 When
I took these images of the former Central Grammar School for Boys, the
school had long since left the building. As the sign indicated, it had become the Belle Vue Athletics and Leisure
Center. However,
if you visit the site today you will discover that
the building no longer exists. In the autumn
of 2013 it was demolished as part of a plan to
create a £10m "Sports Village" on the site. A
Manchester City Council report explained that the
scheme involves the construction of a National
Speedway Stadium, the refurbishment of the Belle Vue
Leisure Centre, construction of a National
Basketball Centre, 3G Playing Fields, a Rugby Pitch,
and associated Infrastructure.
This was the
view on April 16, 2014 from Pink Bank Lane.
  *******************
The Central Grammar School for Boys was created in 1900 in a building on Whitworth Street, in the city center. It moved to this building across the road from Belle Vue on Kirkmanshulme Lane in 1958.    In
1967, during the Comprehensive School
reorganization, it was twinned with Victoria Park
Secondary School and was renamed the Central High
School for Boys. At that time the Victoria Park site
became the Lower School and the Kirkmanshulme Lane
site the Upper School.
In 1982 this school joined with Ducie Tech, which was located more than a mile away and became known as the Ducie Central High School for Boys. In 1993 Manchester City Council put forward a plan to make the school a mixed boys and girls school and bring both sites together in a new building. In September of 1995 the new, £5 million Ducie High School opened and this building closed as a school. |