FROM RAT-INFESTED TO PRIME RESIDENTIAL a Manchester district transformed

In this video we take a walk around a district that has seen incredible transformation over the past few decades. Once a place of rats, not all of them with four legs, to a beautiful and desirable waterside district, an area to live or work in, full of architectural eye candy that looked expecially attractive on the sunny Sunday of the 19th of May 2024.

0:00 Introduction
3:40 Is the weather always bad in Manchester?
4:10 The Wharf Pub
5:00 Four railway viaducts
6:10 Merchants Warehouse
7:10 Transformation from 2004 to 2024

The district came about prior to and during the Industrial Revolution era and was a scene of transshipment and industrial activity for many years. Here,, several waterways come together: The Bridgewater Canal, the Rochdale Canal, the River Medlock and the River Irwell. In the 20th century it fell into decline and by the 1960s it was delapidated and mostly abandoned, apart from the rats!

The late Jim Ramsbottom, bookmaker and benefactor, used his wealth and influence to bring about the renovation of this former no-go area on the doorstep of Manchester city centre.

Today we see an attractive waterside district of restored warehouses and newer apartment buildings. Just beyond on all sides are the tall buildings of Deansgate Gardens and other projects. On sunny weekends, it’s a lively place, where the young professionals of Manchester come out to play, a place of eye candy, not just architectural!

There have been some controversies in the development of the district – new buildings have been proposed and rejected due to local opposition. Others went ahead. What’s the name of this unique location? See below:

To see more of the drone shots recorded for this video, got to this video on the Cinemaker channel – https://youtu.be/PKvqSCnwvdg?si=txnXynZwBni3fpDQ

To support my project of documenting the development of Manchester, please donate via http://www.buymeacoffee.com/aidaneyewitness

It’s the site of the original Roman fort of Mamucium, which gave us the name Manchester. You guessed it, it’s Castlefield!

Hallo und willkommen, welcome to AidanEyewitness. Castlefield was one of the first areas in central Manchester to undergo renovation and rebuilding. It’s been through many changes, some controversial. Now I’ve been meaning to do a feature on Castlefield for some time, but I wanted it to be in sunny weather and on the 19th of May, it was sunny. So let’s go and take a walk around Castlefield in 2024. We’re going to take a look at the architecture old and new, the vistas, panoramas and views over water from countless angles, and we’ll compare then and now using photos from my archive. Castlefield covers a wider area but I’m just concentrating on the area around the canal basin. Oh wow, look at that, two horses and their riders crossing the footbridge. That’s not a sight you see every day! The award-winning and structurally complex Merchant’s Bridge was opened in 1996, architects Whitby Bird & Partners. The contrast between the old Castlefield and what we see today couldn’t be more extreme. A reader of my old Eyewitness website wrote that when he was young, it was a semi-derelict no-go area full of rats, not all of them with four legs he said. The man largely responsible for the redevelopment of Castlefield was bookmaker Jim Ramsbottom, who sadly died at the age of 81 in 2021. Today, his company Castlefield Estates continues to play a key role in Castlefield. His daughter Sarah is MD. I’m glad I took this photo of the award-winning Quay bar designed by Stephenson Bell, completed in 1998, demolished nine years later. On this site Castle Wharf was built a few years later, designed by OMI architects. Castlefield is crossed by four railway viaducts and many bridges. Castlefield Congregational Chapel Grade 2 listed, was used as a recording studio by Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the 1980s. The hit record by Rick Astley, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, was recorded here. Today it houses offices. We’re standing on what remains of Grocer’s Warehouse. The original building was demolished in 1960. We make our way down Castle Street and over to the left the new towers dominate the scene: Three60, the Blade, Elizabeth Tower. The buildings offer a contrast of modern architectural styles – shiny turquoise glass juxtaposed with matt, cream-coloured Jenga. These old warehouses were converted into offices in the 1990s. The traditional tower is topped off in a contemporary style. The Beetham Hilton tower has been joined by Viadux 1 and in between, the Staycity Apartments building is under construction, we’ll take a quick look at the end. If you’re walking down Castle Street, don’t don’t miss the bridge over the canal, named the Architect’s Footbridge and the cottage housing the Saul Hay gallery. Another Transpennine train heads along the 1849 viaduct towards Warrington and Liverpool. Castlefield offers endless photogenic vistas with water reflections, bridges and tall buildings. That’s the Axis tower further up on Whitworth Street West. Let’s fly along the Rochdale Canal. This is the final stretch before it meets the Bridgewater Canal in the heart of Castlefield. We’re passing under the railway bridge from Deansgate station. The canal was completed in 1761. We’re heading towards the Architect’s Bridge, which we crossed earlier Here’s the cottage housing the Saul Hay gallery and who’s that guy guarding the door? A Metrolink tram makes its way along the 1877 Cornbrook Viaduct towards the city centre. This is Castlegate apartment building, completed in 2003. currently undergoing what must be re-cladding work. In the idyllic Manchester sunshine people sit out on the lawn, sunbathe, read or chat. I’ve heard people say the weather in Manchester is terrible, it’s cloudy all the time and it never stops raining. That’s not true. Manchester has a temperate and changeable climate like other north European cities whether Hamburg, Antwerp or Dublin. There are regular sunny days and it doesn’t rain that often. I know because I’m often out and about on my bike or on foot. The rainiest city in the UK is Cardiff. Looking across the canal basin and we can see the Wharf pub. It looks old but it was built in 1998. It closed in 2005 and there were plans to put up a large apartment complex designed by Ian Simpson, but the plans were rejected. Later, this attractive, smaller apartment building appeared. It’s called Canal Wharf House, architects GA Studios. Looking back along the Rochdale Canal towards Deansgate in my old photo, the sky was empty, but today it’s filled by those new buildings. Dukes 92 bar and restaurant is still popular. We’ll walk over under the 1894 great Northern viaduct towards the original part of Castlefield where the Roman fort was reconstructed. Just imagine a Roman soldier looking through that arch and seeing what what’s there today! What’s Manchester going look like in another 2000 years? Walking back we can see all four viaducts side by side, providing endless photographic and artistic opportunities. I remember coming here many years ago taking black-and-white photographs. I love the shape and texture of the viaducts, they’re so characteristic of the old Manchester. On the side of the arched footbridge, we can see a rare survival, the logo of the Central Manchester Development Corporation. Since then, the Bee has thrived as a symbol of Manchester, Salford and the surrounding conurbation. It’s interesting how empty the scene was in the 80s over to the right. Now that area has been developed with residential buildings as well as the the Youth Hostel. Above the Salford Branch viaduct , we can see the two Union Co-Living towers next to the River Irwell, nearing completion. Now we are back in the heart of the canalside area of Castlefield. Merchant’s footbridge provides a graceful, photogenic – and slightly wobbly – route across the water linking the Wharf pub and Barça, which was also closed for a period, but today it seems to be doing very well. The jewel in the crown of Castlefield is Merchant’s Warehouse, one of the first building to be renovated. It’s pure eye candy. It has arches for ships and now functions as offices. The traditional industrial building looks fantastic as a contemporary office building. It’s great example of how restoring the old is often better than building new. From every angle Merchant’s Warehouse looks fantastic especially reflected in the water. Just down here is the spot where many panoramic photos have been taken. Here’s one that I took in back in 1998 on a Soviet panoramic film camera, and below it, 26 years later, on my iPhone. As we can see, Merchant’s Bridge looked a lot cleaner in the past. It looks like it could do with some restorative TLC. I’ve noticed that some parts of Castlefield are starting to look a little like the Castlefield of old. There are overflowing bins and badly maintained areas. The magnificent Middle Warehouse was home to Piccadilly Radio and Key 103, and today Greatest Hits radio. Looking in the other direction, the succession of bridges provides a very pleasing vista, which has changed little. Now we’re looking back along the canal, with boats moored on both sides. At this section there are no boats, so we can benefit from the reflections in the water. In 2004 I took this photo. Look at how things have changed. Quite incredible. The Castle Wharf development was seen as controversial by local residents, due to its height and colour, but it seems you just can’t stop the upward progress of Manchester. The publicity materials highlight that it offers the best views over Castlefield. But the best views over Castlefield are from the Cinemaker drone here, heading along the Bridgewater Canal and round the curve to the right, past Merchant’s Warehouse. That curve is picked up footpath leading to the bridge. You can’t see that from ground level. Further along are the three viaducts built in 1849, 1877 and 1894, respectively. Looking across the canal basin towards the restored industrial buildings, my old photograph taken in winter shows pretty much how things have not changed – apart from the cars. Like Merchant’s footbridge, this one also needs some renovation work. There’s the viaduct taking Chester Road past Castlefield and on towards Altrincham and Chester. Let’s take a closer look at the Congregational Chapel tower. In Photoshop, I’ve separated it from the rest of the building and added some sky. Though it’s in need of restoration, this could be Venice, very photogenic and very drawable. So that concludes our quick look around Castlefield in the year 2024. We will walk back towards Deansgate past that empty piece of land by the canal, which still nothing on it. Will a new building appear here in the future? Keep watching AidanEyewitness. That’s the controversial Staycity apartments tower on Deansgate, new floors are starting to creep up the side of the concrete core. We’ll look at that in another video. Please like subscribe comment and share with others and please support my project via buymeacoffee.com/aidaneyewitness. To see more of these drone views of Castlefield, go to the Cinemaker channel, link in the description. Vielen Dank fürs Zuschauen und auf Wiedersehen in Castlefield Manchester.