IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Albert Square, MANCHESTER, M2 5PF

On the left, Carlton House, by Clegg & Knowles, 1872, a bit of a mixture of styles but more Gothic than anything else, and "more ornate than their contemporary warehouses". The dominant accents are the two oriels continued above the cornice as gables. Grade II listed. Clegg & Knowles were also responsible for its contemporaneous neighbour, Albert Chambers, 1873, more strictly Venetian Gothic. It has an arcade of windows, trefoil-headed windows above, a prominent frieze and embattled skyline. Grade II listed.

A most distinguished building with an attractive mix of red brick and stone, and a variety of Venetian Gothic details, most notably the quatrefoil tracery in the top tier of windows. It was built in 1863-66 to the designs of Thomas Worthington. Grade II* listed. The listing observes that it was "erected to commemorate the 2,000 nonconformist clergy who seceded from the Church of England in 1662 as a result of the Act of Uniformity." When a student in 1985-88 it hosted a pub called the Square Albert. I think its current occupant, MMA, is the Manchester Model Agency.

Built as meeting rooms and hall, this is now a public house and restaurant. It was erected to commemorate the 2,000 nonconformist clergy who seceded from the Church of England in 1662 as a result of the Act of Uniformity, which led to the birth of Nonconformism. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Grade II listed. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-387863-albert-chambers-

The close-up shows a band with raised lettering "MEMORIAL HALL ERECTED IN COMMEMORATION OF THE YEAR 1662", inscribed on the front of the Memorial Hall

Royal Mail celebrated every gold medal won by a British athlete during the London 2012 Olympic Games by repainting one of their iconic red pillar boxes gold for each gold medal winning Olympian. This one honours Philp Hinde who won a gold medal in the men's cycling team sprint event. It is outside the Slug & Lettuce, on the corner of Lloyd Street and Albert Square in Manchester. The Grade I listed, Victorian Town Hall can be seen in the background. In total, Team GB won 29 Gold Medals for the Olympic Games and 34 Gold Medals for the Paralympic Games; for team medals, a post box was painted gold for all team members (see http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/Olympic-Gold-Post-Boxes for list and more examples). This was the first occasion in modern times that Royal Mail had changed the colour of their post boxes from the traditional red which has been the standard colour for UK boxes from 1874, with very few exceptions. The original plan was for the boxes to be returned to their traditional red colour but in November, it was announced that they would remain gold and that a plaque would be fixed to each one (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20183986 BBC News). https://web.archive.org/web/20171231162534/https://www.goldpostboxes.com/ - archived 31st December 2017 (Royal Mail Gold Postbox Finder)

Grade II listed. https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101197818-carlton-house-city-centre-ward

With long-term restoration work to Manchester Town Hall ongoing, most of Albert Square is a building site and cordoned off. One corner has been opened up, allowing easy access to Lloyd Street and the Slug and Lettuce. The circular motif in the foreground indicates where a tree will be planted in the future. On the right, the Grade II listed https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1197823 statue of William Gladstone by W Theed Junior, erected 1878, is barricaded off. Next to it is a Christmas archway which is likely to be removed shortly.

The short street off Mount Street was originally Chapel Street Image