For this next edition of “Manchester Metrolink Then & Now” we head to a very familiar location which has had countless photos taken of over the years at the hub of the network.
St Peter’s Square is now well known as the junction four platform stop where trams can either take the original city crossing along Mosley Street or go via the Second City Crossing along Princess Street. But of course it wasn’t always like that as to start with there was just the one crossing with the Metrolink system being much less than what we see today.
Its unmistakably St Peter’s Square as we look across to the Central Library before trams were running. The Central Library was designed by E Vincent Harris and constructed between 1930 and 1934 in the Corinthian order and Tuscan order style. It is now headquarters to the city’s library and information service.
Trams are now running and the foreground of this photo does look different with the area having seen significant investment. The tramstop has been rebuilt and it is now a four track layout. But despite all that the Central Library helps us identify that we are definitely in the same place. (Both Photographs by Keith Chadbourne)