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

A new apartment building has been proposed for construction in Castlefield. Designed by Ian Simpson, architect of No 1 Deansgate and the Beetham Hilton Tower, it’s a low-rise contemporary style rectangular glass structure. It would be built on the site of the former pub on Jackson’s Wharf. The pub was built during the 80s in the style of neighbouring warehouses, but closed some time ago.

I’ve written about Castlefield in the past, and I regard it as one of Manchester’s success stories, but the success has only been mixed. A derelict no-go area has been transformed into a beautiful canalside district that celebrates Manchester’s industrlai past.

But in other respects, Castlefield has not lived up to expectations. It is often quiet by day and by night. Pubs have closed, most notably the Quay Bar, an award-winning piece of modern architecture, now standing derelict. Why is this?

Could it be that the Quay Bar was simply out of character with Castlefield?

We have to look at the whole raison-d’etre of Castlefield – What makes it the place it is? How does it stand apart from other parts of the city.

In my opinion, it is the unique combination of late 18th century and early 19th century industrial architecture, the canals, locks, wharves and footpaths, and of course the bridges, both the railway bridges and footbridges that make Castlefield stand out from other places.

Can old and new co-exist within Castlefield? Of course. The curved footbridge next to Barca is a good example – it is contemporary in style, but echoes the forms of the 19th century railway bridges.

So what of the proposed building? Does it fit into the existing character of Castlefield? Does it echo the surrounding architecture? Will it add to the uniqueness of Castlefield by providing something you won’t find anwhere else.

In the opinion of Eye On Manchester answer to these questions is NO NO and NO.

We already have a large number of rectangular glass structures of a similar type dotted around Manchester and most other cities. This one would destroy Castlefield’s unique character as a place that exemplifies the industrial revolution era in Manchester. It would clash with the surrounding buildings in a most jarring way.

Whatever appears on Jackson’s Wharf should be sympathetic to its surroundings, low-impact and definitely not another apartment building. Or alternatively, how about this novel solution: Make a small park with a childrens’ play area?

I fully agree with all those who are opposed to this building – including Mike Harding, Cllr Pat Karney and others

Visit Pride of Manchester to find out more about the campaign to oppose the construction of this building.

When you follow the map or satnav, you are taken along the main roads. But when you know all the back streets, as I do, you can find more interesting ways through the streets of Manchester. Read about my alternative way out of Manchester heading south, and why I always take it.

If you’re coming from the Northern Quarter, my favourite district of Manchester, and want to head south along the A6, the obvious route is to go via Newton Street, left onto Piccadilly and on via London Road, the A6.

But I have another route that takes you down the back streets and forgotten corners behind Piccadilly Station.

We’ll start at Tib Street car park, where I often park. First we turn left onto Dale Street and continue straight on, across Oldham Street, past the site of the building demolished after fire – at the time of writing there is a protective fence extending across two lanes of Dale St.

Just after that fence is where my ’secret’ route begins. Keep to the left hand lane and at the junction with Newton St, continue onto the southern section of Dale Street.

This street has lots of local associations: On the right is the now empty Foo Foo’s Palace, empty and abandoned since the sad death of the celebrated transvestite entertainer Foo Foo Lamaar a few years ago.

On the left are the magnificent turn-of-the-20th-century commercial buildings, featured in ‘Life On Mars’.

At this point you could turn right onto Piccadilly viat Paton St, but we will continue south, past the castelleted gate of the former Ashton canal basin. A sympathetically designed modern building has just been completed next to it. This area is now being transformed into an upmarket residential district.

Now we are at Ducie Street. Again here you could turn right, and join London Road at the bottom of Piccadilly Station approach, but I prefer to turn left along Ducie Street. On the right is The Place, a development of rental apartments housed in the former London Warehouse.

Now we are reaching the most exciting part of our journey, and we turn onto Jutland St (former Junction Street).

Jutland St is Manchester city centre’s steepest street. Tarmac has turned into to cobbles, and as we drive forward over the uneven surface – we cross a bridge over the Ashton Canal, then there is suddenly a precipitous drop. The street leads down at an incline of… it must be one in three. There are no warning signs. If you drove at 30mph you would shoot into the air, like in an American cops movie and come crashing back onto the cobbles.

As you head down Jutland St, you need to get into a low gear – second or first .

At the bottom of the hill you are at the junction with Store Street, behind Piccadilly Station. Store Street is said to run above one of Manchester’s lost rivers.

Turn right here, and then second left into Boad Street, past Piccadilly Station multi-storey car park on the left, under the access bridge, and on past the station undercroft, on the right, with is the shadowy pillars. What secrets of the old Manchester are concealed in that undercroft?

We continue along Sheffield Street, running directly behind the station. Commercial premises are housed under the arches.

After dark you may see ‘ladies of the night’ standing on the left next to the parking spaces, on Sheffield St, though not always, perhaps depending on police activity.

At the end of Sheffield Street we turn right onto Travis Street, and under the ‘tunnel’ beneath the tracks leading into Piccadilly Station.

This ‘tunnel’ is a fascinating record of Manchester’s railway development. You can see the original narrow brick viaduct, with additions on either side added in later decades of the 19th century.

We then reach the traffic lights with Fairfield Street. Just ahead is the former Mayfield Station, at the time of writing still standing derelict. It was a overspill station opened in 1911 to cope with extra traffic into London Rd. It was closed in 1960 and used as a parcel depot till the 1980s. It may yet re-open as a passenger station.

Normally we would be able to continue straight ahead and under the former BT building, but due to its conversion into the MacDonald Manchester hotel, that road is closed.

So we must turn right onto Fairfield Street, passing under the railway bridge built in the late 50s which supports platforms 13 and 14 of Piccadilly Station. Now we arrive at the traffic lights next to the new entrance to Piccadilly Station, and turn left onto London Road.

We are now on the A6 and heading south east. That’s it, my ’secret’ route out of Manchester city centre, a route takes us through a forgotten but fascinating part of the city that’s steeped in the memories of the ‘old’ Manchester.

To see some fascinating images and a superb piece of music inspired by this part of Manchester, go to www.digi-doc.co.uk/Chapeltown.mpg