Our Town Hall Project on Display
Leah Finch, a Construction Manager for Lendlease, in one of the Town Hall basement corridors.
We’re keen to share as much of the ongoing project work as we can, creating public displays and exhibitions in addition to the brilliantly informative hoarding panels around the whole site (with the most detailed elements around Albert Square).
We're arranging a series of Heritage lectures at Central Library, at which you can find out more about some of the skilled and artisan trades involved in the project.
Exhibition: Our Town Hall – Portraits of a Workforce
Although the physical exhibition at Manchester Central Library has now finished, you can view the photographs - with their captions - online.
The exhibition focuses on some of the skilled craftspeople behind the transformation of the Grade I-listed Manchester Town Hall and Albert Square.
Extraordinarily little is known about the artisans who built the Town Hall between 1868 and 1877, and certainly no photographs exist. But fast-forward 150 years and today’s skilled workers are no strangers to the lens of Manchester City Council photographer Barrie Leach. As well as physical progress, Barrie’s been capturing portraits of those working on the Town Hall since the beginning of the project to repair, restore and refurbish this much-loved building.
As well as modern construction workers and behind-the-scenes staff, there are some incredible heritage trades involved. Stonemasonry, mosaic making, stained glass repair and manufacture, horology: these are all crafts that would have been widespread in the 1870s but are now very much specialist – and rare – trades. They are, however, critical to our restoration project.
Thirty portraits show the pride that the modern team have discovered in being able to lovingly restore, and give new life to, the work of the forgotten workforce who went before them.
As work on the Our Town Hall project continues to bring it up to modern safety standards, improving access to the building and its artefacts, and creating a new visitor attraction, the photographic record is also ongoing. The full collection will form part of the historical archive, telling the stories of the people who lovingly restored the Town Hall for all to see.
Have you seen Portraits of a Workforce? We'd love to know what you think of it - please leave us any comments on this simple feedback form.