Underground Manchester.

[regentroad5]

I have heard that underground streets and passageways, dating from Victorian times and perhaps earlier, possibly still exist in parts of central Manchester. Can anybody shed any light on this please?

[aidanorourke]

Yes, I have heard this also. When Victoria Station was extended around the 1880s, the area on either side of the River Irk was covered over. That's directly underneath the entrance, where the taxis wait.

It's said that whole houses and streets were buried beneath the station. A cemetery on the banks of the Irk also lies deep underneath Victoria Station, round about where the tram stop is located.

It's said that there are streets and houses below the Cathedral, underneath Victoria Street next to the Irwell.

I think all this may be an urban myth. However one underground street does apparently still exist. That's the underground passageway that used to be the Market Centre. I'm told the entire length of the passageway, once a place to buy jeans, cassettes and other cheap items, is still intact.

There is also a tunnel built in the 1950s which runs from Ardwick to Salford. It's used to carry cables and is not open to the public.

Here are some interesting underground attractions not too far from Manchester: The Stockport Air Raid Shelters, Hack Green Nuclear Bunker near Nantwich.

[Henry Mantell]

Well there is the Undercroft which I wouldn't like to guess the age of but a lot has been built over that! I understand that these days it is regularly patrolled.
There was also the fire a few years ago that created havoc with the underground tunnel used for most of Manchesters landlines. Not sure if that was built specifically for the purpose(telephony) or simply occupied tunnels from an earlier era. I do recall that 0161 vanished for almost a week for callers from outside Manchester.
I'd be interested to know if there any other tunnels in Manchester. It seems relatively untunnelled as Cities go.

[Phil Blinkhorn]

Hi Guys,

Take as look at this:
Cold-War History in Manchester

[regentroad5]

If these underground places do exist I can't help thinking it would be a wonderful tourist opportunity for Manchester.I believe they have done something similar in Edinburgh and have opened streets and passageways that were closed hundreds of years ago as a result of the plague!

[Henry Mantell]

I read this awhile ago and had a vague recollection about its location.
BTW isn't it nice to be called junior members of something at our age?
My memory isn't that good but didn't that telephone fire happen somewhere else, near Deansgate?
Nuclear bunkers appear now on the market for housing development. It is amazing what doesn't appear on any maps. When I lived in Grove Park Camberwell(near Terry Jones of Monty Python fame) Duncan Campbell published the identity of the anonymous building down a driveway and next to a railway. It was a government listening post for monitoring Russian morse signalling! Duncan got raided after that(several times) for publishing that!

[Phil Blinkhorn]

Yes. I call myself a Junior Pensioner having retired in 1998. I actually draw my first pension from the former GMC next July.

I lived in Crowborough E Sussex for 12 years starting just after the Government listening station there closed, the the Regional Seat of Government still existed and was in use until taken over by Sussex Police in the late 1990s.

[Jeanne Wood]

Originally Posted by aidanorourke

Yes, I have heard this also. When Victoria Station was extended around the 1880s, the area on either side of the River Irk was covered over. That's directly underneath the entrance, where the taxis wait.

It's said that whole houses and streets were buried beneath the station. A cemetery on the banks of the Irk also lies deep underneath Victoria Station, round about where the tram stop is located.

It's said that there are streets and houses below the Cathedral, underneath Victoria Street next to the Irwell.

I think all this may be an urban myth. However one underground street does apparently still exist. That's the underground passageway that used to be the Market Centre. I'm told the entire length of the passageway, once a place to buy jeans, cassettes and other cheap items, is still intact.

There is also a tunnel built in the 1950s which runs from Ardwick to Salford. It's used to carry cables and is not open to the public.

Here are some interesting underground attractions not too far from Manchester: The Stockport Air Raid Shelters, Hack Green Nuclear Bunker near Nantwich.

A few years ago a friend of mine was talking to a Utilities man who told how he had to go underground to check security, as one of the Royals (I believe it was the Queen), was due to visit Manchester. He said how staggered he was to find whole streets there -- he described it as a 'small town'.

Jeanne.

[aidanorourke]

Thanks very much for providing that info, that is intriguing - spooky! I want to know more and perhaps, see and photograph the subterranean town under Manchester Victoria Station for myself! Who can help me?

[The Longford]

Do you know Steve Little Aidan?
I know he has some photos because we were only talking about this yesterday and (as with most things) he knows all about it.