Jonathan Schofield picks out stories from across the city region
City centre primary school and new public space
It’s worth a gander taking a left from Chester Road down the narrow street next to Victoria Residence just before the Mancunian Way. Here developer Renaker has created a new public space, albeit privately owned, with a children’s playground and a cosy village green appearance.
At one end is the Crown Street Primary School which opened this month. Retention of a city centre population with young families is a strategic necessity. Young folk and empty-nesters will remain the lion’s share of city centre residents but if there is good amenity for children to be raised centrally then a broader demographic profile will make the city a better place.
The SimpsonHaugh designed school is run by the non-denominational Laurus Trust, founded in 2016 at Cheadle Hulme High School, and will eventually host 210 pupils. The building is good-looking in pale brick with a playground on the roof similar to schools in city centres in Victorian and Edwardian times when civic space was then, as now, a premium. Another welcome addition here is that in the original CGIs there was no ground level public playground, for once the reality is better than an optimistic but occasionally misleading CGI.
City centre rivers: brown trout and eels
If one should wade down the River Medlock in the city centre, sensibly attired in waders and waterproof gloves, having accessed the river, possibly illegally, from the cat ladder between the Mancunian Way and the Marriott Piccadilly Hotel, surprising creatures will be revealed. There might be an iridescent kingfisher illuminating the river banks behind Circle Square and under the Oxford Road bridge at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel footlong brown trout lazing in the shade. Oh and of course rats scurrying.
It's therefore little surprise, but welcome all the same, that the city council announced recently that in one of the other city centre rivers, the River Irk, life has also been returning. A report says: ‘Eels were once common in the River Irk until the Industrial Revolution when it became heavily polluted due to the number of mills on the riverbank. Our teams, working to improve this section of the River Irk have spotted eels (and) in recent weeks, we’ve also spotted brown trout and crayfish.’ The council are talking about the part of the river north of Victoria Station but they failed to mention steak bakes. Greggs are one of the sponsors of the clean-up.
Despite the muck-slinging efforts of United Utilities life on the rebound in local rivers is good news. Much of that is of course down to de-industrialisation but active efforts to clean the river can only accelerate the process.
Sir Howard Bernstein is a City slicker
The late Sir Howard Bernstein has been commemorated on his eponymous street at the Etihad Stadium. Mosaicist and general good egg Mark Kennedy has created a fine portrait of the life-long City fan.
Chairman of the club Khaldoon Al Mubarak said at the unveiling: “Sir Howard was a rare, once in a lifetime, champion for change and progress. His legacy surrounds us in a succession of bold projects and initiatives for Manchester that were always built on the foundations of the community’s needs. His remarkable legacy is the result of a unique ability to unite people around a clear vision with incredible humility. The new mosaic that we have unveiled today shows Sir Howard in a pose that is instantly recognisable to all who knew him. It completes a permanent tribute at our stadium for a man whose contributions to Manchester, and love for his Club, will resonate for generations to come.”
Confidentials.com can confirm rumours that a new mosaic comprising 115 rebuttals of charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules are entirely false.
Stockport: more good news
Place North West ran a story last week on how Altrincham-based developer 21 Living wants to deliver 33 apartments on an important Stockport site. A disused and grim furniture store at the junction of Tiviot Dale and Bridge Street will be replaced with a handsome and very restrained six-storey block that has been compared to the Flat Iron building in New York. This is a stretch that would test the strength of even the strongest elastic but you can see what people mean.
The designers are Ollier Smurthwaite Architects, one of the city region’s more considered practices. Director Matt Ollier is quoted in that peculiar way architects can often speak: “The scheme reintroduces the historic urban grain to this part of Stockport and takes design cues from the now demolished Victorian station façade. The project sets a new benchmark for quality within the area as defined in the recently published character appraisal and urban density study.”
The initiative comes via a collective called Unlocked which identifies brownfield sites in town and city centres offering opportunities for housing by bringing together the private and public sectors. There are other sites ripe for development in Stockport which is becoming an exemplar amongst rundown British town centres of how to begin to turn the situation around. There’s a long way to go yet but this Tiviot Dale project is another jog in the right direction. Increasing population densities means more customers for town centre businesses, it's axiomatic.
Restaurant takes flight in Rochdale Town Hall
Rochdale, as with Stockport, is energising its town centre. Already the most spectacular town hall in a British town has reopened and the huge public event space and square outside the building refashioned and enhanced.
Now the Martlet has opened, a restaurant within the town hall. The executive chef will be Darren Parkinson and the menu will include mackerel and Whitby Crab with pickled cucumber, Granny Smith apple, sorrel, and sourdough croutons, North Sea halibut with masala-spiced pumpkin, saag aloo, tandoori onions, and purple sprouting broccoli and the Fillet Rossini featuring Lee Horsley beef fillet, truffle, duck liver pâté, wild mushrooms, rosti potato, and wilted spring onions. Desserts feature an apple tart with honey and Grandpa Green’s vanilla ice cream, and a white chocolate and marshmallow parfait with dried raspberries.
By the way a martlet is a mythical bird which features on the Rochdale coat of arms and is supposed to be born on the wing and die on the wing; the bird doesn't have feet. In other words it's a symbol of hard work as it never rests but is permanently in motion, in some respects just like kitchen staff.
Get the latest news to your inbox
Get the latest food & drink news and exclusive offers by email by signing up to our mailing list. This is one of the ways that Confidentials remains free to our readers and by signing up you help support our high quality, impartial and knowledgable writers. Thank you!
Join our WhatsApp group
You can also get regular updates on news, exclusives and offers by joining the Manchester Confidential WhatsApp group.
