Please post a comment - I'll reply as soon as I can! Let me know if the ads are intrusive I can adjust them. This is a new more 'vloggy' style of presentation, I hope to develop it further.
Well I can see reactions are mixed. We’ll see how things pan out. The architect is famous, but the architect of the concrete wall and pavilion in Piccadilly Gardens is famous but it turned out to be a failure. We’ll see.
Thank you Sir for keeping us updated with new developments in Manchester, I really like to see this place moving as is really sending a positive vibe !! Cheers
Great update Aidan ….have to say for all the hundreds of Millions spent on it - it takes on how architects hate beauty of any kind - How this had passed the planning stage is shocking to say the least. Aesthetically, it is appalling not a jot of imagination has gone into it - unlike Bilbao where they’ve done something exciting with their waterfront ! I don’t think this will enhance tourism in Manchester. It looks so underwhelming for visiting for locals and visitors alike. Another thing,MIF seems hell bent on promoting the obscure and leaving many people (including myself) wondering what on Earth MIF and it’s festival is all about ?
I think we have to wait until we can hear reactions to The Factory, especially from visitors from outside the region. It would be interesting to do a comparison of Manchester & Bilbao. I’ve never been there. As for MIF I know what you mean but they have a wide range of offerings, I’ve taken part in some of them. The exhibition by Yayoi Kusama has had good reactions. I’m going to see it soon, and they offer lower priced tickets for people from the local area on lower incomes.
There was a set of locks on middle wood locks,I dug them out years ago when they were supposed to build chill factor on that site,had the canal trust come and investigate,think they were pulled out after I moved on,I worked across the road upper wharf street where the canal continued.I’m digging out old boddingtons brewery at the minute where they are building brewery gardens apartments and retail give me a wave if you go by I’m the fat bloke with glasses in the orange digger 😂
Great to hear from you. I never knew they wanted to put Chill Factore there. Old Boddington's Brewery, I need to put that on my list. I'll look out for you if I'm up that way.
I hate to be negative about what is currently being done in Salford & Manchester,particularly as I haven't been there to view the 'improvements'.But the impression's I have so far are very negative.I hope I am wrong.
A lot of people are negative about the new developments, but as I like to say, there’s no going back, they are here to stay. There is no going back. I feel compelled to document the changes.
A ‘flat’ sounds less prestigious and smaller, an apartment is used more in US/Canadian English, e.g. the film of the same name starring Jack Lemon. Here’s a good definition: www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-apartment-and-flat
I'm not sure what 'The Factory" is for, as it seems to do exactly what the the Lowry centre is already doing, and in a much nicer building. I'm also at a loss as to why they felt the need to cut Water Street in half, when there is plenty of 'brown field' land in this area. This all area has a somewhat over-developed and dystopian feel to it these days. The buildings in this area are all very individual, but don't add up to creating a sense of place. It all seems a bit un-planned and hap-hazard. Maybe when it's all finished it, the are willl have more of an identity.
The Factory aims to cut a different identity to other venues. I agree, the development looks rather haphazard, but unlike in Dubai, where they just had empty desert to fill with a new city, in Manchester the new has to be fitted in around the old. We'll just have to see how The Factory pans out. I reckon that there is a growing and insatiable desire in Manchester for cultural events.
Oh wow, praise indeed. I do put a fair amount of time and effort into them, but whatever happens I feel compelled to document the changing city, so I'm very happy if people find this enjoyable and informative.
Manchester is an important centre of education and commerce. The council have allowed the construction of tall buildings, unlike most British cities. It’s a regional capital. Those are some of the reasons, I think. Glad you’re watching en France!
I think there is an unlimited demand for apartments like these, even the very expensive ones. I don't think they would be building them if they didn't think they would find people to buy or rent them. The rents are high but there are lots of people earning high salaries in Manchester.
It’s a shame more affordable housing isn’t available for residents from Manchester , the city certainly may be experiencing a construction boom, however the city has a very dark side. I no longer live in the city and am pretty glad that’s the case, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that vulnerable people still suffer within the city centre, and beyond. I think Manchester has lost its identity, what’s happened to London is already happening in Manchester and that’s just sad for Mancunians.
Developers are encouraged to include affordable dwellings but frequently fail to do, maybe because it cuts into their profits. There is definitely a big differential between the affluent professionals with well paid jobs and the less well paid people. As I stated in my Mancunian Way video, nobody should be excluded, the city should be for all people on all income levels but… the reality falls short of that ideal. I’m not sure what the solution is.
Well Salford is in Manchester, the conurbation, but it’s a different council with a different planning committee. Not sure how much that influences the type of buildings they approve. Thanks as ever for your comments
Oh I didn’t see that! Canada geese are everywhere around Manchester. They are attractive but very noisy, especially when they start up a big conversation!
Sorry Aidan, seen this late. Thank you for the film. 1). Ordsall Chord. It was part of the Northern Hub to improve the bottleneck at Piccadilly. Government agreed to fund it all. They were:- * Ordsall Chord bridge. ** New platforms at Salford Central. ***Lengthened platforms at Oxford Road. ****Two new platforms (15&16) at Picc. ***** To upgrade and electrify to main line standards, the diversionary route from Midland Jct (Ashburys) to Philip's Pk Jct (past MCFC stadium). You can guess what happened, as so all too often in the UK, particularly outside London? The first part, Ordsall Chord, was the only part completed and now likely. No new platforms at Salford Central so it isn't served, I don't think, by trains traveling over the Ordsall Chord, which was one of the main purposes of it. To serve the burgeoning New Bailey and Spinningfield business districts. As you lament it has regularly only 1 train per hour in each direction, scheduled. A great potential scheme now relegated to a White Elephant and the rail connection from the oldest railway station in the world, Liverpool Road, severed for something that will probably never be. New platforms a distant prospect at Picc. I think the heavy rail line past MCFC has since been taken up. So much for a City trying to meet pollution targets. 2). Vic. North Development plans to enlarge the city centre population by 20%. Ond of the developers, Crowne Point(?) nearer the city centre, says there are 100k students in the city. 55% will stay after graduation, though not all in the city centre. Developers can't build fast enough. Mcr used to be a city with universities, now it is a university city. The ramifications are obvious. The developers aim at that market, graduates in their 20's and 30's. The retail offering in the city centre is skewed for that market. You rarely see people with grey hair in the city centre. Politically it is bound to change priorities. 3). I would like your understanding on specific Reedham House development? Passed in the last weeks. Apparently there are only 5 19th century carriage works still in existance. Reedham House in St. Mary's Parsonage is one. You might be aware they plan a tower development on part of the site. The downside is that one twelfth of the site, the former showroom, will disappear. The upside is that Trinity/Motor Square will be enlarged with a colonnaded elevation and the remaining eleven twelfths of the former carriage works will be open to the public. The planners thought that the showroom was much modified over the years, after a fire (?) and bomb damage in WW2 and had little left of the former showroom and the development would allow the remainer to be brought back in public use. Passed at the same meeting was a student tower on the site of Chandos House in the IQ Quarter, behind the Bull's Head pub near Picc.
Many apologies for not thanking you profusely for your contribution, which I acted upon for my subsequent video '5 Controversial Projects'. Many thanks for your well-informed insights. I am just the guy who wanders around capturing what I see, you seem to know your stuff very well indeed, so many thanks!
A brilliant vlog cataloging construction in Manchester, do you have any data on the population of the city centre from the 1970s to the present day? What mixture of people and backgrounds who live in these new apartments etc?
No exact figures off hand but in the 1990s when I started to document Manchester it was just a few thousand. Wikipedia has a figure of around 11,000 but that's in 2011. I would estimate it has more than doubled since then. The people seem to be from professional backgrounds and I noticed many residents of Deansgate Square are wealthy people from China. They are bringing a lot of money into Manchester. Many thanks for the positive appraisal, I'm moving more and more towards a vlog style of presentation.
thankyou for the update aidan. the heart of salford has been ripped out 🥲 in my opinion, and replaced by monstrous ugly towers/apartments in a haphazard way, with no empathy whatsoever for the history of salford, which has been completely wiped out. (apart from a few silly 'historically associated' names they like to call the apartments.
I know what you mean, but when the industry shuts down, what can be put in its place? Are these apartments the best way to make use of the former industrial land or is there another way? Many thanks!
Many thanks, it’s fun doing these videos but time consuming. I got the idea as by chance I was cycling past the Factory from Piccadilly Station on my way to a party in Salford. I was going to get off at Salford Crescent but there were no trains so I decided to cycle. I’m glad I did!
Such an amazing transformation, however as Manchester rapidly grew with urban and business development the surrounding Greater Manchester towns seem to have declined. Once thriving towns now abandoned and almost destroyed.
You're referring to the Factory building. I know a lot of people who share your view, but what would the alternative be? In the 19th century everyone agreed a new concert hall had to be grand, with lots of statues, ornamentation, a few classical pillars, with a big imposing entrance. Today there is no consensus on how a modern equivalent should look. Architects chance there arm and either it turns out a world-beating masterpiece, as in Bilbao, or a widely acknowledged embarrassment. Which is this one to be? :)
@@MagentaOtterTravels One of my favourite American artists is Maxfield Parrish. One of his most famous artworks has 'mill pond' in the title. www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/american-art-2/maxfield-parrish-mill-pond
We were watching the video and when you were telling the name of all the buildings, Ian tried to convince me you said one was named OTTERS 🦦! We replayed several times... but then i had Ian pause the video and I saw it was named Potters 😂
Ah yes, potters, in memory of the workers of that profession who were active in that area. As for otters, I don’t think they could have coped with the polluted waters of the River Irwell. Whenever I see an otter I think of you!
@@AidanEyewitness I'm glad the brainwashing has been successful! Lol It's a good thing that they are remembering the potters. But otters would've been nice as well 😉
@@MagentaOtterTravels To my knowledge, there are no otters in Salford, though in Stockport, there is a road called 'Otterspool Road.' It is next to the River Goyt so otters must have been in residence! www.google.com/maps/place/Otterspool+Rd,+Romiley,+Stockport/@53.4057747,-2.0958036,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x487bb503250fb5bb:0x94b646b06dfbdac0!8m2!3d53.4054741!4d-2.0963508!16s%2Fg%2F1w96g8_l?entry=ttu
