At the Towers in Didsbury

Now I am back with the Towers on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury.*

For most of the last century it was called the Shirley Institute and it is a building with a lot of history.

It was built between 1868 and 1872 by John Taylor who founded the Manchester Guardian in 1821.

Here in 1882 the decision was taken by a group of businessmen to build the Manchester Ship Canal and in 1920 it was bought by the British Cotton Industry Research Association and renamed the Shirley Institute after the daughter of one the main contributors to the cost of buying it.

And today it is surrounded by a business park which has recently become home to Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick Entertainment, the animation company which once was based in Chorlton.

Now I have always wanted to get into the Towers but have always missed the open days.

So I was pleased when Andy Robertson who is fast becoming the northern photographer for the blog sent me some of the pictures he took on a recent visit.

I could say more but I think the pictures speak for themselves.








*A building called the Towers, the Ship Canal and a certain animation company  http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/a-building-called-towers-ship-canal-and.html

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Robertson