The Piccadilly Gardens Wall comes down this week – sending 20ft of cold, curved, concrete tumbling to the floor of Manchester’s main square.
In practice, it’s just another piece of demolition work in an architecturally fluid city. But there’s more to it than that.
This is a symbolic new beginning for Manchester.
Once the concrete curtain has fallen, the plan is to spruce up the tattered stage that lies behind it: Piccadilly Gardens.
£2 million is being ploughed into the regeneration project – with the destruction of the Wall instigating a flurry of permanent improvements to the city centre’s disfigured bulls-eye.
The much-needed makeover is likely to take many weeks to arrange and complete. But some local business owners in the area are worried Manchester simply cannot wait that long.
Companies sitting on the border of Piccadilly Gardens and Northern Quarter are being plagued by problems on their doorsteps – including antisocial behaviour, loud noise and drug dealing.
Many local firms are currently closed for Lockdown 2.0, but one business owner has expressed concern that nothing is being done to rectify the situation in time for their reopening.
“I don’t feel safe when I leave work and lock up,” one business owner told The Manc.
“There’s so much drug abuse going on in the area right now and some of the culprits have been so aggressive – I even know people who’ve been physically harassed.
“The corner of Newton Street is awful and Back Piccadilly is also particularly bad.
“Before lockdown, people were walking past holding pepper spray because they were afraid.”
The business owner also said they were concerned how the state of the area was influencing Manchester’s reputation nationwide.
“For anyone coming in on the train to Manchester… Piccadilly is the first thing they see,” the owner told us.
“How can you be proud of your city if that’s the first thing on show?
“It’s very sad.”
According to some locals, lockdown has exacerbated the problem.
Closed shops and lower foot traffic subsequently have meant fewer police patrols in Piccadilly Gardens – allowing bigger antisocial groups to congregate on corners undisturbed for longer periods.
“It’s been getting gradually worse,” one local tells us.
“There’s a lot more drug abuse going on.
“I’ve reported it several times to the council, and I’ve had a couple of phone calls where they’ve told me: ‘We can’t send someone out every time you call.’ But the police have told me to report it more often because more budget goes towards it and then they can take action.
“In residential areas there’s Neighbourhood Watches to help – but in Piccadilly it’s mostly businesses so we don’t have those.
“We need the council’s help. Why are they ignoring it?”
The last thing Manchester needs is for its most beloved businesses to flee the area; swapping the Gardens for somewhere that feels safer. And business owners are urging the council to take action now before that happens.
“It hasn’t got any better since March,” one business owner told us.
“In fact, it’s gotten worse.”
Councillor Nigel Murphy, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said the council was looking to work closely with police to fix the “well documented” problems in Piccadilly.
He commented: “As a council we are committed to ensuring the city is safe for every one of our residents.
“The issues in Piccadilly are well documented and we will continue to work with our partners in GMP to prevent anti-social behaviour and crime in our public spaces.”
Wikimedia Commons
Hard-hats and hi-vis will move into the area as the removal of the Wall begins this week; an emblematic act representing a new chapter for the city.
For business owners in Piccadilly, it can’t come soon enough.
Feature
Review | Snow Patrol roll back the years at Co-op Live for a mini-Manc’s first gig
Danny Jones
This weekend we enjoyed a new kind of live music experience: rediscovering the joy of listening to a childhood favourite by watching it through the eyes of the next generation – that was how we witnessed a fully-fledged arena return to Manchester for Snow Patrol at Co-op Live.
And it was special for lots of reasons.
Taking a little one to their first gig is something you’ll never forget and sharing a new-found connection with a band that you loved when you were their age is one of those magical things about music that we’re eternally grateful for.
You might assume the Snow Patrol crowd one skews a little older for the most part but we were pleased to see there were more than a few kids and teenagers donning tour tees, looking wide-eyed at the sheer size of the Co-op Live arena, and singing the words back better than Gary Lightbody at times.
Sees the sign: ‘Race you there!’ (Credit: Audio North)
Yes, the Belfast-born frontman made a few mistakes on the night, but it did add a rather laid-back quality to what many acts might have found a daunting performance: playing a sell-out night to around 23,500 fans inside the enormous state-of-the-art venue.
But, obviously, there wasn’t even a whiff of nerves from these lads.
You don’t get to have been around for this long and become as successful as they are without being able to relax on stage and lean into those idiosyncratic perfections that feel more like private moments shared between the artist and the crowd.
The young lad sat watching it with us certainly got a kick out of it and though we might not have been able to cover his ears in time to censor some light but ever-charming swear words (it always sounds better in Irish, don’t you think?), it made for some nice banter between him and the crowd.
Big props must go to Johnny McDaid on the keys too, who besides having written for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys, Biffy Clyro and countless others over the years, also managed to impress by playing the majority of this entire tour after having trapped his hand in a train door. OUCH.
Credit: The Manc Group
Not only was that little interlude up there with one of the most applause-worthy parts of the entire show, but we were always pretty blown away by what we saw, as we all as what we heard.
Be it watching a digital tree come to life, shed its leaves and then fall as petal confetti, two sheer semi-opaque paper-thin screens swirl to create the album cover art for their latest album, or kicking the gig off with ‘Take Back The City’ as a multicoloured skyline appeared behind them, it was all pretty incredible.
We even got to hear a personal favourite of ours, ‘Set Fire To The Third Bar’, complete with a virtual performance from the voice that truly makes the song: Martha Wainwright.
It was in moments like this when we turned to see a 10-year-old’s face not quite sure of what it was seeing but an open-mouthed expression confirming they were finding it as stunning as we were.
We thoroughly enjoyed going through the back catalogue and working our way right up to plenty of the songs from The Forest Is The Path – which Gary himself firmly believes is their best work yet when we interviewed him – but it was as visually stunning as it was to the gorgeous sonically.
Both proved to be a brilliant way to see the contemporary rock, indie and alternative veterans, but there’s something about giving them a stage as big as this that reminds you of just how much they deserve it.
Up there with one of the prettiest gig snapshots in our memory.Not quite a hologram but very cool nonetheless.The production levels are always top-tier at Co-op Live but the Snow Patrol set was much more impressive than we expected.
Last but not least, thanks to Co-op Live not just for having but for creating a little boy’s memory that he’ll never forget.
Flashbacks: The timelapse of the Trafford Centre construction that’s gone viral
Danny Jones
The Trafford Centre might look like some decadent Roman emperor’s palace or as if it was plucked from the heart of Ancient Grecian city, but as anyone old enough to remember it’s opening and/or construction will tell you, it seems strange to think its not even been around for three decades yet.
As Greater Manchester’s and one of the North West’s most famous shopping centres full stop, the iconic attraction first began being built back in 1996, when John Major was Prime Minister, Manchester United were still Premier League champions, Britpop was at its peak and George Michael was number one.
It’s fair to say that a lot has changed since then and although Oasis might be back come 2025, The Trafford Centre and surrounding area are pretty unrecgonisable compared to nearly 30 years ago.
All told, it took approximately 27 months to erect the neo-classical epicentre of all things shopping, leisure, food and fanciness – and here’s what the process looked like:
With the initial 14 million sq ft shopping centre being completed in September 1998 following approximately 810 days of work, The Trafford Centre debuted to the Manc public and beyond.
It took more than 3,000 builders to bring the 60 hectare site to life at the peak of construction and since then the plot has only grown bigger, bolder and more ambitious over time.
Present day, it has everything from cinema screens and a mini Legoland to a Sea Life location, multiple bowling alleys and countless other forms of entertainment beyond just rows of shops and restaurants – hence why it remains busy pretty much year-round.
Back then, British celebrities, popular local names of note, politicians, dignitaries and prominent figures from the retail industry got to visit as part of exclusive preview events in the days before its launch date.
You can see the spectacle and fascination surrounding the official opening event here:
Seems surreal watching this today but the construction of the Trafford Centre was a huge moment not just for 0161 but all of the North.
But of course, the entire complex itself has seen multiple extensions over the years, including massive developments such as Barton Square and The Great Hall.
At the outset, it cost more than £600 million to build The Trafford Centre; the major renovations mentioned above which took place in 2008 cost another £100m and the Trafford Palazzo revamp around a decade later came in at around £75m.
There has and always will be lots of money put behind this intruguing monument to modern consumerism, and big brands will continue to flock to open units within the huge expanse whenever they can: some of the most recent being Archie’s, Flying Tiger, Sephora, Tiffany, Gymshark and more.
We’ll admit the aesthetic still makes us double-take from time to time (though not as much as confused Londoners visiting for the first time), but it’s not like this part of the world hasn’t boasted plenty of other curiosities in the past…
The Manc -
18th November 2020 
