manchester

mancunians

expats

Then and Now: St Ann's Square in wartime

Air raid shelter in St Anns Square in 1940

 But look closely at the photograph from 1940 and you will notice the sign for the air raid shelter holding up to 170 people.

 The country was in conflict and Mancunians had real reason to fear German attack because the city suffered severe bombing during the Second World War.

 One of the worst nights of the blitz happened in December of 1940, when more than over 700 people were killed and 2,500 injured during heavy bombardment.

More than 100,000 homes in the area were damaged, as well as the Cathedral, the Royal Exchange and the Free Trade Hall.

Today, it’s a different story as St Ann’s Square symbolises the success of a rejuvenated city centre, with thousands of people passing through to shop or on their way to work. And unlike 65 years ago, the pedestrian-only area offers a haven from the cars.

 It is also a conservation area lined with many buildings of architectural merit, and new stores have to fit in with the surroundings. The McDonald’s fast food restaurant you can see in the picture on the left, had to tone down its golden arches before it was given the all-clear to open.

 The square also contains two bronze statues, one of Richard Cobden, free trade advocate who help establish the Anti-Corn Law League in the 19th Century, and the other a memorial to the Boer War comprising a group of soldiers.

The image is part of a collection of 77,000 pictures chronicling the changing face of Manchester over the past 250 years, which are stored on an easy-to-use computer system at the city’s Central Library.