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A cross-section of passengers travelling on Metrolink on its first day shows a preponderance of men, who, putting it kindly, were beyond their first flush of youth. Clearly still favoured as headgear was the traditional Lancashire flat cap, which had almost been compulsory when Manchester's old double-deck trams were the order of the day.
©Dr Neil Clifton
An almost idyllic setting for a couple of sets of L.R.V.'s. One assumes that this may have been a slum area or the site of some very decrepit buildings of some sort??
©Ron Hann
Formerly one of Manchester's foremost shopping streets, its decline started with construction of major new shopping facilities within the city centre in the 1970's
©Keith Williamson
The headquarters of the Co-operative Insurance Society.
©Keith Williamson
Approaching lock 85 on the Rochdale Canal via the towpath. This part of the Rochdale Canal lies beneath Piccadilly, Manchester, a busy city street. Thousands walk above here daily, never realising what lies below. At this point a high rise office block has also been built over the canal.
©Keith Williamson
For a few months in 2004/5, Manchester was home to a "big wheel". This picture, taken from one of the gondolas of the wheel, shows the upper levels of the Urbis Museum (ski-jump type structure) and the Printworks shopping/entertainment complex. The Printworks was for many years a major headquarters for printing national newspapers.
©Keith Williamson
Approaching Piccadilly Gardens from Dale Street.
©Gerald England
Shabby chic late-C19th shops with the odd flourish such as the scrolls and a shaped gable. This area of Manchester has undergone a renaissance in recent years, superficially at least. In the hackneyed argot of modern urban regeneration it has been christened the "Northern Quarter" (cf. 'Jewellery Quarter' in Birmingham, 'Baltic Triangle' in Liverpool, 'Holbeck Urban Village' in Leeds). Fashionable bars - of which Dry is perhaps the apotheosis - and restaurants have sprung up, and city-centre living has been fostered. As a student in Manchester in 1985-88 I must have been remarkably parochial as I scarcely recall venturing north of Piccadilly Gardens, but my impression was that, despite being only a stone's throw from the city centre proper, this area was somewhat desolate.
©Stephen Richards
Aka Norvic House. Looks like a 1960s/1970s office block, but is (now) flats. Clumsy modern addition on top.
©Stephen Richards
Above the modern fascias is a facade with pretensions, sparingly enhanced by incised and relief ornament, Corinthian pilasters, and, at the top, a pair of roundels and an anthemion flower. Was it built as a cinema or similar? Vintage sells trendy retro clothes.
©Stephen Richards
Pleasant little C19th terrace divided by brick piers and with carved brick panels between first and second floors.
©Stephen Richards
Jolly little affair with two tiers of arcaded windows, and pedestals topped by urns. Between the windows are four roundels containing carved faces. As far as I can ascertain, Henry Jacob was a tailor. The building is currently occupied by Alcohol and Drug Service, a charity for drug and alcohol addicts.
©Stephen Richards
Five carved parrots (?) - no clues as to their significance, if any.
©Stephen Richards
Late-C19th buildings grouped around a courtyard and converted to flats for Urban Splash in 1997-98. The two lower floors look new while the original facades were retained above. It was built for the department store, Affleck and Brown, once regarded as "the Harrods of the North". Information from http://manchesterhistory.net.
©Stephen Richards
At the junction with Dale Street. Above the modern shop is 1860s Gothic with a pronounced coved cornice. Grade II listed.
©Stephen Richards

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