I have long been meaning to explore Manchester, knowing only the University district and not its new developments, nor its northern quarter.

So, I took off with the new Open City Guide, starting in Dale Street, very close to Manchester, Piccadilly:-

After some lunch – actually, breakfast – I headed east to New Islington, past the great Victorian mills, now turned into apartments:-

Urban Splash has been at work here with new housing designed by shedkm:-

And, more eccentrically, by FAT:-

I also admired the new housing by OMI Architects, in the style of its former industrial surroundings:-

Anita Street is model housing of another age, too costly for the slum dwellers for whom it was intended:-

Then, to the Daily Express Building (1939) by Sir Owen Williams:-

End of Part 1.