A Modernist walk in a fallow field

Own up. You thought Fallowfield was just for students, navigable only by dodging sick on the pavement and stepping over last night’s kebab wrappers. A good job, then, that Manchester Modernist Society are here to show another side of this often-looked-down-upon suburb, inviting architecture fans on a Saturday morning wander highlighting some of the area’s best 20th Century buildings. The walk is part of the society’s ongoing residency in Manchester Metropolitan University’s iconic yet soon to be vacated Toastrack building, designed by city architect LC Howitt and completed in 1960, aiming to explore both Howitt’s architectural legacy and the wider area. From a 1930s grammar school and a streamline block of Art Deco flats to an imposing synagogue and a concrete totem pole made by experimental Modernist sculptor William Mitchell – sited outside an otherwise ordinary-looking block of flats – the walk will show that there’s far more to Fallowfield than booze and mouldy student houses. Even a student block gets a look in, as the tour stops at the infamous Owen’s Park tower to admire a sculptural relief by one-time south Manchester resident Mitzi Cunliffe – better known for designing the famous Bafta mask. Showing that Fallowfield is still a site for innovative architecture, the walk finishes at Dwelle, the Wilmslow Road show house for a new range of sustainable eco-dwellings.

Sat 15 Dec, Meet outside Sainsbury’s, 347 Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield, M14 6SS, 10.30am, Tel: 0775 294 8304, FREE (booking required), manchestermodernists.wordpress.com