When Manchester Microwave traded on Barlow Moor Road

Now there will be those who mutter how can this be history, it was there so recently?

But it has gone and joins that vast collection of Chorlton shops and businesses which have ceased trading, moved on or just changed what they did.

I can’t remember when Manchester Microwave opened on Barlow Moor Road but I am pretty sure it wasn’t there when I first washed up in Chorlton in 1976.*

And that is the point.

Some businesses like Burt’s the clothes shop stretch back to the beginning of the last century, others like the Plumbing and DIY store on the corner of Malton and Barlow Moor are gone within a trice.

So recording them is important partly because it reflects where we live but also because it points to the big changes that have and are happening.

I doubt that if anyone had told me a decade ago that almost all the retail out lets opposite the bus terminus would become bars and restaurants I would have believed them.

But they have and so posting Mike Lever’s picture of Manchester Microwave is just a reminder of what we have lost.

And almost as soon as I posted the story Lesley commented that in the 1970's it had been a busy hairdressers, and with that I can just about remember the place.

Thereby making the point and of course emphasising the importance of contributions to the blog.

Picture, Manchester Microwave, circa 2006, courtesy of Mike Lever

*And can now be found at Unit 1/Albany Trading Est/Albany Road, Manchester M21 0AZ