Greengate...

Greengate is the name for the medieval part of Salford, just across the swollen River Irwell from Manchester Cathedral. Old pictures, well drawings, of the area show an area of little cottages and inns lining the street (Greengate) that led to the bridge that crossed the river into the market town of Manchester. In the Industrial Revolution it became an area of engineering works. Then the railways pushed through the area with viaducts leading into Victoria and Exchange Stations.

Exchange Station was demolished decades ago leaving the area as surface car parks and the like. But in the last couple of years all that has changed and the area has become a massive building site with six buildings going up and more planned as Manchester city centre expands across the river.

This is the Greengate Tower, actually three or four buildings, that make up a huge apartment development on the banks of the River Irwell. Given the weather we've had on Boxing Day, I'd want an apartment up at the top. I'm not sure if I like this development. They are packing a lot into a comparatively small space. It kind of has the density and height you see in New York. But we do need these apartments, the population of the city is expanding at such a rate that we are running out of places to put them.