Rose Brooks

Episode 883 – Meandering in Manchester

Laundry took priority this morning, and I left it to Ted to plan the rest of our day while I concentrated on finding creative places to hang damp clothes. The apartment has the European style of combined washer/dryer that my best friend’s British daughter has affectionately dubbed a “washer/less wetter”, and has very limited clothes hanging options and no drying rack.

As is always the case, Ted excelled at his task, and planned a 5 hour walking tour that took us out of our clothing-bedecked apartment and into Manchester’s eclectic centre.

Just around from our aparthotel is Manchester’s Rochdale Canal, whose adjacent paths formed the first part of Ted’s route.

We began at Piccadilly Gate, which used to lead directly to the canal but now leads to a parking lot. It brings to mind a Joni Mitchell song lyric about paving paradise, although canal-side was never much like the Garden of Eden.

At the end of this particular stretch is a T-junction that must be interesting for long narrow canal boats to manoeuvre.
Canada geese (NOT “Canadian”) show up everywhere.

Adjacent to the parking lot is the historic Carvers Warehouse on Dale Street, Manchester city centre’s oldest surviving warehouse (built 1806) and the only one constructed entirely of stone.

Turning around to go back through Piccadilly Gate and follow the canal into the city centre gave us a much lovelier view than the parking lot.

The canal is 32 miles long, from Manchester into West Yorkshire,and has an impressive 91 locks along that span. When the canal was opened in 1804, it was the first canal to traverse the Pennines mountain range; that speaks to why so many locks are needed.

We decided to take the stairs down from street level to walk beside the canal and under one of the tunnels with the roads above us.

That path took us to where we could go back up to street level at a point where Manchester’s Minshall Street Crown Court dominates the corner.

This is also where Manchester’s vibrant Gay Town begins, with bats, restaurants, and theatres lining the canal.

This was at least the third lock we’d passed in less than about 1km.

Coming out of the village, the first building we saw was the Edwardian Baroque Lancaster House, now residential flats, but originally built between 1905 and 1920 as a packing and shipping warehouse for Lloyd’s Packing Warehouses Ltd. Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History explains that “the company served an important aspect of the textile trade – making-up and packing textiles for export, and manufacturing waterproof wrapping and linings, packing cases and lapping boards, and provding facilities for storing and handling the goods.” It certainly seems pretty fancy for a warehouse, speaking to a need for companies to maintain a particular façade (ha ha).

Turn around, and we could get a glimpse of the former Bloom Street Power Station.

The contrast between old and new makes for an interesting skyline.

The current Kimpton Hotel, with its clock tower, was constructed between 1891 and 1895 as the former headquarters of the Refuge Assurance Company. A gentleman walking past us as we gawked at buildings said, “British Insurance Companies. They’ve got all the money. Always did.”

Continuing to follow the canal, we peeked down the street at Manchester Central Station and the Tower of Light.

At the Deansgate Locks, where we saw a canalboat going through.

The locks on the Rochdale Canal in Manchester are maintained and operated by the Canal & River Trust, a charity that manages the waterway. While most manual operation is done by boaters, the trust’s paid staff and volunteers work 365 days a year to manage maintenance, water levels, and complex passage

We continued on past the railway viaducts, intending to visit the Castlefield Viaduct, a National Trust site.

Unfortunately the site was closed, but right beside it are the remains of the Roman Fort of Mamucium, dating to between 79 and 200 CE.

The sign at the entry reads: “THIS IS WHERE MANCHESTER BEGAN. HERE, 1700 YEARS BEFORE THE GREAT INDUSTRIAL CHANGES THAT SHAPED THE MODERN CASTLEFIELD, THE ROMANS BUILT A CASTLE-IN-A-FIELD. YOU ARE STANDING INSIDE THAT ORIGINAL FORT.”

The inscription between the arches is a fragmentary dedication commemorating a detachment of soldiers from Raetia and Noricum (regions in modern-day Austria and Germany). It is the only surviving piece of original Roman masonry in its original position within Manchester.

The route Ted had planned took us past Manchester’s Museum of Science and Innovation and into St. James Gardens, where it was a bit disconcerting knowing that while we were walking among green trees and lush rhododendrons, we were also walking over the burial place of 22,000 people in what was once a churchyard.

One of the people buried here was identified on the central memorial: the man who originated the Saturday half-day holiday for workers in Britain’s industrial age.

Our next stop was Ted’s sectet until we reached it. What a lovely surprise!

I’m reaching into my purse for my own jam sandwich. For anyone who doesn’t get the reference, here is the amazing woman I am emulating:

We continued on past a number of wonderful Victorian and Edwardian buildings, but when we saw this huge Gothic style one we were inspired to try to go inside, thinking it was a church.

It was actually the Gothic style Manchester Town Hall Extension, and currently closed to the public. We chatted briefly with the two security guards about where we were from, our interest in architecture, our travels, and what had drawn us to the building. They explained that while the main building was undergoing restoration work, this one was being used as offices. Then, one of them offered to unlock the marble “rates hall” and let us walk through with him! His partner quipped, “Sure, just let them roam free!”

This is where, until recently, Mancusians came to pay bills, apply for services, lodge complaints with the council, apply for permits, etc. there would be up to 30 service desks in front of the 8 offices in which more private or complicated issues were addressed.

Our “guide” pointed out the huge poster of Emmeline Parkhurst, who led England’s suffragette movement. It is made up of passport pictures of women voters. He also told us where in St Peter’s Square to find her statue, and encouraged us to go into the main library branch next door.

Manchester Public Library central branch.

In its soaring entry hall, the library features a “Shakespeare Window”.

Hours of walking had us both tired, thirsty, and hungry. We stopped at Wetherspoon’s Hotel on Piccadilly Garden for fish and chips (devoured before a thought had been given to taking a photo) and pints of lovely cold Worthington’s Creamflow Ale. The ale is dispensed from a “nitro-keg” and pours looking like 100% creamy foam, which gradually reveals a lovely amber colour.

Ted’s route for our day was a great success, but his feet had had enough. while he returned to our hotel, I managed somehow to have the energy to peruse a couple of Manchester’s op shops, and buying a scarf and tank top at one which supports Barnardo’s, the same childrens’ charity that was responsible in 1922 for paying passage to Canada for Ted’s orphaned 14-year old Nana, who ended up working as a domestic for a U of T professor. Her story ended up a happy one, although that was not the case for all of the Dr. Barnardo Children. Interestingly, the charity’s website does acknowledge that to some degree.

Dinner was fresh meal deals picked up from the Sainsbury’s Local, after which it was time to re-pack and relax.

Tomorrow we take the train to York, where I’m especially excited to visit the Minster and Treasury House, for which we’ve already booked our timed entry tickets.

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