Victoria Street

Summary

A view down Victoria Street, Manchester. The Victoria Hotel is on the right: it is a large Victorian commercial-gothic building, surmounted by a round tower. Before it stands a statue of Oliver Cromwell, facing away from us. The view along Victoria Street terminates with the buildings of the Royal Exchange in hazy sunshine. Shops along the street shade their premises with awnings. There are blurred figures of pedestrians in the foreground, and crowding the pavements. The most legible sign reads, ‘HEAD EXAMINER / PHRENOLOGIST’, and nearby are also painted notices advertising ‘STORRIE / DENTIST’ and ‘JAMES LOGAN / PHOTOGRAPHER’. To the right of the large hotel building is Deansgate, which is crowded with horse-drawn trams. The Victoria Hotel, later called Victoria Buildings, was bombed by the Luftwaffe in 1940 and subsequently demolished.