19 to 35 Piccadilly

The second block along Piccadilly, between Oldham Street and Lever Street, contains just three buildings.  On the corner with Oldham Street is a large Portland Stone building built in 1928.  At the time it was the largest Woolworth's store in Europe.  When I took the image below, in March of 2014, it had recently been converted into a Morrison's local store, a Nando's and a Zizzi's at street level.  Above is a new Travelodge hotel.






Prior to this, the upper floors were deserted and a Noble's Amusements occupied the street level.




Below is a photograph of a Johnny Walker "Whisky Tot" display in Woolworth's window created by Marie Cotton in 1929.  It is shown here with the permission of Les Cotton.






The image above, shown here with the permission of David Dixon, shows Woolworth's following a deadly fire, that started around 1 p.m. on May 8th, 1979.  A damaged electrical wire in the vicinity of piled furniture started a blaze that resulted in 9 shoppers and one staff member being killed.  So significant was the fire that it resulted in the routine installation of sprinkler systems, which Woolworth's didn't have, in large retail stores.  It also led to changes in the material used in soft furnishings to reduce the hazards created when the stuffing was exposed to fire.

Next door is a building by Murgatroyd for the Manchester & Salford Bank.  It is also built of Portland Stone but with a lot more decoration including a row of lions.  At one point it was the Imperial Hotel and in my teenage years it was owned by the BBC.  You can see the BBC sign at the top of the building, in the image above.  Today it is a branch of NatWest.





During its history it has changed hands and roles on a number of occasions.  The Manchester and Country Bank gave way to the Imperial Hotel.  Then it became the Manchester headquarters for the BBC.  Today it is once again a bank, this time a branch of NatWest.








The block is concluded with a modern building on the Lever Street corner which houses a branch of the Nationwide Building Society.



The building is called Wellington House, presumably because it stands across the street from the statue of the Duke of Wellington.




Below is an image from an earlier time.




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In 1888 the Albion Hotel stood where Woolworth's was to be built and beside it at street level was a series of shops.  The upper floors of the buildings were used as offices and warehouses.




Here is a view of this block of buildings in the 1800s.  You can see the Albion Hotel on the left and the awnings of the street level shops further along.  All of those buildings are gone.