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Then and Now: Longsight

THEN: Plymouth Grove in 1959

The Old Roman Road to Buxton - now the A6 Stockport Road - dissects the area, leaving Longsight lying cosily between Ardwick in the north, Rusholme in the west, and Levenshulme in the south.

Longsight, which was formerly known as Grindlow Marsh, was not incorporated into the city of Manchester until 1890.

It emerged out of the Industrial Revolution with the building of schools and churches to meet the demands of a rapidly expanding workforce in the area.

The older image, showing the corner of Birch Lane and Plymouth Grove in 1959, is unremarkable except for the church on the left just edging into view.

NOW: Much has changed over the years

Another early feature that helped give the Longsight suburb a lively reputation was the Belle Vue Tea Gardens, later to be replaced first by the Zoo, speedway track - and greyhound racing track that remains on the site today and is still in use.

Also to be found at Belle Vue on nearby Hyde Road, was a lake and natural history museum. Both are now long gone, and today the site is occupied by a cinema multiplex and fast food outlets.

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 Longsight and the surrounding area? Have your say.

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