It is no Salfordinary place here. Salford and Manchester are full of historical surprises. And I have gathered a few of my favourite.
MAXWELL ROCK N ROLL HALL
Maxwell Hall is known today as a lecture and graduation hall but did you know it’s heritage sits firmly in the rock and roll hall of fame? In the 70s and 80s, Maxwell Hall was a live music venue renowned for hosting legendary concerts with bands such as The Smiths, Blondie, The Who, Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, Motorhead and The Kinks, plus many more. Debbie Harry from Blondie wore a SUSU Ents poster at Maxwell Hall in 1978. Read more about it here.
THE GHOST OF ORSDALL HALL
Ordsall Hall in Salford has been voted one of the most haunted buildings in the North West. There are many ghostly tales around the hall including ‘The White Lady’ who is said to be the spirit of Lady Margaret Radclyffe who died of a broken heart in 1599 after the death of her beloved brother Alexander. If you are feeling brave and want to look for ‘The White Lady’ then you can book a ‘ghost night’. The most reported place for paranormal activity is from the Star Chamber, where it is said that voices of small children are often heard. Ordsall Hall is also known as the alleged site where Guy Fawkes helped devise The Gunpowder Plot.
THE STARS OF MEDIACITY
MediaCity is of course the heart of media and the home to The University of Salford. When you arrive you are surrounded by the big BBC, ITV, Coronation Street and obviously ‘The University of Salford’ signs. But do you know what is actually filmed and recorded in MediaCity? Keep your celebrity spotting eyes open because BBC 5 Live, Match of the Day, BBC Breakfast, North West Tonight, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Children’s (Cbeebies and CBBC), BBC Sport and Blue Peter are broadcast from the BBC buildings there. You can actually see the campus from the BBC Quay House building. Dock 10 is in the centre of MediaCity and a lot of popular TV shows are filmed there, like…. Naked Attraction, Catch Phrase, Name that Tune, Lingo, The Voice, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Mastermind, Countdown and many more. The Coronation Street set is also just a stones throw away. And did you know that ITV Granada Reports is filmed on the top floor our Media City campus? Here is a view from the BBC Quay House building, can you spot the University of Salford campus?
ROYAL PEEL PARK
Did you know that Peel Park was one of the first public parks in the country? It is located on the door step of the Peel Park Quarter Accommodation. The park opened in 1846 and five years later, Queen Victoria visited it was the first monarch to visit the region for a century. This is why you can see a statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Salford Museum and Art Gallery on the main campus. Peel Park is now popular for University students and the public for morning jogs, summer picnics or a catch up with friends after lectures. I love sitting near the flowers and reading a good book.
The Peel Building on the University of Salford main campus is were famous artist L.S Lowry studied at the Royal Technical College, Salford. The building overlooks Peel Park, the subject of a number of his paintings. His pencil drawing “A View from the window of the Royal Technical College, Salford” (1924) was drawn from the balconied window on the upper floor. This photo is the view facing towards where Lowry painted in the Peel Building.
So, how many of those facts did you already know ? Let me know in the comments how well you scored and if you think I’ve missed any out.
*Debbie Harry image credit: June Buchan, uploaded to Manchester Digital Music Archive by MichaelP. Copyright notice: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-BC-SA 4.0)
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