After they have all gone …… the relic of the Hotspur Press

It is a familiar story ….. a breaking news event … be it a bombing, a flood disaster, or in this case the fire on Cambridge Street when the Hotspur Press burned down in a matter of hours.

On that June evening, the press, TV pundits, conspiracy theorists and photographers were all over the historic building which some claim to be the oldest textile mill in Manchester.

But almost before the last smouldering embers gave up their heat, the press, TV pundits, conspiracy theorists and photographers quit the stage looking for new sensational things to report and record.

Leaving the conspiracy theorists to cast the dice on who was to blame, how had the story first broken on a Chinese news station 24 hours earlier and had the building really been consumed by flames.

Meanwhile a few stalwarts went back and continue to do so with the aim of recording what happened next.

Amongst these is my old friend Andy Robertson who is  big contributor to the blog, seeking to record the whole story of a building, from it decline to its eventual demolition and its replacement.

In the process he has amassed a vast collection of images of places across the Twin Cities and beyond making it a wonderful record of the transformation of Manchester, Salford and other places across Greater Manchester.

Of these two images he told me “a bit more knocked down”.

Spo watch this space.

Location; Cambridge Street

Pictures; knocking down bits of the Hotspur Press, 2025, from the collection of Andy Robertson