Monday 22 January 2024

Waiting on platform 12 at Piccadilly for Royal Mail Parcels ........ 1980

I know I shouldn’t be surprised at just how much of the city has changed over forty years.

Part of that is because I just don’t think four decades have whizzed past.

But then that has encompassed nine General Elections, a brace of American Presidents, the birth of our four children and my gentle passage from a man in gainful employment to one who writes and blogs.

Still I was drawn up with a jolt when I uncovered this picture of platforms, 10, 11 and 12 at Piccadilly Station.

So much so that for a brief while I was puzzled as to which station I had been on.

Logic and the other images in the strip of negatives all pointed to Piccadilly, but the scene is worlds away from that moving staircase, brightly painted columns and air of commuter bustle of today.

I even consulted that old railway buff David Harrop, and he confirmed I was where I thought, on Piccadilly Railway Station a full thirty years before its makeover.

So that pretty much is that.

Location; Manchester

Picture; Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station,1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

5 comments:

  1. Just as I remember Piccadilly station. Travelled from Stockport either by train or the 192 to work at Thomson Holidays on Norfolk Street

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  2. I used to work for Royal Mail parcels then . We used to work a lot at the old Mayfield station around the corner.

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  3. Remember being sent to the 'Red Star' counter at Piccadilly to collect "Urgent Parcels" and waiting for what felt like hours!

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  4. Hi Andrew, I'm a local journalist writing for Mancunian Matters and I am interested in speaking to you about your work and the local area as Chorlton Cross winds down. Do you have a contact email or is there a better way of getting in touch with you so I can share more details? Thank you :)

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    Replies
    1. Hello Greta if you post your email as a comment l can reply ...it won't get published

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