I have fond memories of a pre Arndale Manchester. Having to walk from Corporation Street to Oldham Street between buses from my school in Cheetham Hill, I would often walk up the old Cannon Street through to Market Street by way of tiny alleyways. Even then I found the area fascinating and still do. I've got a book on the go about the history of the area at the moment.
I'd left Manchester by that point to go to University but on frequent trips home always went to town and was horrified to see those awful coloured tiled (from the look of them) walls. Not a good look !
It may be through the lens of nostalgia but I loved Manchester in those late 1960s days , it was so cool and didn't find it hard to find trendy clothes in hideaway boutiques alongside shopping in Chelsea Girl and C&A . We had great shoe shops too, Derbers and Saxone up Markef Street. What a time to be a city girl .
May I take this opportunity to wish Joshi and his team of amazing writers a very Happy Christmas and a healthy, happy and successful 2025. I look forward to many more superb stories.
Really interesting article! Had only limited knowledge of a lot of the history dating back to the 60s so thank you.
I would like to point out that despite what many may feel about the Arndale (myself included) the leadership deserve a lot of credit for the way they have navigated the decline of the traditional high street. Their pivot towards F&B and experiential offerings like Roxy Ballroom and the Cube has undoubtedly paid off and they had something like 50 million visitors last year.
It’s great to look back with nostalgia and I’m sure if you put a poll up asking people whether they would like the arndale to be torn down and replaced with what it used to be the answer would be an overwhelming yes - but to still be thriving when so many slimier offerings in other city centres are struggling is impressive.
A fascinating piece of history. I remember both the Paulden's fire (I lived in Chorlton on Medlock and could see the smoke from home) and the Woolworth's fire which I watched from my office in Bank House.
While the Arndale Centre was not pretty, from the time it opened in 1976 I found it a very useful place to shop, especially since I worked in the city centre.
I think Manchester City Council made the right decision facilitating its building.
I would love to see, if they exist, photographs of the Magic Village/pre-Arndale images of the same location. It sounds great. If anyone has any links to share/books to recommend, please fire away…!
My memory of the late 60s part of Manchester now occupied by the Arndale was that it was semi- derelict with a distinct smell of decay about it. I was too young to know about clubs but it was possible to buy a ticket for the 1968 European Cup final from a building in the area. On the other hand Tib Street was a magical place for kids with all the pet animals and fish for sale; Brown Street was our own Carnaby Street and the old M.E.N. and Guardian building despatch bay was a cut through from Salford bus station to Chorlton Street on the way to and from school. The Arndale Centre has been much improved by letting in daylight to the ‘new’ extension.
As ever, a balanced and well informed piece from David Rudlin. I can add a snippet about the colour of the tiles. I was told by a city planner of the time that much care was taken, including inspection of a large test panel, to get the colour ‘right’ - that is, matching the colour of sandstone building in the city. Unfortunately, he claimed, they weren’t sure what the exact shade should be, as most stone buildings in those days were soot-black. This tale is definitely not apocryphal …
A really interesting piece, particularly as an older Mancunian. Not to be too critical, some other subjects seem less worthy of the meticulous detail. Overall though, I applaud your efforts to address the sad decline of quality local journalism.
There are plenty of rumours that a full blown railway station was built for the Picc-Vic railway line, and it's sat there underground unused and decaying. But the truth is a bit simpler. There is something down there. But it's nothing. As in there's a big void from which they could build out a station. It was discovered by two lecturers from the University of Manchester, and there's a couple of news stories - with a photograph - published in 2012. One such article can be found on the Guardian, titled 'Manchester's tube train that never was'
Alas Picc-Vic never happened and it would be many more years before Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria were finally connected by the Metrolink.
Having grown up in Bolton, I remember both the glory of the original Victoria station and the drudge of having to lug suitcases to Piccadilly. No Windsor Link in those days.
Great article. I think the Picc-Vic station referred to by David is the fume-filled bus station which closed in the 90s. He is right that the bomb allowed the city to override commercial interests and the result was huge improvements between the Arndale and cathedral.
Picc-Vic was a proposed underground railway line connecting Piccadilly and Victoria. It was being planned at the same time as the Arndale. One of the proposed stops was at the junction of Market Street and Cross Street - basically next to the corner of the Arndale. So close to that rather grim bus station, but different.
I'm fairly sure that none of the works for the proposed Picc-Vic station were actually built as part of the Arndale, although the shopping centre design made provision for escalators down to be provided later. That's why I think the rumours David reported related to the much hated bus station.
You'll find plenty of websites linking a secret station to the Arndale and the railway - definitely not the bus station. Sure I read one that said it had escalators and everything!
Of course that's nonsense. But academics at the University of Manchester did find a void under the Arndale that's believed to have been built in anticipation of the station being built. There's photographs of it online. So definitely something was built. But anything more than that is just a myth.
I have fond memories of a pre Arndale Manchester. Having to walk from Corporation Street to Oldham Street between buses from my school in Cheetham Hill, I would often walk up the old Cannon Street through to Market Street by way of tiny alleyways. Even then I found the area fascinating and still do. I've got a book on the go about the history of the area at the moment.
I'd left Manchester by that point to go to University but on frequent trips home always went to town and was horrified to see those awful coloured tiled (from the look of them) walls. Not a good look !
It may be through the lens of nostalgia but I loved Manchester in those late 1960s days , it was so cool and didn't find it hard to find trendy clothes in hideaway boutiques alongside shopping in Chelsea Girl and C&A . We had great shoe shops too, Derbers and Saxone up Markef Street. What a time to be a city girl .
May I take this opportunity to wish Joshi and his team of amazing writers a very Happy Christmas and a healthy, happy and successful 2025. I look forward to many more superb stories.
Really interesting article! Had only limited knowledge of a lot of the history dating back to the 60s so thank you.
I would like to point out that despite what many may feel about the Arndale (myself included) the leadership deserve a lot of credit for the way they have navigated the decline of the traditional high street. Their pivot towards F&B and experiential offerings like Roxy Ballroom and the Cube has undoubtedly paid off and they had something like 50 million visitors last year.
It’s great to look back with nostalgia and I’m sure if you put a poll up asking people whether they would like the arndale to be torn down and replaced with what it used to be the answer would be an overwhelming yes - but to still be thriving when so many slimier offerings in other city centres are struggling is impressive.
A fascinating piece of history. I remember both the Paulden's fire (I lived in Chorlton on Medlock and could see the smoke from home) and the Woolworth's fire which I watched from my office in Bank House.
While the Arndale Centre was not pretty, from the time it opened in 1976 I found it a very useful place to shop, especially since I worked in the city centre.
I think Manchester City Council made the right decision facilitating its building.
I would love to see, if they exist, photographs of the Magic Village/pre-Arndale images of the same location. It sounds great. If anyone has any links to share/books to recommend, please fire away…!
Keith Warrender - "Manchester's Lost District - Life before the Arndale"
That's the book I'm dipping into ATM . 👍
My memory of the late 60s part of Manchester now occupied by the Arndale was that it was semi- derelict with a distinct smell of decay about it. I was too young to know about clubs but it was possible to buy a ticket for the 1968 European Cup final from a building in the area. On the other hand Tib Street was a magical place for kids with all the pet animals and fish for sale; Brown Street was our own Carnaby Street and the old M.E.N. and Guardian building despatch bay was a cut through from Salford bus station to Chorlton Street on the way to and from school. The Arndale Centre has been much improved by letting in daylight to the ‘new’ extension.
As ever, a balanced and well informed piece from David Rudlin. I can add a snippet about the colour of the tiles. I was told by a city planner of the time that much care was taken, including inspection of a large test panel, to get the colour ‘right’ - that is, matching the colour of sandstone building in the city. Unfortunately, he claimed, they weren’t sure what the exact shade should be, as most stone buildings in those days were soot-black. This tale is definitely not apocryphal …
The tiles were definitely not the colour of Collyhursf Sandstone but yes the buildings were all black .
A really interesting piece, particularly as an older Mancunian. Not to be too critical, some other subjects seem less worthy of the meticulous detail. Overall though, I applaud your efforts to address the sad decline of quality local journalism.
I think that the 1960 film Hell is a City, which was made on location in Manchester, includes scenes shot in the Magic City area.
My memory is hazy because I have seen it only once when it turned up on Moving Pictures.
The climax is a rooftop chase on the Refuge Building.
There also used to be flats in top of the Arndale. I spent a couple of years working in Arndale Tower (the office building in the Centre) and you could see the remains https://confidentials.com/manchester/cromford-court-the-story-of-the-manchester-arndales-forgotten-rooftop-houses
There are plenty of rumours that a full blown railway station was built for the Picc-Vic railway line, and it's sat there underground unused and decaying. But the truth is a bit simpler. There is something down there. But it's nothing. As in there's a big void from which they could build out a station. It was discovered by two lecturers from the University of Manchester, and there's a couple of news stories - with a photograph - published in 2012. One such article can be found on the Guardian, titled 'Manchester's tube train that never was'
Alas Picc-Vic never happened and it would be many more years before Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria were finally connected by the Metrolink.
Having grown up in Bolton, I remember both the glory of the original Victoria station and the drudge of having to lug suitcases to Piccadilly. No Windsor Link in those days.
Great article. I think the Picc-Vic station referred to by David is the fume-filled bus station which closed in the 90s. He is right that the bomb allowed the city to override commercial interests and the result was huge improvements between the Arndale and cathedral.
Picc-Vic was a proposed underground railway line connecting Piccadilly and Victoria. It was being planned at the same time as the Arndale. One of the proposed stops was at the junction of Market Street and Cross Street - basically next to the corner of the Arndale. So close to that rather grim bus station, but different.
I'm fairly sure that none of the works for the proposed Picc-Vic station were actually built as part of the Arndale, although the shopping centre design made provision for escalators down to be provided later. That's why I think the rumours David reported related to the much hated bus station.
You'll find plenty of websites linking a secret station to the Arndale and the railway - definitely not the bus station. Sure I read one that said it had escalators and everything!
Of course that's nonsense. But academics at the University of Manchester did find a void under the Arndale that's believed to have been built in anticipation of the station being built. There's photographs of it online. So definitely something was built. But anything more than that is just a myth.