So this is 1968 and we are looking up towards St Peter’s Square

I have to admit it is a scene which is very familiar and like all good pictures from the past I seem to remember it as monochrome.

Of course that doesn’t make sense but as hard as I try I can’t picture it in colour.

It is just one of those things.

And there will be plenty of others who instantly recognise the scene, even down to the fashionable dress and hairstyle of the young woman on the right.

The picture come to light through a new project which Neil Simpson tells me is “the Town Hall Photographer's Collection Digitisation Project, which currently is Volunteer led and Volunteer staffed is in the process of taking the 200,000 negatives in the collection dating from 1956 to 2007 and digitising them.

The plan is to gradually make the scanned images available online - initially on the Manchester Local Images Collection Website".*

And almost a century later I was pretty much on the same spot and chose to replicate the shot.

Of course at the time I had no idea that someone back in 1968 had stood where I was and taken a picture.

I bet even then the photographer would have had to be careful of the traffic while I had a clear run given that back in 2016 the road was closed as the finishing touches were being made to the tram line in readiness for the Second City Crossing.

Today I wouldn't dream of standing in the middle of the road, taking my time and then taking a picture.

The trams pass that spot with a frequency that means at best I might just get a shot in but I doubt it and that as they say is progress.

Still at least I can turn in a bright colour image.

And that just leaves you to record the differences.

Location Manchester

Picture; of looking towards St peter’s Square, 1968, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and almost the same spot in 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Neil Simpson, Manchester Local Images Collection Website, https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/sets/7215766350511542

Walking out on Oxford Street ............ 1966

I won’t be alone in remembering these buildings.

We are at the top of Oxford Street where it joins St Peter’s Square, and of the four buildings captured by the photographer on a drab day in 1966, all have gone.

Some went a long time ago, others more recently.

So, while the grimy looking one, home to Boots and which faced across the Cenotaph to Central Ref, was still there in 1969.

I remember gazing across it from the steps of the library but can’t quite remember when it was demolished for Elisabeth House which in turn was torn down for One St Peter’s Square.

More recently its neigbour, on the corner of Mosley Street and the square which many admired has been lost for that stark, and very bright building which is Two St Peter’s Square.

On the opposite side of Mosley Street, the properties on the left of the picture went became the peace Gardens and are now part of the space which includes platforms for the Metro and the reallocated cenotaph.

All of which just leaves me with the picture itself with its ghostly like figures caught in mid stride, and that sign for the restaurant “The Egg and I” which I never visited but which will be remembered by some.
Location; Oxford Street, Manchester

Picture; Oxford Street, 1966, Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection,  https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/albums/72157684413651581?fbclid=IwAR35NR9v6lzJfkiSsHgHdQyL2CCuQUHuCuVr8xnd403q534MNgY5g1nAZfY

Bold new plans for four Manchester Squares ………..

It’s just one of those age things that if you can remember cars in St Ann’s Square, you will have had plenty of birthdays.

Today, you can take your pick from a pleasant amble across the square, take in the market stalls which are a frequent feature, or just sit and watch everyone else going about their business.

Just over 40 years ago much of the square was given over to cars, lorries and coaches, and while the pavements were wide this was still a place where you had to be mindful of parked and passing traffic.

There had been moves to pedestrianize the square, and introduce open air cafes in 1962.

But the plans were shelved because of concerns that “congestion would be caused on Market Street and St Mary’s Gate if the square was closed to traffic”.* Four years later the Civic Trust of the North West which had advanced the original plan, tried again with a “New Plan for main squares”.

This proposed “new pedestrian area in four main squares in Manchester,  [suggesting] extra traffic restrictions, so that a new pedestrian route could wind through part of the central shopping area”.

The scheme would have involved changes in St Peter’s Square, Albert Square, St James Square and St Ann’s Square.

In St Peter’s Square, the Cenotaph and cross could be moved and re positioned directly in front of Central Ref, while in Albert Square, the Albert Memorial would “remain in its present place, but other statues would be moved slightly and the lavatories in the square would be removed”.

 A pedestrian route would run from Brazenose Street to connect with St Ann’s Square which would see the church “sit in a pedestrian area as it was originally intended and the whole atmosphere of the square would be changed by the removal of the clutter of cars and parked vehicles and the continuous discordant effect of the traffic slowly meandering through the Square”. 

 Leaving the pavements to be widened on St James Square and “parts of South King Street and King Street would be closed to normal traffic [and] opened only for part of the day for service traffic”.

 

All of which looked a bold plan, but would be a long time coming.

King Street was pedestrianized in1976, and St Ann’s Square in the early 1980s, leaving St Peter’s Square to be transformed in part by the coming of the Metro in the 1990s and fully transformed by the Second City Crossing, which resulted in an enlarged square, the loss of the Peace Garden and the removal of the Cenotaph to a spot outside the entrance to the Town Hall.

And for those wondering where St James Square can be found, it is the narrow street which connects John Dalton Street with South King Street.

With the passage of time it is difficult now to remember  that there was a time when you had to dodge cars.

 Location; Manchester

Picture; St Ann’s Square,2016, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and in 1960, 1960 – 3107.3, 3107.4, 3107.1, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

 *Manchester shelves plan for St Ann’s Square, Manchester Guardian, December 1962.

 **New Plan for main squares, Manchester Guardian, August 17^th, 1966.

 

Pictures before a demonstration ….. St Peter’s Square April 18th event

Yesterday there was a demonstration and a counter demonstration in the city.

Today social media teams with pictures, videos, commentaries and opinions of the event.

Three hours before St Peter’s Square was a tranquil scene populated by passers by and a growing police preparation.

Not perhaps an exciting series of images but an alternative to the flag waving and counter placard waiving groups.

Location; St Peter’s Square

Pictures; St Peter’s Square, 2026, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Half a century of change in St Peter’s Square

Now this is one of the scenes of St Peter’s Square which has gradually changed over time.

I can’t be sure when the picture was taken but it was added to Valentine’s card catalogue in 1937 and will have to date from after 1934 when work on the Town Hall Extension was started.

That said the building was not completed till 1938 which means that when our photograph was made bits of the new Town Hall had yet to be finished.

Since then every decade some of what you can see has vanished, and what replaced it hasn’t always stayed the course.

Since I arrived in 1969 the building behind the tram has gone and  was for a while the Peace Garden and will presently be the relocated metro stop, which is also a reminder that the square lost its trams in the late 1940s and has seen them return.

The white building on the other corner of Mosley Street has also disappeared as has the building which fronted the parked cars on the right of the picture.  It went in favour of that utilitarian building called Elizabeth House which lasted just over forty years.

More recently we had the platforms of the tram stop outside the Library which has come and gone and the relocation of the Cenotaph.

And for those wanting more, Central Ref and the Town Hall Extension has undergone major refurbishment and changes reflecting what we want of public buildings in the 21st century.

So there you have it, most of this won’t be new to many but for some it may be a total revelation.

And no sooner  had I posted the story and  Robert offered up his own image taken from the Midland Hotel just a few days ago.

It is a supberb contrast to what our unknown photographer captured almsot eighty years ago.

Location; Manchester

Picture; St Peter’s Square, circa 1937, from the collection of David Harrop and in 2016 courtesy of Robert Moores

In St Peter's Square on an August Sunday in 1937, reflecting on what was and what was to come

We are in St Peter’s Square on a Sunday.  

Now I can be certain of that because the picture is dated August 8th 1937 which was a Sunday.

And like many of the pictures in the collection there is much that you can peel back from what on the surface is just a photograph of a tram.

So starting with the obvious this is car 575 on its way to Burton Road and in the absence of a crew and passengers appears parked up.

Behind it is one of those buildings which were everywhere in the city centre, a mix of offices and shops, fronted in stone which had over half a century become grey and grimy, but with some nice arched windows on the upper storeys.

It was a solid sound building, most of which is out of view or hidden by the trams. But we can just glimpse the premises of Isaac’s Wallpapers who were at number 8.

They were an enterprising business and were quick to take advantage of the the coronation of King George V1 which had taken place in the May of that year, and so just four months after the event they were advertising as a “Coronation Offer Pure Oil Paint at 1/11d.”

David Isaacs had been trading from the shop since 1911 and I rather think there is a story here, as there will be in following up the entry from the directories for the Association Football Players Union which was at number 14 and whose secretary was Alfred S Owen.

The building has gone now, although I do remember standing on the steps of Central Ref gazing over at it on Saturday mornings as I took a break from some dusty article on the Anti Corn Law League.

By then it was a drab tired looking sort of place ready for its end waiting only to be replaced by something new and exciting.

This was to be Elisabeth House all glass and concrete walls which seem to have had few friends.  A building so misunderstood and disliked that no one can quite agree on when it went up.

Various sources suggest a date in the 1960s which does not quite fit with my memories of gazing across at it in 1970.

But recollections of events, places and buildings can so easily be wrong and I was prepared to accept that this was just one of those times when I was mistaken.

But not so. According to A Manchester View run by David Boardman,* Elisabeth House was built in 1971, which I am pleased to say means that my long term memory is fine, even if I can forget to put the wash on, turn off the lights.

I do have to say I am becoming a fan of his site offering as it does some interesting walks around buildings that have now vanished, and he has done an excellent job on chronicling the rise and demise of Elisabeth House which it is true had by the turn of this century become as tired looking as its predecessor and  it has to be said in perhaps half the time.

Now I do not have the same hard opinion of Elisabeth House as some but I will let you decide, for here is a 1924 picture of the old building taken from the Midland.

By the end it had become a sad sight, abandoned by both the Pancake and Italian restaurants and by the camera shop I occasionally visited.

One of its last episodes was to be used by a television crime series, and I rather envied the cast their view across the square to the Town Hall Extension.

All of which was a long way into the future on that August day in 1937.

But had I been there in the Square I would have felt at home on the steps of the Ref which was opened in 1934 and no doubt would have admired the Town Hall Extension which was almost finished and would be ready for its municipal staff and the public the following year.

Now us historians are always looking for continuity in the events of the past and so it is nice to reflect that just over forty years after the old majestic trams of Manchester Corporation vanished from our streets, they are back.

And that large white insurance building has also vanished although it survived until quite recently.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; St Peter’s Square in 1937 from the collection of Alan Brown, Elisabeth House, 1988,m04395,the premises of David Isaacs from the Midland Hotel, July 1924, City Engineers Department m04465 and the Town Hall Extension February 1937, m74925, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council
*http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/tours/tour6/area6page61.html

Just how exotic could Manchester be? ………. memories of 1971

Now you have to be of a certain age to remember the Ceylon Tea Centre, or its equally enticing rival the Danish Food Centre.

An exotic market place, 1957

Back in the early 1970s they were a revelation to me, who until then had really only known Lyons Corner Houses, Wimpey Bars, greasy cafes and the odd forays for a business meal in the Chinese and Asian restaurants around town.

The Tea Centre was a commercial showcase for Ceylon’s products, and it was there that I first discovered a salad could be more than a soft tomato, some limp lettuce and a bit of curly cucumber smothered in salad cream.

Here were rice dishes, some of which were curried and others which contained fruit, nuts and other exotic things.

I remember the one in Regent Street in London but given that I was a student in Manchester it was the one on St Peter’s Square in Elizabeth House which we went to.

Although we did also do the Danish Food Centre on Cross Street, which had opened to a blaze of publicity on November 19th, 1965.

The Guardian ran the story over a full page, reporting that “the Danish Prime Minister with his wife, the Danish actress Helle Virkner, will attend the opening of the new Danish Food Centre in Cross Street tomorrow”, attended also by “the Lady Mayoress of Manchester, who enters as the first Mancunian housewife  to do so”.*

Ceylon Tea Centre logo, date unknown

There were also a host of other invited guests including “representatives of the Danish agricultural organizations, representatives of the grocery and provision trades of Manchester and district and representatives of women’s organizations and other local associations and institutions”.

The Guardian article did the Centre proud commenting on the décor the air conditioning and reflecting that here was a “little bit of Denmark” which was an “ideal place for a coffee and Danwich – the open Danish sandwich”.

Like the Ceylon Tea Centre, it also sold “quantities of Danish foods, [which] can be bought for an office lunch or a party with a difference at home”.”

Looking back now at a city full of restaurants offering up food from around the world, these two food centres seem quite tame.

Elisabeth House, home to the Tea Centre, 1988

But at the time they were both exciting and innovative, because while you could eat at the Armenian on Fountain Street, the Bella Napoli on Kennedy Street and a host of more expensive and down market eating places, these two were open all day into the evening and were relaxed and easy going.

From memory the Ceylon Tea Centre had a self-service as well as a waitress area and each featured those classic large wall mounted photographs of tea plantations and coastal landscapes.

Together they are part of the changing food culture in a city which just a decade earlier was more likely to have offered up visits to a Wimpey Bar, The UCP outlets, or faded tea rooms which competed with coffee bars and transport cafes.

Location; the 1970s

Pictures; the market, 1957 from Looking at Other Children, 1959**Ceylon Tea Centre, logo***, and Elisabeth House, 1988,m04395, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass


*Danish Food Centre opens in Manchester Denmark comes to Cross Street, the Guardian, November 18th, 1965

**Looking at Other Children, Jean and David Gadsby, 1957

*** Vernon Corea’s visits to the Ceylon Tea Centre at 22 Lower Regent Street London, https://vernoncorea.wordpress.com/tag/ceylon-tea-centre-lower-regent-street-london/

A little bit of what we have lost ………. Manchester in the 1990s

Now I always maintain that it is often some of the most recent photographs of the city which look outdated and somehow out of place.

I suppose it is because we are prepared for those old black and white images from the beginning of the last century or the end of the 19th.

The people and the places are quite clearly from another time, when they did things differently, and even when the buildings are still there, they belong to that other time.

But not so more recent images, which are usually in colour and have enough about them to be almost now, but not quite.

And these two of St Peter’s Square fit that bill.

Both date from the 1990s, feature those old blue trams, and feature Central Ref and the Cenotaph.

But just a quarter of century or so on, the trams have been replaced, the Cenotaph relocated, and Central Ref undergone a major refurbishment and make over.

Added to which, the square itself has been transformed, and while we have lost the People’s Garden, we have gained a new metro stop, and an exciting new open space.

Well I think so anyway.

Leaving me just to expect a shedload of comments.

Location; St Peter's Square

Pictures; St Peter’s Square, circa 1990s, from the collection of picture postcards of Rita Bishop

St Peter’s Square ……. 1962 …. compare and contrast

This was taken from the Central Ref, sometime in 1962.  

A little over 5 years later I would be looking out from the same windows, and the scene hadn’t changed much.

That can’t be said today, and the fun will be to tick off just how many differences a casual observer would notice. 

Location; Manchester

Pictures,  St Peter’s Square, Manchester, 1962 – 3664.5, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

The unpromising picture postcard that offers up a bag of history .....

 As picture postcards go this one of the Midland Hotel wouldn’t win any prizes.

It maybe that the quality was poor to begin with or that repeated “touching up” of the original did not do it any favours, but I can’t say I would be pleased to get this one through the post.

That said it is an interesting one for a number of reasons.

First it postdates 1907, because until that date the church of St Peter had stood on the site of the landscaped area.  Nor can it be after 1924, because there is no evidence of the cenotaph, flanked by the twin obelisks, which was unveiled in 1924.

That said I rather think we are dealing with old stock, because it carries a post mark with the date of April 1925, a full ten months after the cenotaph, and been built

And also carries a stamped reference "London Defended" at the Wembley Stadium.

This was a series aerial displays performed from May 9th to June 1st 1925, by No. 32 Squadron RAF at the Wembley Stadium. 

Similar to the display they had done the previous year, when the aircraft were painted black, it consisted of a night time air display over the Wembley Empire Exhibition flying RAF Sopwith Snipes which were painted red for the display and fitted with white lights on the wings, tail and fuselage. 

The display involved firing blank ammunition into the stadium crowds and dropping pyrotechnics from the aircraft to simulate shrapnel from guns on the ground, while explosions mimicked the effect of bombs being dropped into the stadium.*

Leaving me just to remark that the card was sent to Vienna and the message is in German.

So that pretty much is that.

An old iffy picture postcard, offers up a view of St Peter's Square, long gone with a bit of a story spanning Vienna and London.

The postcard was marketed by Tuck and Sons, under the heading of Manchester, LMS, with the note that “THIS HOTEL IS ONE OF THE "MIDLAND" HOTELS AND IS MANAGED BY ARTHUR TOWLE, CONTROLLER, L.M.S. HOTEL SERVICES, ST. PANCRAS, N.W. 1”

Location; Manchester

Pictures; the Midland Hotel, circa 1907-1924, from Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdbpostcards.org, and poster of London Defended Torchlight and Searchlight spectacle, The Stadium Wembley May 9 to June 1, 1925, Scanned from original document by me Jimmy3d0 (talk) 14:18, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

*British Empire Exhibition, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire_Exhibition

 

A book launch …… some stunning views …. and a bit of history …. Saturday in Central Ref from 1 pm

 There are plenty of reasons to visit the Central Reference Library in St Peter’s Square.

Leaving aside the books, there is architecture, ranging from the impressive Great Hall which was once the Social Sciences Library on the first floor with its circular layout, to the Shakespeare Hall replete with stunning windows, statues and coats of arms and the grand meeting area, where you can sit with friends, explore the current exhibitions or head off to the Archive and Local History Libraries.

And on Saturday from 1pm there is the book launch of the first two in the series, the History of Greater Manchester By Tram.

All you could want and more.

Location; Central Ref, St Peter’s Square

Pictures; Central Ref, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

It's all in the windows ……….

One day in the Ref.

Location; Central Reference Library, St Peter's Square, Manchester

Picture; It's all in the windows, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

What’s that secret …… beyond that arch? …..

My association with Central Ref stretches back 54 years and across that half century and more I have always pondered on those steps through that archway and just where they led to.

Now, I know it will be an office of sorts, filled with filing cabinets, lockers and the odd table.

But when the hours hung heavy and the promised break through from an old document was not forth coming I would ponder on what Narnia like scene would be revealed behind that wooden door.

To be very accurate this is not the staircase in what was the Archive and Local History Library, that was further on, and for most of my time in the Library I inhabited the vast Social Science Library with its echo and circular message on the power of knowledge.

Of course, I could just ask those I know who worked there.

But wouldn’t that be too easy?*

Location; Central Ref

Pictures; that staircase, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*But I can not stay silent for Helen was moved to offer up "Yes they were both just offices.  The one at the end of the Local Studies dept. I knew well.  I think they are now just storage rooms, as there's not much wiring into them, for computers, and phones".  

So no Narnia surprises then.

Central Ref …………… but not as we know it

Now, I know that line from Star Trek, by Dr McCoy about life but not as know it, and that seemed a fine start to reflect on this image of Central Ref from the 1990s, for while the building looks familiar, the make over a few years ago transformed the library.

And since then the area around it has also undergone profound changes, but for those I will leave you to discover for yourself.

Location; St Peter’s Square

Pictures; Central Ref, circa 1990s, from the collection of picture postcards of Rita Bishop

One day …. two pictures …..

Location St Peter’s Square

Pictures; one day …. two pictures, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Ninety - nine stops ….. heaps of stories …. and a favourite tram destination

The publication of our first book in the new series on The History of Great Manchester By Tram has stirred the pot with plenty of people commenting that it’s a novel way to record the past. *

Arriving at Deansgate Castlefield, 2023

After all there are ninety-nine tram stops across the network and each one will have its own history.

Shudehill after the trams have gone, 2023

And so, Peter and I have decided to explore the entire Metro system, travelling the routes looking for interesting pictures and bits of history.

Peter will paint a picture of the stop and surrounding buildings, and I will find stories about each stop, which will build into a mosaic of tales about Greater Manchester’s past.

And it occurred to me that along the way it would be fun to find out which metro stop comes out as a favourite of those who use them.

I must confess to having several. 

Cornbrook is one because it affords fine views of two canals and the changing landscape as each year more new apartment blocks replace the old industrial brown field sites.

But then Deansgate Castlefield, also has a canal, the old Knott Mill Railway Station and is just a few minutes’ walk away from the city’s own Heritage Park, along with some fine bars and historic pubs.

Sneaking up on Mr's Pankhurst in St Peter's Square, 2022

And both of these stops vie with St Peter’s Square, which has a popular open space from which to take in Central Ref, the Town Hall Extension, the Midland Hotel and Mrs Pankhurst addressing an audience.

In addition, we are close to the Cenotaph, the site of the Peterloo Massacre and that other square which boasts a collection of statues.

Peter is attractedto several but it would be presumptuous of me to reflect on just why Shudehill and New Islington are on his list.

So, that is it.

You can nominate your own selected stop, including a picture and a  few sentences which can be sent to us as a comment via, the blog, social media or an old fashioned postcard.

Busy tram day, Deansgate Castlefield, 2023

Missing the tram from Cornbrook, 2024

Location; Ninety- nine spots in Greater Manchester

Pictures; my tram stops, 2018- 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Trafford Bar to East Didsbury, The History of Greater Manchester By Tram, The Stories At The Stops, Andrew Simpson & Peter Topping, 2024.  

The tourists at St Peter's Square, 2018

It is available from Chorlton Bookshop, and from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk, price £4.99

You can come in now …….. hidden stories ... Central Ref

It is a decade since the Central Reference Library reopened after its magnificent make over, and ninety years since it first opened its doors.

Open gain, 2014

And I must admit with a sense of Methuselah it is 55 years since I first sat in the awesome Social Sciences Library, with its echo, circular layout and inspiring inscription running around the domed ceiling.

Them stacks, 2024

It was my Saturday morning home from 1969 to 72, again over the last two decades and a bit as I researched my first three books, only interrupted by its make over period when it was closed.

In all those years I had only given scant thought to the floors below ground, known as the stacks and home to shedloads of books, periodicals, newspapers and newspaper clippings.

In the early days you ordered them up by filling in a request form after first consulting the filing cabinets to get the reference number.  

Then handing it in to the assistant at the central hub before waiting twenty minutes for the publication to be retrieved from the stacks and brought up by the hoist.

Acres of Private Eye, 2024

Today the ground floor of the stacks are visible from inside Central Ref, and yesterday Peter and I got access to that underground warren of floors with the shelves of “stuff” along with a visit to one of the strong rooms equally full of “stuff”.

We had called on Jackie Pugh, who is the Heritage Access Manager at the Ref to drop off a selection of our new books for the library’s collection, and in turn Jackie gave us the tour.

And what fascinating half an hour it proved to be, and not to be outdone Peter took the pictures.

Shelves, more shelves and even more shelves, 2024

Location; Central Ref

Newspaper clippings, 2024

Pictures; You can come in now, Central Ref, 2014, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the “Stacks” and other interesting ground pictures, 2024, courtesy of Peter Topping