Railway arches …… the myster

An occasional series featuring the humble railway arch through the pictures of Andy Robertson.

Now, among the collection of images Andy took was this one which presented me with a bit of a mystery, because there at the foot of the arch was this device.

I have no idea what it was used for, and so to speculate would be a waste of time.

That said I suppose it could have been left over from when the arch was used for some purpose.

The good news is that some one will know.

Location; Castlefield

Pictures; Under the arches, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Railway arches …… the neglected ones

An occasional series featuring the humble railway arch through the pictures of Andy Robertson.

Now I am the first to admit that the above picture is not a brick arch, but I like it and so it starts the first of the stories celebrating the railway arch, which continues to do the business of carrying railway lines into all our cities and towns which still have railway stations.

In my defense there is a brick railway arch in the distance, so accuracy is served.

Over the centuries the arches have been used for many things from car parks to lock up workshops, and artisan bakeries, and many of course offered some sort of shelter to the destitute.

At which point I could fall back on that famous song, Underneath the Arches.*

But I won’t, preferring just to leave links at the bottom to the song and its creation.**

Andy was in Castlefield where there are lots of these arches, and he couldn’t resist recording them.

I have written about their history elsewhere, so I shall concentrate on the pictures.

So here are two, and I will leave you with the promise of a mystery, which will appear tomorrow.

Location; Castlefield

Pictures; in Castlefield, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

* Underneath the Arches, Bud Flanagan, 1927, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggk8g_p-Thg

**Mr. Flanagan recalled  it was written in Derby in 1927, and referred to the arches of the  Friargate Railway Bridge and to the homeless men who slept there.  Underneath the Arches, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underneath_the_Arches_ (song)

Underneath the arches …………. not an original title perhaps …… but apt

Railway arches have been with us from the very start of the Railway Age.

Bridgewater Street, 2020

They have been workshops, lock up garages, provided accommodation for the homeless and have been the subject of countless films as well as that famous song, written in 1927, by Bud Flanagan.

Bridgewater Street, 2020

I pretty much took for granted the ones close to where I grew up, they were after all just part of the landscape.

But now, I have become fascinated by them and the uses to which they have been turned.

Back in the 1980s, along Water Street close to what is now the Science and Industry Museum, there was still the evidence of when some of the arches had been used as stables.

Most however in the city were turned into workshops, and a high proportion became garages for repairing and storing cars.

That said given they are a large space; the possibilities are endless.  Not that long ago I came across Pollen Bakery, which had been recommended by our friend Bob Amato.

The bakery is based in one of the arches in Sheffield Street, close to Manchester Railway Station.

Rochdale Canal, 2003

While across the city there are a succession of bars inhabiting the arches by the Rochdale Canal and on into the Castlefield Basin.

Bit many still are home to smelly businesses, although, I have noticed that around Knott Mill, workshops I encountered just a few years ago have gone, replaced by car parks.

But as sections of the inner the city become “gentrified” I suspect more of those  smelly businesses will disappear, filled instead by bars, restaurant and a different type of outlet.

Location; Underneath the Arches

Pictures; Bridgewater Street 2020, and the Rochdale Canal, 2003 


* Underneath the Arches, Bud Flanagan, 1927, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggk8g_p-Thg

**Mr. Flanagan recalled  it was written in Derby in 1927, and referred to the arches of the  Friargate Railway Bridge and to the homeless men who slept there.  Underneath the Arches, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underneath_the_Arches_(song)