A scene now lost in time ............. looking out from the short lived cafe in Piccadilly Railway Station

Now that I grant you is not the most imaginative title but it does the business for this scene looking out across the city.

It was taken just after the railway station had its makeover.  Back then this space was a cafe and on a warm day I wandered in took a few pictures promised myself I would return only to discover it had become a supermarket.

Such are the ups and downs of the amateur photographer.
And I know I have featured it before and for those wanting to challenge the date I have to say I can’t remember.

Location; Piccadilly Railway Station

Picture; view from Piccadilly Railway Station, circa 2003, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The way we were ............. just 56 years ago

Now it is easy to forget that well within the living memory of most of us the City was still full of tiny workshops which wouldn’t have been out of place in the mid 19th century.

When we first moved to east Manchester in the early 1970s, the pit head gear of Bradford Colliery was still there, as were countless little iron works, steel manufactures and other businesses, employing a handful of local people.

They nestled beside the giants like Clayton Aniline, and the big engineering factories on the Old Road.

The images of the United Steel Works on Ashton Old Road are fascinating, partly because I would have passed the place and because of the detail they reveal.

In particular it is the belt driven machinery which is essentially no different from that which you could have seen in a factory in the 1850s or even the later 18th century.

Back then they would have been driven by steam power but otherwise there is very little difference.

Nor would the actual buildings themselves have changed much over two centuries. They were made of brick to a simple design with wooden beams and cast iron pillars supporting the roof.

Most will have had a varied industrial use over the years and were an essential part of the community.

Picture; inside the United Steet Works, Ashton Old Road, 1970, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Back on High Street ....... with memories of Bachers, a tram, a hand painted sign and Tea 42

Now I like the way a story goes off on one.

So on Monday I wrote about the English Lounge on High Street which was once the Hogshead and long before that the Wheatsheaf Hotel.*

It was a pub I have never visited but during the course of the story I reflected on the shop next door and that brought forth a shed full of memories.

It is now Tea 42 but was the fabric shop which I visited on Saturdays when Tina was on the hunt for material and while I groaned when the plans were hatched I secretly looked forward to waiting behind the bales of cotton while she struck a deal.

It had the lot from faded architecture a bit the worse for wear to that cornucopia of fabrics but it was always the building that intrigued me so I was pleased when Peter told me he had painted the present building which shows off that iron tracery to its best.

For a long time this 19th century frontage had been obscured by modern signage although I have to say I never clocked the shop's name so it was nice when Angie and others not only provided the name  but also offered up a rich set of memories about the shop and similar shops.

For Angie it was during  “my first year in school sewing class and this involved an afternoon trip to Bachers to choose our fabric. I can still remember mine was navy blue with white polka dots and took forever to make it into an apron.”

White Pauline recalled “I seem to think my Mum and all her friends lived in Bachers on a Saturday. In later years me and my three sisters all purchased our material for our wedding dresses and, bridesmaid dresses from there. Trimings were bought from Fred Aldous Lever Street.”

And of course the mention of Fred Aldous brought forth even more comments including some from our Jill who whenever she is up for a stay from London makes a beeline for Fred Aldous followed by a second breakfast at the Koffee Pot which I am guessing will bring forth more memories.

But for now I will return to Bachers which long ago closed and after extensive work to the exterior opened briefly as a menswear shop and is now Tea 42.

I rather like the restored ironwork frontage which was probably part of what might have drawn me in a century ago when it was the premises of Thewlis & Co tailors.

In time I might find out more about Mr Thewlis but for now I shall end with Angie’s picture showing the building back in 2000 with one of those old fashioned hand painted signs high up by the roof line.

Look closely and that iron work frontage is just visible, but much else has changed, from the type and livery of the tram running down High Street to the new build which has filled the gap beside Bachers Fabrics.

And a thank you to Angie, Pauline, Kay and Nick for comments on the original story*

Painting; Tea 42, High Street, © 2014 Peter Topping,

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

Picture; High Street, 2000, courtesy of Angie Thomas


*A pub by another name .............. the English Lounge on High Street, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/a-pub-by-another-name-english-lounge-on.html