This web site tells the history of the Longsight district of Manchester, England. Situated a short distance from the centre of the city, Longsight has undergone enormous changes over the last 150 years. The 1844 map of the area shows a small number of buildings in a predominantly rural setting. By the early years of the Twentieth Century, the area was almost completely built up, and in the 1960s much of the area was demolished in a major redevelopment scheme. Longsight Memories attempts to tell the story of Longsight through the words and pictures of those people who lived there and some who still do.

The Belle Vue Zoological Gardens were opened in 1836 by John Jennison. The gardens operated for over 150 years finally closing in early 1982. In its day Belle Vue was one of the premier tourist attractions in the North-West of England. Visit this web site and learn more about Belle Vue the"Showground of the World".

The Birmingham & Manchester Railway Company were the pioneers of railway construction in the Longsight area. They began pushing their track through Longsight in 1836 and completed the line to Birmingham by 1842. This web site traces the changes that have occured over the 164 years since the first rails were laid in Longsight.

In 1907, the grounds of the Royal Botanical Society, in Old Trafford, were transforming into a modern and up-to-date place of popular resort. In the incredibly short space of ten weeks the WHITE CITY was opened to the public as an Amusement Resort of the better class. On opening day 32,972 people passed through the gates and at night 25,000 electric lights lit up the skies of Old Trafford.

Edgar Wood was born on May 17, 1860. He was the sixth of eight children born to Thomas Broadbent Wood and Mary Wood. The family lived in Middleton and Wood's father was a mill owner, a Unitarian, a Liberal and had a reputation as a strict disciplinarian. Edgar was educated at the local Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. It had been assumed by his father that Edgar would enter the family cotton business but he had different ideas. Edgar's ambition was to be an artist. The difference in opinion was finally resolved in a compromise which saw Edgar agreeing to train as an architect. 

History records that there have been schools in the area of the junction of Devonshire Street and Hyde Road, in Ardwick, Manchester, for more than 130 years. None of them remain. This web site is dedicated to telling the history of one of those schools, the Ardwick Technical High School.

Today the town of Rochdale is the centre of one of four townships that make up the Borough of Rochdale. 200,000 people live within the borough, in and around the towns of Rochdale, Middleton, Heywood Littleborough, Milnrow, Newhey and Wardle. The Borough of Rochdale is the largest of the 10 metropolitan boroughs making up Greater Manchester. It has a rich and sometimes turbulent history and was the home to many people who added to the artistic, scientific and political fabric of the country.