Alumni
Buildings, George Leigh Street, Ancoats The Alumni Buildings is a residential
development on George Leigh Street beside the Former St
Michael's Church. It incorporates the former St
Michael's Church Clergy House, a former school building,
and a new addition that wraps around the corner on to
Cotton Street.
The Alumni Buildings website explains that the converted Victorian buildings are known as Alumni A. It is the larger of the two blocks and, "... offers a carefully considered approach to the re-use of the buildings, the scale of the original generously proportioned floor-to-ceiling heights is improved through provision of mezzanine decks providing flexible space over living areas and key architectural features are retained. Large windows provide plenty of natural light to the generous living spaces, many with views over the City skyline. Ground floor homes have their own front door, either directly off George Leigh St or from the Courtyard."  The new extension is Alumni B and it, "... provides the best of contemporary apartment living in a purpose-built, modern structure. Spacious and well-appointed with generous floor to ceiling windows in most apartments, the building is a direct contrast to the Victorian conversion but suitably compliments its older neighbour."   *********************** St Michael's Church was closed,
despite a significant number of local objections, in
2004. Recently that building has taken on a
new role as Hallé at St Michael's, one of
two former churches in Ancoats that now home to
Manchester's Hallé Orchestra. St Michael's
traces its history back to 1858 but the 1849 map of
the area shows a rather puzzling piece of
information. This corner of George Leigh
Street and Cotton Street was occupied by a Public
House called "The Two Terriers" and St Chad's
Roman Catholic Church Day and Sunday School.
So far I have been unable to find any reference to
St Chad's Church in Ancoats.
 The Two Terriers apparently
started life in 1829 as the Union Public House and
changed to the Two Terriers in the 1840s. The
pub closed in 1912 but the building remained until
the 1980s. The aerial photograph below shows
the scene in the 1920s. Number 1 on the image
is St Michael's Church and Number 2 is The Two
Terriers.
 If you click on the link below
you can see the pub building in 1962.
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