We started this blog to explore Oxford Road in Manchester, England and the transition it will undergo over the next couple of years and beyond as two cultural organisations, the BBC and Cornerhouse, move from their prime location, on Oxford Road. You can find out more about this and us here.
We both live just round the corner and work on Oxford Road so its become part of everyday life and with the changes that are about to happen thought it was important to explore the road’s history, document its evolution and imagine its possible future.
The name ‘Oxford Road’ originates from its 18th C. function as a route to the city of Oxford, now called the A34. As a major ‘bus corridor’ in Manchester, it is busy, noisy, diverse and seems to have localised pockets of activity whilst acting as ‘throughroad’. The name of the road changes along different sections from Oxford Street, Oxford Road to Wimslow Road and Manchester Road. We thought these transitions from one name to another might be interesting points to map, explore and kick off our journey.
On New year’s day, 2011, we did a quick recce to find out where Oxford Road starts and Oxford Street ends as its not clear on online maps such as google and multimap. We discovered that the change between the road names happens where the road crosses the River Medlock.
The other name changes we need to consider are:
- Oxford Road changes to Wilmslow Road at the junction with Hathersage Road
- At the Parrs Wood end, Wilmslow Road crosses Cheadle Bridge over the River Mersey to become Manchester Road, Cheadle.’
We’ll document what we find in future blog posts. What we discover will help inform cross-disciplinary creative experiments to unearth a sense of past, present and future.
Oxford Road 
Posted on January 12, 2011 by C Ward
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