Who pinched the park? ……….. Helmet Street Rec

First ….. I am not accusing anyone, and second I think I understand why it went, so perhaps the title is a bit unfair.

Nevertheless, when I went looking for Helmet Street Rec, which was off Fairfield Street by a bend in the River Medlock, to my surprise it had gone.

I am sure it was still there in the early 1970s when I wandered around the area armed with a camera and a bag full of curiosity, but  sadly it is no more.

Today the site is a mix of industrial units, car parks and a pocket of grass which seems to mock the original Recreation Ground.

That said I suspect the original Rec would have had but a bit of green stuff. And I await  someone  knew exactly what it looked like.

It was opened in 1880 and covered just one acre of land, to which by the 1890s had been added a bandstand, lavatories and shelter.*

To the south of the recreation ground where it bordered Raven Street there was a footbridge over the river, and by the 1890s the perimeter running alongside Helmet Street and the bank of the Medlock was bordered by trees.

Now I can see why the Council created the small park in what was otherwise an area of densely packed terraced housing, and factories, sandwiched between the viaducts of the  London Road Railway Station and several railway goods yards.

It was still there in the 1950s, but I suppose the decline in the population of the area made it an underused resource.

But just when it closed I have yet to find out, a task made more difficult in the present circumstances, and which will require trawling newspaper reports and Council meetings.

In the meantime I hope a few people will come forward with a date for its demise, and perhaps offer up stories and memories of playing there.

And may be even, some pictures, because at present a part from the maps of the area I have only two pictures, which were taken in the 1906 and 1955, neither of which shows very much.

Location; Manchester

Pictures, the Rec in 1950 from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1950 and the park in 1906, R. Jackson, m57571, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Helmet Street, Fairfield Street, Public Parks, Official Handbook, City of Manchester, 1927

 

Gardens in the sky ………..

I have yet to visit Castlefield Viaduct with its promise of flowers in the sky, or as the web site promises, “Striking Victorian-era steel viaduct, on the way to becoming a green ‘sky park’ in the heart of historic Manchester”.*

Andy popped down on Sunday and has shamed me into booking a free ticket and taking the tram to Deansgate Castlefield.

And if you want more just follow the link.

Location; Castlefield

Picture; Flowers in the sky, 2022, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Castlefield Viaduct, https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castlefield-viaduct

Piccadilly Gardens .... the easy target

Now if there is anything I have learnt from the last six and bit years of doing the blog is that Piccadilly Gardens is an easy target.

Put up a picture of what it once looked like or as today what it has become and you can be guaranteed a shed load of comments.

Most like me will remember the old sunken garden with affection.  In my case I came to the place quite late, having only washed up in the city in 1969.

But on warm autumnal days, and better still in high summer it was a magic.
There were always a few people sitting on the benches, which as it got round to midday became a host, from office workers on their break, to shoppers talking a rest from parading up down Market Street and Oldham Street, and of course in the holidays a gaggle of kids.

For me it was usually just before noon on the day when the Evening News ran its property page with flats and bedsits advertised to rent.

The gardens were just a short walk from the College of Commerce and were surrounded by telephone boxes.

So after buying the first edition of the papers, scouring the suitable “lets” it was into a telephone box only to be met with and engaged signal or that at just twenty minutes past twelve the flat had been taken.

Years later I used the Gardens only as a cut through and like many saw they deteriorate and like many I wasn’t convinced at the makeover.

The brutalist concrete wall was and is brutal, the lawn still seems to get waterlogged and there is little protection from the wind.

True is an open space which fits with the economies of the day when the Corporation is cash stripped and a decision to provide a care home takes precedence over employing a team of gardeners.

Nor should we forget that for a chunk of the early 20th century the area remained an open wasteland with people being unable to agree on its future after the demolition of the hospital.

There were plans for an art gallery and other “things” before we got the sunken garden.

At which point I could have just fallen back on an old picture postcard of what it was, but instead have settled for these three taken by Andy Robertson o Saturday, and as the instructions say I shall “stand well back”, and wait for the response.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Piccadilly Gardens, 2018 from the collection of Andy Robertson