Tag Archives: Buildings

 
 

Fire on Oldham Street, Dobbin’s drapers and general outfitters

Another small part of Manchester’s heritage went up in flames on 11th April when a former department store caught fire on Oldham Street. Fire fighters had been tackling the blaze for several hours when I shot these pictures just after 8pm. The street was closed off and people had been evacuated from neighbouring buildings.

The end of the Oxford Road Show (video)

How the BBC’s studios nearly ended up opposite Platt Fields Park in Rusholme Here in Manchester, New Broadcasting House is being demolished. But back in the mid-1950’s, when the BBC decided to build new northern regional headquarters, this famous location on Oxford Road wasn’t the first choice. At the beginning of 1956 the BBC was […]

Bygone Manchester: the Grand Theatre, Peter Street

The lower building nearest the camera was once the Grand Theatre. Built for Edward Garcia, and designed by a Mr Weldon, it opened as a circus on 29 September 1883 and then became a theatre. From 1916 until 1924 the building operated as a cinema, known firstly as the Palladium and then the Futurist. After […]

Right-wingers stoke Islamophobia in Longsight churchyard planning mystery

Latest (25 March 2010): a video of my visit to the site today. This shows the current situation and casts further doubt on the claims of ‘desecration’. As church attendance figures have plummeted over the decades many buildings have been saved by being converted to a different use. One old church on Dickenson Road in […]