When the skyline had yet to be taken over

It is easy to forget that there was a time and a time relatively recently when the city’s sky line had yet to be taken over by tall developments which reached for the sky.

And as Ian Robertson’s three pictures show that was just a decade and a bit ago.

In 2007 the debate was still raging about the Beetham Tower which had eclipsed the CIS Building as Manchester tallest structure.

So in 2007 and again in 2009 Ian wandered down to that end of Deansgate to record this new “thing”.

Since then, of course he has been back and back again recording the onward march of these tall buildings, which very quickly also came to dominate across the water in Salford and are now out there in Stockport.

All of which makes these images a little bit of history.

Location; on Deansgate, Manchester

Pictures; the Beetham Tower, 2007-09, from the collection of Ian Robertson

A short but busy life .............. Broadcasting House 1975-2011

Another in the occasional series of Lost Manchester.

Planning permission had been granted in 1968 and after a hiccup building began in 1971 was finished in 1975 and the place was home to the BBC until 2011.

And for those wanting to impress a companion, about 800 staff worked there and with the opening of the second studio in 1981 the BBC closed Broadcasting House in Piccadilly which had been there for 52 years

Location; Manchester 2011

Picture; Broadcasting House, 2011 from the collection of Andy Robertson

A city landmark already fading from the memory ............ Elisabeth House

It is remarkable how quickly you can forget a building.

Not that I suspect many will mourn the passing of Elisabeth House which was all glass and concrete walls and which was so misunderstood and disliked that no one can quite agree on when it went up.

Various sources suggest a date in the 1960s which does not quite fit with my memories of gazing across at its Victorian predecessor in the 1970s.

But recollections of events, places and buildings can so easily be wrong and I was prepared to accept that this was just one of those times when I was mistaken.

But not so. According to A Manchester View run by David Boardman,* Elisabeth House was built in 1971, which I am pleased to say means that my long term memory is fine, even if I can forget to put the wash on, turn off the lights.

And emboldened by having my memories confirmed I am sure the Ceylon Tea Centre inhabited what became the Dutch Pancake House.

The Tea Centre was  a commercial showcase for Ceylon’s products and it was there that I first discovered a salad could be more than a soft tomato, some limp lettuce and a bit of curly cucumber smothered in salad cream.

Here were rice dishes, some of which were curried and others which contained fruit, nuts and other exotic things.

It was a place I took for granted and then suddenly it had gone and now has been joined by Elisabeth House and soon the cinema just a little down Oxford Road, where I saw West Side Story, Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid and revisited with our young children in the 1980s and early 90s.

I can’t say I miss Elisabeth House but when I ever I do feel a tad nostalgic for the place I turn to that excellent series Blue Murder with Caroline Quentin  which ran for five series from 2003 through to 2009.

Look carefully and there are plenty of shots of the building and as a bonus from inside outwards Central Ref and the Town Hall Extension.

And in time these may well be some of the only images of the building to survive.

Location; Elisabeth House, 2011

Pictures;  Elisabeth House, 2011, from the collection of Ian Robertson

* Elisabeth House - St. Peter's Square http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/tours/tour6/area6page61.html

Watching the Ordsall Chord grow ........... no 1

Now I like many have been watching the progress of the Ordsall Chord.

When finished it will connect our two big railway stations, provide a “new direct link to the airport, reduce by a quarter congestion at Piccadilly and offer up more capacity.*

The down side has been the loss of that historic bit of the old 1830 railway which some have argued could have been saved.

During the back end of last year we travelled regularly from Manchester to Warrington and the train journey took us past the construction work and in particular the huge metal structure.

But I never had my camera with me and on the rare occasion I was down close to the site the pictures I took were pretty indifferent.

So I am pleased that Andy Robertson’ son  was better prepared.

He told me that “my son Ian took this series of photos showing the new railway bridge which will link Oxford Rd to Victoria. Two of the largest cranes in Europe were used.”

Andy has built up an impressive catalogue of pictures showing how Manchester and the surrounding towns and cities have changed over the last two decades.

These will provide future historians with a wonderful insight into the transformation of where we live.

And now now we have some equally good ones from Ian.

So I shall ust let the pictures tell the story with more to come.

Location; Ordsall

Pictures; the Ordsall Chord, 2017, from the collection of Ian Robertson   

*Ordsall Chord, https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/lnw/ordsall-chord/