Manchester Television and the city Ghosts of Winter Hill graphic
I am at the preview of the exhibition Manchester Television & the city, Ghosts of Winter Hill, on the top floor of Urbis in Manchester.
All I can say is that I am bowled over by this exhibition which trawls through lost images – still and moving – from the history of television in Manchester.
I pretty much grew up with local TV. I remember getting our Murphy black and white 405 lines TV around 1965, and seeing the Granada logo flickering on the screen. We had to hold the aerial in various positions to pick up the signal from the Winter Hill transmitter.
The exhibition documents the remarkable history of Manchester as a television centre from the mid-50s to the present day.
There are scores of amazing archive black and white and colour pictures of personalities and locations, including the Granada TV studios on Quay St, as well as key figures such as Michael Parkinson, Ray Gosling, Fred Dibnah and many others.
There are also compilations of archive footage from obscure and long-forgotten programmes, some of which I remember. They make fascinating viewing and I’d love to have them on DVD.
Starting at the earliest origins in the fifties, we walk through a series of living rooms each with a sofa and period tv set up to the present day and the future in the shape of Media City in Salford Quays and the imminent digital switchover.
I’m happy to say I have one image in the exhibition: It’s the Manchester dusk cityscape background in the living room half way through on the left.
My reaction was quite emotional, seeing long lost faces like those of Ray Gosling – who is still active – and of Fred Dibnah and Tony Wilson who sadly are no longer with us.
The exhibition has been curated by veteran Manchester broadcaster and writer Phil Griffin and Urbis exhibition project manager Paul Luckcraft.
I can’t recommend it too highly. It’s on from 4 November 2009 to April 2010.
For more info go to the Urbis website.