Tuesday 8 November 2016

Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester ...... nu 77 and the ghost sign Andy found

The ghost sign and Cameron Street, 2016
Now strictly speaking Andy’s ghost sign has been there for anyone to see, but most of us I guess just never will have noticed it.

It is high above and to the left of Cameron Street which runs from Whitworth Street West down to Hewitt Street.

I have to say I have never wandered down Cameron Street.  It is very narrow and has been closed to traffic and passengers from 2014.

All of which means that I doubt I would ever bother to look at this forgotten street especially given that the stretch from Cameron Street up towards Albion Street was occupied by a building which has now gone.

Cheetham Street, 1849
Andy has been recording that building as it was demolished and with a clear view across that building site there is the ghost sign.

So that led me to go looking for Cameron Street which in 1849 was called Cheetham Street.

It  boasted a pub on the corner with Whitworth Street West known as the Carder’s Arms and its east side was flanked by eight back to back houses, and a passage leading to a closed court.

Even more remarkable on the space revealed by the demolished building were 36 houses, 12 back to backs, another pub and two streets one of which was Smith Street and the other Back Smith Street.

So there you not just a ghost sign but lots more.

Location; Manchester

Picture, looking across from Whitworth Street West 2016 from the collection of Andy Robertson and the map of the area from the OS of Manchester and Salford, 1849, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

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