Castlefield, adjacent to the River Medlock

“the (top) photo was taken around the time the building became Grade II listed.”

The top photo is another piece of magic from Steve Welsh. It was taken in June 1988 and is in Castlefield, adjacent to the River Medlock, looking towards the derelict Former Congregational Chapel (378-380 Deansgate). Coincidentally the photo was taken around the time the building became Grade II listed.

The building, designed by Edward Walters - architect of Manchester’s Free Trade Hall - has since had spells as a Sunday school, auction rooms and latterly the recording studio for Stock Aitken and Waterman’s ‘Hit Factory’ recording the likes of Kylie and Rick Astley in the 1980’s. OMI Architects converted the building to offices in 2010 and it is now the headquarters of Pannone.

The bottom photo is from December 2025 and captures some of the change that has taken place in this part of the city over the past four decades.

Castlefield itself saw considerable regeneration in the late 1980s / early 1990s with development and investment from Jim Ramsbottom and Castlefield Estates Limited including projects such as Eastgate and Merchant’s Warehouse. It was also one of the flagship areas of the Central Manchester Regeneration Corporation (CMDC).

Some of the more recent change captured in the photo includes the following schemes (all designed by SimpsonHaugh):

Beetham Tower including The Manchester Deansgate Hotel, by IHG;

The under construction Dean Street Developments 325 Deansgate Apart Hotel; and,

Viadux by Salboy.