We were on a journey – retracing the route of Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 visit to Manchester, from Ringway to Brooks Bar.
Then all of a sudden we weren’t, having deviated from Princess Parkway into Wythenshawe Park.
Missing the opportunity to pass under the underpass.
A collective decision was made to pass under the cantilevered and much revered bowls and tennis pavilion.
The building opened in 1960, designed by L.C. Howitt City Architect.
In striking contrast to Wythenshawe Hall of 1540 – recently restored following an arson attack, the bowls and tennis pavilion shows no inclination toward Tudor-bethan revivalism.
Sleek and aloof, supported by a single piloti, offering elevated and ground level views of the sporting areas.
Archive photographs of 1969 from the Local Image Collection.
Time, central government austerity and changes in leisure habits have not been kind to the building.
The manufacturers of security railings, grilles and shutters however, have continued to prosper unfettered.
A sadly tamed and poorly fed creature, standing next to the un-mown lockdown crown green arenas.
We were nonetheless arrested by what was and what may yet still be.
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