Eye On Manchester blog by Aidan O’Rourke Tutor Photographer

Personal & professional diary on photography, languages, Français, Deutsch, local interest, art, music, travel and more

www.EyeOnManchester.com, a new site for Manchester UK
Today I launched the Eye on Manchester website, incorporating the Eye On Manchester Blog using a very basic, hand-coded ‘beta’ site, a throwback to the early days of Eyewitness in Manchester, the first edition of which was uploaded on 18 Jan 1997, also a Monday. Eye On Manchester will follow on from Eyewitness on Manchester, which I stopped updating in 2005 and remains archived on the Manchester Online site.

A plain and simple site where content is king
Eye On Manchester will be a plain and simple site where content is king, consisting of just article pages and photos. Some articles will be by other contributors. The EOM Blog will appear on the home page, with links to articles, and there will be a forum where readers can exchange views and contribute opinions, information and reminiscences. Innovative, interactive maps are in planning, but that side of things is still in preparation.

Photos of Manchester available as prints
Photos will be available as prints, in association with Photobox Ltd, and as digital downloads, in association with Tradebit.com. There will be desktop wallpaper versions of all photos, as well as intermediate and high resolution versions. Selected articles will be available as PDF files, with large, screen-filling photos. Downloads can be purchased through micropayments or subscription, paid via credit card or PayPal.

Check the time and date in Manchester
Wherever you’re located, you can check the current time and date in Manchester on the clock, top right. More information services will be added in stages.

Many thanks from Eye On Manchester formerly Eyewitness in Manchester
Thanks to all those who have given me positive feedback over the years when I was producing Eyewitness in Manchester, and I hope that with the support of many good and committed people out there, Eye on Manchester will grow and grow. I felt compelled to launch the site and blog today when I was contacted by MG who told me about the possible fate of the two pubs.

Britons Protection Pub Manchester | Download Large size version

Is another piece of Victorian Manchester about to vanish?
Meanwhile the once grand but now derelict Plymouth Grove Hotel (1874), the magnificent Victorian pub with distinctive clock tower, featured in the book ‘Victorian Manchester and Salford’, could, I’m informed, be about to be disappear. As more pieces of the mosaic of Manchester are chipped away, many people wonder if the current development of Manchester is a case ‘One step forward, two steps back’?.

Final link about to disappear?
The Plymouth Grove Hotel is close to Mrs Gaskell’s house, itself a building at risk. At the moment the surrounding area is undergoing renewal, but the pub, a final link with the Victorian era, could be about to disappear. At the moment the pub has a ‘Sold’ sign on it. I will try to find out exactly what is happening, and report back in an upcoming edition of the Eye On Manchester Blog.