# Mayfield the ghost station of Manchester



## phill.d (Jun 16, 2009)

THE TRAINS NOT CALLING AT MAYFIELD!





Mayfield station in Manchester had become my Holy grail since i first visited here several weeks ago.
The bricked up exterior had stopped us from having a good look inside this long forgotten place.

Defeated once, trip number two was arranged, new plans were put in place.
Alarm clocks were set for an ungodly hour, an early start across the Pennines and we arrived in Manchester before dawn.

We were on the platforms so early the Blackbirds hadn't woken yet.
The morning sun started to rise above the sleepy city of Manchester.
The old station started to fill with light and shadows, the sun filtered through holes in the dilapidated canopy roof.
Particles of dust glimmerd in the rays of light, it was going to be a great day for atmospheric photography!

Lady Luck was with us today! 




This is the derelict facade of Mayfield station in the heart of Manchester. Today there aren't any visible clues to the buildings past history.
Many Mancunians don't know it was a railway station, never mind a surviving relic from the steam age era.
The station was closed to passengers in the 1960's, despite this an overgrown railway station that time forgot awaits the explorer.

Mayfield station was built alongside Piccadilly in 1910 to handle the ever increasing number of trains using the station.
A short viaduct diverts away from the Piccadilly line into the terminus at Mayfield.

The station had a new lease of life in the late 1950's. It was used as an overspill during electrification and modernisation work at Piccadilly Station.
When work was complete all trains used Piccadilly, Mayfield closed for good.




The station stood empty for 10 years. It then had a second reprieve when it was converted into a parcels depot in 1970.
Royal mail constructed a sorting office on the Piccadilly side of the main line. An overhead conveyor bridge connected the two stations.
This is the loading ramp constructed for the parcel distribution operations.
The parcels depot was closed in 1986, Mayfield has stood silent ever since..









View looking down Temperance street.
The short viaduct leading into Mayfield branches off to the left.

**Temperance' recalls the campaign movement of the Victorian era which sought to banish the demon drink and its destructive effects on the working classes**




You can see how close the two stations were from this view on platform 14 of Piccadilly station.




The Star and Garter pub and exterior of Mayfield station.




Google earth aerial image showing the Mayfield and Piccadilly station layout.
You can see the short viaduct spur that leads into Mayfield.




Mayfield is quite a size. It's canopy roof measures 220 yds long.
Most people are unaware the platforms still exist, Mayfield is situated on the viaduct, you can't really see anything from street level.




Piccadilly station was originally called London road when this 1914 map was drawn up.
It was renamed Piccadilly in the 1960's after the modernisation work was complete.




I love how Mother nature gets to work when man has moved away!
This overgrown access ramp leads from Fairfield street to the platform area of the station.




Now this is what i call a real hidden world!

The overgrown station sits high on the viaduct, despite the central location it is suprisingly quiet up here.
This once busy place is now very tranquil, i'd not have been able to stand here 40 years ago.
Today only the birds visit this secret roof garden of Manchester!
This is what exploration photography is all about.




This is the view looking towards the main line connection with Piccadilly.
An old station out building still survives, the overhead electric catenary of the main line can be seen.




Mayfield terminus was mainly used by suburban services to the south of Manchester, Buxton, Crewe and Macclesfield lines.
A few main line trains also stopped at Mayfield, the 'Pines Express' from Bournmouth was one such train.




Take the train it's Greener!
Ferns flourish in the damp conditions where trains once stood. 




The original 1910 buffer stops were heavy duty stuff for sure.




I loved the dusty atmosphere of this place.
The smell of diesel oil lingers long after the last train had left.
Deathly silence in a place that once reverberated to the sound of steam engines. There's always a sad atmosphere to the old closed railways i think.




A points switch still survives at the buffer stops.
This will have released the 'trapped' engine and let it run round it's train for forward movement.









It's always sad to see these once busy places bereft of life and fall silent.
This is the main concourse and booking hall area.




Looking down the stairs that lead you down to street level.
Some of the offices suffered an arson attack in 2005. There doesn't apperar to be much damage to the walls and floors, but the roof has gone in places.

Mayfield also suffered the effects of bombing during W.W II when a parachute mine hit it.



















Ornate tiles are now covered in years of grime.




The doorway on the right is the main entrance from Fairfield street.




The lonesome last passenger!
I tried to recreate a 1950's feel to this photograph by using Black and White.




A view of Mayfield in 1959..
You can see many of the parcel trolleys lined up here.




Mayfield was once a hive of activity, a very different scene to how it is today.




Parcels been loaded onto the night trains in 1976.




This old trolley was found overgrown at the back of the loading ramp.
It hasn't been used for 23 years.




Amazing colours and foilage were to be found everywhere.
This is something we don't seem to see in this day and age.
Everything is sleek, shiny and plastic looking. Trains included.









One of the weighing scales from the parcels operations still survive.









To the trains!

At first glance you wouldn't think there was anything unusual about this sign.
The strange thing is-there isn't a passenger tunnel leading to any platforms.
It also looks too modern in appearence considering the station closed to passengers in 1960.

It's actually a prop left over from filming two television dramas.
Prime Suspect 5 'An Error of Judgement' with the gangster 'The Street' was filmed here in 1996.

The 'Last train' was also filmed here in 1999.
The Last train was a post apocalyptic drama supposedly set around Sheffield.




The props look realistic at first glance.
But these signs are from the nearby Manchester Victoria station. Trains to Liverpool and Newton Le Willows never departed from Mayfield.




This 1998 poster must have been used for the filming of the Last train drama.




Photos in the bag. The explore was a good one!
We sat on the old platform edge and just enjoyed the sun and peacful setting for a while. No one knew we were here but us.

It was then off to Piccadilly for our Burger King bacon, burger and egg bagel breakfast! 
A Sunday morning explore and breakfast by 09.30 can't be beaten! 




The arches under the station are still used for car repairs, scrap and storage businesses.
It always seems to be these types of places underneath the railway viaducts in any city.




The ultra modern appearence of Piccadilly is in stark contrast to it's forgotten neighbour Mayfield.




Trains in platforms 1-5 now depart for local services to the South of Manchester like Buxton and Crewe. These trains used to depart from Mayfield.

Piccadilly is the busiest station in England outside London, the station is running to full capacity these days.
There have been talks to re open Mayfield to trains once again.

There have also been talks to develope the old station as a 'Whitehall civil service campus'
In total, more than 5,000 civil servants could be based on the Mayfield site by 2014, the government said.

I sincerely hope they take that plan and insert it somewhere that the sun doesn't shine.
Mayfield was designed as a station and should remain so.

Whatever the future holds for Mayfield, i'm glad to have captured it for posteriety.
It isn't everyday you find a real hidden ghost station in the heart of a big city.




There's no more ghostly whistles to be heard here these days. It's the end of the line at Mayfield.


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## unknownmystery (Jun 16, 2009)

A really interesting report. Excellent


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## Black Shuck (Jun 16, 2009)

*Mayfield Station.*

That is one of the best reports from an Old Station I have ever read on D.P mate, very well done you had me captivated. Old Railways are my number one love ever since I was a kid and I know exactly what you mean when you talk about all that bygone glory of the steam age, it sort of brings a tear to the eye. You are right it is very sad and a building like that in my opinion should be a Grade listed bulding. Fantastic stuff.


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## Trinpaul (Jun 16, 2009)

That is a great report  very well put together and documented with the pictures. An enjoyable read  I wonder if there are any other "Mayfield" type sites waiting for a visit


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## Random (Jun 16, 2009)

Spellbinding stuff mate, I love old railways. Wish there were more on DP. I particularly liked the BW stairway shot, very atmospheric


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## losttom (Jun 16, 2009)

great find and report!


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## Gibbo (Jun 16, 2009)

An often reported site, but never to this level, great stuff Phil.


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## the harvester (Jun 16, 2009)

Excellent report, as I was reading/looking through I thought this was a familiar place to me, then I thought this was the location for 'The last train', then further down you confirmed it was !! I have this series on my p.c and watched it not long ago! Thanks for sharing, nice work keep it up...


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## ImmortalShadow (Jun 16, 2009)

Excellent report and photo's  makes me want to go and explore more old stations (only one I've been to so far is Derby Friargate station).


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## night crawler (Jun 16, 2009)

Excellent stuff Pill your a god amongst us with the work you do.
PS I saw this on flickr and Myspace first and was well impressed.


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## channonwindmill (Jun 16, 2009)

Heartily agree with the other comments above - fabulous report and photos. I especially like the inclusion of the older pics in with the new, gives a great sense of timescale and history. Cheers Phill


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## Misstee (Jun 16, 2009)

An absolutely stunning report, Phill. Thank you so much. I read every single word - very well written and presented - the photos were so emotive - quite bought a lump to my throat in places. 

I've travelled through Manchester Piccadilly numerous times and had no idea that Mayfield even existed. I'm with you 100% about it remaining a station should it be bought back into service.

Thank you again. Loved it.


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## Sabtr (Jun 16, 2009)

Hats off Phill. An excellent report and a real gem of a site.

Some amazing mixes of colours in that old station. Such a historic site yet cast to one side in the name of progress.

Thanks for posting.


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## Big_g (Jun 16, 2009)

Excellent report mate.Nice history to this place aswell


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## james.s (Jun 16, 2009)

That's a great report! Nice photos as well, I love the last before/after one


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## TK421 (Jun 16, 2009)

Phil, another stunning report. I have stood on P14 at Piccadilly many times and just looked over at Mayfield thinking about getting in, really well done, an excellent report. 

The trolley you found has the splendid name 'BRUTE' which stands for 'British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment', just like the railway to invent some jargon! I used to be an expert at getting these buggers onto parcel trains without the aid of a ramp

Well done that man!


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## Darkness (Jun 16, 2009)

Fantastic report dude, excellent pics and great detail!
Good find there!


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## vanburen (Jun 16, 2009)

nice one for taking the time on posting the report,cracking job,one of the best on this site in recent memory.


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## djrich (Jun 16, 2009)

Excellent report and photos, enjoyed that mate


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## Gangeox (Jun 16, 2009)

Fantastic stuff, i like this a lot, thanks for a great insight into the history as well.


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## Andymacg (Jun 16, 2009)

fantastic report dude and the pics were first class aswell


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## Richard Davies (Jun 16, 2009)

I didn't know it existed either until a few years ago.

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/m/manchester_mayfield/index.shtml

Manchester Victoria also had a "twin" station called Exchange, which has mostly gone

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/m/manchester_exchange/index.shtml


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## FieldyM (Jun 16, 2009)

I saw these on flickr, Good stuff!


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## madonmurphy (Jun 16, 2009)

I really enjoyed that report, as a child we would regularly drive past the back of the station on route to visiting relations in South Manchester, even as a child I wondered what was inside. I then spent many years gazing out at it from Gateway House when I really should have been working. I haven't been down there for many years living a fair few miles from Manchester these days, it was lovely to see something of my hometown, thankyou.


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## scribble (Jun 16, 2009)

That's a terrific report. So much detail and some very poignant photos. Thank you for that. Is the Star and Garter still open? I did a aagan seminar thingy there years ago.


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## johno23 (Jun 17, 2009)

Old Railway stuff was never of much interest to me at one time,until I researched and visited the remnants old Great Northern Railway station at Friargate in Derby.Although the one at Derby is largely in ruins and overgrown,there was so much still to see which could be identified with the aid of an excellent book.
I can see some similarities in your report and I guess they were generally all built to the same sort of design.

As others have said,a brilliant,well documented report with some great photos,old and new which really build up the story and the atmospherics of the place.

A real hidden gem,well spotted and explored


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## smileysal (Jun 17, 2009)

Oooooooooooh excellent write up of the history of Mayfield Phill, Love seeing all the old pics and the new. Excellent pics and work. Love seeing railway stations and tracks being taken over by nature. Awesome work mate, awesome work. 

 Sal


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## cogito (Jun 17, 2009)

That place looks incredible! Well written report too.


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## Fraoch (Jun 17, 2009)

Great report, Mayfield is opposite our building but we can't really see much.


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## marshall10 (Jun 17, 2009)

Fantastic job Phil, very well documented. Such a great old place....


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## King Al (Jun 18, 2009)

Very very good report Phil one of the best I've seen in a while


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## waynezbitz1 (Jun 18, 2009)

this is a great and very detailed reports, thanks for taking the time and sharing it with us.


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## Vintage (Jun 18, 2009)

Fantastic report there. I'm not a great fan of trains, but this looks a great place, I've been past this before and never even noticed it. Very well researched!


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## Foxylady (Jun 18, 2009)

Only just got around to reading this...left it til last as I knew it would be a good 'un. 
And it's beaten all my expectations. Someone else mentioned spellbinding, and it certainly was.
One helluvan explore, Phill. Cheers.


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## Elvis (Jun 19, 2009)

Lived in Manchester for 15 years and never even knew it was there!


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## infromthestorm (Jun 19, 2009)

Great post Phil , Mixed emotions for me as I worked at Royal Mail when Mayfield was still in use,usually on night shift so you can imagine the added atmosphere it created,The area below the platform was known as "The Rathole" and in peak times was used to process mail order returns,It also stored various items of Royal Mail memorabilia such as the old Penfold post boxes, I recall seeing a couple of green Victorian ones there,The mail-bags would arrive from London and be off loaded on the platform,The mail bags would then be hung upside down on to a chain which travelled from Mayfield Station via the overhead conveyor bridge you mentioned,however it did not go to Piccadilly Station it went to the Parcelforce building on St Andrews St, Im sure this was the longest chain in Europe,Once inside the Parcelforce building the mail bags were cut open & the contents went down various chutes dependant on the labels tied around the neck,Nice to see the old tiled staircase again,that was particularly spooky at night and The Star & Garter would have an open (back) door policy for the Posties during those long nights.


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## CitadelMonkey (Jun 19, 2009)

Really good report and pics....probably the best report i've seen on here in ages!


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## Winchester (Jun 19, 2009)

Great Report Phill, really enjoyed reading that.


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## Lightbuoy (Jun 19, 2009)

Crackin' photos Phill 

Amazing how something so grand can be so over-looked!

Great find -thanks for sharing!


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## Obi Wan (Jun 19, 2009)

Awesome pics dude! I had no idea this place existed.


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## fire*fly (Jun 19, 2009)

brilliant report, I didn't want it to end...thank you


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## DJhooker (Jun 22, 2009)

nice work there fella, i go past that station a lot, still haven't figured out how to get in there yet though.


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## tbkscott (Jul 3, 2009)

Great report and love the pics def on my list of places to go, looks great.


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## bradleigh1977 (Jul 31, 2009)

Next time im working in manchester, im going to try and go in and have a look. I only live in huddersfield, and could probably get away with dropping her off shopping,and then going for a nose around...think i've even got a British Rail hi viz....Gonna have a look at cathedralsteps too. Great report phil. If your around this area, you should check out the disused meltham railway. I found it a few weeks back.


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## Apopcalyptic (Jul 31, 2009)

bradleigh1977 said:


> Next time im working in manchester, im going to try and go in and have a look. I only live in huddersfield, and could probably get away with dropping her off shopping,and then going for a nose around...think i've even got a British Rail hi viz....Gonna have a look at cathedralsteps too. Great report phil. If your around this area, you should check out the disused meltham railway. I found it a few weeks back.



You won't do the steps.


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## ThenewMendoza (Jul 31, 2009)

Apopcalyptic said:


> You won't do the steps.



Why not?

Great report, one that is still on my list, and it's been done by an over-Penniner. 

M


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## Apopcalyptic (Jul 31, 2009)

ThenewMendoza said:


> Why not?
> 
> Great report, one that is still on my list, and it's been done by an over-Penniner.
> 
> M



It's a swine for access, as I'm sure you know 

edit - Maybe I was being overly negative. I dunno...


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## paperlunatic (Aug 1, 2009)

great stuff  
how did you get in and that and also was there no one hanging around? (kids getting high etc.)
I might go check it out, only 20 minutes away!


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## phill.d (Aug 1, 2009)

paperlunatic said:


> great stuff
> how did you get in and that and also was there no one hanging around? (kids getting high etc.)
> I might go check it out, only 20 minutes away!


Can't say how we got in..you know the right way to ask those questions on forums 

Don't worry, there were no kids hanging about sniffing lighter fuel because... it's too hard to get in to....but i can't say why lol


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