Prestatyn to Colwyn Bay

Posted on by modernmoocher

15.1 miles of National Cycle Route 5 – almost constantly, closely cuddling the coast.

Frank Patterson

Prestatyn

There is evidence that the current town location has been occupied since prehistoric times. Prehistoric tools found in the caves of Graig Fawr, in the nearby village of Meliden, have revealed the existence of early human habitation in the area.

“Sunny Prestatyn” became famous for its beach, clean seas and promenade entertainers, and visiting for a bathe was considered very healthy by city-dwelling Victorians.

The town is at the northern end of the Offa’s Dyke Path, although not on Offa’s Dyke itself.

The holiday camp in Prestatyn was built by the London Midland and Scottish Railway Co. in 1939. The main buildings were in classic 1930s style, featuring rounded building ends, steel framed windows and porthole windows. Chalets showed an early form of sectionalised building method.

Requisitioned as a military camp until after the Second World War, it reopened as a holiday camp in the early 1950s. The site was demolished and cleared between February and March 2001.

Coflein

The camp was sold in 1975 and taken over by Pontins, but it closed in 1985.

After that, it was used by the police for riot control training.

In 1973 the camp took a starring role in the comedy movie Holiday on the Buses.

The refurbished Pontin’s now trades as Prestatyn Sands.

Prestatyn offers the opportunity to engage in an impromptu game of Crazy Golf – though the facility was closed on the morning of my visit.

The crazy golf was fantastic the kids didn’t want to leave plus the lady was so helpful plus the price were very reasonable – would highly recommended.

The promenade is dominated by a tight knit group of modern leisure facilities.

An expansive car park fronts directly onto the seafront.

There have been serious reinforcements made to the seawalls – ensuring that the passing cyclist will not be washed away, by the crashing waves of the incoming tide.

The reinforcement work demands that we temporarily detour onto the Rhyl Coast Road, where we encounter Pirate Island Adventure Golf.

Uncover hidden treasure on the North Welsh Coast at Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Lyons Robin Hood Holiday Park.

Make friends with the great white shark, octopus, and the resident pirates who guard the Island.

This 18-hole course is a fun and crazy challenge for all the family, with stunning views of Rhyl seafront to boot. Plus, it’s located just a stone’s throw away from Sherwoods Sports Bar where refreshments are served.

Rhyl

Rhyl Sands: David Cox 1854

The Welsh orthography has proved difficult for English writers to transliterate as Rhyl’s opening voiceless alveolar trill is uncommon in the English language.

I nipped into town for a tub from Sidoli’s – £1.83 well spent.

The promenade is home to a series of entertainments including the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre

The theatre, owned and operated by Denbighshire Council, has also been re-clad as part of the project, designed by architects Space & Place.

It forms part of a wider redevelopment of Rhyl’s seafront, which includes the demolition of the Sun Centre and the construction of a £15m water park.

Place North West 2019

There is a also a becalmed Post Modernist Piazza – named Rhyl Events Arena.

The playful nursery geometry of the SeaQuarium.

The functionalist Vue Cinema.

Tickets were £5.99 for a standard seat, the staff said not to bother upgrading as the premium seats were rubbish, sound was okay and picture quality was okay. 

Food price was expensive so it maybe cheap to get in, but £16.99 for a large popcorn and drink ups the price, would go again if in the area.

Joanne H – Bingley UK

The slightly off-brown behemoth SC2 designed by architect Space & Place.

The former Sun Centre having been demolished.

The outdoor play area has a distinctive Ettore Sottsass theme.

Crossing the harbour by way of the brand new Pont y Ddraig Bridge opened in October 2013.

The bridge was designed by Gifford – now part of Ramboll and built by Dawnus, fabrication of the two bascule decks was by AM Structures.

Happy Pontist

Much of the coast is fringed with chalets and static caravans.

Kinmel Bay

Home to The Frothy Coffee.

There aren’t enough food, service, value or atmosphere ratings for The Frothy Coffee, yet – be one of the first to write a review!

Kinmel Bay beach is popular with tourists and the local population. In addition to various small shops and takeaway outlets, there is also an Asda superstore that opened in 1981, which includes a large petrol filling station.

Wikipedia

The concrete shore is softened by grasses and wild flowers – with views of the mountains beyond.

Here we are in Towyn

The town made national headlines in 1990 when a combination of gale-force winds, a high tide and rough seas caused Towyn’s flood defences to be breached at about 11.00am on 26 February. Four square miles of land was flooded, affecting 2,800 properties and causing areas of the resort to be evacuated. Further flooding occurred later the same week, on 1 March, shortly after the site of the disaster was visited by Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

Scientific experts also believe that the silt left behind from the flooding had left the town with a higher concentration of radioactivity, over ten times the governmental safety limits, most likely originating from the nuclear processing plant at Sellafield which had been dispersed into the Irish Sea over many years since its construction.

Wikipedia

Excitements galore, await at the well maintained funfair.

Motor cars to the fore, as the intrepid sea-anglers prepare for a day of sea-angling.

Abergele where Family Fun can be found in the form of Kiddies Karts.

In 2020/21 Abergele hosted the 20th and 21st editions of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! at Gwrych Castle, due to the Covid pandemic restrictions in Australia.

I failed to avail myself with a chilly treat courtesy of Danny’s Whippy, having already had my 99 tub, from Sidoli’s in Rhyl.

Local brewery Purple Moose’s delivery van driver takes a timely break, whilst fellow cyclists stop for a cig and a chat.

Rugged rocks, sadly lacking ragged rascals, as the Little Orme comes into view.

Cast concrete defences, and Raynes Quarry jetty at Llandulas.

The quarry was originally known as Llysfaen Limeworks, being close to Llysfaen railway station. James Trevelyan Raynes of Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, took over the quarry in the 1870s, adding large new limekilns. Lime from the quarry was shipped to various alkali works. Alkali was used for soap, textiles and many other goods.

Quarrying in this area has also produced porcelain-like limestone for high quality architectural uses. St Margaret’s Church – also known as the Marble Church in Bodelwyddan, was built with limestone from Llanddulas.

In November 2011 one of the freighters, MV Swanland, sank in stormy weather on the Irish Sea after collecting 3,000 tons of stone from Raynes jetty bound for the Isle of Wight.

Two crewmen were rescued but five, all Russian, were lost.

History Points

Almost the end of the line here in Old Colwyn – where there are the last of a series of shelters.

Formerly lining the prom all the way to Rhos on Sea

Cutting under the A55 Expressway to Colwyn Bay.

During World War II the Colwyn Bay Hotel, Marine Road – now demolished, was the headquarters of the Ministry of Food. This also housed the Cocoa & Chocolate division and was the communications hub for the ministry, they continued to use the hotel until 1953.

Wikipedia

Just in time for the 4.00 opening of Black Cloak Brewery & Taproom.

A fine and fitting end to a sunny day cycling along the North Wales Coastal Cycle Route.

Time for the train home to Stockport – but you can bet I’ll be back.

Burdock Way – Halifax

Posted on by modernmoocher

One man who saw the wisdom of building a road infrastructure to deal with high volumes of traffic passing through Halifax and to provide convenient links to the M62.

That man was prominent town councillor John Burdock.

Burdock Way, the modern flyover system, was opened in 1973 to take the A58 and A629 traffic over the River Hebble.

Peter Tuffrey: From The Yorkshire Post Archive

Faced with the problem of very high volumes of through traffic in its town centre, and with the impending construction of the M62 too far to the south to provide relief for the town, Halifax needed a bypass. The steep sided valley that the town centre inhabits prevented a conventional road from being built around the town, and so in the early 1970’s construction began on Burdock Way – one of the most adventurous relief road schemes built in Britain, certainly by a town the size of Halifax.

Only one phase of the futuristic road was ever built, but what exists is a partially grade-separated dual carriageway that runs through deep trenches and over tall viaducts close to the heart of the town. At its eastern end is a truly byzantine piece of traffic engineering that stretches the definition of a roundabout to its limit.

Roads

In October 1971 the official celebrations went anything but according to plan. It had been decided to give the people of Halifax a half day holiday so they could attend the opening, but there were not enough police on duty to control the sightseers. It was impossible to get complete silence for the speeches and arrangements to tell the artillery guns at Southowram Road when to fire broke down. They were fired prematurely while an archdeacon was offering prayers. The Mayor, HC McCrae, finally managed to announce that the bridge was officially open and he scurried back to the town hall where he hosted a banquet.

Burdock Way has never been fully completed as it is missing certain sections envisaged in the early 1960s plans. There are a number of reasons for this, but it is mainly owing to West Yorkshire County Council’s cost cutting in the 1970s. 

Yorkshire Post

This is the Valley of the Gwangi in the West Riding – minus the dinosaurs.

An urban chasm, the gulf between everything and nothing.

North Bridge is a Victorian iron and stone bridge crossing the valley of the River Hebble, connecting the town to roads to Bradford and Leeds. Replacing an earlier six arch stone bridge it was raised to allow the subsequent construction of the Halifax High Level Railway beneath it, along with an adjoining station.

Opened in 1871 amid chaotic crowd scenes it carried increasingly heavy traffic until it was by-passed by the Burdock Way in 1973.

It remains in use for local traffic.

Underpass – Chester

Posted on by modernmoocher

So it came to pass I visited another underpass or two – I’m a one man subway sect.

Having been to Scarborough, Rotherham, Milton Keynes, Newcastle and Stockport.

I’m overwhelmed by the underpass, where the passage of time is both slowed and hurried.

A feeling of unease will hasten your pace, a strange sense of transcendence allows you to linger longer.

There’s a world going on underground.

Rattle big black bones in the danger zone
There’s a rumblin’ groan down below
There’s a big dark town, it’s a place I’ve found
There’s a world going on underground

Tom Waits

The interlocking, converging and diverging passageways lit by both daylight, LED and UV have given the images a variety of colour casts.

Let’s take a look!

St Columba’s Church – Chester

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Plas Newton Ln Chester CH2 1SA

Architect: LAG Prichard – Son & Partners 1964/66

I caught the 51 Bus from the Bus Exchange – and the ever so helpful fellow passengers put me off at the right stop.

The church is set back from the road and sands in substantial grounds – visible through the surrounding houses.

A large site at the corner of Plas Newton Lane and Newhall Road was acquired, and a new church designed by the architects LAG Prichard, Son & Partners. The design embodied the ideals of Vatican II, with no seating more than fifty feet from the altar. It was designed for 675 people. The foundation stone was laid in September 1964 by Canon Murphy, and the 115 ft spire lowered into position in December 1964. The first Mass was on 19 December 1965, and the church was officially opened in 1966 by Bishop Grasar. St Columba was the third new Catholic church to be built in Chester after the Second World War.

The only glazing to survive from the original church scheme is small triangles of glazing on the sanctuary elevation and the dalle de verre-style baptistery window by Hans Unger & E Schulze.

Unger & Schulze ran a prominent mosaic and glass studio in London from 1960-74, and provided a large mosaic for another LAG Prichard church in 1965, St Jude’s in Worsley Mesnes – Wigan.

The coloured glazing depicting St Columba, Christ and the apostles was added in 1986.

Taking Stock

It is such a striking and dynamic church – angular, very angular.

Let’s take a good look around and about.

Pencadlys yr Heddlu – Bae Colwyn

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Glan Y Don Abergele Road Colwyn Bay LL29 8AW

North Wales Police – Heddlu Gogledd Cymru is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales.

Photo: Gareth Ellidge

As of March 2020, the force has 1,510 police officers, 170 special constables, 182 police community support officers, 71 police support volunteers, and 984 staff.

Wikipedia

Having cycled from Prestatyn, I popped into reception to ask permission to photograph the exterior of the HQ.

Following a short wait, I was granted permission.

The building is an imposing steel, concrete and glass system built structure of 1972, with brick outliers on a grassy site.

It has undergone adaptation to modern eco-standards.

The administration building for North Wales Police, located in Colwyn Bay, was typical of the breed: a 1970s leaky and draughty concrete-framed building with high solar gains, especially on the South and West facades. It consumed a lot of energy and delivered very poor comfort conditions.

The budget for the refurbishment was set at around £2.4 million. North Wales Police appointed Capita Symonds as the Project Manager with the design team comprising FSP Architects, Buro Happold, WS Atkins, and Faithful+Gould.

A system of brise-soleil solar shading was provided for the East, South and West facades. Combined with the reduced area of glazing, the brise soleil reduced the solar gains enough to avoid the need for mechanical cooling and for the natural ventilation strategy to be retained.

Roderic Bunn

The building’s most striking features are the entrance porch and water feature – a gentle hint of Oscar Niemeyer.

There is also a distinctive modular cast concrete screen wall.

Along with a more prosaic California screen block.

Walking the accessible area it is clear that the hard surfaces are broken up with the extensive planting and sylvan setting.

My thanks to the kindly receptionist for assisting me in my work. – much appreciated.

Diolch yn fawr!

Hyde Road Stadium – Manchester

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Hyde Road was a football stadium in West Gorton, Manchester, England.

It was home to Manchester City FC and their predecessors, from its construction in 1887 until 1923, when the club moved to Maine Road.

Billy Gillespie on the ball.

Before its use as a football ground, the site was an area of waste ground, and in its early days the ground had only rudimentary facilities. The first stand was built in 1888, but the ground had no changing facilities until 1896; players had to change in a nearby public house, the Hyde Road Hotel.

As a Chester’s house, a condition of the club’s official link to the pub was that supporters and club officials and players would sup Chesters ales, and in return Stephen Chesters Thompson of the brewery helped finance stadium improvements.

The move of MCFC to Maine Road in 1923 following a fire at the Hyde Road ground, didn’t adversely affect the Hyde Road Hotel and it continued to serve the West Gorton community and the once-bustling Hyde Road thoroughfare.  

As late as the 1980s, renamed the City Gates, it was a popular watering hole before the match for supporters travelling in from East Manchester.  It was kitted out in all sorts of MCFC memorabilia and was run by George Heslop, City legend of the 1960s, after he’d had the Royal George in town.

Sadly, as the community around it was decimated, the pub struggled and its last hurrah was as the City Gates theme pub.  The business failed in 1989 and the pub sat empty and rotting for twelve years until it was demolished, despite a half-hearted fans campaign to save it.  Two keystones from the Hyde Road Hotel reside in the MCFC memorial garden and are all that remain of this significant Manchester pub.

Pubs of Manchester

Sadly one of many Hyde Road pubs to bite the dust

By 1904 the ground had developed into a 40,000-capacity venue, hosting an FA Cup semi-final between Newcastle United and Sheffield Wednesday the following year.

The stands and terraces were arranged in a haphazard manner due to space constraints, and by 1920 the club had outgrown the cramped venue. A decision to seek an alternative venue was hastened in November 1920, when the Main Stand was destroyed by fire. Manchester City moved to the 80,000-capacity Maine Road in 1923, and Hyde Road was demolished shortly afterward. One structure from the ground is still in use in the 21st century, a section of roofing which was sold for use at The Shay, a stadium in Halifax.

Maine Road – which in turn closed on May 11th 2003, City losing 1-0 to Southampton

City are now at home at the Etihad – formerly the Commonwealth Games Stadium.

The area was also home to the Galloway Boiler Works – you can see the employees of 1900 here.

The northeastern end of City’s stadium was known as the Galloway End.

Bennett’s Iron Foundry also occupied the site – excavation of which, is currently taking place.

Bilclam furniture now sells for big money.

The foundry employed some of the club’s players, and the Galloway Boiler Works, supplied some of the materials to develop the Hyde Road ground.

Chorlton History

I had always known the area as the Olympic Freight Depot – seen from the passing train.

I cycled by the other day and the containers are long gone – the site is being cleansed to a depth of two metres.

Loitering by the gates, I asked if I may take some snaps .

Please y’self – so I did.

So what’s next on the cards, for this little corner of local history – set twixt Bennett Street and Hyde Road?

New homes is on the cards – and on the hoardings.

Plans have been revealed for a 337-home development on the Olympic Freight depot in West Gorton.

Brought forward by Sheffield-based Ascena Developments, the planning application to Manchester City Council outlines proposals for 191 houses and 146 apartments, split across two blocks.

Alongside the homes, the development would include a 3,000 sq ft circular community centre and café, shop, and a unit which is earmarked for a chip shop.

Place Northwest

However:

Kellen Homes has been granted planning consent to redevelop the thirteen-acre Olympic Freight depot on Bennett Street in Manchester into 272 homes. 

The developer, owned by Renaker founder Daren Whitaker, lodged plans for the West Gorton scheme last year following the withdrawal of an earlier and larger scheme drawn up by Sheffield-based Ascena Developments. 

So no chip shop, I assume?

Place Northwest

The site will require significant remediation, impacting the scheme’s viability, the report states.

As a result, no affordable housing is proposed.  

Thanks.

Edward Thompson – Sunderland

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Richmond St Monkwearmouth Sunderland SR5 1BQ

Bingo-Master’s Breakout!

Two swans in front of his eyes
Colored balls in front of his eyes
It’s number one for his Kelly’s eye
Treble-six right over his eye

Edward Thompson, the family printing business, was founded in Sunderland in 1867.

They identified a business opportunity when a local priest, Jeremiah O’Callaghan, ordered some bingo tickets for a parish fund-raising exercise.

From those humble beginnings, Edward Thompson mushroomed in size as Britain went bingo-mad in the 1960s, becoming first the UK’s and then the world’s biggest producer of bingo cards and tickets.

Sky News

The company which has been printing for more than 155 years – has been hit hard by the crash in bingo hall use as Covid ripped through the leisure sector. CEO Paddy Cronin said he was ‘gutted’ but the business had finally had to face the inevitable as the cashflow dried up.

We were built on a bet but our luck has now run out – he told The Northern Echo.

Covid completely changed the market and as the halls went into decline it just became untenable so I had to break the news to the workers.

They were the pioneers of newspaper bingo, printing the first cards in 1975 and going on to work in places like Bolivia and Belgium and even printing the ballot papers for Nelson Mandela’s 1994 election in South Africa.

So their number is up the factory is tinned-up, house has been called for the very last time.

Yeah, yeah, industrial estate

Well you started here to earn your pay
Clean neck and ears on your first day
Well we tap one another as you walk in the gate
And we’d build a canteen but we haven’t got much space

Industrial Estate

ST Luke’s RC – Salford

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13 Swinton Park Rd Salford M6 7WR

It was decided to build a new church in 1963, when the architects Burles, Newton & Partners were appointed and drew up a scheme for a church seating 470. Financial restraints delayed the start of building work until 1966. The contractors were William Thorpe and the foundation stone was laid by Bishop Burke in October 1967. The church was opened two years later in 1969. The church was built to reflect the emerging liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, with a wide interior affording full views of the altar.  The same architects designed a presbytery, added in 1974-5.  A sanctuary reordering took place at some point when the Blessed Sacrament Chapel became the Lady Chapel and the tabernacle was placed behind the altar. The altar rails were removed, and the sanctuary carpeted. Perhaps at the same time the font was brought from the baptistery into the body of the church.

Description

All orientations given are liturgical. The church is a steel-framed structure with loadbearing gable walls built on a series of rafts to guard against mining subsidence. It was designed to ensure that the congregation would have unimpeded views of the sanctuary, and the architects described the layout as ‘in conformity with the Spirit of the new Constitution’. The plan is near rectangular, angled at the east end, with a striking roof swooping up at the east end and trios of sharply pointed gables on each side.

The building is entered on the northwest side via a low porch which gives to a narthex and a former baptistery lit by a pyramidal roof light, attached on the west side. Light pours in to the narthex from a screen with semi-abstract stained glass with the ox symbol of St Luke, an original fixture. The nave is an impressive and memorable space with the boarded roof forming dramatic shapes which frame the east end and sanctuary, where a pair of full-height slit windows are angled to cast light without creating glare and frame a Crucifix. The roof rises up on each side of the big triangular windows on the north and south sides. Those to the south have stained glass showing the Tree of Life the True Vine and the Cross of Faith designed by Roy Coomber of Pendle Stained Glass in 2002-3. There is a cantilevered west gallery with a pipe organ set into the wall above it and a southeast chapel, now a Lady Chapel, formerly of the Blessed Sacrament, with stained glass on sacramental themes. A Pietà in the chapel probably originated in the previous church. The tabernacle, of stainless steel with high relief abstract modelling, was repositioned behind the altar at the time of the reordering. This item and the sanctuary Crucifix with a gilded figure are by an unknown artist. Stations of the Cross are by Harold Riley, installed in circa 2003. They consist of triptychs executed in pencil and wash. Other works by Riley include a study of the Virgin dated 2003 and a print of his painting Our Lady of Manchester.

Taking Stock

I had a very brief moment in time to photograph the interior in very low light.

But a little more time to wander around outside.

Central Area Flats – Sunderland

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Three nineteen-storey point blocks built as public housing as part of the redevelopment of Sunderland town centre. The blocks contain 270 dwellings in total. Construction was approved by committee in 1967.

The blocks were constructed by Sunderland County Borough Council.

The developers of the Town Central Area were Town and City Properties Ltd. It is believed that they contributed £38,600 to the development of the blocks.

Ian Frazer and Associates were the architects for the sub-structural works only.

Llewelyn, Davies, Weeks and Partners were the structural and mechanical engineers in addition to being the architects for the tower blocks.

Gilbert-Ash Northern Ltd.’s tender for the contract was £959,258 – construction began in March 1967.

Heritage Gateway

Astral House, Solar House and Planet House.

Welcome to Marineville – anything can happen in the next half hour.

In actuality the blocks sit upon a shopping centre – recently redeveloped as The Bridges.

And we are not in Marineville.

Though once upon a time it looked like this – a brave new shopping world, well worth producing a postcard for.

Photos: Sunderland Echo

Photo: Tom McKitterick

Thanks to Sunderland Antiquarian Society for the links.

This is the current state of affairs.

Though there are still some remnants of the original development.

The whole shebang is topped off with a roof top car park.

So in the absence of anything else happening in the next half hour, I took a look around.

A one bedroomed flat on the eleventh floor will cost you £45,000

Odeon and Ritz Cinemas – Sunderland

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44 Holmeside  Sunderland  SR1 3JE

Architects: Frederick Evans, Edwin Sheridan Gray

Black’s Regal Theatre was built on the site of the Olympia Exhibition Hall and Pleasuredrome 1897-1910 and it was built for the northern independent Black’s circuit. It opened on 28th March 1932 with Jessie Matthews in Out of the Blue.

The theatre was equipped with a Compton three manual, nine ranks theatre organ which had an Art Deco style console on a lift.

This was opened by organist J Arnold Eagle. The policy of the theatre for many years was pictures and variety and it had a fifty seven feet wide proscenium, the stage was forty feet deep and there were ten dressing rooms. Other facilities included a cafe and roller rink.

Regal/Odeon, Holmeside, Sunderland, Co. Durham

In 1955 the Black’s circuit was taken over by the Rank Organisation and the Regal was re-named Odeon from 28th November 1955. It was divided into a three screen cinema in 1975 with 1,200 seats in the former circle and two 150 seat screens in the rear stalls.

On 28th March 1982 a special 50th Anniversary concert was given by Phil Kelsall on the Compton organ. Three months later, on 26th June 1982 the Odeon was closed with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back, Mary Millington’s True Blue Confessions.

The building was boarded up and abandonded for a long period of time.

However it was to re-open as a Top Rank Bingo Club and remains in use today as a Mecca Bingo Club. The sub-division of the auditorium has been removed. In July 2009, it was announced that the building and the entire block had been the subject of a compulsory purchase order.

Cinema Treasures

I happened by the other day – attracted by the distinctive Deco tower.

And the building’s amazing mass.

I walked around the corner to find the side entrance – as the original lobby is no longer in use.

I was ever so fortunate to happen upon a convivial cleaner, who kindly invited me inside the auditorium.

Much of the interior detail is intact though the balcony was no longer in use.

On exiting, I noticed the ghost of the Regal.

Though the exterior is a pale shadow of its former self, the building is still intact and in use.

A close neighbour is the what was the Ritz latterly ABC Cinema.

Architects: William Riddell Glen

Opened on 1st March 1937 with Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers in Swing Time, the Ritz Cinema was built by the Union Cinemas chain. They were soon taken over by Associated British Cinemas – ABC. It was lavishly fitted with deep pile carpets and chandeliers.

In 1961 it was re-named ABC. It was converted into a two screen cinema from July/August 1974 when the former circle became a 534 seat screen and the front stalls a second screen seating 212. The rear stalls area was converted into a Painted Wagon pub. Sadly the conversion destroyed much of the original interior of the auditorium. It was later taken over by the Cannon Cinemas group, but later went back to the ABC name.

Sadly it closed on 29th April 1999, the last of Sunderland’s major cinemas.

It has recently reopened as The Point a nightclub which has four dance floors and has now completely lost all features of its cinematic past.

Cinema Treasures

Get y’self pumped!

Killingworth

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Construction of Killingworth, a new town, began in 1963. Intended for 20,000 people, it was a former mining community, formed on seven hundred and sixty acres of derelict colliery land near Killingworth Village. The building of Killingworth Township was undertaken by Northumberland County Council and was not formally a New Town sponsored by the Government. 

Unlike that town, Killingworth’s planners adopted a radical approach to town centre design, resulting in relatively high-rise buildings in an avant-garde and brutalist style that won awards for architecture, dynamic industry and attractive environment.

This new town centre consisted of pre-cast concrete houses, with millions of small crustacean shells unusually embedded into their external walls, five to ten storey flats, offices, industrial units and service buildings, which often consisted of artistic non-functional characteristics, shops and residential multi-storey car parks, interconnected by ramps and walkways. These made up a deck system of access to shopping and other facilities, employing the Swedish Skarne method of construction.

Killingworth Towers were demolished in 1987

Originally named Killingworth Township, the latter part was quickly dropped through lack of colloquial use.

Killingworth is referred to as Killy by many residents of the town and surrounding areas.

Around 1964, during the reclamation of the derelict pit sites, a fifteen acre lake south of the town centre was created; spoil heaps were levelled, seeded and planted with semi-mature trees.

Wikipedia

There were also groups of Calder Houses built, subsequently rendered neutral with render, their period characteristics erased.

Rightmove

All archive images RIBA pix

Once home to Thelma and Bob Ferris – whatever happened to the likely lads’ and lasses’ homes?

I had come in search of paradise on a 52 bus – too late was the cry, too late.

The winds of change had blown away the new coal dream, so I wandered lonely around the quiet streets.

The daffodils were past their best.

Telephone Exchange – Killingworth

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Killingworth Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 6UG

The building of Killingworth Township began in 1963, was undertaken by Northumberland County Council and was not sponsored by the Government.

RIBA pix

In 1987 the demolition of this three-tier housing estate of the township was undertaken by the Architects’ Department of the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside.

Photo: Philip Wolmuth

Once the wrecking ball arrives new town can begin to look like any old town.

Following Euan Lynn’s suggestion – I went to take a look around.

From the window of the 52 bus, I saw an enchanting Telephone Exchange.

A not too distant cousin of the Hadrian Exchange in Newcastle and their pal over the Tyne in Gateshead.

It is a real delight – an exceptional spiral staircase and futuristic chamfered windows angled at each of the four corners.

Let’s take a loving look around.

Williams Deacon’s Bank – Sheffield

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106 The Moor Sheffield S1 4PD

Currently to let

  • 2510 􏰀 5775 Square Feet
  • Self Contained Ground Floor Retail Unit
  • Seperate Offices Over First & Second Floor
  • WIthin Close Proximity to ongoing major redevelopment at The Moor

And looking for love.

I have often wandered by and wondered, well what were you?

The answer arrived last week on Instagram via Sheffield Modernist

Architects: WT Gunson & Son.

Images: Design In Sheffield 2 1964/5

@sheffieldmodernist

Williams Deacon’s Bank

This joint-stock bank was established in Manchester in 1836 as Manchester & Salford Bank by a group of promoters keen to take advantage of recent legislation allowing the formation of joint-stock banks outside London. The bank had up to 15 directors and the issued capital was £1m, of which £252,100 was paid up by December 1836.

RIBA Pix: Headquarters building for William Deacon’s Bank Limited – Mosley Street Manchester: the garden at podium level.

Harry S Fairhurst & Son 1965

The first shareholders’ meeting, in May 1836, took place in temporary premises, but in August 1836 a banking house was rented in King Street. Land off Mosley Street was later acquired and a new banking house completed in 1838.

In 1969 The Royal Bank of Scotland was restructured and Williams Deacon’s became a direct subsidiary of a new holding company, National & Commercial Banking Group. The following year the holding company’s subsidiaries in England and Wales – Williams Deacon’s Bank, Glyn, Mills & Co and the English and Welsh branches of The National Bank – merged to form Williams & Glyn’s Bank.

In 1972 Williams & Glyn’s Bank joined with five other European banks to form the Inter Alpha Banks Group to exploit opportunities in the European Economic Community. In 1985 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s two major subsidiary holdings, Williams & Glyn’s Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland, were fully merged as The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

The very merry monopolies and mergers merry dance – consequently this perfectly formed Modernist bank stands alone and forlorn.

Love, for sale or to let.

St David’s Church – Penrhyn Bay

Posted on by modernmoocher

St David’s – 1 Penrhyn Beach East Penrhyn Bay Llandudno LL30 3NT

This church was built in 1963 to a design by Rosier and Whitestone of Cheltenham, to replace a wooden church of 1929.

I had previously cycled by on one of my tours of North Wales – stopping to snap the elegant exterior.

On this occasion I contacted the church to arrange access to the interior – the building is open from 10.00 – 12.00 most weekdays.

The church has been recommended for listing in this CADW report on post war architecture in Wales.

St David’s deserves listing, a distinctive building with a remote slate clad campanile.

The interior does not disappoint, a light and airy space with confident curved wooden roof struts and clear angled arched windows.

My thanks to the kindly parishioner Alan, who made me more than welcome on the day of my visit.

Sadly the bell is no longer seated – its shell cracked and the wooden support rotted away.

Let’s take a look inside.

The organ pipes are purely decorative – the current console being digital.

Thanks again all for your time and informative conversation.

Further Education

Posted on by modernmoocher

The first school of design in the UK, the Government School of Design, was established in 1837 and went on to become the Royal College of Art. It marked the beginnings of the development of technical education in the UK, which expanded in the remaining decades of the 19th century, and was largely instigated by the Science and Art Department of the Board of Trade, formed in 1853.  In 1856 the Science and Art Department transferred from the Board of Trade to the Education Department and administered grant-aid to art schools from 1856 and to schools of design and technical schools from 1868.

The Technical Instruction Act 1889 permitted local authorities to levy rates to aid technical or manual instruction. County and borough councils began to provide technical instruction by day and evening classes.

The Local Taxation Customs and Excise Act 1890 diverted ‘whisky money’ from publicans to local authorities for assisting technical education or relieving rates, boosting investment in technical instruction.

By the end of the 19th century continuing education was provided by a variety of bodies in a number of forms:

  • day continuation schools 
  • evening schools and classes
  • mechanics institutes
  • schools of art
  • polytechnics
  • university extension lectures
  • tutorial classes
  • working men’s colleges and courses

Under the 1902 Education Act, changes to conditions attached to government grants encouraged the expansion of technical education. Local Education Authorities took over most of the evening continuation schools.

Major changes occurred after the Second World War. Junior technical schools , commercial schools and schools of art were fully integrated into the revised system of secondary education.

National Archives

The development of technical and art education were inextricably linked to the industrialisation of the north of England.

The Textile Court or main gallery space of the Arts and Crafts Museum of the Manchester Municipal School of Art, photographed in 1898-1901.

Flickr

Manchester School of Art was established in 1838 as the Manchester School of Design. It is the second oldest art school in the United Kingdom after the Royal College of Art which was founded the year before.

The school opened in the basement of the Manchester Royal Institution on Mosley Street in 1838. It became the School of Art in 1853 and moved to Cavendish Street in 1880. It was subsequently named the Municipal School of Art. In 1880, the school admitted female students, at the time the only higher education available to women, although men and women were segregated. The school was extended in 1897.

Wikipedia

The mill towns which encircled the city of Manchester each had their own independent colleges of Art and Design.

Textiles in particular required practitioners in surface pattern and garment design and construction, innovative and skilled students were in demand for print, engineering, architecture and general manufacturing – who also required the services of typographers, illustrators, commercial and graphic designers.

Having left school aged sixteen in 1971, all I ever wanted to do was go to Art School.

My local college was the then Ashton under Lyne College of Further Education – the full-time mode of study was then a two year Pre-Diploma Course.

It had begun life as the Heginbottom School of Art based at – Heginbottom Technical Schools School of Art and Free Library Old Street Ashton-under-Lyne.

The new Technical Schools and Free Library, which has just been completed were opened for students without any formal ceremony. The building has been erected from designs prepared by Messrs John Eaton and Sons, architects, Ashton, at a cost, including fittings of £16,000. 

The building is now Grade II listed and the library and college long gone.

A blue plaque in the main entrance celebrates the former student Raymond Ray-Jones.

Father of photographer Tony Ray-Jones.

This is the syllabus of 1924-25 – courses take place in evening as students would have been working during the day.

Many of the classes were clearly defined by gender.

Drawing was a seen as a skill which underpinned he majority of disciplines.

Some of the provision was non-vocational.

Forward now to 1959-60.

There are now full-time courses in Art and Design – though there were no degree courses until 1974, students would find employment, places on a teacher training course or possibly progress to one of the London colleges, which did have graduate status.

There were still clear distinctions in what were considered women’s skills, which also reflected the patterns of employment.

There was also an increasing distinction between specialisms, Fine and Applied Arts taking diverging paths.

An astounding range of skills were available on a part time evening basis, opening up vocational or non-vocational options.

These were always affordable and well attended.

Art and design education had undergone a major transformation in the early 1960s. The Coldstream report -1960/ 1962 had restructured art education: the existing National Diploma in Design had been replaced with a three year Diploma in Art and Design in 1963. The Dip.AD was conceived as providing ‘a liberal education in art’ and had four areas of specialisation: textiles/fashion, three dimensional design, graphic design, and fine art. Other subjects, such as electronic media, photography and film, were incorporated into fine art or graphic design courses.

The Dip.AD was intended to be the equivalent of a university degree. To achieve this academic entry requirements, at least five O’ levels, were introduced; although exceptions could be granted for “students with outstanding artistic promise”, very few were: only 36 were made in 1967 . The Dip. AD itself contained a compulsory academic element and enhanced art history component: taken together these accounted for 15 per cent of course time and 20 per cent of the final pass mark. One year Pre-diploma (latterly Foundation) courses termed Basic Design, were also introduced, these a product of the Bauhaus approach to art education, pioneered in the UK by and Richard Hamilton, Tom Hudson, Harr Thubron, Maurice de Sausmarez,, and Victor Pasmore. Basic Design was a form of ‘creative education’ involving basic analytic experiment and a “clearing of the slate”

Centre for Global Higher Education

The college which I attended was opened on March 3rd 1964.

Gone were the autocratic Victorian stylings of the Heginbottom School – The College of Further Education represented a more open democratic age.

The communal areas were light and airy, with full-length windows, wooden floors, contemporary furniture and fittings.

The teaching rooms and workshops well equipped and staffed, with ample support from technicians and lecturers.

This was a no expense spared build – we were made to feel valued, in an institution purpose built for our education and future lives.

The full-time course was five full days a week, with one late evening for photography and art history.

I attended ever single day for two years, we were eager to learn and following an introductory merry go round of design disciplines, students were able to choose their own route.

I was privileged to have been taught by Bill Clarke as a student of Fine Art – of whom fellow Ashton student Chris Ofili said:

After six months on the foundation course I chose to specialise in painting and drawing. The teacher there, Bill Clarke, introduced me to painting in a way that didn’t make me feel restricted or limited. Not only was it something completely new, but it was something that allowed me to investigate further into who I am. He taught us that it wasn’t so much about painting a scene and making sure you got the shading right, but trying to get to a point where the thing that works is absolutely critical and essential to you as a living, breathing person. I was obviously aware of famous artists, but I suppose I never really thought that was what you could do with your life. He opened the door enough to make me think that it was worth going into the room.

Tate

Photo: Andy Duncan 2023

A huge emphasis was placed on observational drawing in the life-room, in addition to more exploratory work in a variety of media.

I also spent a great deal of time in the Print Room working in both etching and lithography with lecturer Colin Radcliffe.

Returning to the college four years ago, I found that the life room was now in use by the Animal Management course.

The site had been undergoing refurbishment and new development.

Built by Kier and designed by IBI Taylor and Young the Advanced Technologies Centre has been constructed following a £10.5 million investment.

Levolux designed, supplied and installed a customised architectural facade solution as part of the £10.5 million development of the Advanced Technologies Centre.

ITP supplied our VCL 250 vapour control layer as a protective solution underneath a stunning façade design. With a mono-filament reinforcement scrim for tensile strength, its polyethylene-based membrane ensures that the building envelope is properly sealed to control ventilation, prevent heat loss and protect insulates from interstitial condensation.

The single storey building was previously home to the Ceramics and Textiles rooms.

The Construction Skills Centre has been designed by Manchester-based architects 10 Architect.

Heckford Signs work with Willmott Dixon approached on a new coloured acrylic sign for the new Construction Skills Building at Tameside College.  The aim for this new sign was to create a showcase of the college logo at an eye-catching size, to include 3D elements which would be housed on the East elevation of the impressive new building on campus.

The rolling curves of the original workshops have been retained and updated.

Since leaving the college in 1973, I graduated from Portsmouth Polytechnic with a BA(Hons) Printmaking, subsequently spending thirty years of my working life teaching in a variety of Further Educational sites across Manchester.

Fielden Park College seen here in 1973 – where I taught design to the printing apprentices.

Originally designed by the City Architect SG Besant Roberts in 1965, refurbished by Walker Simpson Architects.

Closed.

Wenlock Way – an annex of Openshaw Technical College, a former primary school which housed courses in Sign Writing, Jewellery, Horology and Retail Display.

Demolished.

Openshaw College – since demolished and rebuilt.

We were relocated to Taylor Street in the former Bishop Greer School – renamed the East Manchester Centre.

Since demolished to make way for an old people’s home.

Following the reorganisation of Manchester’s FE provision we were moved again to the former Yew Tree High School, Arden Sixth Form College – renamed City College Manchester.

This block was eventually demolished to make way for the new Northenden Centre – which closed last year.

Everyone was relocated to the brand new building on the former Boddington’s Brewery site.

Everyone but me, as I left in 2014 to become a modern moocher.

Manchester College City Campus

Following build completion in July, the long awaited 27,000 square metre, four-storey campus, designed by Bond Bryan and Simpson Haugh, offers a range of facilities, creating an exceptional student experience. It becomes the home of the College’s Industry Excellence Academies for Hospitality and Catering, Creative and Digital Media, Music, Computing and Digital as well as its Centres of Excellence for Visual Arts and Performing Arts.

It accommodates a range of Higher Education courses such as the UCEN Manchester’s School of Computing and Cyber-Security, The Manchester Film School and The Arden School of Theatre and the School of Art, Media and Make-up. 

BDP

Things may come and things may go but the Art School Dance goes on forever.

My thanks to the Tameside Local Studies Centre for assisting me in accessing their archive material.

Eagle Market – Derby

Posted on by modernmoocher

Derby’s Eagle Market, which has been open for nearly 50 years, is set to close for good in around six months from now. The indoor market is expected to shut down in March, traders were told in a memo late last month.

The long-standing city centre market has undergone major changes since opening in 1975. Over the past 46 years, dozens of traders have come and gone, from fruit and veg sellers to fine clothes retailers, pottery makers.

The nut stall that is greatly missed by nut fans.

Singer Frankie Vaughan opens Jack’s Rainwear at the market in 1976.

When it first opened, the venue was a maze of hexagonal stalls, which gave it a futuristic look, but it was a confusing layout and it was difficult to navigate and find the stall you wanted. The hexagons came down in 1990 in favour of a more traditional, open layout which made the market easier to escape in the event of a fire.

The Modernist modular structure replaced by a higher High-Tech roofing solution.

Petes Heel bar will be missed, along with his missing apostrophe.

Text and Photographs – Derby Telegraph

The redevelopment masterplan includes new homes and commercial uses with new public spaces and walkable streets that will integrate the site with the rest of the City Centre and improve new connections to the river. There is scope to introduce some tall buildings to make better use of the site with new food and beverage, leisure and other activity at ground floor level. The proposals will contribute towards the Council’s vision in a way that responds positively to the site context including surrounding character areas.

Derby Cathedral Quarter

I first came here four years ago – as the market was a venue for the Format International Photo Festival.

Saturday Girl – Casey Orr

The market was already showing signs of decline, empty units and shutters shut down.

April 2023 the lights are on and there’s almost nobody home.

Cayton Bay – Concrete

Posted on by modernmoocher

Things come and go on the coast.

As Mr Marx noted:

All that is solid melts into air.

The soft clays of the cliffs are subject to constant erosion.

In 2008 fresh landslips have occurred around Cayton Bay. The bungalows built on the old holiday camp at Osgodby Point have started to suffer serious erosion. The cliffs around the Cornelian and Cayton areas are just made of soil. So erosion is to be expected. It may taken time. But there is not much which can be done to prevent the seas moving in.

Scarborough Maritime History

The Pumping Station was partially demolished in 1956.

Several well worn layers of geological time have been hanging around for a while now.

Whilst the long-gone critters are but fossilised versions of their former selves.

The rocks found at Cayton Bay are Jurassic aged from the Callovian stage. At the north end of Cayton Bay, the Cornbrash Formation can be seen, comprised of red-brown, sandy, nodular, bioturbated limestone with oysters and other bivalves.The Cornbrash lies beneath the start of the Cayton Clay Formation. Walking south towards Tenant’s Cliffs, Lower Calcareous Grit is brought to beach level, followed by a calcareous limestone. At the waterworks, low tides reveals a section in the Middle and Upper Jurassic rocks.

On scouring tides, argillaceous limestone and calcareous sandstone can be seen layered along the Upper Leaf of the Hambleton Oolite, which is seen excellently in the low cliff on the southern side of the Brigg. The tough, impure limestone contains well-preserved bivalves and ammonites. The sequence is shown in the diagram but faulting has caused unconformities.

During scouring, Oxford Clay can be seen along the foreshore south of the argillaceous limestone. Walking further south, Red Cliff is reached, where rocks of the Osgodby Formation slope above the Oxford Clay.

UKFAH

The Wallis’s Holiday Camp of 1936 – eventually overwritten by a more a la mode commercial enterprise.

Photos: Glen Fairweather

Also missing in action the NALGO Holiday Camp – we are no longer a land of the Closed Shop, rather a land of the closed trade union holiday camp.

There was a similar setup at Croyde Bay.

Originally the first Trade Union holiday camp in the North of England, owned by NALGO it opened its doors in 1933. It had 124 wooden bungalows, accommodating 252 visitors. A dining hall with waiter service, a rest room along with recreation rooms for playing cards, billiards, a theatre for indoor shows and dancing was also provided. The new centre also provided Tennis courts, Bowling greens along with a children’s play area. The visitors could walk to the beach where there was a sun terrace and beach house which also had a small shop.

Click here to see photos of the NALGO camp from the 1930s.

One of the earliest visitors were the family of poet Philip Larkin and during the Second World War it became a home for evacuated children from Middlesbrough.  

The NALGO camp closed in 1974 and was later sold.

The wide sandy bay was an ideal location for WW2 pillboxes and gun emplacements – anticipating a possible North Sea invasion.

They too are built quite literally on shifting sands.

The pillbox – one of many built along the coast to defend against an invasion during World War II – had started to break down, leaving one large piece of stone in a precarious position.

Rob Shaw, of Ganton, noticed the large slab was propped up dangerously against another piece of stone last September.

He said he reported his concerns to Scarborough Borough Council then, but that nothing was done until last month.

The dad-of-two said before the work:

I used to work in construction and I would have been fired if I had left a lump of concrete like that, it could weigh four or five tonnes.

It just needs lying flat on the sand so it can’t fall on anyone.

A spokesperson for Scarborough Borough Council said the council had assessed the pillbox and arrangements had been made for the problem section to be removed.

The Scarborough News

This unstable cliff-top structure was allegedly hastened bay-wards by the Council.

Claims that we pushed the pillbox off the cliff are untrue – our colleagues have many amazing talents but pushing huge concrete structures is not one of them. The structure people can see at the base of the cliff is the other section of the pillbox that has been on the beach for many years.

Yorkshire Post

So let’s take a look at the state of play as of March 2023 – walking amongst these crumbling concrete remnants.

Scarborough Art Gallery

Posted on by modernmoocher

The history of the building which today houses Scarborough Art Gallery began in 1828, when local solicitor and Town Clerk, John Uppleby, in partnership with local builders John Barry and his brother William, bought the land on which The Crescent would be built from the wealthy local banker and shipowner, John Tindall. In 1830, the York architect Richard Hey Sharp and his brother Samuel were commissioned to draw up plans for the site.

Crescent Villa was the last of the villas to be built, erected in 1845 as a home for John Uppleby and his family. After John’s death in 1856, his wife and family continued to live in the house until her death in 1881, at which time it was bought by Edward Chivers Bower, father of the sculptor Lady Ethel Alice Chivers Harris and the great grandfather of Katharine, Duchess of Kent.

Bower renamed the house ‘Broxholme’ after his family seat near Doncaster.

Photo: Doc Brown

Following Henry Donner’s death, the house was purchased by Scarborough Corporation in 1942 for £3000 and for five years was used as a welfare clinic and children’s nursery. The clinic moved out in February 1947 and the Corporation decided to turn the building into a public art gallery.

The Scarborough Art Gallery opened to the public on 17 November 1947.

The permanent collection includes paintings donated by famous hotelier Tom Laughton, the brother of the film star and actor Charles Laughton.

Detail from a 1931 map of Scarborough by Edward Bawden – Scarborough Museums Trust collection

Both Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden, who were close friends, became acquainted with Tom Laughton, who acted as a patron, particularly to Bawden and commissioned pieces from him to adorn his hotels.

Wikipedia

I visit Scarborough at least once a year – travelling by train from my home in Stockport and one occasion cycling from Hull.

Whilst visiting, a visit to the gallery is almost de rigueur.

This year I had a particular interest in the gallery’s photographic exhibition Squaring The Circles

The works on show demonstrate radical and experimental investigations into the process of making photographs. From cyanotypes and daguerreotypes to pinhole and cameraless imagery, the exhibition blurs the boundaries between art and photography, resulting in an expressive, otherworldly, and inspiring display.

Exhibiting photographers include Takashi Arai, Angela Chalmers, David Chalmers, Susan Derges Hon FRPS, David George, Joy Gregory Hon FRPS, Tom Hunter Hon FRPS, Ian Phillips McLaren, Céline Bodin and Spencer Rowell.

Curated by Zelda Cheatle Hon FRPS.

I turned up paid my three pounds for an annual pass and looked around.

This is what I saw inside and out.

Angela Chalmers

Tom Hunter

Tom Hunter

Susan Derges

Céline Bodin

Tom Hunter

The show’s full title was Squaring the Circles of Confusion – here’s some information to dispel the confusion

Photopedagogy

Not top be confused with the Ball of Confusion.

Go see the show.

Collyhurst Cheetham Circular

Posted on by modernmoocher

It’s Friday, the rain has almost stopped and I have a job to do.

The putative William Mitchell totem in Eastford Square is being moved.

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.

Derelict Manchester

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.

MCR Property

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.

Britain from Above

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.

About Manchester

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.  

Manchester Gov UK

The Victoria North Express is coming your way!

Pressing on we pass the Showman’s quarters.

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.

MEN.

Emerging eventually onto Rayburn Way.

Home to the Eden Girls Leadership Academy and Eden Boys Leadership Academy.

And a whole host of delightful light industrial units.

Let’s all go west – along North Street.

On the corner of Derby Street and Honey Street we find Hamnett & Andrew – Insuflex Works

Later transformed into Linen Hire, though I fear that further linen hire may well be in abeyance, on a permanent basis.

What was happening at the Queens Arms back in 1966?

These were the older premises.

Then next door, the newer premises.

Photo: Alison G

The Queens Arms was held in high regard amongst the real ale crowd and had been a regular fixture in the Good Beer Guide.  

As recently as 2007 it was named the City Life Pub of the Year, 

Empress Brewery Co Ltd – 383 Chester Road, Old Trafford.

Registered as above May 1896 – 236 public houses. 

Acquired by Walker Cain Ltd. 1929 and brewing ceased.

Brewery History

The pub was extended in 1987.

Seen here in 2015 closed for the foreseeable.

Recently becoming Flamingo – well strike me pink!

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!

Corinthians 5:17

Archival photographs – Manchester Local Image Collection

Postcards from Swansea

Posted on by modernmoocher

Obliquely beginning with a postcard to Swansea

A Swansea man has been left scratching his head after receiving a postcard from Spain 29 years after it was sent.

The card, dated September 25 1986, dropped through the letterbox of Gethin Davies from Bonymaen.

Bearing two 1980s Spanish stamps and a British second-class stamp, it was sent by someone called Phyl, to a Mrs E Leon.

Mr Davies now hopes to reunite it with the person it was intended for.

Princess of Wales Court

In his postcard, Phyl writes that the weather is nice, he has a self-catering apartment near a pond, but complains about the expensive cost of Spanish bread at £1 a loaf. 

Although it was delivered to the right address on the card, Mr Davies said he has no clue who either Phyl or Mrs Leon could be.

I’ve been baffled by it really.

I suppose Mrs Leon once lived in my flat, but I’ve asked around neighbours who have lived here twenty or thirty years, and none of them have ever heard of her.

The Post Office say they have no idea what could have happened to the postcard for twenty nine years, may be it got stuck in a sorting machine, may be given that it’s got both British and Spanish stamps on it, someone found it and posted it on.

Really I’d just like to find out who either Phyl or Mrs Leon are, so I could finally give it to them after all this time.

Curiously the story does not reproduce the picture of the picture postcard.

Dear Eddie, this is a very pleasant place and the weather is just right. The food is very expensive though over £1 for a loaf of bread! We have a self catering little apartment by the side of a pond complete with ducks.

Love Phil xxx

September 25th 1986

BBC Wales

My interest is in both sides of the subject – the choice of picture and the carefully composed message on the obverse.

I have written concerning shopping precincts and shopping precinct postcards and often make reference to postcards when compiling posts about places.

There is something very poignant about the handwritten reportage of holidays past and also a sadness attached to the blank other side -sentiments forever unsent.

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

We are all going somewhere or nowhere or other – we report back.

Having a nice relaxing holiday. Not had good weather. Got caught in rain on Friday have lost my voice. Uncle Jim laughing

Auntie Ethel & Jim

Hope Leslies finger is coming on alright

20th August 1968

Hello Sharon, hope you are as happy as can be. Sorry I can’t tell you anything about your country, as I’ve never been; not yet anyway.

Bye Don

23rd April 1979

Dear Rita, here we are enjoying our holiday with Frank, Jacky & Stuart. The weather has been very poor, but there is an improvement today. Hope all is well with you. Lynn her husband and the little ones are visiting on thursday, so we shall have a real tea-party.

Everyone joins in sending love to you.

Frank & Irene

July 23rd 1985

David, Best Wishes

From

Steve

Swansea University

Wish we were there?