Manchester - a few more clocks

A quick visit to the north-west enabled the discovery of a few more clocks in Manchester. The main survey can be found over five postings I made in June 2015, but one inevitably misses a few out.

So this is the John Owens Building on the University of Manchester campus along Oxford Road. The building is in a quadrangle which is hidden from the road by the Manchester Museum (from whose windows I spotted it - you never know where a bit of education will lead you).

Next stop is the southern end of Deansgate, whilst I was on my way to the Museum of Science and Industry (there is a theme here). A fairly standard clock, but good to see nevertheless.

The building currently houses the Institute Cervantes, a Spanish language school.

This part of Deansgate is worth visiting just to see the uniform façade of the buildings.

Opposite is Deansgate station. Or Knott Mill station depending on which sign you wish to believe. I would love to go with the latter because of the style and permanency of the sign, but sadly the inelegant Deansgate one is correct. The station was opened as Knott Mill in July 1849 (if you think that is old, the aforementioned Museum of Science and Industry contains the original station building from the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, dating from 1830 - we will come to that in a moment). The current building is more modern - a mere 121 years old. It was renamed as Deansgate in 1971. And was there originally a clock above the name?

The current clock can be found on the city centre bound platform.

And so on to the Museum of Science of Industry - plenty of good old fashioned solid engineering, and quite a lot of railways engines and aeroplanes.

Plus of course the original station building from 1830. Which has two clocks - one on the platform...

...and one in the booking hall.

So a few more clocks to add to the Manchester collection, but if you know of others out there (and there surely must be some), please let me know.

Manchester (Part 5: Lots more clocks)

Back now to the city centre for the final part of this rather disjointed look at Manchester's clocks. this is a quick canter through a whole range of locations across the city.

We start with the Crown Court in Minshull Street (there is probably some poor joke in there about getting there in the nick of time, but we won't stoop that low in the comedy stakes - that would just be too trying. And there is no truth (the whole truth and nothing but the truth) in the rumour that it is about to be closed and turned into a hotel - a Jury's Inn).

Next up, the RSA building on New York Street. In many ways a rather absurd clock, being so far up in the air and without many of the usual visual aims to make the time clear.

We of course have to pay a visit to the Town Hall, the triangular masterpiece of Alfred Waterhouse completed in 1877.

The clock tower, looming over the main entrance, is 87 metres tall.

Hancocks, a jewellers on King Street, has this simple but elegant clock.

Debenhams, in Market Street, is a somewhat larger shop, which dates from 1932.

 

This next building is the cathedral.

 

Ah fatso's - feeding the people on Piccadilly. Perhaps the minute hand has got so fat it has fallen off.

Although all is well on the other face.

On now to the St James's Building of 1913 in Oxford Road.

If I had been more organised this would have featured in the same posting as the Palace Hotel, as there it is lurking in the background.

This next clock is a small off-the-shelf model displayed outside a café on Station Approach.

Altogether larger is the 12 foot diameter Potts clock of 1880 to be found on what I will call the G-Mex building, although it now seems to be called the rather boring City Central.

Whatever it is now called, it was once the Central railway station, opened in 1880 and closed in 1967, before eventually being converted into an exhibition space.

I love this next building on Quay Street for the sheer boldness yet simplicity of its clock.

And finally, a cheeky look into the Midland Hotel. The image of the clock is somewhat blurry as it is taken from the other side of the road looking into the foyer. So more of a private clock than a public one, but included because it can be seen from the highway.