“I am often drawn to the Quays” ………..

We will all have our own favourite  picture of the Quays, and most of mine fall into that category of “water and iconic buildings”.

And Andy Robertson has taken his fair share of such pictures, after all he readily admits that “as you may know by now I am often drawn to the Quays”.*

Nor is it just the Quays.  Over the years, he has roamed across Greater Manchester, photographing what he encounters and in the process has inspired over 600 stories on the blog.*

They range from parks, and fine houses, to interesting city landscapes. 

But he is also a keen observer of the grimy and unromantic side of places, which leads him to photograph derelict buildings and abandoned industrial sites.

And having started he turns them into projects, returning regularly to record their transformation.

It starts with that old building, moves on to show its demolition, and then bit by bit offers up the story of how after the site has been cleared, the builders break the ground and begin the construction of something new.

All of which makes these projects a unique record of how the twin cities, and indeed Greater Manchester have changed over the last three decades.

And so back to the Quays, which is one of those places which continues to develop, and staring with an acknowledgement of water and iconic buildings I have included two panoramas, along with the grimy one, which includes one half finished structure, a tower block which looks to be going through refurbishment and an unpromising piece of open land.

Just what the same view will look like in six months’ time is anyone’s guess, but I am confident Andy will have been back to see.

So, in the meantime I shall finish with another “water and iconic building”.

Location the Quays

Pictures; the Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Andy Robertson, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Andy%20Robertson

Travels by tram …… no.2 passing the Quays

There is a lot you can see by tram.

Location; on the tram to Trafford Centre

Pictures; at the Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Travels by tram …… no.1 passing the Quays

There is a lot you can see by tram.

And I am a bit envious of Andy who has ben travelling the metro spur to the Trafford Centre, not least because I have yet to take the trip.

But I will, by which time I have no doubt, this view of the Quays will have changed.

That said his second photograph offers up a sense that some things won’t change.

So, take a strip of open water and pretty much soon enough a swan will find a reason to be there.

Location; on the tram to Trafford Centre

Pictures; at the Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

A day in the Quays ......... celebrating Salford

There may be some who mutter this isn’t really Salford, not the one I remember, and that will be true.

But all places change and reinvent themselves and Mr Muggins in 1760 may well have reflected that the grand Victorian buildings that rose on the streets of Salford weren’t to his taste.

So here are some of Andy Robertson’s pictures of Salford taken on a bright sunny day in 2017.

Location; Salford

Pictures, Salford, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

All glass and surprises ....... back at the Quays

Now the thing about Salford Quays is that it is all glass and surprises.

All glass .............. 2017

Which means, that pretty much every time I wander down there a new glass and steel building has gone up or about to with even more to come.

The place seems full of  of cranes and half finished developments which come in lots of different shapes and sizes.

And this Friday I added another to the list of ones that weren’t there last time I was at Media City.

It’s called the Alchemist and is indeed all glass and steel topped with a  golden roof.

The space between the Lowry and Media City, 2014

It stands on that stretch of land which runs back from the Quays to the water and has the Lowry to one side and Media City on the other.

I remember the plot as an empty expanse which for a while was home to a temporary showroom and then reverted to nothing until blue wooden walls went up with signs announcing “Media City UK” “Where brilliance happens.”

The few who sat waiting for a bus under the shelter by those blue walls may have pondered on what was going on behind them but I never did.

The Alchemist, 2017

I showed no interest  and certainly didn’t think it warranted a picture, but now I wish I had snapped away, if only to mark the change from open space to an interesting building which mixes shapes, and glass with that striking gold roof.

When passed there were people inside and it looked  open for business serving up cocktails. and food.

And that has to be more of an attraction than the windy space that was there before.

A balcony to view the surroundings, 2017

Critics might object that the free view across the water to the Imperial War Museum North  has been lost but I bet there is an equally interesting view from the platform that juts out into the basis with the added attraction of a glass of something.

And the rest I am told will be a painting by my old chum Peter Topping.

But no sooner had this story been posted and quick as a flash Antony added one of his pictures of the site under construction.

All blue walls, an empty site and a promise of things to come, 2016

It perfectly points up that simple observation that you should always carry a camera and always record what is going on around you.

After all without all those Victorian and Edwardian photographs there would be fewer opportunities for people to post old scenes of our towns and cities in a time before now.

And not to be outdone, just minutes later Paul contributed this fine pictures of the new bar which I like, adding, "the latest surprise I saw yesterday was the changed view across the water, now they've opened the Alchemist."

Across the water, 2017

It was taken yesterday when the sun was kinder than on the day I was there and in between those heavy rain showers.

And that really is it.


Location; Salford

Pictures; Salford Quays, 2017 and 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the construction of the new Alchemist, 2016 and remaining two, courtesy of Antony Mills and in 2017 from Paul Sherlock

The cranes of Salford ...... no. 12

A return of the series …………. on the cranes of Salford.

It has been some years since Andy Robertson, started his project on The cranes of Salford, and I am pleased he has returned to recording the changing Salford landscape.

Location; Salford Quays



Picture; The cranes of Salford, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Salford by water ………. No. 2

Now, I know, not everyone is a fan of Salford Quays.

Over the years more than one person has mourned the passing of the docks, and can’t quite accept the transformation.

But given that the closure of the docks was beyond my control, I can only reflect on what has replaced them, and I like what I see.

So here is a short series from my old friend Andy Robertson who roamed across the Quays recently intent on capturing Salford by water.

Location; Salford Quays

Picture; Salford Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Salford by water ………. No. 1

Now, I know, not everyone is a fan of Salford Quays.

Over the years more than one person has mourned the passing of the docks, and can’t quite accept the transformation.

But given that the closure of the docks was beyond my control, I can only reflect on what has replaced them, and I like what I see.

So here is a short series from my old friend Andy Robertson who roamed across the Quays recently intent on capturing Salford by water.

Location; Salford Quays

Picture; Salford Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

The magic of the Quays ………….. no. 2

Now I never knew the Quays when it was a working docks, although I remember the ships sirens punctuating the night on the stroke of midnight on many New Year’s Days.

All of that said, I have very fond memories of walking the Quays over the years, from windswept February to balmy September.

So that just leaves me to thank Andy Robertson  for his pictures.

Location; Salford



Picture; Salford Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

The magic of the Quays ………….. no. 1

Now I never knew the Quays when it was a working docks, although I remember the ships sirens punctuating the night on the stroke of midnight on many New Year’s Days.

All of that said, I have very fond memories of walking the Quays over the years, from windswept February to balmy September.

So that just leaves me to thank Andy Robertson  for his pictures.

Location; Salford




Picture; Salford Quays, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

The cranes of Salford …………… 2020

A return of the series …………. on the cranes of Salford.

It has been some years since Andy Robertson, started his project on The cranes of Salford, and I am pleased he has returned to recording the changing Salford landscape.

Location; Salford Quays


Picture; The cranes of Salford, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Painting Salford ................. nu 3

Here is a painting which needs little in the way of words.

When Peter told me he was planning a series of paintings on Salford Quays I was quite excited and here is one he did earlier back in 2011.

I didn’t know the old docks area.

As a student in the late 1960s they were a bit off the beaten track and then as we progressed across east Manchester and on to Ashton-Under-Lyne Salford was  a long way from home.

But there is no denying the way the place has been transformed with the Lowry, the War Museum and Media City.

Painting; Painting Salford, © 2011 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

A day in the Quays ......... celebrating Salford

There may be some who mutter this isn’t really Salford, not the one I remember, and that will be true.

But all places change and reinvent themselves and Mr Muggins in 1760 may well have reflected that the grand Victorian buildings that rose on the streets of Salford weren’t to his taste.

So here are some of Andy Robertson’s pictures of Salford taken on a bright sunny day in 2017.

Location; Salford

Pictures, Salford, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Four trams, forty-four pictures, and eighty-eight minutes …………..

The plan was simple ……… take the tram from Cornbrook into the heart of the Quays, get off at each stop, record the developments and changes, and you have a new project.

In all Andy clocked forty-four pictures, in just eighty-eight minutes having travelled on four trams.

And finally he arrived, and not wanting to miss anything he wandered through the area.

Location; the Cornbrook-Salford route








Pictures; from the Cornbrook-Salford route, 2019, from the collection of Andy Robertson

A sunny day, a camera and Harbour City ....... number two gazing over at the BBC

Now it is very easy to take a place for granted, even when the place is Salford Quays which seems to be constantly in a state of flux, with new developments rising from the waterside almost daily.

All of which will make Andy Robertson’s photographs a very important source for historians, former residents and workers and of course the curious.

Over the last decade and a bit Andy has been recording the changes to the twin cities, starting with a derelict building and returning over the months to chronicle its demolition, the clearing of the site and its replacement.

And I am grateful that he shares them with the blog.

Location; Harbour City

Pictures; Harbour City, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

Pictures from the Quays ........ where did it all come from?

An occasional series looking at bits of the Quays, we miss or ignore.

Now I grant you that this picture might not make it into the promotional literature for Salford Quays but I am fascinated by the floating gunk.

It will of course be cleared away but in the meantime it throws up a little mystery which is how all those yellowy round things which are squashes got there.

Once when the docks were full of merchant ships I could see how a box or boxes might fall into the water while being unloaded and finally come to rest in this corner.

But I can’t fathom out how these ones got there.

Were they thrown in by someone who had bought too many or have they made their way along the Ship Canal from some other place?

Someone will know I am sure.

Location; Salford

Picture; looking into the water, August 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

At the Quays .... brightening up an unpromising day

Now it is all down to timing.

Pick one of those warm sunny days and the Quays are a really pleasant place to be.

The water takes on a different colour and the sunlight works on all those buildings of glass and shimmering metal finishes.

But if you pick a day when the grey clouds seem almost to settle on that water and bring the promise of driving rain all that is left is a visit to the Lowry and perhaps a long leisurely afternoon in one of the bars, restaurants or cafes.

And that is as contrived a link to the Alchemist as you can get.*

Peter and I had been out on an adventure to visit Mr Lowry’s paintings on a day when the weather veered from bright sunshine to showers.

Having done the paintings we decided on a drink and so to the Alchemist which is the new one on that stretch of land beside the water, between the Lowry and Media City.

It is an interesting building and straight way Peter decided it was a worthy subject for a painting and so here is the Alchemist with its gold roof, and bold lines.

I wrote about it recently and it has also attracted others who have photographed it, but this is Peter’s painting.*

Painting; The Alchemist, © 2017 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*All glass and surprises ....... back at the Quays, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/all-glass-and-surprises-back-at-quays.html

A sunny day, a camera and Harbour City ....... number four the bridge

Now it is very easy to take a place for granted, even when the place is Salford Quays which seems to be constantly in a state of flux, with new developments rising from the waterside almost daily.

All of which will make Andy Robertson’s photographs a very important source for historians, former residents and workers and of course the curious.

Over the last decade and a bit Andy has been recording the changes to the twin cities, starting with a derelict building and returning over the months to chronicle its demolition, the clearing of the site and its replacement.

And I am grateful that he shares them with the blog.

Location; Harbour City

Pictures; Harbour City, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

A sunny day, a camera and Harbour City ....... number three the view from the bridge

Now it is very easy to take a place for granted, even when the place is Salford Quays which seems to be constantly in a state of flux, with new developments rising from the waterside almost daily.

All of which will make Andy Robertson’s photographs a very important source for historians, former residents and workers and of course the curious.

Over the last decade and a bit Andy has been recording the changes to the twin cities, starting with a derelict building and returning over the months to chronicle its demolition, the clearing of the site and its replacement.

And I am grateful that he shares them with the blog.

Location; Harbour City

Pictures; Harbour City, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson

A day in the Quays ......... celebrating Salford

There may be some who mutter this isn’t really Salford, not the one I remember, and that will be true.

But all places change and reinvent themselves and Mr Muggins in 1760 may well have reflected that the grand Victorian buildings that rose on the streets of Salford weren’t to his taste.

So here are some of Andy Robertson’s pictures of Salford taken on a bright sunny day in 2017.

Location; Salford

Pictures, Salford, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson