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The great survivors

But all is not as it seems. Both hostelries have been on their present site for only a handful of years.

The original Shambles, on the corner of Market Street, got its name from the "shambles", or butchers' stalls, which used to stand opposite the inns at the Saturday market.

It was almost demolished in the early 1970s, to make way for the lower part of the scheme which gave us the Arndale Centre, the old Marks and Spencer's and Market Place redevelopment. Instead, however, the building was raised 15ft above its original level and reopened, in 1981, as the focal point of the unlovely Shambles Square - now demolished.

There was much criticism, at the time, that the scheme had hemmed in both buildings and removed them from public view. Then came the IRA bomb blast in June, 1996. Much of the adjacent Arndale Centre was devastated, but The Shambles survived, more or less intact. Ironically, this was partly because the ancient inns were surrounded and protected by other buildings which took the full weight of the blast.

At the time, many campaigners wanted to leave them where they were, but, in the interests of regeneration, developers and city council leaders decided to move both buildings, piece by piece, and re-locate them 300m away, and more scenically, opposite Manchester Cathedral, as part of a new "Millennium Quarter".

They re-opened in November, 1999, and there's no doubt that, as a work of engineering, it was all a magnificent enterprise. Superficially, both buildings also look more or less the same as they did in their previous location.

But, in the process of moving them, something has also been lost. The walls somehow no longer have the patina of time, and the ambience simply isn't the same. There are other changes which have not been to the good.

In the summer, sunburnt young men, awash with lager, slump outside and defy the Shakespeare In Love style backdrop to make even this most pretty of Manchester heritage sites a bit of an eyesore. Still, maybe things will change, once the area's regeneration is complete.

On the positive side, it's a miracle that either building still stands at all. They also survived the Manchester bombings of 1940, and what remains is one of the few indications of what the city would have looked like, pre-Industrial Revolution. The half-timbered Old Wellington Inn, the more distinctive of the two, is the oldest building of its kind in Manchester. It was built in the 1550s, when Edward VI was on the throne, which means it has witnessed everything from the English Civil War to the Great Plague.

It's said that underneath what is now Hanging Ditch, oppposite The Shambles, are buried thousands of Manchester's plague victims. But that's another story.

Originally, the Old Wellington Inn was part residence and part draper's shop. In the mid-17th century, a third storey was added to the structure. It was not until 1830 that the premises were licensed, when it was known as The Vintners' Arms, and, later on, it was The Kenyon Vaults. In 1865, the ground floor was known as the Wellington Inn, while the upper two floors served as a mathematical and optical instrument makers.

By 1897, the upper floors were known as "Ye Olde Fyshing Tackle Shoppe". At this time, a large clock was added to the main gable.

Sinclair's Oyster Bar dates from 1720, and, though most things about Manchester have changed since then, it still serves its succulent oysters, along with substantial pub meals. In centuries gone by, The Shambles stood on what was then the main route from London to Carlisle, so it was a major stopping off point, for all kinds of hungry travellers and traders heading north and south. In 2004, it's still a favoured place of resort, for visitors and commuters in search of a quick beer or bite before returning to home or work.