Historic house at Manchester museum to become holiday home
Travel & Tourism
It’s one of the city’s oldest surviving Georgian houses.
A historic corner of the Science and Industry Museum is set to be turned into holiday accommodation, with overnight stays starting from next year. The Grade I-listed Station Agent’s House, which dates from 1808, will be able to sleep eight people thanks to a partnership between the beloved museum and The Landmark Trust. The beautiful building on the corner of Liverpool Road and Water Street is one of the city’s oldest surviving Georgian houses.
Following a sensitive repair programme, the house will be made available to all through self-catering stays and free public open days. Over the years, it’s been used as a home, then as a shop, but hasn’t been suitable for museum gallery use because of its size and layout.
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The Station Agent’s House is considered one of the UK’s most significant heritage buildings, pre-dating even the Science and Industry Museum[1]‘s Grade I-listed 1830 station, which is the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world.
The Station Agent’s House at Science and Industry Museum. Credit: David Oates
This corner of Manchester was home of the world’s first steam-powered, inter-city railways designed to carry both passengers and goods.
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The adjacent 1830 Station is currently being repaired ahead of re-opening to the public in future years as part of the museum’s major conservation and redevelopment plans.
The house’s redevelopment is the latest milestone in the museum’s multi-million pound redevelopment, which has included the opening of the beautiful Special Exhibitions Gallery. Soon, there’ll be a new experience in the 1830 station, a Wonderlab gallery for children, a new entrance route through to Factory International[2], significant new outdoor landscaping and public realm provision and opportunities for outdoor play.
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The Station Agent’s House will be the Landmark Trust’s first property in the region. The charity is seeking to fundraise a final GBP118,000 to cover the restoration, following early support from donors and previous legacy income.
The Station Agent’s House.
Credit: David Oates
Credit: David Oates
Historic platform and the Science and Industry Museum’s 1830 Station. Credit: David Oates
Sally MacDonald, director of the Science and Industry Museum[3] says: “We are delighted that the Landmark Trust will be bringing their expertise in sensitively restoring incredible heritage buildings to enable Station Agent’s House to be experienced by the public for the first time.” Anna Keay, director of The Landmark Trust says: “The Landmark Trust is delighted to be working with the Science and Industry Museum at historic Liverpool Road, site of the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station.
“The Station Agent’s House, around which the pioneering station was created, is an outstanding piece of industrial heritage. The building will be sensitively repaired and made available to all through self-catering stays and free public open days. As a charity, the Landmark Trust is committed to saving and sustaining outstanding heritage, and is thrilled to be playing a role in Manchester.”
Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council says: “We welcome this exciting partnership and the Landmark Trust to Manchester as part of the Science and Industry Museum’s pioneering improvement plans.
This scheme will enable people to enjoy an important aspect of our city’s heritage for the first time as part of a thriving and rejuvenated destination.”
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Sheona Southern, managing director of Marketing Manchester says: “Manchester’s rich history is woven into the fabric of Station Agent’s House, and we are thrilled to see the Landmark Trust’s redevelopment plans that will preserve its incredible heritage while opening up a new chapter for the building. “Located in the historic Castlefield neighbourhood, Station Agent’s House will join local residents such as the Science and Industry Museum, Castlefield Viaduct, and Factory International, undoubtedly adding to the city’s already vibrant cultural scene and will also serve as a truly unique addition to the city-region’s growing accommodation offer.” Calum McGowan, chair, Castlefield Forum says: “We are absolutely thrilled at these proposals, and what great news to see more of the museum’s estate come to life.
Part of our mission at the Forum is to ensure that we celebrate and cherish the heritage assets in our neighbourhood so this is another great contribution towards that. The building looks set to be a wonderful place to stay, on iconic site, in an iconic neighbourhood!” Featured image: David Oates
Travel & Tourism
Urban explorer roams around Market Street’s abandoned Debenhams
An urban explorer recently took a look around Manchester city centre’s abandoned Debenhams department store and, we can’t lie, now we really want to go and do it ourselves.
There’s something very alluring about wandering about abandoned[5] and derelict buildings, especially when your memories of being in them are when they were packed with people, and this particular content creator has tickled a very curious part of our brains. Exploring outfit ‘Urbandoned’[6] roam various old, empty and abandoned spaces all over Britain and about a fortnight ago, they decided to send one of their own out to have a look around Manchester’s once bustling multi-story Debenhams[7] shop. The popular high-street chain collapsed after 242 years in business back in 2021[8] and while it still exists online, several locations around the UK have been left empty ever since.
So, naturally, they thought why not take a look around? [embedded content]
As you can see, while there are a few lights on and seemingly some signs of construction — with the first bits of work on the building starting back in November[9] — the place is a complete ghost town and it’s always eery to somewhere this big and historically busy absolutely dead. From exploring the now-empty construction space and marvelling at the original 1930s fixtures, to finding old generators, a disused ballroom most wouldn’t know existed and climbing up onto the rooftop, we somehow find ourselves extremely jealous of this lone urban explorer wandering around a place with nothing in it.
The grade-II listed building is set for a GBP70 million transformation and we’ve already had glimpses of what it could look like[10] after it’s finished but, for now, it’s cool to see it completely empty and imagine all the history it’s lived. It isn’t the first time the group of three ‘urbexers’ have plied their trade around Manchester either. You can check out all their other content on YouTube or Instagram[11], including their exploration of the old 1920s-era bank near Sadler’s Yard.
[embedded content] For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE[12]. Featured Image — Urbandoned (via YouTube)
Travel & Tourism
Train drivers announce more strikes — including one on the day of the FA Cup final
In more worrying news for commuters — and extremely alarming news if you’re a Manchester United or Man City fan — train drivers have announced more train strikes, including one on the day of the FA Cup final.
If you listen closely, you can hear more than half of Manchester[14] audibly gulping. As the long-running dispute over pay for train drivers continues to rumble on, transport union Aslef (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) have confirmed another raft of strikes[15], with the first commencing on 3 June, the same day as the FA Cup[16] final at Wembley Stadium. With thousands of United[17] and City[18] fans set to travel down to watch the historic game — the first time the conclusion of the competition has even been a Manchester derby[19] — a truly indispensable form of public transport is once again timing its strikes to show just how important they are.
While RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) union members finally voted to accept the latest offer[20] for increased pay from Network Rail last month, Aslef said the latest offer in negotiations with the Rail Delivery Group on Wednesday was “risible”. He said the proposal — which is separate from the RMT[21]‘s own pay disputes — was “clearly not designed to be accepted” with inflation still above 10%, not to mention a nationwide cost of living crisis. “The blame for this action lies, fairly and squarely, at the feet of the employers who have forced our hand over this by their intransigence,” Mr Whelan said.
The train strikes will commence on 12 May, followed by another on 31 May and then during FA Cup final day on 3 June.
Train drivers are also withdrawing non-contractual overtime from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 May inclusive, as well as on Saturday 13 May and Thursday 1 June.
— Taj Ali (@Taj_Ali1) April 27, 2023[22]
As a result, some 13,000 drivers are expected to take industrial action over the course of three days of strikes, meaning staffing along the UK’s rail network will be severely depleted and there’ll be essentially no way of getting from Manchester to London by train. Fans were already raising concerns[23] over how they were going to get down there, and safely given the obvious rivalry and threat of hooliganism, with Avanti West Coast[24] stating they had no plans to put on extra services or separate trains for both groups of supporters. Safe to say this doesn’t exactly help matters and if clubs were already considering providing extra coaches from Manchester to Wembley[25]/London, the demand for further travel assistance is now likely to be way beyond the amount of resources available.
After months of large-scale action across various sectors including teaching, health[26], postal services and many more, it looks like there still isn’t quite light at the end of the tunnel and we wouldn’t be surprised if even more train strikes are set to follow.
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE[27].
Featured Image — Unsplash/Network Rail
References
- ^ Science and Industry Museum (themanc.com)
- ^ Factory International (themanc.com)
- ^ Science and Industry Museum (www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk)
- ^ Danny Jones (themanc.com)
- ^ abandoned (themanc.com)
- ^ ‘Urbandoned’ (www.urbandonedteam.com)
- ^ Debenhams (themanc.com)
- ^ collapsed after 242 years in business back in 2021 (www.reuters.com)
- ^ first bits of work on the building starting back in November (themanc.com)
- ^ glimpses of what it could look like (themanc.com)
- ^ Instagram (www.instagram.com)
- ^ subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE (forms.contacta.io)
- ^ Danny Jones (themanc.com)
- ^ Manchester (themanc.com)
- ^ strikes (themanc.com)
- ^ FA Cup (themanc.com)
- ^ United (themanc.com)
- ^ City (themanc.com)
- ^ Manchester derby (themanc.com)
- ^ finally voted to accept the latest offer (themanc.com)
- ^ RMT (themanc.com)
- ^ April 27, 2023 (twitter.com)
- ^ Fans were already raising concerns (themanc.com)
- ^ Avanti West Coast (themanc.com)
- ^ Wembley (themanc.com)
- ^ health (themanc.com)
- ^ subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE (forms.contacta.io)