to provide a rejuvenated service combining the existing Records Office building and William Salt Library, in Stafford and provide a welcoming destination for all of those with an interest in local history. This will include bringing on to the Stafford site the Lichfield Records Office and aspects of the County museum.
Further FoB in the Civic Building.
Close by the Staffordshire Place a civic and retail mixed use development.
Our scheme delivers 135,000 ft2 of high quality contemporary office space across two buildings linked by a new town square. The ground floor incorporates a mix of retail and leisure uses around a sequence of smaller public spaces to maximise the amount of visible active frontage and create a natural extension to the town centre.
Sustainability issues fundamentally informed the design approach, from mitigating energy consumption to ‘future proofing’ the finished building. The building achieves a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and a European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive Rating ‘A’.
Surprise surprise another retail development Riverside.
£70m riverside town centre retail and leisure development in the heart of Stafford. The 230,000 sq. ft. scheme anchored by M&S will deliver 18 retail units arranged over ground and first floors, five leisure units and a six-screen cinema to complement and strengthen the town centre economy and create new businesses and jobs.
Coniston, Windemere and Rydal were among the first council homes to be built in Stafford, between 1951-52, under the direction of County Architect CM Coombes.
The flats were built as a result of The Housing – Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1946, which gave subsidies to local authorities to provide social housing. The expansion of the Borough Council’s civic duties included the employment of County Architects, in this case CM Coombes FRIBA, to whom these flats are attributed.
54 flats were built in total, to a distinctly Modernist design, and their appearance and setting are very well preserved.
Let’s head back into the town centre – to the Grade II ListedPicture House 1914
The Picture House was closed on 30th March 1995 after a three week run of Disclosure starring Michael Douglas, there were seventy eight attending the final performance.
It was disposed of by the Rank Organisation in July 1981 and was taken over by the Hutchinson Leisure Group who re-named it Astra Cinema. In December 1981 it was tripled with 435 seats in the former stalls and two mini cinemas in the former circle seating 170 and 168.
In 1988 it was taken over by Apollo Cinemas and re-named Apollo Cinema. The downstairs cinema was closed and became a bingo club for a couple of years, during which time the two mini cinemas in the former circle remained open. The bingo operation gave way to films again in 1990 and all three screens were again open, with seating for 305, 170 and 164. In January 2014 it was taken over by the Curzon Cinemas chain and renamed Stafford Cinema.
It was closed on 18th December 2017 with Star Wars:The Last Jedi.
I came along to take a look aroundin 2017 – at this point all of the homes are occupied.
Fast forward to 2025 and the estate looks very different, a minority of the blocks have been refurbished.
The remainder have been, or are to be demolished.
Rochdale’s 2021 planning statement for Lower Falinge is beguiling in its talk of ‘a better quality and mix’ of housing, better public space and better links with surrounding areas. It goes on to say that the ‘the delivery of market housing within this area is required to deliver this diversification and to ensure the sustainability of retained affordable housing in the area’ – a sentence containing the claim that a tenure mix of public and owner-occupied housing is a good in itself, whilst also acknowledging contradictorily that affordable housing (how affordable?) is only possible by cross-subsidy from market sales’
Some 560 new homes were proposed in Lower Falinge. The plans as a whole proposed the loss of 720 primarily social rent homes and their replacement by 560 new homes of indeterminate tenure.
The tenants in the refurbished blocks with whom I chatted were convinced that demolition was not the answer, further renewal could take place, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, despite a well prepared save our homes campaign thought not.
In March, we told you that we planned to demolish the six empty maisonette blocks – Ollerton, Newstead, Romsey, Quinton, Ullesthorpe, and Vaynor, in Lower Falinge, as well as the former RSPCA buildings and the former car wash on High Street, within the next 12 months. This will make way for the development of new family homes across a larger site that we will work with the community on designing.
Our beautiful mature greenery here on Lower Falinge is showcased in this wonderful video. We are proud of living here surrounded by all this nature – it really is like living in a park.
Unfortunately our urban oasis of calm is at risk of being destroyed if RBH demolish 128 homes and eventually build on the land.
Once home to the Highland Laddie pub which closed in 2010.
The remainder of the estate remains in limbo.
Next door the new homes have been built.
A major housing regeneration scheme which includes the construction of 30 energy efficient, affordable homes is breathing new life into the Lower Falinge neighbourhood in Rochdale.
The project is being carried out for Rochdale Boroughwide Housing by Rochdale-based main contractor The Casey Group with OMI Architects. This is the largest of 3 schemes that Casey has carried out for RBH.
In recent years these homes have been under threat of both demolition and refurbishment.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing – RBH had sought help from a developer to pay for its £107m plans to refurbish the College Bank high-rise apartments, known in the town as the Seven Sisters.
But the social housing landlord has been unable to reach a commercially viable agreement to help improve the blocks where 250 people live.
Amanda Newton, RBH chief executive said the lack of a deal was disappointing but all options for the future of the site would still be explored.
Many of the apartments spread across the Seven Sisters remain unoccupied after a plan was announced to demolish four of the blocks in 2017, leading to an exodus of hundreds of tenants. RBH later reconsidered the plan, and instead signed a deal with developer Legal & General Affordable Housing last year, to find a viable way of refurbishing the apartments.
All 700 flats in the 1960s blocks were set to be redeveloped under the plans, but the pair’s agreement has now come to an end without a solution emerging.
So an unsatisfactory stasis prevails across the windswept piazzas, podium garages and towering towers.
Local photographer Ellie Waters has her pictures of the flats displayed in the underpass.
Notes From College Bank is an ongoing project which documents the College Bank buildings in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Known locally as ‘The Seven Sisters’, College Bank is formed of seven high-rise social housing blocks, four of which have come under recent threat of demolition.
Drawing from found imagery and photographs taken by my late Grandfather – M J Burgess – who like me grew up in Rochdale, I’ve been working with past and present residents to create a collective record of life in and around College Bank.
This project is ongoing, if you would like to share your stories of College Bank please get in touch via email – notesfromcollegebank@gmail.com
Here is a recent post from Municipal Dreams outlining the history state of play – Rochdale Housing Part II.
Fast forward to the present, the Seven Sisters still stand – an impressive architectural statement in the heart of Rochdale and, to my mind, as powerful a testament to municipal endeavour and aspiration as the town’s nearby town hall. But much has changed. In the slow evolution that affected council housing more broadly, the flats became less desirable, even, in some eyes, a ‘sink estate’. In Robin Parker’s view, the Council started re-housing people in the blocks ‘not suitable for high-rise living’ – a typical occurrence when the most vulnerable on the waiting list and those with least choice are allocated to so-called ‘hard to let’ estates.
Here we are again, six years after the first visit.
What’s been happening hereabouts in the interim?
The Abbey Walk car park was built in 1969 by Holst & Company of Scunthorpe at a cost of approximately £200,000.Whilst a key asset for the town centre, the car park was closed in May 2024, after structural defects were found. This was water ingress into key structural supports, making the car park potentially unsafe to use.
It has now been approved to proceed with plans to demolish the car park, and replace it with a 120-space surface car park, but with the capability in the foundations of being built on in future years if needed.
But what of the unique concrete relief panels, you may ask?
The four abstract concrete reliefs depict parts of a car, which were inspired by drawings in the handbook of the artist’s Austin Cambridge estate car, and were installed when the building was constructed.
Designed in the 1960s by artist and sculptor, Harold Gosney, having been asked to carry out the car park commission by the architects, Nicholson and Rushton.
These panels were cast in situ, with metal bars running through them, which were integral to the car park structure, which is likely to make removal of the artwork incredibly difficult.
Last month, it was confirmed conservationists from the University of Lincoln had 3D scanned the sculptures to create digital 3D models to preserve them.
Which is all well and good, but will they ever be really remade and reinstated anywhere?
Only time will tell.
In 2023 the car park stairwell was transformed by young people from the local area, as part of a project by North East Lincolnshire Council and local artist Lynsey Powles, to try to tackle graffiti and anti-social behaviour.
Abbey Walk multistorey car park in Grimsby has been the site of a number of incidents of anti-social behaviour and graffiti in recent years.
Burnley Central railway station is a stop on the East Lancashire Line, it is managed by Northern Trains, which also provides its passenger service.
Architect: RL Moorcroft of British Rail 1964-1966
Described by Claire Hartwell in the Buildings of England Lancashire: North as – of blue brick, bleak.
The station was opened by the East Lancashire Railway in 1848, as part of its route from Bury and Blackburn to Colne; here, an end-on junction was made with the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway line from Skipton that had been completed several months earlier. The service from Colne through the station to Manchester Victoria, via Accrington and Bury, was well used from the outset by the owners of the local cotton mills, who travelled from their homes in the area to make their purchases of raw cotton at the Royal Exchange several times each week. It was also possible to travel from the station by direct train to Blackpool, Liverpool and Skipton and even through to London Euston, via Blackburn, Manchester Victoria and Stockport.
1964 Red Rose Collections.
However, the cutbacks of the 1960s affected the station badly, with through trains to Manchester via Bury ending in 1964 (two years before the withdrawal of the Accrington to Bury service) and those to Liverpool in 1969 whilst the line to Skipton was closed to all traffic in 1970. This left the station on a 10.5 km long dead-end branch line from Rose Grove to Colne.
The station was rebuilt in 1965, its ground floor is at street level and the first floor at platform level.
The masterplan states that Radcliffe has many unattractive buildings and few architectural assets. But this could work to its advantage as a lack of protected or noteworthy buildings makes it easier to replace them with contemporary structures.
This could include demolishing the “unwelcoming” St Thomas Estate and replacing it with a mix of private and social housing on the old street layout. Existing tenants would be rehoused in the new houses so that the community would not be broken up.
During his term, Sheffield’s housing grew upwards with multi-storey flats constructed at Low Edges, Park Hill, Hyde Park, Netherthorpe and Woodside. It was Womersley’s response to 13,000 families on the council’s waiting list and 10,000 condemned properties waiting to be demolished.
In the space of a decade they shaped Manchester’s urban fabric, leaving a questionable legacy. The technical quality of their buildings was undoubtedly poor, but their qualities – bold forms, monolithic materiality and streets-in-the-sky – were of the moment, and captured a particular brand of urban renewal, imported from North America and inflected through British post-war planning.
Social housing has been, and continues to be, a contentious arena. This seemingly well-constructed estate was once deemed unfit for habitation by its residents.
Tenants of the St Thomas’ Estate in the town centre allege they have been forgotten by Six Town Housing, which manages the properties.
Magda Csatlos, former chairman of the now disbanded Tenants and Residents Association said rotten bricks with visible gaps between them, badly-designed leaking roofs and damp and mouldy conditions plague many of the 90 homes.
Happily the Local Authority are able to remedy the problem.
After some residents on the estate, who were visited by Bury South MP Ivan Lewis, called for the properties to be “condemned”, the Council agreed to invest £2 million to bring the homes up to standard.
A total of 90 social housing properties on St Thomas Estate have been provided with new external rendering, roofing, windows, doors, insulation and brick cladding.
The concrete and the clay beneath my feet Begins to crumble But love will never die
Doomed to face the demolition crew – the anti-social intrusions and falling masonry have enforced a fence, an impenetrable fence.
My requests for unforced entry were politely rebuffed by the hi-vis vest security guards.
A former police station could finally be demolished this autumn after closing six years ago when officers moved to new headquarters.
Blackpool Magistrates’ Court, which is part of the same complex, will also be bulldozed after crumbling concrete was discovered in the building in January.
In recent months, the empty Bonny Street police station has become a target for anti-social behaviour.
Clearance of the site will pave the way for investment in leisure facilities including hotels and indoor theme parks by developer Nikal.
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Offley Wakeman, a former chairman of the county council, on 25 July 1964. It was designed by Ralph Crowe, the County Architect, in the Modernist style, built at a cost of £1.8 million and was completed in April 1966.
It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 17 March 1967.
The design for the six-storey building facing Abbey Foregate involved continuous bands of glazing with concrete panels above and below: it also included an unusual ovoid-shaped council chamber which jutted out to the south-west of the main building.
Pevsner described the building as – the major monument to post-war modernism in the county.
Shropshire Council initially backed a scheme drawn up by HLM Architects in 2017 to revamp Shirehall to provide modern working facilities as well as commercial opportunities. However this plan has not progressed and the local authority has said that making the building fit for purpose would require ‘a multi-million pound investment’.
in September 2020, the council indicated that it would rather sell the building and move to the town centre. Then in October 2020, following an application for a certificate of immunity from listing requested by the county council, English Heritage decided not to list County Hall as the building did not meet the criteria for listing post-1945 buildings.
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.
Walking along Rochdale Road yesterday, I was suddenly arrested by the Pleasant Street street sign.
Having already been suddenly arrested last week, by the Bland Close street sign.
With my expectations defined by the above definition, I ventured along the street in search of happy satisfaction.
Coincidentally – The 18th century entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood pioneered many of the marketing strategies used today, including the satisfaction or you money back guarantee, on the entire range of his pottery products. The money-back guarantee was also a major tool of early US mail order sales pioneers in the United States such as Richard Sears and Powel Crosley Jr. to win the confidence of consumers.
However at someone between 1968 and 2024 the housing had been cleared away – also missing in action is the Golden Lion pub adjoining Pleasant Street on Rochdale Road.
The Golden Lion was a proper old pub on the very busy rochdale road in the Harpurhey area of Manchester. Once inside there was a decent lounge and a basic bar i had a drink in the lounge and this was quite a comfy room.
This pub was a Whitbread tied house and there were two real ales on the bar I had a drink of Chesters bitter and this was a nice drink the other beer was Chesters mild. I thought this was quite a nice pub but sadly this pub has now been pulled down in the name of progress.
So here we are here today – yesterday has long gone and tomorrow never knows no how.
What’s left to see?
Manchester Hand Car Wash
Manchester Tyres
Pleasant Street Allotments
The allotments have had issues with fly tipping back in 2021.
There is now a lockable barrier in place on the cobbled cul-de-sac.
Photo – Howard Bristol
It is understood that the heaps of rubbish, including bin bags full of waste and unwanted wood and cardboard, have been growing in recent weeks.
Howard Bristol, the Secretary of the Pleasant Street allotments committee, said the situation has been ongoing for some time but has worsened since the removal of nearby CCTV cameras.
He told the Evening News that the road has been – piling high with rubbish, and that the area also had issues with the woodland behind the allotments being used for drug dealing during summer.
Pat Karney, councillor for Harpurhey tweeted about the flytipping on Sunday, calling it – unbelievable and disgraceful.
He added that those responsible should be – locked up in Strangeways for a long time, before adding that the council will – get it cleared.
Tyne Mill is one of a trio of mills designed by Oscar Faber for Spillers Ltd – the others are in Cardiff and Avonmouth and led to subsequent commissions from the company. Spillers began with a single mill in Bridgwater in around 1833, and during the 20th centruy had mills all over Britain.
Spillers operations were flour milling and manufacturing animal feeds, and they came to Newcastle in 1896. Grinding grain to flour produces both heat and fine dust a combination guaranteed to be a fire hazard. The fire retardant properties of reinforced concrete, and its relative cost effectiveness, made it a popular choice for mills and other industrial buildings.
Construction took place during the winter and a warming plant heated the concrete constituents before and after mixing, to control the setting time which governs how soon the slip-form shuttering can be moved to the next lift. The concrete was usually kept at 15.6 deg C, though this could be varied to speed or delay setting times.
The mill building has the actual mill above a warehouse area. Its footprint is 88.4m by 27.4m with 12 storeys and a maximum height of 51.2m. It has reinforced concrete columns and beams, but timber floors of 100mm thick Columbian pine with a 25mm thick maple strip finish. The walls are of 280mm thick brickwork with flashing on each floor to drain the cavity.
When completed, Spillers Tyne Mill was the largest flour mill in Europe and apparently the tallest milling building in the world. It could process 254,000 tonnes of grain annually, brought to the mill by ship via Spillers Quay or by rail on the track extension along Quayside.
A goods line down to the Newcastle quayside from Manors Station was agreed in 1845, but not authorized until 28th June 1863 and opened on 1st June 1870.
The Quayside Branch Line closed on 16 June 1969. The railway was in use for ninety-nine years and its eventual demise reflects the changes in the Quayside and Ouseburn themselves from shipping and industrial use to one now of housing and leisure facilities. The northern portal of tunnel 2 was removed when the Metro system was constructed in the late 1970s. The cutting above Lime Street was filled in in 1977 and the tunnel at the quayside bricked up and landscaped over in the 1990s. Only the Red Barns tunnel remains as a metro overrun facility.
24/7, completely free and always spaces! A hidden parking gem of Newcastle! 10 minute walk to Millennium Bridge. Security is almost non-existent but busy enough that trouble should be deterred.
A popular Newcastle car park will be staying locked up overnight in an effort to crack down on boy racers. Council bosses have confirmed plans to permanently close the Spillers car park in Ouseburn at 10pm each night after it was plagued with – significant anti-social behaviour.
The future of the car park is uncertain, with major redevelopment plans having emerged for the area.
While planning permission has expired for the controversial Whey Aye Wheel project, which would have seen Europe’s biggest observation wheel built at Spillers Wharf, there remain proposals to build housing on the riverside plot.
However as of September 2023 a car park is a car park – a car park with embedded remnants of the railway yard, interspersed with rapidly emergent plant life, and crumbling concrete obstacles.
The ingredients list of Wotsits Cheese reveals that cheese and dairy-derived components play a significant role in creating the mouthwatering flavor. The primary ingredients include corn and rapeseed oil, which form the base of the crunchy corn puffs. However, it is the cheese flavoring that truly brings the cheesy goodness to Wotsits cheese.
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.
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!
The old Royal building opened in 1978 and has served the city ever since – despite ongoing infrastructure problems. Looking at the crumbling, unsightly building, it is clear why Liverpool is desperate for its sparkling new facility to finally open.
When the new build plans were first announced, the Trust stated: “Once the new hospital is constructed, our existing hospital will be demolished. In its place, there are plans to develop a world-class health campus, as well as landscaping green space, roughly the size of Chavasse Park.”
In January 2020, two years after Carillion’s collapse, a report from the National Audit Office, projected the overall costs of the new Royal could tip over the £1.1 billion mark. It also commented on the plans for the old building, stating: “Further work to demolish the old hospital and create a new underground car park and public plaza, was not included in the PFI project and is currently unfunded. The cost of this was not included in the PFI project and is currently estimated at £38 million.”
The Royal Liverpool – it’s amazing that people are supposed to get better there. Then again, what motivation it must be to get yourself back home! No wonder it’s being replaced.
J Carter, Aigburth
In 2011 the Echo’s readers voted it the ugliest building in town.
Unloved and due for demolition just as soon as the money can be found – though it may be around for some time to come – go and have a look.
Work on the new building began in 1960: it was designed by Sir Basil Spence and was built by John Laing & Son at a cost of £2.75 million and was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on 14 October 1963.
The design for the seven-storey building involved continuous bands of glazing with exposed concrete beams above and below.
A large mosaic mural depicting local scenes was designed by Clayton and Gelson and installed on the face of the building.
In March 2019, the County Council approved a proposal to move to a smaller new-build facility on the Sands car park at Freeman’s Place in the centre of Durham. Of around 1,850 staff currently based in County Hall, 1,000 will be based at the new HQ and approximately 850 will relocate to four council office sites being developed across the county in Crook, Meadowfield, Seaham and Spennymoor. The building works, which are being carried out by Kier Group at a cost of £50 million, are scheduled to be completed in late 2021. Richard Holden, Conservative member of parliament for North-West Durham, has described the new council headquarters as a ‘vanity project’, questioning the suitability of the location as well as tax increases and cuts to services used to pay for the development.
In April 2022 the council sold their new HQ to Durham University – yet demolition will still go ahead. This unlisted gem in the grand Festival of Britain style deserves much, much better.
Nearby Neighbours Newcastle have had the good sense to list and retain their Civic Centre.
The administration now plans a three-pronged approach to:
Construct another new modest-sized civic building and conference centre for businesses at Aykley Heads.
Occupy other council-owned offices already being built at Aykley Heads.
Refurbish and reuse the former customer access point on Front Street, Stanley, a large, run-down Grade II listed building which the council has been unable to sell.
Online, there is no evidence of any will or pressure to save this glorious building – the site will eventually become that most modern mix of business park, retail, and leisure facilities.
The proposal, led by Durham County Council, forms part of an overall masterplan to knock down the municipal building in Aykley Heads and redevelop the wider site to provide retail, financial and professional space, food and drink units, space for leisure use and a multi-storey car park.
A mural by a beloved pitman painter, commissioned by Durham County Council to mark the opening of County Hall in 1963, has been successfully moved to its new home in Bishop Auckland.
The painting by Norman Cornish, one of the most respected and much-loved artists to emerge from the North-East, depicts the arrival of the banners at Durham Miners’ Gala.
After being commissioned by the council, Cornish was granted 12 months unpaid leave from Mainsforth Colliery in Ferryhill to complete the painting, with most of the work being completed during the coldest winter in 40 years.
Although it arrived at County Hall in 1963 rolled up in the back of a carpet van, the mural’s removal was an incredibly intricate process, involving several experts.
Modern Mooch 