Centennial Celebrations at Central House

Central House's 100th birthday party

Pat Thorpe and Sue Ratchford

Pat Thorpe and Sue Ratchford

A hundred years of history at a Blackley household was celebrated this summer when residents threw a garden party for Central House.

Managed by Northwards Housing, Central House apartment block, on Victoria Avenue, was originally built as luxury flats on 27 July 1910. Nowadays the block provides happy homes for older north Manchester residents.

Tenants Pat and Barrie Thorpe helped to arrange the block’s birthday festivities, cracking out a fantastic spread of food and drink for their neighbours to enjoy. Fellow Blackley tenant Sue Ratchford, Chair of the Northwards Board, also dropped by to grab a slice of birthday cake and join in the celebrations.

A Building with Character


Pat, who’s learnt quite a bit about her home’s history over the years, said: “The building has such a lot of character. The flats and gardens were beautiful when they were first built. The building was sold to Manchester City Council for £38,000, and during the Second World War, the iron gates were removed and used for war materials. The Council didn’t have the money at the time to restore it to its former glory.

“Since moving in 26 years ago, we’ve worked hard together to bring things up to today’s standards, and now the gates have been put back on, the whole block’s been fenced off and had a complete rewire, and ramps, steps and stairlifts have been introduced. The gardens look beautiful again too.”

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