In the 1950s, even modest sized towns took pride in their civic buildings - the parish church; chapels; town hall; railway station; library; public baths; hospital; maternity home; police, ambulance and fire stations; general post-office and perhaps an historic grammar school. These were the facilities by which we measured civilised life. The civic buildings and chapels often dated from the late Victorian or Edwardian period, and can now be seen as a product of an age before mass car ownership when services had to be provided locally. In the last 50 years many of these buildings have fallen into disuse, been demolished or converted for other purposes. In the 1960s some smaller towns lost their railway station in the Beeching cuts. Local government reorganisation in 1974 eventually led to rationalisation and concentration of police, ambulance and fire services into larger units. The same process was at work in the health service with the loss of small local hospitals and maternity homes. The new unitary authorities did not require all the town halls of the constituent boroughs and new comprehensive schools required larger and more modern premises than provided by some of the old grammar schools. Small local postal sorting offices were replaced by regional centres. Everywhere one sees chapels derelict, for sale, or turned into warehouses or dwellings and larger towns and cities have lost churches in the same way. Bit by bit the urban landscape has changed until now, with the perspective of half a century, we see that the old townscape has passed to be replaced by the supermarket, chain store and out-of-town retail park. Small towns have had their shopping streets badly eroded by supermarkets; the butcher, baker and greengrocer have been replaced by the charity shop, cafe and hair dressing salon. Now, with changes in the way information is distributed and the pressure on budgets, libraries are under threat too. Some of these trends are shown in the pages that follow with surplus town halls, chapels for sale, banks turned into pubs and empty town centre properties but I celebrate our historic buildings, and some new ones too, wherever they are to be found.
MANCHESTER MEANDERS
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China Town | ||
MANCHESTER MEANDERSMinshull Street, across Portland Street to Charlotte Street then |
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Sinclair's Oyster Bar | ||
MANCHESTER MEANDERSFrom Picadilly Station along London Road to Picadilly Gardens, down Mosley Street to Spring Gardens then down King Street to Cross Street |
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Picadilly and Oldham St. | ||
MANCHESTER MEANDERSAround the Trafford Centre in November |
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The Trafford Centre | ||
MANCHESTER MEANDERSBeetham Tower to the Midland Hotel via Deansgate, St. John Street, |
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The Midland Hotel | ||
MANCHESTER MEANDERSExchange Square, a turn around the Manchester Wheel |
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Manchester Wheel | ||
ST. ANNES ON SEA14 April 2010A short walk around the town |
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The pier at St. Annes | ||
LYTHAMSome close-up shots of the town |
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Market Hall at Lytham | ||
SALFORD QUAYSA walk from the Millenium Bridge around the Quays |
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Media City | ||
SALFORD QUAYS & MEDIA CITYA walk from the Lowry Centre to Media City |
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Salford Quays | ||
STOCKPORTRailway Road, Wellington Road South and |
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Stockport Market Hall | ||
BURYA walk around the town centre |
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Library, Museum & Art Gallery | ||
OLDHAMA short walk around the town centre starting in Union Street |
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St. Mary's, Oldham | ||
PRESCOT, MERSEYSIDEA walk round the town centre taking in the church, |
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Deanes House, Church Street | ||
SALE, TRAFFORD, GREATER MANCHESTERA short walk from Northenden Road along School Road |
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The Town Hall, Sale | ||
WATERLOO, LIVERPOOLA walk around the town starting from Beach Lawn |
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Beach Lawn villas | ||
WIDNESA walk from Lacey Street to Albert Road via |
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St. Paul's, Widnes | ||
WIGANA walk around the town centre starting in King Street |
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Market Place, Wigan | ||
ROCHDALE TOWN HALLA tour of the town hall with the Alston Hall College |
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Rochdale Town Hall | ||
BOLTON TOWN HALLA tour of the town hall with the Alston Hall College |
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Bolton Town Hall | ||
LEEDS TOWN HALLA tour of the town hall with the Alston Hall College |
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Leeds Town Hall | ||
ST. GEORGE'S HALL, LIVERPOOLA tour of St. George's Hall with the Alston Hall College |
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St. George's Hall, Liverpool |
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THE TOWN HALL, LIVERPOOLA tour of Liverpool Town Hall with the Alston Hall College |
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Liverpool Town Hall |
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WREXHAM, NORTH WALESA walk round Wrexham looking at the architecture |
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Hope Street, Wrexham |
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WHITEHAVEN, CUMBRIAA walk round Whitehaven looking at historic buildings |
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Roper Street, Whitehaven |
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Page updated
6 September, 2020
Links checked Sept 2020.
Strict