IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Wharton Avenue, MANCHESTER, M21 7SQ

The Southern and the dual carriageway it stands alongside were built in the late 1920s. The traffic cones are a sign of preliminary works to move services to allow for the Manchester Metrolink extension towards the airport. The tram lines will run along the centre of the road. The Southern Hotel had closed a year or so earlier and was boarded up.

This substantial public house was built in the 1920s at the corner of Mauldeth Road West and Nell Lane. For a number of years the pub had had an Irish theme (there being a large Irish population in the area). According to the signs the building also housed 'Mammy's Irish Kitchen' (a cafe) and the Celtic Tiger nightclub (offering live Irish music). The Southern closed in April 2011 and as of December 2011 was still boarded up and up for sale.

This substantial public house was built in the 1920s at the corner of Mauldeth Road West and Nell Lane. For a number of years the pub had had an Irish theme (there being a large Irish population in the area). According to the signs the building also housed 'Mammy's Irish Kitchen'(a cafe) and the Celtic Tiger nightclub (offering live Irish music). The Southern closed in April 2011 and as of December 2011 was still boarded up and up for sale.

Hough End Hall was built in the 1590s for Sir Nicholas Mosley when he was Lord of the Manor of Manchester. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hough_End_Hall Time and the hand of the town planners has not been kind to the hall, as it sits in a sea of car parks, hemmed in by two hideous sixties office blocks to the front and side, with the buildings of Chorlton High School and associated security fences crowding in from the rear. Later in its history Hough End was sold to the Egertons of Tatton. By the 20th century much of the interior had been lost; the fine staircase had been removed to Tatton Hall in Cheshire, and the hall was a farmhouse. Photos from the 1920s show various farm buildings in the area of the car park seen in this view. In 1969 Pevsner note that the porch had collapsed and the roof was open to the skies, describing the condition of the building as 'an unpardonable act of cruelty'. Manchester Corporation, who owned the building later carried out some renovation works, after which Hough end was used as a pub / carvery type restaurant / nightclub, closing some time in the late 1990s. In 2010 further restoration work was carried out and the hall reopened briefly as a restaurant. This closed later that year, and by December 2011 the building was to let. http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Culture/Architecture/The-Good-the-Standard-and-the-Ugly-Hough-End-Hall

Preparatory work had started on the extension of the Manchester Metrolink tram network to Manchester Airport. The Airport Line will leave the existing South Manchester line just after the St Werburgh's Road stop, cutting across land next to Chorlton High School to join Mauldeth Road West, where it will run along the wide central reservation towards Barlow Moor Road.

This is at the Nell Lane cross roads. Work had been carried out to improve the pedestrian crossings at the traffic lights, also modify the kerb lines on the four corners of the junction and the central reservation on the dual carriageway. I assume this was carried out at the same time as utility works preparatory to the construction of the Metrolink extension towards Manchester Airport which is due to be built along the centre of Mauldeth Road West. The cycle path markings puzzle me. There is a similar arrangement on Nell lane, just round the corner to the right, and on the corner on the other side of Nell Lane. So instead of waiting at the lights and turning the left on to Mauldeth Road West on the carriageway, cyclists are encouraged to mount the pavement, give way to pedestrians waiting at the crossing, then give way again when joining the carriageway. Except the cycle symbol is the other way round, with give way markings facing away from the camera. Which would suggest that instead of turning right at the lights, cyclists are encouraged to cross the dual carriageway from left to right well before the lights, join this footway, go round the corner and cross over Nell Lane to rejoin the left side of the carriageway. This seems very strange.

Looking through the perimeter fencing from Mauldeth Road West. The banners proclaim the academic achievements of the school, with a quote from an Ofsted inspection report.

The extension of the Manchester Metrolink network to the airport is planned to open in 2016. The line will leave the South Manchester Line just after the St Werburgh's Road stop and cross land between the buildings of Chorlton High School and Mauldeth Road West, then running along the dual carriageway and Hardy Lane to a river crossing near Jackson's Boat. Preliminary work was underway in this area, mainly moving services and sorting out drainage.

A view through the security fencing.