Ancoats

by Mike Rose, Keith Falconer, and Julian Holder

Published 20 September 2011

First hailed as a wonder of the new industrial world, to later 19th-century commentators the name Ancoats became synonymous with dark satanic mills and urban poverty. This book intends to raise awareness of the wide range and varied character of the historic mills, buildings and canals which constitute the Ancoats townscape, and the forces and trends which have contributed to its appearance. It outlines, through its buildings, how the area and its community have evolved over the last two and a half centuries.

As well as the local person interested in his or her city and its history this book will appeal to all those with an interest in the growth of towns and cities, and in social history and the legacy of socio-economic, industrial and technological change within the built environment. It will also be of interest to planners and conservation officers dealing with regeneration issues.


This book raises awareness of the wide range and the varied character of the historic buildings which make up the Northern Quarter’s townscape, and the forces and trends which contributed to its appearance. It also shows how the area has evolved over the last two and a half centuries, forming the historic backdrop to everyday life in a particularly vibrant and culturally distinctive quarter of the city.

The book will have a broad appeal, both to the established urban community and to those with an interest in the city of Manchester and its buildings.


Manchester is known for its cotton mills, the Town Hall and its imposing commercial architecture, but it is textile warehouses that provide the distinctive element in its streetscape and make it unlike any other town in England. These warehouses were only built during the century following 1825 - a relatively short time in the history of Manchester - and were never found throughout the city. However they are intimately connected with Manchester's past position as the centre for the manufacturing and selling of cotton goods within England and to other parts of the world. Their monumental scale and sometimes exuberant architectural style dominate the areas of the town in which they are clustered. Nowhere else in Britain has there ever been such a concentration of buildings of this kind: the streets of the commercial quarter of Manchester are as distinctive as are those of governmental London.

Manningham

by Simon Taylor and Kathryn Gibson

Published 31 May 2010
This book raises awareness of the wide range and varied character of the historic landscape and buildings which constitute Manningham, and the forces and trends which have contributed to its appearance over time. It tells the story, through its buildings and landscape, of Manningham’s development from a thinly populated rural township to a fully developed, mostly middle-class, fashionable, 19th-century city suburb full of self assurance, civic pride and high-quality architecture. It examines how successfully and in what ways the suburb and its buildings have subsequently continued to function, following the decline and disappearance of the traditional industries on which its success was originally based and a substantially changed cultural and demographic profile. The publication will appeal to all of those with an interest in Bradford and its buildings. In addition, by supplementing the research project and literary work with a major outreach and film project, the fruits of which help to inform the publication text and are incorporated into the book as a DVD insert, the publication will be extremely effective in engaging and developing new audiences amongst the people living and working in Manningham. It gives them a `voice’, allowing them to share their memories and put forward their own views and opinions on the district which has become increasingly known to outsiders only for its problems of economic out-migration, increasing levels of crime and headline-making outbreaks of civil unrest. The publication also serves as a response to recently growing nation-wide development pressure on historic suburbs and this will increase understanding of historical suburban development and modern adaptation, and appeal to those with an interest in social, urban and industrial history.