The lost space age cafe .... of The Corn Exchange

To be strictly accurate the lost space age cafe stood in the centre of the Triangle.

And for those of a certain age the Triangle was the failed shopping out let in what had been the Corn Exchange.

Now l have written about the Corn Exchange, it's successor the Triangle and the food emporium which now occupies the interior.

And if you want more there are plenty of sites which will tell the collective history of all three.

But now l am interested in the space age pod in the centre of the hall. 

It was home to Cafe Nero and was accessed by a rickety bridge.

I loved it but it was doomed with the last make over.

And now l wonder it's fate.

Answers on a used Cafe Nero loyalty card.

Location; somewhere

Picture; the space age cafe, 2015 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Corn Exchange https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Corn%20Exchange

What we have lost ....... inside the Corn Exchange

I really liked this metal and glass structure.

It was in the Corn Exchange beside Exchange Square, and I always thought it was an innovative way to fill a space.

Added to that I rather enjoyed sitting in there sipping an espresso and waiting for the shopping expedition to finish.

But it has gone since then the space around it was transformed from a retail centre to a series of themed restaurants from Italian, to Thai, and many more.

The Corn Exchange is a listed grade II building and was originally the Corn and Produce Exchange built in 1897 and opened in 1903.

Its role as an important centre for business suffered during the 1920 and 30s and and by the time I arrived in Manchester in 1969 its role as a trading floor were over.

But I remember it as a place full of independent traders ranging from second records and comics to clothes and jewellery.

You could spend hours wandering the stalls on the trading floor and in the surrounding rooms, but that IRA bomb did for all this.

The building was severely damaged and many of the traders relocated to what has become the Northern Quarter, and the building was redeveloped as the Triangle specialising in swish retailing, but it never seemed as busy in later years, and despite a re branding in 2012 seemed to miss a trick.

And then it closed reopening as an interesting place to eat.


Location; Manchester









Pictures; interior of the Triangle, July 2013

*Corn Exchange, Manchester, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_Exchange,_Manchester

Passing through what was to become Exchange Square

Now this is the Corn Exchange sometime in the 1980s.

It was a building I took for granted at the time and never for one minute thought how it would change over the next thirty years.

Or for that matter just how dramatic would be the transformation of the space in front of this Grade ll listed building.

By the time John Casey had taken his picture the building had given up being a Corn Exchange would become the Triangle and went from a place where quirky little businesses did all sorts of interesting sales, to a designer outlet and is now home to a host of restaurants.

And in the wake of the IRA bomb it saw the creation of a new public place which has become a busy tram interchange.

Location; the Corn Exchange,

Picture; Corn Exchange  circa 1980s, from the collection of John Casey

In the company of the Manchester Bees ..... no.19 ..... still in the Corn Exchange

There will be many who have fond memories of the Corn Exchange when it was just that.

Others who will talk fondly of the quirky stalls that inhabited it before it became a designer outlet with that futuristic cafe tn the centre of the hall.

And now it has reinvented itself as a collection of very interesting restaurants, which is where we were recently admiring the Manchester Bees.

Location; The Corn Exchange








Picture; the Corn Exchange Bee 2, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

In the company of the Manchester Bees ..... no.18 ..... in the Corn Exchange

There will be many who have fond memories of the Corn Exchange when it was just that.

Others who will talk fondly of the quirky stalls that inhabited it before it became a designer outlet with that futuristic cafe tn the centre of the hall.

And now it has reinvented itself as a collection of very interesting restaurants, which is where we were recently admiring the Manchester Bees.

Location; The Corn Exchange








Picture; the Corn Exchange Bee 1, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Back in the Corn Exchange on Exchange Square ........ what a difference a year makes

Now there will be many like me who remember the Corn Exchange as an Aladdin’s Cave of interesting shops.

Inside the Corn Exchange in 2016

Many more will have memories of the place when it offered posh frocks expensive jumpers and a deal of sportswear.*

And then it closed and I just forgot about it.

It is a listed grade II building and was originally the Corn and Produce Exchange built in 1897 and opened in 1903.

Its role as an important centre for business suffered during the 1920 and 30s and by the time I arrived in Manchester in 1969 its role as a trading floor were over.

But I remember it as a place full of independent traders ranging from second records and comics to clothes and jewellery.

You could spend hours wandering the stalls on the trading floor and in the surrounding rooms, but that IRA bomb did for all this.

The building was severely damaged and many of the traders relocated to what has become the Northern Quarter, and the building was redeveloped as the Triangle specializing in swish retailing, but it never seemed as busy in later years, and despite a rebranding in 2012 closed at the beginning of the year.

Inside the Corn Exchange in 2015

And yesterday I went back drawn by a recommendation of one of our lads who said we should eat at Vapiano which we did.

And here I have to sound very pretentious because it reminded us of an Italian chain of restraints called Ciao which served high quality food cooked in front of you.  The food was cheap and there was an amazing variety of fresh and interesting things to choose from.

But enough of Italy, we were in the Corn Exchange and in the space of less than a year it has reinvented itself, with a series of fascinating restraints.

Sometime before the posh frocks and expensive jumpers

My only regret is the loss of that futuristic bit of steel and glass which dominated the centre of the hall.
I fear that is now on a scrap heap.

But the memories began flooding back.  John Cassey offered up this image of that time before posh frocks expensive jumpers adding "I spent many lunch hours in there browsing the stalls, but that photo was taken from outside the second-hand camera shop"

He thought it might date from the 70s but Paul spotted the the Duran Duran record and suggested 1989.

All of which left George to show me a picture of some of the original tiles, commenting "I think they have brilliantly brought a disused building back to life. And there are still some fine features left, this is the stairs in the Cosy Club bar." 

Location; Exchange Square, Manchester

Pictures; the Corn Exchange, now and then from the collection of Andrew Simpson,  John Casey and George Edwards

*What we have lost ....... inside the Corn Exchange, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/what-we-have-lost-inside-corn-exchange.html