For some years, rows of tidy little maisonettes sat on top of the Manchester Arndale housing some of the first pioneers of inner-city living.
Built in 1981 and named after a Victorian backstreet that had been demolished to make way for the mammoth shopping centre, Cromford Court nodded to days past whilst also looking to the future.
At the time, only around 1,000 people actually lived in the heart of Manchester – mostly caretakers and other people who felt it practical to be close to the city for their jobs.
There was just a handful of communities dotted around the centre back then, despite Manchester City Council’s best efforts to try and persuade people to move into an area where they could live, shop and work all without having to commute.
In a way, the residents of Cromford Court were pioneers. Counted amongst their numbers was none other than Mike Pickering, one of the regular DJs at the Hacienda and the man responsible for signing the Happy Mondays to Factory records.
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Speaking to Manchester researcher and tour guide Hayley Flynn, better known as Skyliner, on her blog Pickering’s friend and fellow Hacienda DJ Graeme Park remembers:
“In 1988, I used to stay at Mike’s and I had my own room. I’d roll up to his every Friday and park my car in the Arndale’s multi-storey car park and get the lift from the street up to the roof.”
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“We had some great nights in there after finishing The Hacienda,” he added.
Apparently, the view wasn’t as great as you might expect because the flats weren’t actually that high up. However, according to Graeme, you could see some bits of the city and there was a decent view down into the street below whilst walking from the lift to the flats.
After getting stuck in the lift once, though, he reportedly always took the stairs for fear of a repeat.
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The flats did have their own direct access for residents, and according to Eric Larmett – a surveyor for Manchester City Council who visited the trio of six-storey blocks several times for his job – it was its own little oasis up there, away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre.
“They were private residences which only the tenants could reach,” he said, speaking to the BBC back in 2011.
“As a result, it was like having a gated community right in the middle of the city.”
Although the maisonettes were initially described as “expensive ‘penthouse’ units” in the 1986 Domesday Book, in reality, they were far from it – rented out to tenants of the North Country Housing Association.
Known as ‘the podium’ to its residents, neat little communal gardens added to the allure of the place – although apparently, these same gardens caused a few headaches for the shops below who were reportedly ‘plagued’ with ‘mysterious leaks’ as a result.
Inhabited on and off from 1981 until 2003, the little community on top of the Arndale finally came to an end in the early noughties – seven years after the IRA bomb that led to the shopping centre needing to be almost entirely rebuilt.
It’s often said that that bomb explosion was so powerful it only left a red postbox behind, but in fact, Cromford Court wasn’t too badly damaged.
Notably, one resident – a 77-year-old RAF veteran suffering from the flu at the time – didn’t even bother to get up when the telephone warning to evacuate hit, considering himself to have survived much worse feats during his time in service.
In subsequent years, Danny O’Neill has become a part of an urban legend as the story of the man who ignored the bomb because he didn’t want to get out of bed has been told time and time again.
Having been a rear gunner in a Lancaster in the war, he reportedly told police and authorities “he was buggered if he was going to let a small bomb affect him.” What a guy.
Feature image courtesy of the Manchester School of Art Slide Library at Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections.
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You can get a mobile massage treatment in your office – just like us
Thomas Melia
We’d like to introduce you to the pioneering personalised service offering massage treatments on the move at practically any location including direct from your office– including to those of us here in Manchester.
In a world where you can get practically anything delivered straight to your door, it wasn’t going to be long until some genius invented a way to get a massage from the comfort of your own office.
Named ‘London’s first digital beauty concierge’, Ruuby have been pampering the nation’s capital for almost a decade before branching out to further locations.
The gorgeous set up provided by RuubyLook at that lovely branding on the towels.They did wonders with our otherwise plain downstairs office space. (Credit: The Manc Group)
In October 2024, the company expanded beyond its domestic reach in the likes of the capital, the Cotswolds and Surrey into Europe, making its first mark Switzerland: the perfect country for both luxury and essential beauty treatments with a tailored experience.
The month following saw the group moving up North and all the way to Manchester, where people can now book professional treatments best suited to them, right on their doorstep.
If you’re feeling scepticalstill, you can take it from us here at The Manc; we couldn’t tell you how relaxing and comforting these massages are.
There are a range of treatments available and we opted for two bespoke massages, a sports massage and a deep tissue massage.
Each experience is suited to your personal needs meaning each massage therapist will be able to fine-tune their relaxation abilities to what benefits you best.
After choosing the bespoke massage that I felt would work best for me, I went into this with no prior massage experience and I came out feeling taller, broader and more refreshed. Highly recommend.
Mid-day office massage? Yes, please.How relaxing. What a shame you have to go back to work after!Credit: The Manc Group
My masseuse guided me throughout the whole process and we soon discovered that I was able to tolerate much harder pressure than I thought which helped release tension I didn’t even know I had!
The same applies to how firm you’d like your session to be, as the masseuse can help with a brief overview of your time together, but the amount of pressure you like is down to personal preference.
It’s not just massages either: there’s everything from waxing, nails and hair to physio and IV drips; how about getting Marbella ready in less than an hour with a spray tan service set up wherever you are?
As Ruuby is a mobile and remote work environment, there are a number of at any time up and down the country, meaning your next beauty slot could be as little as an hour away, find out more HERE.
Farm shops are cool now – and Albion Farm Shop is the best of the best
Daisy Jackson
At some point in life, your idea of a great day out switches from drinking and clubbing to visiting a farm shop, or a garden centre, or something similarly wholesome.
And up in the hills above Manchester is surely one of the best in the UK – Albion Farm Shop.
This Saddleworth favourite is half-cafe, half-shop, with produce all either grown right outside, or sourced as locally as possible.
And while places like Hollies Farm Shop in Cheshire pull in seriously big, glamorous crowds (maybe it’s the Molly-Mae effect), there’s something much more charming and authentic about Albion Farm Shop.
Maybe it’s the tractors parked outside, the fact the produce section is in a drafty barn, the mismatched shelves and cabinets. It’s not curated like this – it just is.
The food in the cafe itself is up there with the best British grub in the North West, and I say that with my hand on my heart.
Whether it’s a full breakfast spilling over the edge of a plate, sandwiches served in a doorstop of bread, or a full menu of burgers made with British beef cap and smoked bone marrow patties, you can’t steer far wrong.
Rag pudding at Albion Farm ShopChips with a side of bone broth gravy Those huge burgers
There are chunky chips served with a full bowl of bone stock gravy on the side (hello, this is Oldham), onion rings so big you can wear them as a bangle, and big bowls of homemade soup.
And it would be remiss of me not to mention the rag pudding, a traditional dish from this neck of the woods. Famously, she’s not a pretty menu item, but this steamed suet pastry stuffed with braised beef shin is comforting and delicious.
If you want to stick northern fare but don’t fancy rag pudding, you can also grab a wedge of cheese and onion pie, lambs liver with mash, or any number of seasonal specials (for us, it was roast pork).
There are cracking views of the surrounding countryside, a resident cat who’s usually sleeping in the entranceway, and charm packed into every square foot.
Albion Farm Shop is at Oldham Road, Delph, Saddleworth OL3 5RQ.
The resident cat at Albion Farm ShopRoast pork in the cafeThe Albion Farm Shop cafeAlbion Farm ShopInside the shop itselfThe produce barn Local cheesesBakery itemsThe produce barn
Georgina Pellant -
30th August 2021 
