The incredible 30-year transformation of Manchester captured on camera
Len Grant has amassed the largest and most significant collection of images of Manchester’s amazing transformation. For the first time ever, we have a bigger picture of the regeneration story.
1997: The Shambles is demolished around the Old Wellington and Sinclairs pubs before they are dismantled and moved.
Most adults dread turning 30-years-old. But Len Grant will always look back on entering his third decade rather fondly.
It was at this age he decided to quit his uninspiring sales job and swap it for something he loved: Photography.
It was a bold move, especially given how there was very little to shoot.
Manchester in 1990 was a dry patch for a budding photographer. Snappers on the Hacienda beat had their hands full, but other lensmen were hard pushed to find picturesque scenes in the city worthy of publication.
New Islington and Ancoats May 2005
Springtime of that year saw photographers flock to capture prisoners rebelling on the roof during The Strangeways Riots, but the day-to-day surroundings offered little else in terms of inspiration.
Manchester looked tired; and not even the kindest camera could cheer up its forgotten inner-city neighbourhoods.
Castlefield was barren. Ancoats was a ghost town. New Islington was little more than a cluster of houses known as the Cardroom Estate. Hulme even had stray dogs scampering through its dilapidated Crescents tower block.
2002: The Cardroom Estate before its demolition to make way for New Islington.1994: The indoor arena next to Victoria Station takes shape.
Change was coming, citizens were assured. But it would be some time before Manchester was remoulded.
Until then, Len decided he would photograph the people planning these changes. Architects, entrepreneurs, town hall officers, developers, landowners, city councillors. Everyone and anyone set to play a role in Manchester’s forthcoming transformation.
His resulting exhibition, City Shapers, was displayed at the Arndale. It was his first big break. But it also created crucial contacts – meaning Len was given a front row seat whenever a new curtain was raised anywhere in the city. And he’d always take his camera with him.
Three decades on, Len has amassed the largest and most significant collection of images of Manchester’s amazing transformation. No other anthology contains as many photos across such a scope. For the first time ever, we have a bigger picture of the regeneration story.
The Fallowfield photographer is now publishing an upcoming book – in which he plans to showcase these incredible photographs to the world.
He’s got a big target to hit, but the demand is clearly there. £6,000 has already flooded in since the kickstarter was launched – and Len’s still campaigning fiercely to ensure the pictures go to print.
“I’ve been very lucky at being in the right place at the right time,” the humble photographer tells The Manc.
“There was very little in Manchester before the nineties.
“If people came to visit me around that time, I’d take them to Liverpool for a day out. There were things to do there.
“But in the early 90s, things were starting to happen. Manchester was starting to look to find a way out of its post-industrial past.”
1994: The Nynex Arena under construction.1998: The interior of Maxwell house was ripped out leaving just the facade, behind which The Printworks was built.
After getting up close and personal with many of the heavy hitters calling the shots on Manchester’s future, Len saw the blueprints unravelling right before his lens – and he was there to capture the changes when they came.
According to Len, it was the hard-headed approach of Manchester City Council that set off the regeneration domino effect.
“Manchester City Council were quite pragmatic about who they worked with,” he explains.
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“For instance, in the eighties in Liverpool, the council were militant and against the Tory government.
“But in Manchester, it was much more pragmatic. There was an organisation called the Central Manchester Development Corporation which was a government quango, and MCC worked with them to do the best for the city rather than to score political points – so that was quite significant.
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At the turn of the decade, Manchester was packed out with car parks and brownfield sites – which meant there was ample space for planning opportunities.
“Slowly but surely, there were pots of money to be able to do things,” Len explains.
“The CMDC put money into building Bridgewater Hall and the surrounding area of Castlefield – which was very run down back then; nobody went there.”
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Bridgewater Hall under construction, 19941997: The Shambles is demolished around the Old Wellington and Sinclairs pubs before they are dismantled and moved.1998: The Quays Theatre under construction at The Lowry. No Imperial War Museum North or MediaCity yet.1998: Stell framework of The Printworks following the demolition of Maxwell House.
Len has cited the construction of the Bridgewater Hall in 1995 as being one of the most pivotal moments in the regeneration of the city.
Not only was it Manchester’s first civic building since the 1930s, it was also a sign that things could – and were – starting to happen.
“I had a conversation with the council leader at the time, Graham Stringer, and he told me there were only two surviving photos of the town hall being built,” Len remembers.
“He was quite aware that Manchester was on the cusp of new change and wanted it to be documented sufficiently.”
Len was the man to photograph this transformation in all its glory, seizing the opportunity to get involved whenever new finance came flooding in for local projects.
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Change from that point on was steady but scattered – with some development even being driven by disaster.
Len recalls that Hulme won a much-needed pot of City Challenge money to redevelop the area after the inner city riots of the eighties, and finance was also made available for the city centre after the 1996 IRA bomb.
“Crucially, the city council and the private sector actually took this opportunity to work closely together – something Manchester is very good at – to bring about key renovation of the city centre at a difficult time,” he explains.
“Later, towards the turn of the millennium, there was money available from the National Lottery too, through the Millennium Commission.
“Projects like The Lowry in Salford Quays were only made possible by the dogged determination of people at Salford City Council to make that money come in.”
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2002: New Islington. Residents of the old Cardoom estate discuss plans for what will become New Islington.2004: The demolition of Maine Road football ground.
From 2000 onwards, East Manchester enjoyed tremendous change. It was sorely needed after being neglected for so long, despite the area’s influential history.
An industrial powerhouse during the 18th century, Ancoats was also the place that gave birth to Manchester’s first social housing development – with the construction of Victoria Square in 1894-97.
But when the block was completed, the rents were too expensive for the people it was originally intended for, and the area plunged into economic decline during the 1930s.
Following the war, East Manchester was essentially abandoned by everyone but its residents.
“Ancoats, Beswick, Clayton, Openshaw – you’d have never needed to go into those areas in the early nineties,” says Len.
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“There was nothing there for you to go and see. It wasn’t on the way to anywhere, either.
“When I first started photographing in Ancoats in 2002/03, the streets were dead and if you ever came across anybody you’d kind of worry you’d have your camera taken off you.
“Not many people crossed Great Ancoats Street into Ancoats from the Northern Quarter in those days.
“I’ve really enjoyed how Ancoats has changed. It’s just phenomenal looking at it now. It’s only when you see photos with the mills in them that you’re able to determine it’s the same place.”
2006: St Peters Church before Cutting Room Square is built and before The Smiths Arms is demolished.2006: The New islington canal arm and the creation of Cotton Fields.2009: Royals Mills, Ancoats during its refurbishment
Whilst sketching in Cutting Room Square one afternoon, Len got talking with a man who’d lived in the area for many years.
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He expected the resident to be sentimental for the past – as so many of us often are – but he was besotted with Ancoats 2.0. Nostalgia was no competitor for the shiny new space – which he recognised had given the area a whole new lease of life.
Len started his career by photographing people – and he has maintained that focus to this day. His interest in human subjects, and how their lives have been affected by the ever-changing skyline, has remained a key part of his work.
“I think those stories can be lost sometimes,” Len tells us.
“Which is what my book will help to cover.”
He has seen both the good and bad sides of regeneration, and whilst most of the changes have been positive, Len is hoping that further development does not come at the cost of loosened community connections.
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“We might be continuing to build, but how much effort are we putting into communities?” he asks.
“I hope that’s being considered. After all, it’s the people who make Manchester so great.
“During adversity, the strength of Manchester comes to the surface. We see that again and again. It’s even happening right now – with people in inner-city communities helping one another during coronavirus and supporting the most vulnerable.
“Many people who come to Manchester call themselves ‘adopted Mancunians’. I love how people give themselves that tag.
“I wonder how many other places around the country you’d call yourself adopted?”
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You can learn more about Len’s incredible Regeneration Manchester project online.
It will be money well spent, indeed. Stories about Manchester don’t come much better than this.
Feature
Hardcastle Crags – the prettiest autumn walk in the North West with a great restaurant at the end
Daisy Jackson
This is the time of year where it’s particularly difficult to drag yourself off the sofa and into the great outdoors.
The weather isn’t quite crisp enough to feel festive and most of us (even the pumpkin spice latte, cardigan-clad crew) are missing the more reliable warmth of the summer months.
But autumn is here, like it or not, and it definitely has its perks.
One of which is the undeniable beauty the season brings.
It’s not just the blazing red, orange, yellow and brown leaves that suddenly take over the green spaces around the UK.
It’s also in the sunsets and sunrises that become so much easier to catch while the days are shorter (you have to admit, the commutes are prettier when they coincide with sunrise).
The riverside walk at Hardcastle Crags. Credit: Unsplash
And there aren’t many places better to soak in all the autumn beauty than Hardcastle Crags, just across the border in West Yorkshire.
The National Trust site sits between Leeds and Manchester and is a popular day trip destination for Mancs, given the trains that run regularly to Hebden Bridge.
A walking route around Hardcastle Crags at this time of year will take you through a landscape of blazing orange trees, babbling streams, and dappled sunlight.
When you catch a golden autumnal day the leaves will crunch underfoot, but even on a soggy day the leaf mulch has its own special kind of beauty here.
There are two walking routes between the main car park and Gibson Mill, a former 19th century cotton mill which is now home to a lovely cafe.
One will take you down to the river, where wooden boardwalks weave right along the water’s edge.
There are even stepping stones you can use to scamper across the river – a great Instagram pic, or just a way to keep the kids entertained for a few minutes.
A walk around Hardcastle Crags in Autumn. Credit: The Manc Group
The other route goes up through the upper woodland, where pine trees loom and you get a great view of the valley below.
For an easy loop, you can do both – a stroll through the trees, a stop for coffee and cake, then return along the river (or vice versa).
But with 15 miles of footpaths, you can explore way beyond that.
The National Trust’s list of walks includes everything from a wheelchair and pram-accessible estate track to peaceful woodland loops, to rocky scrambles and former railway lines.
And when you’re done with Hardcastle Crags itself, there’s a world-class restaurant in the gorgeous town centre itself.
Coin sits in the shell of the former Lloyd’s bank, with exposed brick and massive period windows, and specialises in natural wine and small plates.
When The Manc Eats visited, we found plates of freshly-cut meat and cheese served alongside ice-cold batched classic cocktails, where ‘quality is key, and it shines through on the plate’.
Our reviewer said: “With its higgledy-piggledy stone mill houses, surrounding woodland, hidden waterfalls and treasure-trove charity shops, Hebden Bridge is a popular attraction all of its own for those wanting to venture beyond the city. Coin is simply the cherry on top.”
In celebration of Momo Shop: a Chorlton favourite that has flourished since its rebrand
Danny Jones
It’s not often we go out of our way to hammer home just how staggering we found a restaurant, but after now losing track of the number of times that a member of our team has eaten at Momo Shop in Chorlton and come back near speechless, it deserves more than a review.
We regularly hold ourselves back and resist the urge to talk in superlatives wherever possible, especially because we worry we might be falling into the recency bias trap, but in this instance, we’re going to go out on a limb and fall on our hospitality sword. Well, this particular writer is…
It’s official: Momo Shop Nepali Street Food – for our money, anyway – is up there with one of THE best restaurants in Manchester right now.
And there are plenty of reasons why, not least of all because of the years of practice they have feeding increasingly discerning Manc diners under a different moniker.
Simple but charming – all the focus is on the foodAnd the food speaks for itselfSome of the most flavourful fillings you’ll find in ManchesterBusy any given night of the weekNo review (Credit: The Manc Eats/Momo Shop via Instagram)
If you don’t live in/frequent Chorlton, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that this gaff was a somewhat new addition to Chorlton, but in actual fact it’s been gradually growing a loyal and passionate following for more than seven years.
This is because before the miniamlist rebrand that saw the walls stripped back, the exterior painted blue and cutesy little bits of artwork hung amidst that familiar and atmospheric festoon lighting, Momo Shop was once The Little Yeti.
Its former iteration boasted hundreds of glowing reviews in its own right, which already plated up plenty of stunning Nepalese food, but since switching primarily towards serving a menu primarily made up of momos (Tibetan-style fried dumplings hand-folded into various shapes) they’ve well and truly shone.
Now approaching a full 12 months under the new name, the Nepali street food spot isn’t just one of a relatviely small handful considering how much great South Asian food there is across Greater Manchester, we’d wager it could be the very best representing that Alpine-Himalayan belt in our region.
Our latest visit was genuinely just as good as our first, second, third and so on – take your pick.
From the simply incredible deep fried pork dumplings and the deeply moorish butter sauce that goes with literally any momo filling, to the super traditional buffalo ones that are not only authentic but, come on, where else can you find such a unique meat in these parts? It’s some of the best food we’ve eaten.
And we don’t just mean of late; Momo Shop might genuinely among of the nicest scran we’ve had in ages and it’s no exagerration to say that the first taste we enjoyed from many of these flavours have formed some of the strongest culinary memories we’ve created in quite a while.
It’s also worth nothing that it isn’t just one main snack-sized dish. The chow mein, keema noodles and cheesy chops are showstoppers themselves, and we’ve already booked in again for a 30th birthday celebration purely so we can try those lambs ribs and their take on a shashlick.
Nevertheless, we love the idea of the numerous configurations and concotions by pairing different dumplings and owner Niti Karki gave us some pro-tips of the best duos and even let us in on the trade secret of her go-to combo when she’s hungover. Legend.
Once again, at the risk of sounding too hyperbolic, odd moments have felt like core foodie memories on a par with our favourite all-time meals.
Personally, I’m glad to report that this isn’t just a review: consider this a declaration that Momo Shop has quickly become my favourite restaurant not just in Chorlton but in all of central Manchester, something I haven’t had since the heartbreaking closure of Cocktail Beer Ramen + Bun in 2023.
Plenty of varietyDamn straightNiti = absolute iconWe’ll keep your condiment secret forever, Niti…
There might be an element of the almost HakkaPo-esque style drawings, the colour palette and the carefully curated pop-punk, old school emo and post-hardcore playlist that’s over half a decade in the making that makes particualrly partial to this place
But before we wrap up this glorified love letter parading as a ‘review’, we also want to give a special nod to the charming staff and Niti’s mum, specficially, who was too modest to even let us share her picture, but whose wealth of wisdom, influence and experience has clearly inspired Momo Shop’s success.
Don’t be shy, Sue – the only thing more stylish than the food was you, girl. Pop off.
Put simply, we’ll be going back here as regularly as possible until we try every different momo + sauce variation there is, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.
If you are in the mood for more dumpling excellence, by the way, you might want to check out the unassuming Northern Quarter gem that is Chef Diao.