See it before it goes, in the Northern Quarter on a June day in 2014

In the old market

Once in the Northern Quarter it is difficult to stay away.  

I have been coming here on and off since I first washed up in Manchester in 1969.

I remember it as a busy, basic sort of place at the heart of which were the wholesale markets and of course the pet shops on Tib Street.

And then for all sorts of reasons I stopped going until the opening of the craft centre in the old fish market in 1982 which has continued to draw me back to the area.

Today the Northern Quarter is a vibrant and interesting place which continues to develop with new shops bars and restaurants.

But there is still much that is old Manchester and for every new business selling quirky things there are buildings which have not changed in a hundred years complete with old doors, windows and even loading bays reminding you that this was once a working bit of the city with workshops and Dickensian style offices.

looking in through a shop window

They are going fast and so not for the first time I shall reflect on the need to record what still stands from our 19th century past along with what has replaced them.

And in the process capture some of those new shops and bars and eating places before they too are replaced.

I went looking for old images of the Northern Quarter and as you would expect it is a mixed bunch.

Some places like Tib Street and the markets have fared well, but others like Thomas Street and Kelvin Street have been barely photographed if at all.

So I suppose there is a bit of a challenge here which is to to go out and record as much of the area as possible before it goes for ever.

Not that I mourn over much what is passing.  Many of the buildings were empty and pretty much about to fall down.

Their door frames and window surrounds looked beyond repair and one which I passed recently had a gable wall that bulged ominously.

On Tib Street

Of course all these can be rectified and do not need the bulldozer and demolition team and with a new purpose and tenant can be survive for another few decades.

All of which is what is happening in the Quarter, and this makes it just a wonderful place to wander.

And unlike some cities the old street plan still exists, allowing you to slip behind one small road to an even smaller one and in the process coming across a hidden gem.

So perhaps it is time to compile the guide to what was once and what is now.

But I rather think it will have been done, so I just now await for the message from Outraged of Oldham Street who has already written the definitive guide to the "History and present topography of the Northern Quarter" which I can browse while taking in an espresso on Tib Street


Pictures; the Northern Quarter June 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson