“I took this in 1996. I don't think you've seen it before. You won't be able to view the Peveril from this angle anymore. When re-viewing this photo just now I was rather (selfishly) hoping that that old tall building on the left had been demolished. However today it is The Rain Bar, 80 Great Bridgewater Street.”
And with that intriguing opening comment Andy Robertson set me off on another of those journeys around the city which threw up fascinating insights into our city’s past.
So first that picture taken in 1994.
Today a whole slab of new build stands between us and the Peveril of the Peak and had Andy chanced down that way a little earlier he would have had had no chance of seeing uninterrupted from his vantage point across to the pub.
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| Across to the Peveril, 1994 |
So first that picture taken in 1994.
Today a whole slab of new build stands between us and the Peveril of the Peak and had Andy chanced down that way a little earlier he would have had had no chance of seeing uninterrupted from his vantage point across to the pub.
 |
| Great Bridgwater Street, 1964 |
I had quite forgotten the set of old buildings that ran along Great Bridgewater Street which Andy found in a 1964 photograph.
The one still standing had been home to a set of printing firms back in 1911 and the remaining section belonged to the Corporation and was the “Town yard” of the Highways Committee and included the Public Weighing machine.
And comparing the two pictures tells us quite a bit about how the owners and architects set about the design of the building that remains.
The front facing Bridgewater may have been basic but still managed to look impressive, while the rear was far more utilitarian with its loop holes on each floor to receive materials and hat large arch.
Delve even deeper into the area using the maps of the period and you get a sense of just how the nearby streets were crisscrossed with arms from the Rochdale Canal.
So running off north under Great Bridgewater and then parallel with Chepstow Street was a stretch of water way that looped round terminating higher up Bridgewater Street.
Now I bet Andy has others from that period when this bit of the city was undergoing changes.
I hope so.
Picture; Looking across to the Peveril of the Peak, 1994, from the collection of Andy Robertson, Great Bridgewater Street, 1964, W Higham, m02008, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pas and map of Chepstow Street circa 1900 from Goad’s Fire Insurance map courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/
The one still standing had been home to a set of printing firms back in 1911 and the remaining section belonged to the Corporation and was the “Town yard” of the Highways Committee and included the Public Weighing machine.
And comparing the two pictures tells us quite a bit about how the owners and architects set about the design of the building that remains.
The front facing Bridgewater may have been basic but still managed to look impressive, while the rear was far more utilitarian with its loop holes on each floor to receive materials and hat large arch.
 |
| Chepstow Street, circa 1900 |
So running off north under Great Bridgewater and then parallel with Chepstow Street was a stretch of water way that looped round terminating higher up Bridgewater Street.
Now I bet Andy has others from that period when this bit of the city was undergoing changes.
I hope so.
Picture; Looking across to the Peveril of the Peak, 1994, from the collection of Andy Robertson, Great Bridgewater Street, 1964, W Higham, m02008, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pas and map of Chepstow Street circa 1900 from Goad’s Fire Insurance map courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/
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