Abandoned for years Mayfield depot is now poised for redevelopment as U+I and the Mayfield Partnership transform 24 acres of central Manchester into one of the most exciting urban areas in the kingdom.

I’ve teamed up with The Mayfield Partnership and The Warehouse Project to give Mancunians and visitors a rare opportunity to view this extraordinary location.

The tours include a visit into one of the great jaw-dropping interiors in the north of England, Mayfield Station Depot. This is epic civil engineering from 1910 where mighty iron columns stretch into the distance. It’s almost as though a scene from a fantasy or sci-fi movie has come to rest in the city. It never fails to astonish those who enter. Each tour will also take a trip up the original stairs to the lofty platforms of the former station with their equally impressive engineering.

The tour covers the rich history and background of Mayfield and describes the early Zombie movie from 1970s, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue, featuring one of the former buildings on the Mayfield site. Daft zombies aside, there are love stories, drama and tales of raw industrial power, plus lots of humour. BEWARE of ghosts, as described here. This is a very complete tour which also looks at the future of the site as U+I and the Mayfield Partnership develop their ideas.

We will also visit the splendid new Mayfield Park. Read about it here.

We’d like to put a call out to former rail or Royal Mail workers who may have been employed on the site. We’d love to hear their memories of what life was like in this mighty building.

​Meet: Granby Row side of The Bull’s Head Pub, M1 2PN, close to Piccadilly Station.