Bits of the City I forgot

 This is a view of Chetham’s I had almost forgotten.

The School, 2025

It faces on to Walker’s Croft, and once just a couple of decades ago this spot offered up views across a plot of sunken land to Victoria Station.

In 1951

The story of Chetham’s is well known but this spot is less so.

In 1851

At the end of the 19th century the land was covered by hotel, corn mill and gymnasium, and by 1951 it appears on the OS map as a “ruin”.

And a century before was a densely packed mix of properties.

I miss that open space that dropped down from the road side and depending on the time of year was thick with trees and bushes.

But also other things which are best left unmentioned.

Location; Walker’s Croft

Picture; Chetham’s 2025 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the area between Walker's Croft and Victoria Railway Station, 1951 from the OS map of Manchester and Salford, 1951, and in 1851 from Adshead’s map of Manchester, Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/