manchester mancunians expats
Saturday, 12th July 2003
Then and Now: Swan Street
IT used to be the very heart of the city - the place where on a Saturday night scores of street traders sold everything from dogs to ferrets. Today, the once bustling area with a well-established fruit and veg market at Smithfield has less of the old features, and more memories of the days when cough candy and hot potatoes, or trays of fish, were happily sold and accepted at knockdown Saturday night prices. Smithfield, Manchester's market area for hundreds of years, may be a lot less lively since decamping to Openshaw a few miles away, but the district has managed to retain some links with its glorious past. For instance, at this corner of Swan Street looking towards Foundry Lane, now called Coop Street, is the Smithfield Hotel and Bar that dates back to the early 19th century and is one of the city centre's oldest surviving pubs. Doubtless it is the place where traders and textile workers would meet for a few drinks at the end of the day. Just a few doors away from the Smithfield pub is the internationally famous Band on the Wall music venue. Like all early market pubs, it was well known for its musical connections, and many Victorian commentators refer to buskers and musicians around the Smithfield market, and the streets off nearby Oldham Road. The archive picture is part of a collection chronicling the changing face of Manchester during the last 250 years.
The collection comprises more than 77,000 images stored on an easy-to-use computer at Manchester's Central Library.
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