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Geoff Whittaker<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Islington</strong> <strong>article</strong>
<strong>Manchester</strong> - <strong>New</strong> <strong>Islington</strong><br />
History and current development. Old and new,<br />
together in harmony.<br />
Words and pictures Geoffrey Whittaker<br />
The history and current<br />
development of the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Islington</strong> area is a fascinating<br />
journey into an industrial<br />
past and a hopeful future.<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Islington</strong> is one of<br />
the seven “Millennium<br />
Communities Programme”<br />
areas and received funding<br />
in 2002. Urban Splash are the<br />
main developers. They are<br />
the creators of the “Chips”<br />
building, shown on the right.<br />
An eight storey residential<br />
structure designed by Will<br />
Alsop, it is intended to be<br />
a striking move away from<br />
“mundanity” or slightly bonkers<br />
depending on your taste in<br />
architecture.<br />
The development plan will<br />
”create an orchard island,<br />
a protective grove of Scots<br />
Pines around the beach, and<br />
wild-flowers and reed beds,<br />
all helping to attract wildlife.<br />
There will also be a variety of<br />
follies, meeting shelters, bird<br />
boxes and floating wildlife<br />
islands that will create places<br />
to stop, relax and contemplate<br />
the environment.”<br />
The Cottonfields development<br />
is on the site of the notorious<br />
Cardroom estate that was built<br />
in the 1970’s and demolished<br />
to make way for the new<br />
development. The recession<br />
temporarily halted progress<br />
but new building is now going<br />
on apace.<br />
It’s not all about blitzing the<br />
past, old buildings are being<br />
sympathetically restored.<br />
warehouse structures are being<br />
converted into shops and<br />
residential apartments.<br />
Stubbs MIll a former machine
Works that made machinery for<br />
the surrounding Cotton Mills<br />
in Ancoats has been converted<br />
into innovative spaces for offices<br />
and other uses. The complex was<br />
constructed between 1880 and<br />
1930.<br />
Canals are a feature of the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Islington</strong> development and were<br />
a key part of <strong>Manchester</strong>’s past<br />
transport system.<br />
The beginning of the industrial<br />
revolution, in <strong>Manchester</strong>, is<br />
considered to be when the<br />
Bridgewater canal arrived in<br />
Castlefield. Importing cotton<br />
from Liverpool via the Mersey<br />
and Irwell navigation led<br />
to <strong>Manchester</strong> becoming a<br />
manufacturing and distribution<br />
centre for manufactured cotton<br />
products. Although not a canal as<br />
such the Mersey and Irwell were<br />
both improved with locks and<br />
new cuts.<br />
Richard Arkwright was credited<br />
as the first person to build a<br />
Cotton mill in the city. At first<br />
water power was tried but proved<br />
to be inadequate. He then used<br />
a Watt steam engine to drive the<br />
machinery and this then became<br />
the norm and led to <strong>Manchester</strong><br />
being named Cottonopolis.<br />
The demand for coal led to more<br />
canals being built. The <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Islington</strong> canal basin branches off<br />
the Rochdale canal. There is also<br />
a branch from the Ashton canal<br />
on the Other side of Old Mill<br />
street.<br />
The Rochdale canal was wider<br />
than most at fourteen feet. It<br />
runs for thirty two miles and was<br />
opened in sections until 1804.
The metro has a tram station at <strong>New</strong> <strong>Islington</strong><br />
and it is only a short distance from Piccadilly<br />
rail station. Horse drawn trams began in Salford<br />
in 1877 and <strong>Manchester</strong> in 1880. They were<br />
electrified in 1901. Today a second cross city line<br />
is opening and <strong>Manchester</strong> now has the largest<br />
tram system in the country.<br />
A lot of work is going into integrating the old<br />
and the new and this key area is undergoing a<br />
new renaissance.<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Islington</strong> development is not just a<br />
concrete jungle but is also a haven for nature.<br />
Tree planting and encouraging wildlife are a key<br />
element of the planning.<br />
“Today a second<br />
cross city tram<br />
line is opening,<br />
<strong>Manchester</strong> now<br />
has the largest<br />
tram system inthe<br />
country.”