The train standing on platform 2 is from Buxton via Davenport (see the train arriving there on Stockport Daily Photo) and Piccadilly to Preston via Bolton and Chorley.
The station was opened as Knott Mill and Deansgate on 20 July 1849 by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway. It used wooden buildings near the site of the annual Knott Mill Fair, a decades old event, which hosted acts such as Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal and George Wombwell's Menagerie.
In 1884 Manchester Corporation approached the MSJAR about the station as it was an "eyesore and nuisance." Improvement plans were drawn up but it was not until 1891 that an Act was obtained to reconstruct the station and acquire the necessary land. The rebuilding was completed in 1896. The station became Knott Mill and Deansgate around 1900 and Deansgate on 3 May 1971.
Free Metro-shuttle buses can be caught outside on Whitworth Street West - see yesterday's post.
A contribution to ABC Wednesday.
I just loved taking the trains when in England! Every station seems to be a bit different but with a familiarity to them once you get used to them.
ReplyDeleteLeslie
abcw team
Your public transportation in England really is great.
ReplyDeletePablo Fanque's Circus Royal is. of couse, immortalised in The Beatles' song 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!' on the 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band' album:
ReplyDelete'For the benefit of Mr. Kite
There will be a show tonight on trampoline.
The Hendersons will all be there
Late of Pablo Fanque's Fair, what a scene!'
Here's an interesting Wikipedia article about the origins of the song and the reference to Pablo Fanques.
oh, how I wish we still had passenger trains running through our city!
ReplyDeleteI adore trains. Wish I could travel more in them, like across states.
ReplyDeleteThey have this romantic approach that maybe came to me when I first read Orient Express when I was a kid. :)
I know that station quite well!
ReplyDelete