I'd been meaning to go and check this one out for a while now and @Choo Choo m8ty's recently bumped thread prompted me to go and have a mooch.
Bit of history:
Built in 1871, the Barton Arcade is a Victorian shopping centre, with a prominent entrance on Barton Square, but is officially and most visibly located on Deansgate. It houses around 12 retail units on the ground floor, 25 offices on the first, second and third floors, one flat and a substantial basement - which forms the majority of this report.
Pics:
Old, if not original, scissor-gate lift.
Disintegrated pipework.
One of many nooks and crannies - around the corner, this one has been sealed off with a plywood wall.
What appears to be a rather severe case of mould - apparently a desirable location for spiders to dangle their egg sacs *shudder*
Looking through a hole in the wall into another section of the basement.
The remains of what looks like an old fireplace.
Tunnel to nowhere.
Part of the ceiling. Are these skylights?
Looking towards one of the modern plywood partitions.
Noise from the slightly above Be At One cocktail bar can be heard - to the point where conversations can almost be made out. Feeling a little uncomfortable with my inadvertent eavesdropping, I decide to head back to the surface - but not leaving without taking a few snaps of the beautifully constructed arcade:
Thanks for reading
Bit of history:
Built in 1871, the Barton Arcade is a Victorian shopping centre, with a prominent entrance on Barton Square, but is officially and most visibly located on Deansgate. It houses around 12 retail units on the ground floor, 25 offices on the first, second and third floors, one flat and a substantial basement - which forms the majority of this report.
Pics:
Old, if not original, scissor-gate lift.
Disintegrated pipework.
One of many nooks and crannies - around the corner, this one has been sealed off with a plywood wall.
What appears to be a rather severe case of mould - apparently a desirable location for spiders to dangle their egg sacs *shudder*
Looking through a hole in the wall into another section of the basement.
The remains of what looks like an old fireplace.
Tunnel to nowhere.
Part of the ceiling. Are these skylights?
Looking towards one of the modern plywood partitions.
Noise from the slightly above Be At One cocktail bar can be heard - to the point where conversations can almost be made out. Feeling a little uncomfortable with my inadvertent eavesdropping, I decide to head back to the surface - but not leaving without taking a few snaps of the beautifully constructed arcade:
Thanks for reading
