Manchester's restoration projects.

[jrb]

New lighting scheme for the refurbished John Rylands library.

[BeardedGenius]

Classy. I absolutely detest the lighting scheme on the Palace Hotel - tacky purple and red - really cheapens a great building.

[rolybling]

thanks jrb that looks superb, really pleased they decided to restore this Library, its gonna look class.

[BeardedGenius]

Originally Posted by neil

They should keep the scaffolding - it reminds me of La Sagrada!

[SleepyOne]

Oh well done jrb. Thanks for those images.

The Rylands library really is a world class asset. I dont think enough is made of it. Hopefully this new extension and refurbishment will significantly raise its profile. Im actually thinking of donating smething to their appeal fund. Its such an important asset for the city and as such is something Id be glad to support.

John Ryland Library

A new page in library’s history

Work is well underway on a state of the art new visitor centre at Manchester’s internationally significant John Rylands Library. The iconic building on Deansgate is home to a world-renowned rare academic collection, and has been closed while specialist renovation work and the visitor centre are completed.

The library was commissioned by the widow of a wealthy Manchester cotton manufacturer, John Rylands, who died in 1881 leaving a fortune of some £2.5 million. Mrs Enriqueta Rylands employed the architect Basil Champneys to design the neo-gothic building, which took ten years to complete, finally opening in 1900. The grade 1 listed building was in urgent need of refurbishment and additional work to make the library more accessible. The modern glass visitor centre is being added to the side of John Rylands, improving disabled access to the reading room.

Unlocking the Rylands

The ambitious £16million refurbishment of one of Manchester's best-known landmarks is well underway thanks to the generosity of local businesses and individuals....


....The mammoth redevelopment will see the library's entrance moved from the front of the stunning Cumbrian sandstone building to the side to become a superb architectural feature within Spinningfields. The new entrance wing will house a number of modern visitor facilities, including a cafe and bookshop, and provide lift access to all public areas. There will also be new exhibition galleries along with improved collections, book conservation and reader facilities. The library's roof will also undergo extensive repair and conservation to bring it back to its best.

Ranked among the world's greatest research libraries by The Times Literary Supplement, the John Rylands Library certainly has few equals. After amalgamating with Manchester University in 1972, the newly created John Rylands University Library of Manchester became Britain's largest academic library, after Oxford and Cambridge, by a long chalk. University Librarian Bill Simpson commented:

"I am tremendously proud of the John Rylands. It's built by Manchester people and contains a rich heritage which very few cities could match. It's a fantastic example of a neo-Gothic building and we have some of the greatest collections of books and manuscripts in the world."

Those precious books and manuscripts include the oldest surviving piece of the New Testament. The St John Fragment dates from 125AD, is less than nine centimetres high and was discovered in Egypt. The tiny fragment of St John's Gospel may be diminutive but its size belies its massive historical importance thanks to experts dating it back to the first half of the second century AD. This also makes it the earliest known fragment of the New Testament in any language.

John Rylands is also home to a collection of books printed by William Caxton, Britain's first printer, and original papers by novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. The list of exceptional collections goes on and on.

The John Rylands Library came to life thanks to a 19th-century widow of a cotton baron pledging to keep the memory of her husband alive. During the 1800's, St Helens born John Rylands created one of the largest and most profitable cotton manufacturing operations in Britain - Rylands & Sons. When he died in 1889 leaving £2.5million - a mind-boggling fortune at the time - his wife Enriqueta Augustin decided to put some of it to good use to create the magnificent library. She commissioned architect Basil Champney to design a neo-Gothic building and construction began in 1890. Ten years later the striking building marked the turn of the century, opening to the public on New Year's Day 1900.

During the construction phase, Mrs Rylands purchased what was acclaimed to be the finest library in private ownership at the time from the 5th Earl Spencer, John Poyntz Spencer. The Spencer Collection included an outstanding number of bibles, and to this day John Rylands is home to a staggering 10,000 bibles. The addition of the Crawford Collection of Western, Near Eastern and Far Eastern manuscripts in 1901 catapulted the library onto the international stage positioning it as a widely-acclaimed scholarly institution.

And even while the library is shrouded in scaffolding, it features in the newly-published 'Most Beautiful Libraries in the World' alongside those in Vienna, Paris, Moscow, The Vatican and New York Public Library.

When the John Rylands reopens on Deansgate, the magnificent collection, which features more than one million volumes and documents, will once again be accessible to whoever wants to become a member of the library. In the meantime much of the collection has been relocated to the main University of Manchester Library where a temporary reading room has been created.

[Longsight M13]

Originally Posted by neil

John Rylands Library

Scaffolding coming down

What's gone on with the roof there - looks like they've encased the gothic windows inside the new roof... Didn't know that was part of the plan...

[rolybling]

its gonna look really nice

[Northbeach]

Why isn't the Deansgate facing entrance lit up though? Looks a little forboding come the witching hour.
Lovely, very Zelda.

[jrb]

John Rylands today.

[jrb]

Mystery man saves Madonna statue



SAFE: The statue of the Madonna and Child.


A MYSTERY man has helped save a treasure that was missing for 10 years from Gorton monastery.

The beautiful hand-painted statue of the Madonna and Child almost went to another church after it had been found but the hero - a carpet cleaner - spoke up and identified the figure, one of many treasures that went from the monastery during its years of neglect.

College lecturer Paul Rhodes, who died suddenly last year from a heart attack at the age of 49, innocently bought the Madonna for less than £200 from an antique shop in Levenshulme about 10 years ago.

He had displayed it on the landing of his Mossley home. And when friends Christopher and Steph Beaumont arrived to clear the house they didn't know what to do with it.

Only when Paul's parents, Gladys and Frank, from Dukinfield, mentioned the statue to their carpet cleaner did they become aware of a possible link with the monastery.

Internet

He told the couple that it sounded like the figure that had gone from there. And after looking up the monastery on the internet, Steph invited enterprise director Tony Hurley to examine the statue.

Tony confirmed the statue was one of the missing treasures. Paul's parents then gave permission for the 4ft 5in plaster-of-paris figure - which once stood in the monastery's private chapel - to be returned.

Tony said: "They had been thinking of giving it to another church, but then their carpet cleaner spoke up. He's quite a hero - but unfortunately, we don't have his name."

Steph said: "Everybody is delighted it is going back to the monastery. Paul's mum used to sing opera and once sang there."

Elaine Griffiths, of the Monastery of St Francis and Gorton Trust, said: "Once building work is complete we'll put the Madonna back in the private chapel."

The return has prompted the launch of an amnesty to get other treasures that vanished. Items can be returned anonymously if preferred to the monastery trust offices on Endcott Close off Gorton Lane, Gorton.

* Call 0161 223 3211 or visit www.gortonmonastery.co.uk

[b4mmy]

jerb thanks for posting those Rylands photos... that is easily onme of my most fave buildings in the WORLD! I hope I dont pass away before it sees the light of day again....

[BeardedGenius]

Just in case these images haven't already been posted, or somebody hasn't seen them before...

Victoria Baths


John Rylands Library

[scouserdave]

Originally Posted by BeardedGenius

Just in case these images haven't already been posted, or somebody hasn't seen them before...

Victoria Baths

Good God! Stunning.
Do any of you guys have access to enter these projects? If not, let me know the developer/construction company's name and I'll see what I can do

[The Longford]

Victoria Baths has regular open days so its easy to see them.
I'll probably get into trouble by talking about L******l but youve got a great old baths in West Derby that is now a fish farm! Do you know it Dave?

[scouserdave]

Originally Posted by The Longford

Victoria Baths has regular open days so its easy to see them.
I'll probably get into trouble by talking about L******l but youve got a great old baths in West Derby that is now a fish farm! Do you know it Dave?

Yeah. Lister Drive Baths, Longford. Used to go there as a kid. Got married nearby too. The Baths haven't changed much. It used to be a crab farm when I swam there

[jrb]

Close up of new roof with windows.

[jrb]

[jrb]

[Farsight]

IMHO the John Rylands Library is a nice old building. I like it. But I really don't like this extension.The colour, shape, height, line, everything totally ignores the existing building, and whilst I like the green, the "block" look without clearly defined floors and roof gives the impression of a sixties shopping centre that's way past its sell-by date.

[BeardedGenius]

Originally Posted by Farsight

IMHO the John Rylands Library is a nice old building. I like it. But I really don't like this extension.The colour, shape, height, line, everything totally ignores the existing building, and whilst I like the green, the "block" look without clearly defined floors and roof gives the impression of a sixties shopping centre that's way past its sell-by date.

I understand where you're coming from, but you can understand the concept of having an extention as simple, minimalist and unobtrusive as possible. When you're 'adding' something on to a building as beautiful, grand and historic as this, it seems almost pointless trying to mimic or involve the design concepts of the original - could just end up looking like a pathetic imitation and date very very badly...