Demolition work has started on Church Street, Eccles to make way for a brand new 22-storey tower. The new apartment block will provide 272 studio, one-, two- and three-bed apartments.
The Tap House pub, Booths Store and Scope Charity Shop are some of the buildings that have made way for the new apartments.
However, many in Eccles are disappointed at losing such an historical part of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Morris, 72, spoke of their disgust: “Councils don’t give a hoot about the people who have grown up and lived here, this is just a corridor into Manchester.
“There’s been a decline in the properties that are run by the council. The sheltered accommodation and things like that have gone down the pan,” they continued. “Everything’s aimed at Manchester now, they don’t care about Salford or Eccles.”
Booths Store, a family ran furniture shop, had been open for over 50 years and was a key part of the Eccles shopping scene, while The Tap House pub, first licensed in the 1860s, was a favourite of many in the area. Paul Fisher of Eccles was one of those who would visit.
He said: “That’s one of my favourite pubs, and losing it, it’s quite sad really,” he continued. “Eccles used to be a vibrant town, when I was a kid, on weekends you couldn’t cycle through there. It was just a buzzing town, but now it just looks really run down.”
Mr. Fisher did, however, acknowledge the change that the town is going through: “It is going to look a bit strange, but the way it’s going that’s probably prime real estate and that’s just the way it is.”
Work to demolish the buildings is expected to take just 14 days, before construction begins on the tower block.
The development, fronted by Silverlane and Arelsco, will be named Church St Place – work begun on the project on 17 October.
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