Awful to see these pictures.
As a kid, my family ran the cab drivers cafe on Chapeltown Street. During school holidays, my mum and I used to come into town from Colshaw Farm, via train, getting off at Picc, then down the stairs onto Store street and on to Chapeltown. I used to spend the days exploring the old buildings around this area, and pretty interesting it was too!
I still recall that one of the arches - I think it was the very first one (around where the JCB is on the first one of Aidan's second set of pix) had in it, or next to it, a mysterious tunnel that I once peeked into but was too scared - as a 10 year old - to climb into. I've always wondered what that actually was, but now, guess I'll never know!
Anyway, topical to mention that I wrote a track about this area, and the video features some great pics of Store Street from the 70s. You can download a top quality version direct from here (Just right click and save as)
http://www.digi-doc.co.uk/Chapeltown.avi
or, you can hear the song and view a much lesser quality version on my myspace which is here ..
MySpace.com - Mamucium Son - Manchester, UK - Pop / Electro / Folk - www.myspace.com/mamuciumson