The Gardens they built on Deansgate ……. legacies from the last war

Now Mr. Hitler’s bombs did much destruction, killed lots of people and scarred the city for decades.

Looking across from Deansgate, circa 1945-48

But they also gave opportunities for the cleared spaces left by the destroyed buildings which were used in a variety of different ways.

The most obvious were car parks, which became a necessity as the number of cars grew and more people traveled in to the city by car rather than by train or bus.

But a few of spaces became parks or at least open grassed areas, which for a while offered up a break in the grimy buildings which dominated the city in the immediate post war period.

The view through the empty spaces, circa 1945-48

And that brings me nicely to this picture postcard of the Cathedral and Victoria Gardens, which was was placed in the catalogue of the picture postcard company in 1950.

It is a fascinating image, not only because I suspect few will now know have stood and admired its flower beds, but also because of the views unhindered by buildings across the city.

The open space had been a large building on a triangular plot, flanked by Deansgate, Victoria Street and St Mary’s Gate.

It was Victoria Buildings, and housed shops, offices and the Victoria Hotel.

I am intrigued as to when the Gardens vanished and have set out on a quest to discover how long they occupied the spot.

Victoria Buildings, circa 1900

Today the buildings on the opposite side are the Arndale, and the Gardens contain the new build, created after the IRA bomb, which face Deansgate on one side and New Cathedral Street.

This development replaced that ugly and much unloved complex which while it included the relocated Old Wellington Inn, was a non-descript spot which always seemed windswept and full of litter.

So that might give us a clue to the date when the Gardens were sacrificed to that bold new development.

A report in the Manchester Guardian in 1968 reported that work on the “start on city centre development, was about to begin, which would cost £4 million, cover nearly “7 acres between Market Street and the river Irwell”.

The report continued that “Demolition of old property may start before the end of this year, and the complete constriction of the new development will take about three years.  

There will be a hotel with between 150 and 200 bedrooms, offices, shops, departmental stores, space for a supermarket and an underground route for delivering goods.” *

The Old Wellington Inn, circa 1975

Now, I washed up in Manchester in 1969 and didn’t get down to this bit of the city for another year, so I have no idea if our Gardens have survived that long or had been sacrificed to another car park or temporary buildings.

But someone will know, and in the fullnes of time will let me know.

Looking back at that unloved square, I rather wish Victoria Gardens had been kept.

Those trams and the altered date

Leaving me just to thank Geoff Senior, who spotted the trams in the picture and commented  that, "The top image which you have dated as 1950 cannot have been taken any later than the summer/early autumn of 1948 as there are several trams seen in the shot and the trams were all withdrawn in January 1949".

And that rather narrows the image to sometime around 1945 to 1948.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; The Cathedral and Victoria Gardens, circa 1945-48, from a series of picture postcards by Tuck and Son, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/, the Wellington Inn, circa 1970s, from the collection of Rita Bishop and the area between Deansgat and Victoria Street, circa 1900, from Goads Fire Insurance maps, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Early start on city centre development, Manchester Guardian, September 4, 1968