The Corn Exchange...

I’ve not posted about the inside of the Corn Exchange since it has reopened. This building (actually several buildings joined together around a space created by the medieval street pattern) has had a long history. The present buildings are Victorian. It used to be the Corn and Produce Exchange where commodities were bought and sold. When that purpose finished it was used as offices and and exhibition space. It then became a centre in the city for alternative shopping with stalls selling incense and wind chimes and the like. It was quite successful at that. That purpose came to an end in 1996 when the IRA bomb ripped through the building. All the little businesses decamped to the nascent Northern Quarter and the Corn Exchange was restored, renamed The Triangle, and turned into an upmarket shopping destination. In spite of its position on Exchange Square, next to Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and the massive Arndale Centre, it never thrived.

They have spent £30,000,000 on another refurbishment, renamed it the Corn Exchange, and it is now a foodie destination filled with restaurants, many new to the city that have moved up from London. There are a lot of them. I’ve only tried Wahaca, a Mexican restaurant that people have raved about. I was prepared to be disappointed but I have to say the meal I had was delicious. The offices are being converted into a boutique hotel. I think that means the rooms are awkward sizes and the plumbing is interesting.

I took this picture just as it opened this morning so it was quiet. It works well on the outside, and will be wonderful in summer when the restaurants can spill out onto Exchange Square, Cathedral Gardens and towards the cathedral itself. But the inside is a little quiet and dull. There were plans to have a market in here. They shelved that idea which they may regret as they are now trying to do something to liven the space up, hence the little garden. I think I could do better honestly. I have a certificate to prove it of course.