Corn Exchange as it was...

[sqwire]

I was wondering if anyone out there has any photos of the inside of Corn Exchange as it was in the 70's- mid 90's. I'm writing a novel and want to detail it correctly, as i remember it; ie full of little stalls and shops.

I've trawled the net and found only pre ww2 or post 96 pics. WIth every glipse of the nauseating corporate Triangle, my memory is fading.

Cheers,

Irving

[henrysdad]

Why don't you write to the Center Director, at the 2nd floor management suite, to enquire if they have any old photos of the place, before it was renovated. As it is for a book they may have some old stuff hanging around. If you don't ask you won't get (will never Know) as they say.

Regards

[regentroad5]

I loved the Corn Exchange and was appalled when I first viewed the ghastly Triangle shopping centre that replaced it.A couple of weeks ago I thought I would visit the place again to see if it still struck me as being as shallow and soulless and profit driven as it had done on my previous visit.I have to say it seemed even worse,and everywhere seemed ultra-lit and strangely reminiscent of watching an edition of Top of the Pops from the 1980's.Hideous.

[aidanorourke]

I have very happy memories of the Corn Exchange during the 80s and 90s. I used to drop by regularly. It was a real curiosity shop, with a very Bohemian Manchester feel.

Because of the northward extension of Manchester's upmarket shopping district, I suppose it didn't fit in any more. They are not going to spend millions of pounds to refurbish a building for a bunch of weirdo creative types selling second hand records, tattoos etc.

I'm not comfortable with the way an ornate building - 19th century in character though dating from the early 20th century - was turned into a slick shopping venue. I'm quite happy to have slick shopping venues in their place, maybe in a slick modern building, but I remember the interior of the Corn Exchange was a magnificent, and almost perfectly preserved piece of Edwardian Manchester. What happened to it?

[Mamucium Son]

Originally Posted by aidanorourke

the Corn Exchange was a magnificent, and almost perfectly preserved piece of Edwardian Manchester. What happened to it?

Officially: - "The IRA".
Unoficially: - THAT is the question.

[old market]

I used to shop there as a student, mainly for the second hand vinyl.

From the entrance facing the Printworks, on the right was a shop that sold bric-a-brac. I bought an old £1 note from there, still have that.

As you went through that entrance, to your right and near the 'back' was a spiral (IIRC) staircase that went downstairs to a cafe, where you could buy tea, toast, etc. It had a small seating area. Back at the top of that staircase was a second hand vinyl shop that absorbed most of my meagre part-time wages.

There was a balcony above and right the way around, I never went upstairs I think it was off-limits. You could see clear up to the ceiling. The floors were wooden floorboards or planks, varnished/oiled and polished. Many of them were badly warped, you couldn't walk through the place without them creaking and straining under your feet. The entire place smelled wooden, musty, and of course there were various 'other' smells associated with students and smoking

There were lots of clothes shops, most of them IIRC were on the right side as you entered from the front. Harry Halls cycles was just next to and on the left of that entrance, down a very narrow stone staircase and a turn left through the door.