Rediscovering Cheetham .............. nu 1 the Manchester Ice Palace

Now I will leave the story of Cheetham, Strangeways and Redbank to  those who are far more qualified to write about its history.*

Instead I shall feature some of Andy Robertson’s pictures from his collection taken of the area during August 2015.

It is thirty years since I was a regular visitor to the Strangeways area, and much has changed. 

In particular that area in the bend of the river which had once been a  notorious slum and which I knew as open ground has now been built on again.

But a few of the buildings which date to when the area was a thriving centre of Jewish life have survived.

And so here is the Ice Palace on Derby Street which Andy commented “was opened in 1910 and once reputed to be the finest ice skating rink in the world.”

Picture; The Manchester Ice Palace, 2015 from the collection of Andy Robertson

*The  Making of Manchester Jewry, 1740-1875, Bill Williams, 1976