Site of the Etihad

[dawlish dave]

Back in the 1960s I was a fireman at Gorton loco shed and we had a two shift job in Beswick yard it was connected to Bradford pit and Johnsons wireworks,the walk from Gorton was via Grey Mare Lane past Bradford Labour club now Mary Ds then across Ashton New Rd and down Forge Lane to the yard.
Ive looked high and low for a 1960 A to Z map to comrare the area so I could pinpoint Beswick yard, rail access was from the line that runs behind the ground and had its own signal box it was a steep climb up to the yard round a sharp bend nicknamed "the wall of death" as you were propelling 5 wagons of steel rods blind round the bend up to the yard the steel came from Middlesboro and Johnsons made it into wire coils.If anyone has a old 1960 A to Z or photos of trains in the yard I would love to have copies.

 

[pominoz]

Try this site, just type in the street name and there should be old photos of it.

<a class="postlink" href="http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass</a>

 

[Falastur]

Dunno if this is of any help - at best zoom you can see the individual roads, but they're not very distinct and have no road names. Still, it's all there. This is like a 1945 version of googlemaps - a load of old OS maps scanned in and set up so they can be viewed in one continuous map of the UK. When you've found the area you're looking for, just use the "transparency" bar along the bottom and set to 100 so the little square which overlays the current map (to help you locate current places, I guess) disappears entirely.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.ponies.me.uk/maps/osmap.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ponies.me.uk/maps/osmap.html</a>

 

[Oystercatcher28]

http://images.manchester.gov.uk/web...hp?irn=23813&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=47676

some glorious views of Maine Rd on the council site

A little newer, I rememeber a programme (possibly City v Barca) showing a picture of two lads playing footy on wasteland where our ground would be built.
One of them had a City away shirt, mid-90s away red/black/grey shoulders on.

http://i30.tinypic.com/ajqk5f.jpg
Amazing how the stadium expansion and new Etihad campus make City as green as the Olympic park plan?

 

[dawlish dave]

Dunno if this is of any help - at best zoom you can see the individual roads, but they're not very distinct and have no road names. Still, it's all there. This is like a 1945 version of googlemaps - a load of old OS maps scanned in and set up so they can be viewed in one continuous map of the UK. When you've found the area you're looking for, just use the "transparency" bar along the bottom and set to 100 so the little square which overlays the current map (to help you locate current places, I guess) disappears entirely.
Thanks a million Falastur,followed your instructions the Etihad is part built on the site of Beswick railway yard gives me a warm feeling of one upmanship to know I was on the site before the 30000 who went to York!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.ponies.me.uk/maps/osmap.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.ponies.me.uk/maps/osmap.html</a>

 

[barney*]

You should be able to find what you need in the John Rylands Image collections,


<a class="postlink" href="http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/maps2~1~1~342609~123257:Manchester-bomb-damage?sort=Reference_Number%2CPage%2CCurrent_Repository&qvq=q:beswick;sort:Reference_Number%2CPage%2CCurrent_Repository;lc:maps2~1~1&mi=14&trs=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet ... =14&trs=15</a>

 

[jonmcity]

You should be able to find what you need in the John Rylands Image collections,


<a class="postlink" href="http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/maps2~1~1~342609~123257:Manchester-bomb-damage?sort=Reference_Number%2CPage%2CCurrent_Repository&qvq=q:beswick;sort:Reference_Number%2CPage%2CCurrent_Repository;lc:maps2~1~1&mi=14&trs=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet ... =14&trs=15</a>

Interesting just looking at where City & the rags old grounds were, Etihad is nearer to the rags but both very close. The rags old ground off bank St over the road from the new training ground. looking at the old Hyde road ground off Bennett St, Gorton brook ran through the ground before it was developed.