The junction of Chester Road and Deansgate

“Manchester United’s 1999 treble-winning parade passed beneath this very bridge !”

Many thanks to Ernst ter Horst of MCAU for this Flashback Friday!

Ernst very kindly contacted me with a photo which is - literally - spot on in terms of matching up with my original photo from December 2008.

The view is from the junction of Chester Road and Deansgate looking north towards The Manchester Deansgate Hotel, by IHG.

The original photo (according to my iPhone) was taken on 22 December 2008 when everything felt dark and gloomy due to the economic conditions at the time. On the left is what was then part of the former Quay Bar site. On the right are the Deansgate Quay apartments and a former petrol station site that had been cleared for several years.

Incredibly you can see the site (and this view) at around 08:00 into this fascinating ‘Mancunian Way’ documentary from 1993:

https://lnkd.in/dzdauGEB

Ernst’s photo from June 2025 captures some of the major change in this part of the city which includes Castle Wharf, designed by OMI Architects for RENAKER; the under construction 325 Deansgate, designed by SimpsonHaugh; and, Fusion’s 534 bed student accommodation scheme, designed by Corstorphine & Wright and currently being delivered by Domis Construction and Mayo Civil Engineering Limited.