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Then and Now: The Midland Hotel

THEN: The Midland in 1910

Originally built in 1903, the hotel has the same architectural grandeur and retains an air of quality from every angle.

It is also fitting that the earlier image shows trams running alongside the Midland because after a gap of more 40 years, trams are once again a highly visible feature in the same area.

The giant, Gothic buildings in the older picture on Mount Street are dissected by tramlines and horse drawn carriages - two familiar sights in the early part of the 20th century.

NOW: All around is changing

Purists whose eyes widen at the imposing civic buildings close by in Albert Square, speak with fondness of the Greek influences of the many imposing structures, like the Midland, that can be found throughout the area.

Today, the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Midland, as the hotel is now called, remains a special place in the eyes of all Mancunians - even though all around it is changing.

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 memories do you have of the Midland Hotel?

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