Tracking the river along the canyon …… Manchester

Now laying aside the politics of the redevelopment of the city, and the race by said developers to create a Manhattan skyline across Manchester, I had hoped that those stretches of the Medlock and Irwell would have fared better.

During the 19th century they were closed off by tall warehouses, and mills whose walls rose up from the water line mimicking giant cliffs.

And with the clearance of these buildings I naively thought that us ordinary citizens might be able to get close to the rivers to dip out toes in the water.

But not so, as Andy’s pictures of the area behind Own Street show. 

The river continues to flow through a canyon of brick and stone.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; looking down on the river, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Following the Medlock ……….. from Gaythorn into Knott Mill

This will be the last of the short series exploring the changing landscape on either side of the Medlock as it flows from Gaythorn,  through to Knott Mill and beyond.

Old and new along the Medlock, 2021

It is one of those places rich in industrial history with more than its share of iffy housing, which consisted of numerous back to back properties and closed courts.

As late as 1794 it still flowed through open fields, but already there were was the evidence of what was to come, in the shape of a printing press, several dye works and an iron foundry.

Half a century later and these had been joined by a heap more.  

So, as the river ran through Gaythorn, it encountered the Gaythorn Chemical Works, the gasworks, a cotton mill and the Medlock Street Dye Works, before navigating the Medlock Street Iron Works, the Hulme Brewery, the Knot Mill Iron Works and finally as it passed under the Knott Mill Bridge washing up against the Brazil Cotton Workes owned by Lea Birch & Co.

Knott Mill, 1794

Some  of this industrial history was still there to see until relatively recently, although the few bits still standing had almost all been converted into other uses.

Knott Mill, 1849

And back in the 1980s the evidence of those back to backs was still visible in one cark park on Jordan Street Street.* 

The houses bordering Fogg’s Place, Alpha Street and Omega Street have long gone, but the outline of the lower bricks were still there in thirty years ago. 

Since then the cark park has been properly surfaced, the surrounding 19th century buildings transformed, and joined by bright shiny new build, some of which house offices, others housing people and some doing both.

There will be a few who moan at the new developments, but will rarely acknowledge that some of these 19th century conversions, were themselves responsible for sweeping away earlier properties or worse still building over those open fields.

Along the Medlock, 2021

And while some of the new build might not win an architectural prize, at least it might be argued they have  filled what were empty derelict spaces which in turn were bordered by decaying and sad mills and warehouses which no one wanted or could think had a useful life.

In time I will return to some of those back to backs off Jordan Street and research who lived there in the middle decades of the 19th century, but for now I will just follow Andy’s series of pictures which followed the Medlock as it flowed through Knott Mill and under Chester Road.

Location; Knott Mill

Old and new, 2021

Pictures; following the Medlock at Knott Mill, 2021 from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the area in 1794 from Green’s map of Manchester,  and in 1849 from the OS map of Manchester and Salford, 1849, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, https://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Knott Mill, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=omega+place

The bits the developers forgot ………. the Medlock, .......some shiny new build ...... and lots of old stuff

Now, it must be two decades since I walked around the patch marked out by Deansgate, with Owen Street to the east and Commercial Street to the west.

And it will be more than 30 years ago that I wandered theses streets armed with a camera and set of notes from the 1850s describing the housing and sanitation conditions of the area.

Much of it has changed dramatically, but the Medlock still flows through it and despite the brand new blocks of properties there remain more than a few relics of the past.

So, after Andy sent over his latest pictures from a recent adventure in the area, they had to be part of a story.

I long ago lost a series of pictures I took of this bit of the river, so these recent images are fascinating.

The rest is for anyone who wants to follow in his footsteps.

Location; off Deansgate, 

Pictures; off Deansgate, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson