Victorian Society Manchester Group 60th Anniversary

On 18 January 1966 Nicholas Pevsner lectured to an audience of 500 on the value of Victorian Architecture in the Great Hall of Manchester Town Hall thereby providing the catalyst for the formation of the Manchester Group of the Victorian Society. The Manchester Society of Architects and staff of Manchester University School of Architecture including Frank Jenkins and Donald Buttress did much to ensure its successful foundation

Initially much was done to fight the Manchester Corporation Planning Department, still unduly influence by the Manchester Plan of 1945 in which any building built before 1940 including the Town Hall, was considered fair game for demolition. At the time a large model of the city centre occupied a room in the Town Hall extension. Here existing buildings were painted gunmetal grey while new buildings, evidence of the bright new future, were pristine white.

Determined to save Victorian buildings of merit, the Manchester Group co-operated with English Heritage on the re-listing of Manchester’s listed buildings as well as organising specific campaigns such as that to save Parrs Bank in 1972. From the outset walks and talks were organised and remain a core element of the Group.

To mark the 50th Anniversary of the Manchester Group the website Dictionary of Manchester Architect was launched to record details of architects born, trained, lived or worked in Greater Manchester between 1800 and 1940. This continues to expand with new entries added regularly.

Those involved are too numerous to name individually but perhaps mention should be made of John Archer who for almost fifty years made a major contribution to the Manchester Group.

Main Course (Choose 1)

Chicken breast, fondant potato, seasonal greens & red wine sauce

OR

Cauliflower Israeli couscous, toasted pumpkin seeds, parmesan & truffle oil

Dessert (Choose 1)

Mascarpone cheesecake, poached red fruits & ginger crumb

OR

Chocolate brownies, raspberries & vanilla ice cream

You will be prompted to make your menu choice AFTER you have completed the check-out and payment process. If ordering multiple tickets, you will be prompted to make a menu choice for each ticket requested and also provide details of the ticket holder. This is so we can inform the caterer ahead of the event.

Please ensure you have captured the menu choices for all attendees if requesting multiple tickets as well as their contact details before making the booking.

Please note that your menu choices will not be printed on your ticket so please make a note of choices although this will be logged in Eventbrite with names in case you misplace before the event.

Menu choices will be final at point of booking

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Host or Publisher The Victorian Society- Manchester Regional Group