Ordsall Regeneration

Here are some pictures of one of the old school St. Clement's, being demolished. It has now been replaced by a new school Primrose Hill Opened in September this year.










This is a personal account of the thoughts of one resident of Ordsall (JT), regarding the Regeneration taking place in Ordsall.
Have your say.... Please send your thoughts, pitures etc to:

ordsall.on-line@hotmail.co.uk

The Regeneration

Salford was new and exciting! There was a time when the docks were it! It made Salford so rich, and the area was buzzing.
Now the docks are dead, and Salford is one of the poorest cities in England. It is time to tear down the old, and make it all new.
But areas have spirit, have soul! Ordsall was the pits! It was a bad area. But now the bad ones have been cleared out, and what is left is the social gold! As ‘Secret millionaire’ found, there are people who will give you a free meal, when they are struggling to eat!
New people are outsiders for many years. The Quays have shown the lack of social cohesion you can get. You bring in temporary workers, and they stay for the job, and probably don’t even know what a library is!
I live at the Quays, and it is pretty! I live in the houses, where I am the new one – I have only been there for 6 years! They know each other, and are a community – of workers. And then there is me, who is part of the retired population, I am strange in that I am quite young, and socially active.
Now I have seen St Clement’s school torn down: MY Church’s school consigned to the pages of old building plans in the planning offices history files of Salford.
I know people who say ‘That is where I broke my leg’, ‘That is where I got involved with the Red Cross’, ‘That is where I first kissed a boy!’
People’s memories are being torn down with the building. The new school will be good, when I was thinking of adopting a daughter, it was a very big plus point! Salford was to have it own school academy: Like Eccles already does.
But the new school will only work if there are good people involved with it! If it serves a vibrant new community.
Will Salford get it? I hope so. It will have a new tram system, into the heart of the most exciting cities in England.
Manchester is where the industrial revolution kicked off. No doubt there was as much building work then, though not a lot of demolition.
Will Salford and Manchester be the cities of the 21st century? In the new Internet age. I hope so, as I am involved in digital video on my computer. It has the infrastructure to make a difference.
But rather than being flattened in the Second World War, it is being levelled by the demolition ball.
Will a new, fantastic society take root? That is where you come in!

The Duke comes to Ordsall

- and plays table football!

Anybody who turned on Granada News on Thursday, 17th May will have seen the pictures of the Duke of Gloucester coming to visit Salford Lads and Girls Club on Coronation Street in Ordsall.
However, that's all you will have seen.
The camera showed you the Duke entering the building. What happened next?

First, the Duke was introduced to the Officers of the Club - the Chair, the Secretary and the Treasurer. The he met Leslie Holmes, the Club's Development Officer, who took the honoured guest on a tour of the Club. They looked at the Memorial Brass Plaque first, which lists the members of the Club who fell in the First and Second World Wars. Then, moving upstairs, the Duke was fascinated to see the wooden shields which record the winners of the Club's annual gynastic competitions going back to the 1920s.

Moving on, the Duke saw the Snooker Room, the Secretary's office, and was then ushered into the old Concert Room, and was shown the holes in the plaster and the crumbling roof which needs repairing. The guest sympathised with all the work that needs doing, and expressed support for the Club's current 'Million Pound Appeal', which hopes to raise enough funds to fix up the building for the 'next hundred years', as Leslie told him.

Also, on the first floor is the boxing gym. The Duke was keen to talk to all the young people training there and hear about their recent successes. Ushered down the back stairs, the Duke was then led into the Junior Games Room. He was offered a game of pool but seemed more keen to try the Air Hockey. He wasn't put off when the puck flew off the table, and insisted in pursuing the game until he scored enough points to win!

Next stop was the Senior Games Room which is where all the other guests were gathered, for a cup of tea and international buffet, prepared by Ray and Marie. The Duke was thanked by the President of the Greater Manchester Federation of Youth Clubs and made a short speech, before being led back out the front door and onto the coach for a short trip to the airport.


The visit had been organised by 'The Fed' to celebrate a hundred years of their existence. As most people know, our Club in Ordsall has been going even longer. Still, it was a great honour to see the Duke and a great pleasure to have him view the Club and see all the improvements that have been made in the last few years. Also, it was welcome to know he's supporting the Club in its improvement plans.

Watch this space.