Manchester Town Hall has remained a constant part of the city's ever-expanding skyline for almost 145 years.
Although new skyscrapers are always being built, the Victorian, Neo-gothic Grade I-listed building is an iconic and historic centrepiece. Back in 2018 it closed to the public as a six-year, £300 million project got under way to restore it and it is not until 2024 that Mancunians and those from further afield will be able to see the finished article.
However, Manchester Evening News was lucky enough to get invited inside and all the up to the spire, where construction company LendLease is currently overseeing specialist renovation and restoration work.
READ MORE : Inside the Great Hall as it is renovated as part of six-year Our Town Hall project
After riding a lift up to the clock tower, there are a series of metal stairs and then 11 sets of ladders, some within incredibly tight gaps, that take you up to the Town Hall’s 280ft (87m) peak. Although the scaffolding is covered with netting for safety reasons, the views across Manchester and further afield are absolutely spectacular.
On a glorious June afternoon, the Winter Hill transmitting station on the outskirts of Bolton can be clearly seen off in the distance, as can Scout Moor Wind Farm to the north east. A little closer to the town hall, it’s fascinating to see Central Library’s dome roof from above and other building's in the city centre that you would not normally get the chance to see from such a vantage point.
It also affords a great view of the scaffolding below and a hive of activity from construction workers on so many parts of the Town Hall building and Albert Square, which is also going through a makeover.
The spire itself has had scaffolding erected around it to allow for detailed close inspection on repair work after previous drone surveys revealed damage to the stonework - caused by corroding iron cracking the stone. A gold spiked ball tops the spire and this has been carefully dismantled to expose the heavily corroded iron rod beneath.
Work will soon take place to replace the rod, repair oak beams and the stonework, before eventually restoring and repointing the finial (the gold spiked ball). Although the finial looks tiny from ground level, it is huge up-close and the effects of the spire not being repointed since 1889 are much easier to see, with the gold losing its sheen through years of weather and age-related wear and tear. Incredibly though, names that were inscribed into the ball can still be seen some 133 years on.
Even when the Town Hall is fully open, the opportunity to visit the spire is extremely special. Manchester Council’s deputy leader and lead for the Our Town Hall project Councillor Luthfur Rahman said: "The extensive works which are taking place to repair and restore Manchester Town Hall require access to parts of the building few people have ever been up close to - like the clock tower spire.
“It is a privilege for everyone involved in the project and we're glad we're able to share some of the unique views which are being opened up and give an insight into the care and attention which are being devoted to protecting this wonderful building for future generations While few will ever get to visit the top of the spire, we look forward to welcoming people back into the building when it reopens in 2024 and improving access to its architecture and historic artefacts.”
On the way back down the spire and the clock tower, there was the chance to spend some time looking at the intricacies of the building such as gargoyles and stone angels that you may just about see from the ground but never with this level of detail.
All of the clock faces are being renovated and a crawl space within the tower leads to Great Abel - the bell named in honour of Victorian Lord Mayor of Manchester Abel Heywood. The bell, which weighs a whopping eight tonnes, is also inscribed with ‘ring out the false, ring in the true’; a line from 1850 Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem ‘Ring Out, Wild Bells’.
There is still two years of once-in-a-lifetime renovation work left before the Town Hall is reopened to the people of Manchester. For those who only ever see the Town Hall from below, the extent of the refurbishment may not initially take their breath away once it is uncovered. But for those lucky enough to peek behind the white scaffolding sheeting, the sheer scale of the work going into the project really is breathtaking.
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