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Then and Now: Deansgate

THEN: Deansgate in 1872

Sadly, while Victorian Manchester grew significantly due to trade and commerce, the working people you can see standing in the street would not have been the main beneficiaries.

Prosperity not only lay in the hands of very few of Manchester's residents, it was not unknown in the 19th century for workers to die in conditions of poverty and crushing degradation.

Put bluntly, the poor died younger and the rich lived longer.

NOW: Number One Deansgate stands tall

Today, the reverse is nearer the truth as more and more people are lured to city centre living.

No better is this illustrated than by Number One Deansgate, seen jutting into the sky on the St Mary's Gate side.

The 60-metre-high structure is Britain's tallest residential and commercial building - a high-rise monument to the city's ever growing architectural and international social status.

The archive photograph is part of a collection chronicling the changing face of Manchester during the past 250 years on a computer at Manchester Central Library.

What are your memories of Deansgate and the surrounding area?

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