(Photos 1-4 © Moodster020, photos 5-8 © Scrappy NW)

Opened by the London & North Western Railway in August 1910, Manchester Mayfield was built to ease congestion at the neighbouring London Road Station, later renamed Piccadilly. A footbridge connected the two.

Damaged by a German bomb during the Second World War, closure came in August 1960 following the modernisation of Piccadilly.

July 1970 witnessed a rebirth of sorts when the Royal Mail converted the site into a parcels depot. A move from rail to road drove its second closure in 1986, since when the building has remained derelict. The main entrance hall, at the junction of Baring/Travis Street, was gutted by fire in 2005.

Several schemes have been put forward as future uses for Mayfield including as a means of increasing capacity at Piccadilly. Plans for a new coach station and government ‘super-campus’ have been mooted but the firmest proposals seem to be for a commercial office development.

The building remains in the hands of British Railways Board (Residuary).