Deansgate and Gay Village

Deansgate and Gay Village

We’re now in one of the newest areas of the city, Deansgate Square, four similar skyscrapers, imaginatively called, North Tower (37 floors), East Tower (50 floors), South Tower (64 floors) and West Tower (44 floors). At 201m the South Tower is the tallest build in the UK, outside of London. The cluster of skyscrapers was finished in 2020 and is a pleasant place to stroll or perch.

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From the West Tower follow the cobbled Deansgate road past Castlefield Gallery to the railway viaducts, passing under the viaduct we’ll see the quaint Atlas Bar, a Bicycle sculpture and equally quaint Knott Mill Station or as it’s known today Deansgate Station.

Walk along Whitworth Street West to access the ramp to the modern footbridge linking the train station to the tram stop.

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From the footbridge looking right, we can see Lock 91 of the Rochdale Canal, the Lock Keeper’s Cottage next to the entrance to the Gaythorn Tunnel and some spectacular views back to Deansgate Square.

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At the end of the footbridge turn left to take the steps down to Whitworth Street West where you’ll find the Manchester coat of arms on the bridge above Gaythorn Tunnel and a Queen Victoria post box, there is also a lift back to street level, this opens into Deansgate. Cross over Deansgate at the lights and head down Castle Street.

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On Castle Street go under the viaduct until you reach an opening in the wall on the right hand side which zig zags down to the Rochdale Canal.

Turn right and follow the tow path through Deansgate Tunnel /Gaythorn Tunnel back towards Lock 91.

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Continue to follow the Rochdale Canal Tow Path east through Deansgate Locks, under Albion Bridge, on your right was the site of the Haçienda or FAC51, with some inscriptions in the metal sheets celebrating the history of the Haçienda.

Run by Factory Records, directors New Order, Tony Wilson and Howard (Ginger) Jones, the Haçienda was a former yacht builder's shop and warehouse and in the Madchester days of the 80s and 90s a night club and music venue, local bands that played there were New Order, Happy Mondays, Oasis, The Stone Roses, 808 State, Chemical Brothers and many others. It was also Madonna’s first gig in the UK. The club closed in 1997 and the building was demolished in 2002, replaced with an apartment block of the same name.

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Just before Lock 89, also known as Tib Lock, on the Rochdale Canal Tow Path crossing over the canal at the curved metal footbridge.

Continue east on the opposite bank over the little swing bridge up to Rain Bar and Great Bridgewater Street, turn right towards the Peveril of the Peak pub.

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Turn right to stay on Great Bridgewater Street until we reach Oxford Street, here we’ll find the Temple of Convenience, a bar converted from an underground public toilet, the bar apparently inspired the lyrics to the Elbow song Grounds for Divorce, “There’s a hole in my neighbourhood, down which of late I cannot help but fall”, written by Guy Garvey.

Turn right and follow Oxford Street past the former textiles warehouse, Tootal, Broadhurst & Lee Building. As you cross the bridge over the canal look down for Bess & Bailey, a willow horse and fox hiding on the tow path.

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Continue for another block past the Palace Theatre on your left, turn right into Whitworth Street West, cross over at the lights and wander up Station Approach to the stunning timber shell-like Oxford Road Station, constructed about 1959, similar in style to the Sydney Opera House built at the same time.

There’s a footpath and steps to the left of Station Approach leading to the Salisbury Ale House, follow the cobbled Wakefield Street and we’re back on Oxford Street.

For an accessible route to the Sailsbury Ale House go back down Station Approach and right towards Oxford Street.

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On Oxford Street is the old Refuge Assurance Building, once offering life insurance and pensions, now a hotel. The clock tower and the glass dome in the reception area are worthy of special note. One of the staircases is said to be haunted by a grieving war widow who threw herself down it from the top floor, although the staircase in question was only accessible to men at the time.

Oxford Street becomes Oxford Road as we cross the River Medlock, cross over at the traffic lights and go down Charles Street.

After a bit of a trek we’ll see the pub, the Lass O’Gowrie on your left and across the River Medlock again, we’ll find another pub Joshua Brooks and on your right FAC251, Factory Records headquarters, essentially anything closely associated with the record label was given a catalogue number in the form of either FAC or FACT (music releases) number, including FAC1 a club night poster, FAC294 a radio advert, FAC421 the website and bizarrely FAC191 the Haçienda cat!

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Turn left into Princess Street towards two fine buildings Asia House and Lancaster House, on the corner of Asia House is another Victorian post box.

Look out for the boats above the entrance to Lancaster House.

Cross over Whitworth Street at the lights and left towards Beaver Street, diagonally accross the road is India House (currently wrapped in scaffolding), Noel Gallagher had an apartment there, where he wrote the album Definitely Maybe.

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Go down the cobbled Beaver Street and through the gates back to the Rochdale Canal Tow Path, the building over the canal was an electricity power station, turn right, under Princess Street and cross over the canal at the cast iron footbridge at Lock 87.

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We’re now in the Gay Village, walk down Canal Street with its many bars and restaurants until we reach Sackville Street.

Cross over the bridge into Sackville Garden, time for a selfie with Queen Bee, in the centre of the park is sculpture in memory of Alan Mathison Turing, the father of computer science mathematician, logician wartime codebreaker and a victim of prejudice, he sits midway between the University of Manchester and Canal Street.

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We now exit Sackville Garden to the south crossing over Whitworth Street at the traffic lights and head past the impressive Sackville Street Building, part of the University of Manchester to Vimto Park, via Granby Row.

Granby Row was closed the last time I was there, but there is a footpath to the right of Vimto Park that should be OK.

John Noel Nichols mixed his first batch of Vimto at 19 Granby Row in 1908, Vimto was originally registered as a health tonic or medicine, under the name Vim Tonic, which Nichols shortened to 'Vimto' in 1912.

The Technology Arch is a sculpture created by Axel Wolkenhauer in 1989, it was commissioned by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), now part of the University of Manchester, in conjunction with North West Arts. The sculpture consists of thick metal ropes set into a möbius strip (an endless loop), and passing upwards into an arch, set on a circular metal base. The work refers to spiral forms in time and space.

Under the railway arches on Altringham Street there’s a larger than life-size Archimedes, leaping out from a bath during his famous ‘Eureka!’ moment and is sculpted in stone by Thompson Dagnall, which was unveiled in 1990. Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician, philosopher and inventor who’s 'Eureka' moment refers to the time he discovered what is commonly referred to as the Archimedes Principle which states that a body immersed in fluid loses volume equal to the weight of the amount of fluid it displaces.

Continue under the railway arch into a small garden between Renold Building and Barnes Wallis Building, head through this space to the right towards Pariser Building to another small garden where you can see some apple trees, these are no ordinary trees but a living (edible) piece of history. They are scions of the tree under which Isaac Newton was apparently sitting when, struck by a falling apple, he conceived his theory of gravity. Known as ‘Flower of Kent’, they are best used for cooking and scientific inspiration rather than for eating.

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Continue on Granby Row turning left into Cobourg Street and right into Fairfield Street, where we’ll find the London Road Fire and Police Station, a magnificent ebullient Edwardian Baroque style building with its turrets and domes, it’s finally receiving some love after decades of neglect.

Walk round the fire station the long way, Minshull Street South, Whitworth Street and London Road or the short way down Fairfield Street.

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Cross over London Road at the traffic lights near the Bulls Head and enter Piccadilly Station, the old station clock adorns the recently refurbished entrance, take the escalators or lift to the main concourse. Walk through the concourse and catch a glimpse at the four-span train shed covering the twelve platforms.

As we exit the station onto Station Approach, don’t miss the “Victory Over Blindness” statue, commissioned to commemorate the centenary of the First World War and the veterans who suffered blindness as a result of action on the frontline.

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If you wander anywhere around Manchester city centre, you’ll see the Manchester bees on everything from bins, walls, mosaic flooring, signs and bollards, in the summer of 2018 there was even a swarm of giant bees as part of the public art event ‘Bee in the City’.

The bee is the symbol of Manchester and being a city of industry, there’s no other creature better than this hard-working insect to represent it. The symbol of the bee dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when Manchester was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Technology and industry were thriving in the city, known to some as ‘Cottonopolis’ because of the amount of cotton fabric it produced.

The Mancunian factories were also sometimes referred to as ‘bee hives’ because the workers within them were so occupied and productive like ‘busy bees’. In 1842, the bee was first officially incorporated into the Manchester coat of arms, which included a globe with seven bees to show how the people of Manchester worked and traded across the seven seas.

Post your photos of Manchester bees on Twitter with #ManchesterCircular and we'll add them to our Bee Gallery.

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