A section of the famous Midland Hotel, which was completed in 1903.
During World War II Adolf Hitler ordered that the Midland Hotel and the Town Hall should not be bombed. Hitler and his fellow megalomaniacs planned to rule the north of England from the Town Hall, and the Nazi cabinet would have lived at the 5 star Midland Hotel.
Another World War II fascist connection is that William Joyce (a.k.a Lord Haw Haw) used to meet at the Midland with his boss Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists (a.k.a Baronet Mosley of Ancoats). Mosley’s ancestors had been the lords of the manor of Manchester for hundreds of years.
A striking shot! Excellent!
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely company Manchester has kept!
There is also the leading middle class men of the Victorian day who came from there.
Looks like a great building.
ReplyDeleteLovely facade - they don't make them like that any more! And a nice little tid-bit of history.
ReplyDeleteInteresting factoids. Luckily the Midland and Town Hall never had to host the Germans.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting fact, Oswald Mosley finally decided that fascism was the answer on the steps of Ashton town hall in 1931 after he was barracked because his New Party had split the Labour vote and handed the seat to the Conservatives.
ReplyDeleteI believe Blackpool also got ringfenced as Hitler wanted to use that as some kind of entertainment town for fascists. Thankfully, Blackpool was spared such a fate. Erm...
ReplyDeleteWow, that's an amazing history! Love the brick facade...
ReplyDeleteSo interesting post! Thank you for sharing, I like the way you´ve taken this picture.
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