SJ8497 : London Road during the coronavirus pandemic
taken 5 years ago, near to Manchester, England
When I first saw this arrangement a few days earlier from a distance I thought the barriers were due to roadworks and assumed the bus stops were closed. In fact it seems the main road (London Road, A6) has been narrowed to allow the pavement to be widened. This allows more room for pedestrians to maintain social distancing. The bus stop is still in operation. The gentleman in the wheelchair is waiting to catch the oncoming #205 bus.
Across the road, the Old Fire Station is continuing to undergo restoration.
The A6 is Britain's fourth longest road and one of the main historic north-south roads in England. It currently runs for 299 miles from Luton in Bedfordshire to Carlisle in Cumbria, although it formerly started at a junction with the A1 at Barnet.
Running north west from Luton, the road travels through Bedford, bypasses Rushden, Kettering and Market Harborough, continues through Leicester, Loughborough, Derby and Matlock before going through the Peak District to Bakewell, Buxton, Stockport, Manchester, Salford, Pendleton, Irlams o' th' Height, Pendlebury, Swinton, Walkden, Little Hulton, Bolton, Chorley, Preston, Lancaster, Kendal and Penrith before reaching Carlisle.
See Link(Wikipedia) and Link
The fire station on London Road opened in 1906. It had a complement of 30 men, 10 horses and 6 fire engines. The first motorised fire appliance did not appear until 1911. In addition to a fire station with accompanying workshops, stables and control room, the site also housed a police station, an ambulance station, a bank, a Coroner's Court, and a gas-meter testing station as well as housing for the fire chief and his deputy and apartments for 32 firemen's families who were provided with a gymnasium, laundry, children's play area and a billiard room.
The building was Grade II* listed in 1974 Link
The premises began a gradual wind-down in 1974 and closed as a fire station in 1986 when it was sold to Britannia Hotels who proposed turning it into a luxury hotel but no plans actually materialised.
In 2013 the group Friends of London Road Fire Station Link
In 2015 the building was purchased by the group Allied London Link
- Grid Square
- SJ8497, 2185 images (more nearby 🔍)
- Photographer
- Gerald England (more nearby)
- Date Taken
- Friday, 17 July, 2020 (more nearby)
- Submitted
- Tuesday, 21 July, 2020
- Subject Location
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OSGB36:
SJ 8473 9780 [10m precision]
WGS84: 53:28.6021N 2:13.8923W - Camera Location
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OSGB36:
- View Direction
- North-northwest (about 337 degrees)