I can tell you that there WAS a turntable at Red Bank. As kids growing up in Collyhurst in the 1950's, we would go there to watch the big steam engines being turned round! Also the concrete structure that you can't identify was an air raid shelter for the railway workers. Us kids would dare one another to go down there!
Great Video! 11:38 That lump on the birch tree is known as a burl , it's the result of the tree undergoing some form of stress, It can be caused by an injury, virus or fungus, some larger burls can be quite valuable and are favoured by furniture makers as they have amazing grain patterns when cut, some of the best examples of which are from walnut trees and are used by Rolls Royce Cars for their dashboards, and Purdey of London for their hand made shotgun stocks. Jaguar Cars also uses a thin veneer of burl walnut for their dashboards and gear knobs.
Dude I hope you'll let Manchester council, libraries, etc know of this channel, it's is & will be an important social history for now & into the future, best wishes, I hope more people document there local history as well as you are.
I always wonder how old cars get in the middle of the woods. Remember finding a classic "Hot rod" style car back in the early 00's filled with leaves and fetid water by this middle of nowhere lake and wish I knew it's story.
@Bengt Handlebars this is a personal gripe of mine - all these 'experts' that made these terrible decisions in the past - i agree with you about the millions that will be taken from tax-payers to correct these mistakes. what really ticks me off though is that there are no consequences for the perpetrators
Personal car ownership killed public transport, we are now so dependant on cars it might not be feasible to go back to a great public transport system . Until the oil runs out ofc then we will all be walking
Bang on, I don't like to think it but I honestly think the UK is a dying country and most of the damage done has been simple political expediency and the sort of dog whistle, divide and conquer form of politicing. So sad.
@@PurityVendetta I mean, the past 100 years just showed that. In 100 years we lost billions of pounds in two wars, entire industrial buildings, railway lines, the entire fucking empire etc
Your videos are amazing Martin, I don't know Manchester that well, but since watching your videos have gain me historical insight of Manchester. I'm from Birmingham, you should do Birmingham in the future :P
Fantastic to watch......... .........seem inconceivable to watch you fight through that jungle and realise I travelled over that line a number of times what seems like recently but is actually neatly 40 years..... ......seems impossible to believe it was an operating railway......
Alas another piece of our Railway heritage lost . I remember the Redbank news train coming through york on a Sunday normally a class 40 . So seeing this was a trip down memory lane it make you wonder where the Railway industry went wrong but hey brilliant video Martin keep them coming
These are the first plants to colonise a new environment. It's a similar story for the trees. Usually, the first trees are silver birch. Once they stabilise the soil and get things going, other species move in and create more shade, killing off the nettles and brambles. The tree stumps with the plastic plugs have been drilled and a rot-encouraging treatment poured in. The holes are then plugged. It's a lot slower but much cheaper than pulling them out.
Hi Martin, just found (& subbed ) your channel, this vid came up in my recommends after watching an 'exploring with Jake' vid. Intresting vid, yes its surprising how quick nature can take over abandoned industrial land, some of that looks like its been left for many Decades longer than 30 years. People say that nature is being destroyed by development but left to it's own devices nature will quickly take over again! Great vid & brilliant nighttime lighting effects at the end, not somewhere I'd want to go alone!
Impressive. I work at Victoria east junction a lot while maintaining the railway and never knew red bank was there. I’m going to have a look next week while I’m there and see what I can see starting from the main line end. Cheers!
Thanks, Martin for a very interesting video. In my opinion, think I think it should be left in a semi-wild state. Maybe clean up the debris but let nature take its course. I was amazed to hear your comment about nature always reclaiming unused land as i was thinking the exact same. Good work.
Hi martin just watched your Manchester railway walk can I say I really enjoyed it first all places have rubbish about spoiling things second they put them stud things into trees to stop them growing but sometimes they don't work last thing have you got some spare car parts all the best Kevin
Wow I sit and watch your videos all day very very interesting I live in Australia but born in London 66years ago I all so watch erbex under ground exploring but your vids are very professional well done and make more. Col Australia
Fascinating - I'm fascinated by that line as well and the Irk Valley Railway Disaster. I was in contact with a guy who remembered it. With the crackling twigs and strange stuff lying on the ground, the ambience reminds me of the Blair Witch Project! I wouldn't like to go there at night. The incidental music is good too. The city has so many tantalising clues leading to the forgotten past. A very good video!
Aidan O'Rourke Productions The train accident happened just across from my Primary School . It was round about when I was born so don't remember it but my parents must have. I don't recall them ever talking about it which was strange as it must have been a major event and we only lived a couple of streets away.
Thanks Aidan, yes it did have a Blair witch project feel specially at the homeless camps and tents that were all unoccupied. We went back to the start at night but wouldnt fancy walking all the way at night. Yes I love that area also
I remember Red Bank Carriage sidings quite well always lots of interesting stuff to see when it was in use. I always find it amazing how quickly Silver Birch trees colonise old railways! Great video. Oh and yes it is a turntable pit that you found its also indicated on the map. They come in various sizes.
It would be fun to clean it up! I got this crazy urge to call out my friends and familty and make a day of it...I wonder if the city would let you make fires. haha! I dont even live in Manchester! Oh but it would be fun. Ya know... keep it all natural as it is, but get the $@:!% out. Developing isn't all people can do. Regulating isn't the only answer either, it's compromise & money for sure. We can be left unsupervised -were not babies... Except it doesn't look like it there, but it could... 😏
Only discovered these videos a couple of days ago, but really impressed by the effort put into them. As others have commented this area wasn't wooded even 10 years ago. - Useless fact: most of the saplings there are silver birch which have white bark to reflect heat and not dry out when spreading into new, unshaded ground. This part of Red Bank gives the impression of a post-apocalyptic waste-land, but only a stones' throw to the right of this route is the newly "gentrified" Cheetham Hill Road, complete with TKMAXX.
Such memories. I worked up that railway in the early 90's, before it's premature closure. Although not as steep as the Miles Platting line, it could still be a challenge on a damp autumnal morning. One memory that sticks in my mind was watching a Class 37 on a heavy oil train start the climb that way, as we headed up Miles Platting on the early morning staff train to Newton Heath. Fifteen minutes later we watched from Newton Heath, as it breasted the climb at Thorpes Bridge Junction. The wheelslip relays on the loco were clearly knackered, and not doing their job. If the wheel loses grip on a Class 37, and slips more than a quarter of a revolution, power is automatically removed, and reapplied. Instead though, the wheels on this 37 were free spinning, like twelve spinning Catherine Wheels , showering sparks all over the place. Along with a crown of orange flame protruding from the two exhausts, the loco provided an awe inspiring sight, as it crawled past Newton Heath on full power. Happy days, never to be repeated.
I was a Guard at Manchester Victoria from 1989 to 1993, before transferring to Wigan, where I remain to this day, doing the same job. My days at 'Vic' were the best. Proper loco hauled trains, and plenty of Class 37's. I actually got paid to do my hobby. It was wonderful.
Interesting video! I'd love to see it become a highline! I've seen they've got some beautiful highlines in Paris. At 20:47 I think they're nail which contain copper to kill off the tree.
Hi Martin, great videos as always.The growth you found on that birch tree is a burr. It is where the wood grain grows in a deformed manor. They are usually always much harder than the normal wood from the tree.
Great video mate. I remember seeing the old signal box coming out of Victoria on the train back to Bury back in t’day. Could see the sidings and hundreds of carriages and wagons. Keep up the great work.
The green things on the tree stumps are tree killer plugs. Don't forget despite the jungle tearing at your coat you are walking over old brick arches. Big trees will break the structure and can cause leaks or collapse if the go too far.
Just found you Martin and really enjoyed this video. I dont know Manchester at all but these records are important for you and people who come after. It is really amazing how mother nature can soon take back what is rightly hers, Thank you!
Hello Clive thanks for the comment. Yes your right its incredible, there was a part of that walk where I had to stop the camera put it away and concentrate on climbing through it had been completely take over 👍
Another great insight into what was and what is. In the Wigan area which was a big mining area, there was also a myriad of railways serving these pits. Some of the networks are now linear walks and some have disappeared into obscurity unless you know where to look. Thanks for another great vlog Martin.
Hi Martin love the video, as a kid used to sneak onto Redbank and watch the 08 class moving goods wagons into the sidings sad i know but many a happy time messing about
i used to work in redbank in the late 80's when it was full of little workshops went through there recent and its just full of flats ....totally changed
Nice one Martin. Enjoying your vids. In early 1987 I was a trainee signalman at Victoria School Of Signalling & remember seeing Red Bank sidings on a trip out around the Oldham Loop, now part of the tram system. I think a lot of the traffic was lost due to increasing use of diesel multiple units & the loss of the newspaper trains to the road system. Add to that the opening of the Windsor Link/Tram system & we have a Victoria station that is hugely reduced in size with no need for the sidings. Cheers, Chris.
Hi Martin. I was 18 when I was at Victoria! I was retired due to ill health a few years ago. I worked the Furness line, West Cumbria line & finished up at Kirkby Thore on the Settle & Carlisle. 16 signalling locations. '30 years man & boy!' lol! @@MartinZero
In 1973, if you walked down Red bank and turned left onto Roger St. The first left after the Railway bridge was a little cobbled rd. Down there was the Entrance to Duckhams Oils and A Hall and Co, which was my first job after leaving school (wood turner). If you carried on down Roger St, on the right was Henry Wallworks (Union Steel Works) and on the left a street that led to Frys metals (made solder and stuff and what we only ever knew as the Bone works, they made Animal glue and produced the worst smell I have ever known, then you crossed Union Bridge and if you turned left the Irk was on your left and on the right was a row of 1 up 1 down houses and a pub who's name I can't remember and then Phillips Rubbers. I used to walk that route for about three years up Collyhurst Rd then Smedley rd. Yet anouther great video Martin, keep up the good work.
Yes I remember the bone works smell. occasionally I would walk down that way to school from further up Collyhurst Rd and on to Cheetham Hill Rd. It did used to freak me me out a bit .
An interesting watch again Martin and in the area I know well. Yes a 'Hi-line' type of area from the centre of Mcr would be great. The designer is Piet Oudolf ,fantastic designer of these types of spaces and what an amazing facility that would be for the surrounding area which needs a boost like that. All those apartments , people would love a cycle /walking space that would act as a green lung for the city. It certainly needs cleaning up. I couldn't go there at night, but thanks to you I don't have to 😂 Thanks so much for the video.
I can remember the last days of red bank carriage sidings in action in the late 80's, and the big four track junction at victoria and the locomotive stabling point where I used to see diesels being started up. And I travelled along the cheetham hill loop line at least once if not twice after catching a train from victoria platform 17, a little known bay platform on the far side of the through platforms of victoria station that was hidden away behind a long partition so a lot of folk probably had no idea it was even there. And I've got some pictures of it somewhere. And I remember the other sidings at the top end of the loop line at newton heath, some of which crossed over the loop lone in on a bridge.
Brilliant videos martin, absolutely love the content. Keep them up... could you also try and include names of your music, intro this video is sensational, but havent a clue what it is Regards Andy
I don't know how they got that Poor Sunny N14 there, but I'm surprised none of the interior is missing, considering how hard it is to find interior parts. Took me ages to find a breaker with a decent drivers seat for my N14.
Another great video Martin, good use of the Lume Cube's too. Didn't get chance to use mine last weekend due to atrocious weather on the East coast. The illumination of Whitby Abbey was cancelled too.
Was that a ghost at 6:16? Oh, that's your buddy! Very interesting exploration! Surprising how fast nature takes over. New forest on the elevated line!!
HI Martin, My family and I have been watching another of your interesting ‘vlogs’ and you wanted to know what a growth was on a Silver Birch tree you looked at so I have found the information for you. Over a 40 to 50 year period, I have seen several of these things, which are called Galls, and I have watched one, for many years, get larger and larger. Galls are the bizarre lumps, bumps and growths that develop on different parts of plants after being invaded by some unique organisms. Usually the gall causer attacks or penetrates the plant’s growing tissues and causes the host to reorganise its cells and to develop an abnormal growth. The Galls do not appear to harm the plant or tree host. Some galls are open and on the back of leaves. Open galls are typically caused by aphids and mites. Other galls are closed, often by a wasp or beetle, developing in a fully enclosed structure like the one in your Vlog. Some Galls, which may look like large bird’s nests, are caused by a fungus which stimulates the tree to produce extra shoots which often looks like a dense nest-like cluster. The fungus feeds off shoots. Wasps also play a part in the development of Galls but that is another story. I hope my information goes some way of letting you know what, in this case, was growing on a Silver Birch tree. John .
The growth on the Birch tree is caused by a parasite and is very sought after, Swedish Lapps used to carve/turn them out for bowls and cups as the wood is beautiful and dense. The Blue plastic things in the Tree-stumps are RoundUp cartridges used to stop further growth by the Glyfosate Poison in them.
I agree, GREAT job...you're making me homesick.when I was a kid I used to see these places and wonder what the history was behind it. I guess no matter where we roam, we always mancunians
Another fascinating railway video Martin. There looks enough timber to keep lots of wood burners going for many winters? As the trackbed continues up to the Metrolink Depot I wonder if there’s potential for a tram extension through that side of Victoria Station towards Salford. Your video also reminded me I have an old Modern Railways mag’ somewhere in my house with a super photo taken from the Green Quarter in 1966 of steam stopping passenger train on that section, atmospheric! Since discovering your channel I generally go for the railway videos first so I watch them all out of sequence, but still thoroughly enjoy them. Far better than the rubbish on telly these days!
That was so interesting, a mix of the past moving into what the line may become. But the best thing was supermodels Martin and Connor doing a night shoot! Love watching you guys explore,so hope we can do a bit when I finally can get there.
I remember this spur of tracks that went off to the left when just leaving Victoria .The bury line went off to the right into collyhurst tunnel where it turned quite sharp left inside the tunnel, when you got out of the tunnel at smedley viaduct you could see all the carriages lined up on your left plus a main line running through the sidings towards Oldham/Rochdale. There were lines of old BR livered carriages where the metrolonk depot is now, they looked decommissioned parked up ready for the scrappers, this was around 1987.
Martin inadvertently discovers an alien spacecraft in the woods and mistakes it for a light post, has a close encounter of the first kind and is unaware of his monumental achievement! 👽🚀🌳🌿🌱💫 great job Martin, "One small step for mankind " keep exploring 👍🏻🤣
Another great video, Martin. Those red-topped 'mushrooms' are not mushrooms but 'Fungi' This particular one is a Fly Agaric and the white-spotted 'cap' can get up to 15cm in diameter. They grow mainly near Birch and Pine trees and in mixed woodland. Do keep showing the Flora - which is a beautiful part of our natural heritage.
Earlier, Martin, you passed and commented on a number of Caravans. If these were 'Romany' Caravans we all know that where these encampments are there will be much rubbish. They are inveterate litter-louts. If they could be trained to pick up litter instead and to deposit it in known sites England would become a cleaner, nicer place. End of rant. Excellent and interesting video!
I doubt the turntable would have been used for railway carriages - just locomotives and their tenders. (there's no need to turn carriages round they're just pulled from the other end) I was born on Dean Lane - the Moston side which later became Kenyon Lane - there was a turntable on St Mary's Road quite close to Newton Heath Station I never saw anything but locos on it. My father was a steam train driver, based at Newton Heath sheds I have to wonder how many times he drove trains where you walked. Great video again Martin.
So glad i stumbled upon these vids that you do. I live down in sale and ride past Pamona island, i work on deansgate and i'm always aware of the history of manchester, so much change is going on right now in my adoptive home of manchester. I've grown up living various places around the uk. We need more folk to do what you are doing........ your music just ads to the vids too...... thank you.
Hi Stevie thanks very much. Yes a lot of change, sometimes I think I am catching stuff in time and sometimes I think I am 30 years too late. Glad you like the videos many thanks
@@MartinZero the lump on the silver birch tree is called a BURL........ example: when tree is suffers stress to the outer bark. Also pollarding or coppicing (ancient act for cultivating extra wood or fruiting) it gives that unique effect upon the bark. I spent many years growing up in epping forest a heavily coppiced/pollarded oak forest. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burl
Hi marting just subscribe to your channel, been watching your clips absolutely love what your doing mate its what I'm interested in love history so glad found your channel, i live in Swinton area born n bread in Clifton there's loads of history in & around Clifton area as of your video post history is all around us & most of us don't even know it, keep up the great work Martin be safe mucka 👍👍
Good one especially the photography at night ! ..Worth framing a few .Re the bumps on the tree these are called Burrs and it's a deformity cased by shoots that got blocked Big like ..Helena
I loved the way you were fighting your way through the undergrowth, it looked like you were in the countryside, then multi-storey buildings come into view and I realise you are on a bridge in the middle of a city. Still fighting your way through the undergrowth. Amazing 😉 Does anyone worry that the roots from all the plants will weaken the bridge structure? Just a thought. Really loving your videos 🥰
I remember going through Miles Platting on the steam trains. The place had a very distinctive smell and the noise the train made on the tracks changed. You knew you were almost in Manchester even if you had your eyes closed.