Introduction

The G-Mex Centre is an exhibition venue housed in the former Midland Railway’s Manchester Central Station. It is situated on Lower Mosley Street.

Background

The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC), a joint collaboration of the Midland, Great Northern and Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, constructed Central Station between 1875 and 1880 and created Manchester’s fourth passenger terminal. The first passenger trains used the station on July 1st 1880. From here, trains ran on the CLC network to Liverpool, Chester and Stockport, while express trains ran via the Midland line to London St Pancras.

Central’s impressive single-span roof was designed to the approval of engineer Sir John Fowler (who later went on to design the Forth Rail Bridge) and is very similar to the example at London’s St Pancras. The contractor was Andrew Handyside and Co. of Derby and construction was probably supervised by Lewis Moorsom.

Central Station finally closed to rail traffic under British Rail Midland Region on May 5th 1969. The building remained derelict for many years (except for a spell as a car park) until the Greater Manchester Council converted the site into the Greater Manchester Exhibition and Events Centre, or G-Mex, which opened on March 7th 1986.

Engineering

Central’s train shed spans a distance of 210 feet, rises 90 feet, and is 550 feet in length, which originally covered six platforms and nine tracks. The arches are wrought iron Warren girders approximately 1’3” deep. The roof comprises fourteen single and two double arch frames, making up fifteen bays in total, and linking the arches are latticed purlins carrying intermediate ribs. The roof was originally covered in a mixture of slate and glass.

Underneath the shed is a large brick undercroft with intersecting tunnel vaults. This was used for storage and was connected to the adjacent goods sidings by a wagon lift.

Conversion to an exhibition centre saw the shed ends glazed inside the structural ironwork and the roof reclad in aluminium. Wooden buildings along the frontage dating from the station’s opening were demolished to make way for a new glazed foyer, while the undercroft was repaired for use as a car park.

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References

[1] Rennison R.W. (1996) Civil Engineering Heritage - Northern England. Thomas Telford.

[2] Swailes T. and Marsh J. (2005) Development of Long-Span Iron Roof Structures in Britain. Proc ICE Structures and Buildings Volume 158 Issue SB5 p321-339.