I COULD be accused of laziness over this view since I literally leant out of the Manchester Confidential office window to take the picture.

The result of the area being levelled by Allied London and rebuilt has been to create a new inner Manchester district. The public areas in this private space have become a real asset for the city.

In justification, the vista over Hardman Square is a fine one. It illustrates the extraordinary changes wrought in the city centre over the last decade or so. 

PanoramaPanorama over Spinningfields

The picture was taken from the second floor of Quay House, on the south of the Spinningfields site, and takes in the superb Civil Justice Centre with its protruding bits, the silver wrap office buildings and on the right, the lovely old Friends School of the Quakers, now offices, from 1886, and then the back-end of the Opera House from 1912.

The key feature perhaps is the lawn, or lawns. And the bars on each side. The lovely sward here rests the eye and makes you yearn to loll on its green mattress and think of nothing but sunshine and warmth (and maybe a cheeky drink). 

Manchester being an old town, but a fairly modern city in European terms, means that if you trip back 250 years this area was on the fringe of the city and famous for its pretty riverside location.

The houses of the rich dribbled down from Deansgate on Wood Street, Hardman Street and Atkinson Street, then known as the delightful Cupid's Alley. Grand gardens hung with fragrant blossoms and rich with fruit and vegetables and summer houses were a feature of the area. 

Spinningfields is on the left with the gardens and the summer housesSpinningfields is on the right with the gardens and the summer houses from the 1750 map by Berry

Even in the early nineteenth century there was a pretty garden just adjacent to the present lawns on the site of Quay House. That soon went and the big houses gave way to smaller dwellings and then poorer housing, the river went filthy. The area became known as the 13th District and one report said the boozers in this densely populated area hosted 46 brothels. Wood Street Mission opened in 1873 to help the poor children of the area - its work continues across Greater Manchester to this day. It seemed like an appropriate area for the Manchester and Salford Hospital for Skin Diseases to be located.

After WWII and bombing, elements of Manchester College of Arts and Technology occupied the site, together with the Manchester Evening News, the Registry Office and the courts. The place was a right architectural mess.

Some cynics still say it is. But they're in the minority.

The result of the area being levelled by Allied London and rebuilt has been to create a new inner Manchester district. The public areas in this private space have become a real asset for the city.

Look at those deckchairs. Look at the grass.

Anybody for a pint? 

Here's the first Manchester View Of The Week: The Meadows.

The area in 1772The area in 1772

The area in 1824The area in 1824

The area in 1884The area in 1884

Panorama before the deckchairsPanorama before the deckchairs

You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter here @JonathSchofield or connect via Google+