HARPURHEY - much maligned in 2004 by a government study undertaken by Oxford University in which it was deemed 'the most deprived neighbourhood in England' (it was actually based on the Ward rather than the specific place and, as the map below shows, this includes parts of Moston, Blackley, Monsall, Lightbowne and Collyhurst)!!
So why then should we be inviting you to live here?
Well, for a start, when anything is at the bottom there is only one way it can go and the investment that has been made in the area since the 2002 Commonwealth Games is testimony to the tremendous improvements we have witnessed since we first moved to the area in 1981 and of course we have played our part in that by investing in our own property.
The old adage that location is everything could perhaps be applied to Harpurhey and in particular our property which is extremely well situated at the very heart of this north eastern Manchester suburb and within walking distance of the city centre (45 minutes to the Printworks) and situated on several major bus routes giving frequent direct access not only to the city centre but also to Middleton, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham town centres. Metrolink stations are not too distant either and of course from Piccadilly and Victoria railway stations much of the country and the countryside (Peak District, Snowdonia and Lake District) is served by direct links. Via the Manchester Airport rail and bus links the world is your oyster!
The ground floor of the property is occupied by a Polish grocery store and our neighbours include a Chinese takeaway, a chemist and a barber shop and ladies hairdressers. Within 50 metres of the property there is the North City Shopping Centre which features an ASDA, a LIDL and a parade of shops including big household names such as Wilkinsons & Specsavers plus a Crown post office, a Subway, McDonalds, 24 hour filling station, public swimming pool and fitness centre, state of the art library and college as well as numerous other shops, chemists, hairdressers and fast food outlets. There are two outdoor markets and a purpose built police station.
There is plenty of green space within 5-10 minutes walk including two fabulous parks and an area of open land, known as Moston Vale, which was landscaped in 2006 as a natural habitat. Europe's largest municipal park, Heaton Park, complete with boating lake, golf course, pitch & putt, bowling greens, zoo and orangery is a mere 10 minute drive away.
A 5 minute drive west or 20-30 minutes walking will bring you to the Manchester Fort retail park with most major retailers present including B&Q, Boots, Comet, Curry's, Woolworths, Argos and Borders. A similar distance to the east is the City of Manchester stadium, the velodrome and Sportcity plus an ASDA/Walmart hypermarket and a Next outlet store.
Almost everything that you could possibly need including doctors, dentists, hospitals and churches are easily reachable from the property meaning that a car is not essential at all.
Admittedly inner city living is not for everyone as it has its challenges produced by poverty, illiteracy and unemployment but overall the benefits of living in the 'real world' more than compensate for not being cocooned in suburbia or the countryside. This area of Manchester is known for the Manchester Dogs Home and Bernard Manning's 'World Famous Embassy Club'. It was the birthplace of the novelist Anthony Burgess and famous past residents include Bernard Manning and Freddie Garrity (The Dreamers). Les Dawson was born down the road but worked here and Little and Large started their career here. Ellis Brigham, the mountain sports specialist, started trading in 1933 from a little shop that was close to our property.
Today the area is far more cosmopolitan than it has ever been with afro-caribbeans and eastern europeans making up a large part of the local community drawn in of course by affordable and plentiful terraced housing.
Manchester city centre of course has a whole host of attractions including the Printworks and Great Northern Warehouse complex with bars, restaurants, fitness club and multi-screen cinema (including IMAX at the former), the Urbis museum, the MSI (Museum of Science & Industry), Manchester Art Gallery, the Palace, Opera House, Library and Royal Exchange theatres, the Bridgewater Hall, G-Mex (Manchester Central Convention Complex), MEN Arena, the Manchester Wheel and the eclectic mix of shopping in the Arndale Centre, The Triangle, St Ann's Square, Deansgate and the Northern Quarter including all the major retailers. Hotels, restaurants and bars abound with continued development in areas such as Spinningfield and Little Italy which adjoins the Ancoats Retail Park.
The beauty of Manchester is that it has a relatively compact city centre with excellent transportation (free shuttle buses and the Metrolink) and a lively Chinatown and gay community (Canal Street) adjoining one of the largest university campuses in Europe. The Metrolink enables visitors to access Old Trafford (for Manchester United & the cricket), Salford Quays (outlet shops, cinema, Lowry theatre, Imperial War Museum and the new home for the BBC) and, via a connecting bus at present, the Trafford Centre and Chill Factor (indoor ski slope).
If this sounds like a sales pitch well then perhaps it is and we make no apologies for the fact that Harpurhey has been a brilliant place to call home and its people, by and large are, to coin a colloquial expression, the salt of the earth.