We spent three very enjoyable days in Manchester last week. It was our first time in the city and it was a place I'd always wanted to visit. My first real knowledge of Manchester came through the novels of Elizabeth Gaskell who described the appalling conditions of the working class when the city was a prosperous industrial town, a prosperity that was built on the hard labour of working people. Her novels depict working class life and the people involved in textile manufacturing. She described the awful working conditions, the unsafe machinery in the mills, the extremely low wages paid for hard work, the poor living conditions - all heralding a new form of urban existence and a new structure of social relations. She showed the contrast between the lives of the working people and those of the wealthy manufacturers. During that time Friedrich Engels did the same, but the solutions he proposed were totally different.
All the wealth that was created primarily by cotton led to a boom in related industries including banking and industrial engineering to service the textile mills. The whole of the landscape of the area changed. Further wealth was generated through the transatlantic slave trade and is reflected in the grand buildings especially in and around Mosley Street, Piccadilly and Portland Street. Some of this wealth benefited the public, as philanthropists donated money and artworks to local cultural institutions such as Manchester Art Gallery, and the Whitworth Art Gallery.
Our hotel was in Piccadilly Gardens, and this was the view from the hotel bar where we stopped for a drink during our first night.
Most cities have big wheels nowadays, but they're still a lot of fun
Close to the Piccadilly area this gorgeous Art Deco building, the Rylands building, dominates. Grade II listed, it was originally built as a warehouse by the Rylands textile company and was designed by Fairhursts architects.
It's clad in Portland stone and features a decorative corner tower and eclectic 'zig zag' window lintels. The area was known for its markets and textile warehouses.
Another wonderful building in the same area is the one that houses Primark today. It was built in 1877, designed by architects Horton and Bridgford and was built in a French Renaissance style with a grand corner tower which has now been removed.
We ate in Chinatown during our first evening
and the Chinese Arch looked as good in daylight.
and we could not work out what this contraption was which was just in front of it - a remnant of Manchester's industrial past maybe?
Facing onto St Peter's Square is the Midland hotel which was designed by Charles Trubshaw in an Edwardian Baroque style, and was built to serve Manchester Central railway station. It's a Grande II listed building.
The hotel had a 1,000-seat purpose-built theatre where opera and drama performances were staged, and a roof terrace where a string quartet performed. It was allegedly coveted by Adolf Hitler as a possible Nazi headquarters in Britain.
Manchester has some wonderful buildings
and we thoroughly enjoyed walking around.
This is part of the City Council building.
It was a sunny day and that helped enormously
the buildings seemed to glow.
Through doing this blog I've realised that I have a penchant for corner buildings
as I seem to keep photographing them
We found another gorgeous Art Deco building on Deansgate, designed by J.S. Beaumont in 1939.
Here's another one, in a completely different style
I could not find any information on this one, but liked the form and the combination of pink and gold
and I loved this one, but again, could not find out anything about it
We thought these two timber-clad buildings were extraordinary.
The pub was packed during the day
and at night too.
Reminiscent of the Giant's Causeway? We thought so. The water
The Urbis in Cathedral Gardens. Wow! Definitely my favourite building in the centre of the city. A pity about all the writing on the façade - it spoils its clean lines.
Designed by Ian Simpson Architects, it was completed in 2002.
The exterior consists of approximately 2,200 glass panes arranged in horizontal strips. The building has six storeys and a distinctive sloping form.
The entrance
Another interesting water feature in the same area
Art Nouveau on Bridge Street
Manchester Art Gallery on Princess Street.
