Happy Birthday Trafford Centre ……... well almost

The Trafford Centre opened its doors in September 1994, making it almost its birthday, and almost marking a quarter of a century of retail fun.

A wall of wool, 2023

My Wikipedia tells me that “it is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Urmston, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space.

Clourful and enticing, 2023

Originally developed by the Peel Group, the Trafford Centre was sold to Capital Shopping Centres, later to become Intu, in 2011 for £1.65 billion setting a record as the costliest single property sale in British history.

The battle to obtain permission to build the centre was amongst the longest and most expensive in United Kingdom planning history. As of 2011 the Trafford Centre had Europe's largest food court and the UK's busiest cinema”.*

Adverts and shadows, 2023

So, there you are.

On any one day it will have heaps of people drawn from across the region.

Yellow day at Trafford Centre, 2023

Some have just popped in for one item, taking advantage of the free car parking, while others make a day of it.

I prefer the city centre, but then I am not a great fan of shopping as a recreation and prefer to wander the city with a camera.

But on a wet day and factoring in car parking charges I can see the attraction of the centre.

We were there on an indifferent Saturday when the rain threatened, and the sun struggled to break through the grey clouds.

Tina and her mum shopped, and I sat and took pictures.

A fair exchange.

Conversations among the potted plants, 2003

Location; Trafford Centre

Odd shapes, 2023

Pictures; shopping and people watching, 2023,A wall of wool, and Odd shapes in John Lewis, all  from the collection of Andrew Simpson

The Long View, 2023

*Trafford Centre, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafford_Centre

All that glitters and moves .......... the roundabout

I have to confess that I have never been a fan of any roundabouts.

They make me feel ill.  They did when I was a youngster and they still do, which has precluded me from going on those ones in the playground of old parks and the shinny, glittering ones you get at fairgrounds.

I haven’t seen those simple roundabouts of my youth for a long time.  They had a platform, with a circle iron bar and you worked them by pushing them and then when there was sufficient momentum you jumped on, and if you were me jumped straight off again feeling distinctly queasy and very giddy.

Along with the hobby horse, swings and see saw they were to found in almost all Corporation playgrounds when I was growing up, but not so now.

That said, I welcome any pictures and descriptions of locations of where they have survived.

A variation of the municipal roundabout, are those we have across in Greece and rural Italy, where you stand on a platform, hold on to a set of rails and the contraption is operated manually by an adult.

All small beer when compared to the big Merry-go-rounds or Carousels which are a mainstay of Fairs and big amusement parks.

Apparently they have their origin in medieval warfare, were developed in the 18th century into what we know today.

The first modern one was built by Thomas Bradshaw and appeared at the Alysham Fair in 1861.

The design was developed during the next two decades and evolved into what we know today, powered first by steam, then petrol and finally electricity.

They are best seen at night when all that gold and glitter stands out against the night sky, but on a hot May day with the sun shining down, all the sparkly stuff worked equally well.

This one had a permanent home in Trafford Centre where I photographed it during a Bank Holiday Monday.  

But alas the site has been redeveloped, leaving me to go looing for Merry-go-round.

Location; Trafford Centre

Pictures. The Merry-go-round, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Shopping in a palace ……….

So, The Trafford Centre is one those places I have pretty much taken for granted and is not a place I often go to.

Shopping in a palace, 2022

Which for some will amount to a confession of snobbery.

But I have always preferred Manchester, more because in between the endless trawling for bargains and looking for those essential and fashionable items, there are heaps of side streets to dip into and uncover bits of the city’s history.

Added to which on busy days there are just too many people.

That said, on a wet day in February there is a certain attraction to shopping under one roof, added to which Timmy tram will whisk me there with just the one change at Cornbrook.

And while it’s a slightly longer journey than the 23/25, from Chorlton I never miss up an opportunity to do the tram.

Busy day, 2022

My Wikipedia tells me that “The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and leisure complex in Greater Manchester, England. 

Located in Urmston in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, the centre is within the Trafford Park industrial estate, five miles west of Manchester city centre.

The Trafford Centre opened in 1998 and is the third largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom by retail size.

The Trafford Centre's unorthodox style of architecture was prompted by the wish to offer a unique shopping experience. John Whittaker, chairman of Peel Holdings, had to convince architects that a lavish design would not alienate shoppers. 

Even the retail furniture is in gold and marble

Although the extravagant Rococo and Baroque design may be viewed as gaudy the prospect of the shopping centre ageing and becoming dated is greatly mitigated”.*

And it goes without saying that even those bits of retail furniture are adorned in gold and marble.

Over the years all our kids have done Trafford Centre, which I suppose was because it was easy to get to, simple to negotiate and free to roam over.

Anything but ordinary, M&S 2022

And was always a place they and we felt was safe.

All of which meant that on Saturday we zipped across, ostensibly to return something, and while Tina and her mum then went onto window shop for what seemed an eternity, I took a few pictures.

Location; Trafford Centre

Pictures; Saturday in Trafford Centre, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*The Trafford Centre, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafford_Centre

Better late than never …. travelling the tram to Trafford

I am part of that small band of enthusiasts who opt to ride the new Metro lines as soon as they open.

But for the obvious reasons my adventure on the Trafford Centre spur has been delayed.

It opened in March of last year and we got to travel the route on Saturday.

Usually in the first few days of a new route you can spot the enthusiasts, they come armed with a camera, and in some cases a sound recorder, and a few have been known to even get off at each stop to photograph the platform and accompanying Metro furniture.

We just stuck to the journey from Pomona with a stop over at Barton Road Bridge.

And I confess never made it into the Trafford Centre, visiting instead a car showroom.

Like many travellers, what I like about the tram, is that it is quick, and offers an expanding set of destinations.  

Added to which there is the ease with which you can change routes, which reminds me of the Underground at home.

And like the Tube, its stops are full of clutter and interesting things to clock.

Location; the Trafford Centre route

Pictures; travelling the tram, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Of things to come ....... the tram that takes you to Trafford Centre

Now I am a great fan of the tram, and will be one of the first to travel on any new route.

I was there for the opening of the last bit of the line from St Werburgh's to East Didsbury, took the long trip up to Rochdale, and happily watch out of the window as the tram passes through east Manchester.

 My preferred route through town remains the Second City Crossing, although I do also love the journey from Cornbrook via Deansgate Castlefield in to St Peter's Square.

All of which means I want to be one of those trams that takes the spur to Trafford Centre.

Andy Robertson was down by the construction of the line where it is about to join Pomona tram stop, and took a series of pictures.

I will of course now lay down the challenge for him to follow the route and record more of the construction which should be ready in 2020.

So Andy, plenty of time to take plenty of photographs.

Location; Pomona





Pictures; the new Trafford Centre spur under construction; 2018 from the collection of Andy Robertson