Manchester: science and industry

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Manchester Municipal Technical School
Remnants of UMIST

In the 1970s John spent a few months at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) where he did a Masters degree jointly with the University of Liverpool. UMIST grew out of the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute, later becoming Manchester Municipal Technical School, before gaining university status in the 1950s. On 1 October 2004, it amalgamated with the Victoria University of Manchester to produce a new entity simply called the University of Manchester. John was very keen to see what remained of it so during our visit last November we sought out the campus. Apart from the two plaques above there is little to say that UMIST existed, though the main building is still there with nearby statues of Archimedes and Technology Arch so it still has a science theme.

Former UMIST Main Building
Archimedes at UMIST
Technology Arch by Axel Wolkenhauer

Close by we found another intriguing monument – on the site of the first factory making Vimto, a soft drink combining fruit, herbs, and spices which was invented in Manchester in 1908. I have never tried it and have no plans to do so!

A monument to Vimto by Kerry Morrison (1992)

In nearby Sackville Gardens is the memorial to Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, whose codebreaking work at Bletchley Park was credited with helping the Allied Forces win the Second World War. In 1952 Turing was prosecuted for homosexual acts, which were illegal at the time, and as a result he lost his security clearance. He died in June 1954 from cyanide poisoning which an inquest determined as suicide, but the evidence is also consistent with accidental poisoning. Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered an unequivocal apology for his treatment in 2009.

Alan Turing
Memorial plaque

In the foyer of the Midland’s Hotel we found an old Rolls-Royce (1934) and a plaque commemorating the meeting of Charles Stewart Rolls (motoring pioneer and businessman) and Frederick Henry Royce (engineer) which took place in the hotel in May 1904. When Rolls saw Royce’s experimental motor car Rolls-Royce Limited was the result.

1934 Rolls-Royce
Meeting of Rolls and Royce 1904

A few days later we saw another Rolls Royce when we visited the Science and Industry Museum, this one a very early model – 1905. We spent a half day in the museum which is located on the site of an old railway station: the station and some of the other buildings were closed for refurbishment otherwise it would have been longer. The Air and Space Hall is permanently closed, but its unusual blue post box (for air mail) remains outside.

Rolls-Royce 1905
Airmail box

I liked some of the didactic signs – limited health and safety then – and a reminder of where all the cotton for which Manchester was famous  came from, and how much suffering it caused.

Old sign
Old sign
Old sign
Sarah Parker Redmond on cotton plantations

Just wandering round the city we saw so much evidence of past industries, sometimes refurbished and often with new-build going on alongside. Chimneys old and new: the white one is part of the Civic Quarter Heat Network helping Manchester to be carbon neutral by 2038.

Old chimney, Hulme Street
Old chimney, Cambridge Street
Civic Quarter Heat Network

Rivers, canals, and bridges – so many!

Canal boat passing through Gay Village
Bridge over R Irwell linking Manchester and Salford
Prince’s Bridge sign
River Irwell Railway Bridge
River Irwell reflections
Canal boats, River Medlock
Rochdale Canal
River Medlock
River Medlock
River Medlock
River Medlock
River Medlock

Finally a few scientific plaques, firstly from the University of Manchester.

“Baby” Computer 1948-1951
Creators of the first stored-program computer
Lord Rutherford

And Joule House at the University of Salford.

Joule House
Joule House
Joule House
Joule House

In my next Manchester post I’ll look at street art.

England, UK ,

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  1. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures #429 – Thistles and Kiwis

  2. Vimto – you don’t know what you’re missing Anabel! (Knocks the spots off that fizzy orange stuff from Scotland😂)
    More seriously it’s interesting to read your take on one of my two cities, especially given my own scientific associations with Manchester and its University.

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  3. I do like the use of the word ‘intermeddling’ on one of the signs. An under rated word if ever there was one, I’m waiting for a chance to trot it out. Do try a Vimto, in a completely unscientific study conducted by me across the years, I’ve found it a tonic of a drink. A hot Vimto cures many things! A bit like Irn Bru, maybe?

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  5. Hi Anabel – what an interesting post … yet another reason for me thinking I should make a visit … but I love seeing it through your eyes. Everything was informative … but I was particularly interested in the heating system – Civic Quarter Heat Network – I couldn’t quite get my head around it … but I’ll a chap here if he knows anything about it … cheers and thanks for all the detail – including the blue post box (I wonder what the ratio of airmail letters v normal post would have been like to have needed ‘said box’) … thanks! Hilary

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  9. Vimto doesn’t sound very appealing. I think I’ll give it a miss. We watched the movie about Alan Turing a couple of years ago. What a sad ending for such an amazing man. I’m glad his reputation has been restored and he now receives the respect he deserves.

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  16. Fascinating looking at the innovators and brains who move us forward in industry. When the computer age came in I started to lose the plot, but seeing those signs reminds me that people were often injured by machinery with scant hope of compensation. I like the bridges, but am not aware if there’s a canalside walk in Manchester?

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  17. Good history and photographs. I have tried Vimto but it joins several other drinks… Dr Pepper, Ribena, Cherry Cola, I’ll not be trying again in a hurry unless it’s during a global occurrence and emergency shortage of essentials. Which, admittedly, is looking more likely by the minute. Bob. BSS.

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  20. I only twigged recently that UMIST is no more. Amalgamating made sense as we mixed freely in halls of residence, clubs and so on. Apart from the Science and Industry Museum which we’ve visited in recent years with our grandchildren, all these sights are new to me. Shocking really.

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  21. Much as I have enjoyed reading this post, I was more excited by seeing the blue post box!

    Manchester has more to offer than I thought. I do recall taking my younger boys to the Science Museum , they were quite impressed and we loved taking a tram there. As I have previously said most of my visits were for exam meetings, often in university buildings, but I am not sure whether UMIST. The building does look familiar though.

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  24. A great post Anabel, it’s nice to see my ‘home’ city through the eyes of someone else. The Science & Industry Museum isn’t somewhere I’ve ever wanted to go to but maybe I should. I like the old Platt Brothers sign; they manufactured cotton textile machinery and in 1970 the company became Platt International – my dad, an accountant/book-keeper, worked there for a while – then later in the 70s it took over part of an American company and became Platt Saco Lowell. You always wanted to know that didn’t you? 😉😀 I see you found the blue post box too.

    I really like the photo of the main Umist building, it looks lovely. You really should try some Vimto sometime, it’s nothing like herbal tonic it originally started out as, it’s just a fruit cordial now and a cold glass of it is very refreshing on a warm day. I’m now awaiting your next post with much anticipation 😀

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    • It is quite interesting to know about the way companies morph and change over the years! The biggest exhibit in the museum is a huge loom which is demonstrated from time to time – quite interesting, but we’ve seen all that at New Lanark several times. There is also en exhibition about scientific developments that have been made in Manchester which you might quite like, but on the whole I would wait till they get the old station buildings refurbished.

      I looked out my street art photos – there are so many and I have no idea what most of them are now! So it will be a bit of a photo dump with not much commentary. Please don’t judge me 🙏 😉.

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