Legendary Manc landmark the Didsbury tank has officially left town

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The Didsbury 'tank' in Greater Manchester has reportedly left town.

The Didsbury 'tank' in Greater Manchester has reportedly left town. Credit: Google Maps

One of Greater Manchester’s weirdest landmarks, a huge military tank parked on a residential street, is no more.

The tank – which is technically an armoured personnel vehicle, but ‘tank’ is catchier – has been standing in West Didsbury for decades, in various locations.

The massive vehicle has been on Old Lansdowne Road since 2018, where it has remained, despite an initial flurry of complaints from local residents.

It’s become the stuff of local legend, where most Mancs don’t even question its presence any more.

It’s understood that the Didsbury tank’s owner is a military vehicle collector, but he’s never been particularly forthcoming with why he has the beast parked on the corner of the street and how he came to own it.

The owner reportedly has a couple of other military vehicles parked up at his home too.

It’s been the source of plenty of jokes and memes over the years, with one person writing on X: “My favourite thing about West didsbury is that people call it posh but there’s just some dude with a f*ckin tank.”

There have been plenty of calls of: “Can’t park there mate!” too.

But now the legendary vehicle, and ‘piece of South Manchester history’, has reportedly departed Didsbury for a brand new home.

Photos of the tank on the back of a truck have been shared by Midland Military Vehicles, a company that specialises in the restoration and sale of Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) vehicles.

The company shared on Facebook: “The Didsbury FV432 has arrived. This vehicle is very well known as it was sat on a road in Manchester for years!”

Since their post made it to Reddit, Mancs have been lamenting the loss of the unusual landmark.

One person shared: “Used to live on that road, that tank kept me safe on my walk to Tesco Express, sad times.”

Another wrote: “No way! That’s a piece of South Manchester history. The first day I arrived in Didsbury, I got my girlfriend to take a picture of me with the tank.”

Someone else posted: “Goodbye tanky mctankerton, enjoy your new home. :sheds a lil tear:”

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Featured image: Google Maps