Hotspur Press Fire (New Poem)

Massive fire in old building in-between Oxford Road
and Deansgate Train Station / Was it Arson?

Built in 1801 but abandoned since the mid-1990s /
Structure built almost completely of wood / Was it Arson?

In 2018, a joint venture between Blue Dog Property
and MCR Property Group secured permission,
to redevelop the site into a 28-storey apartment
building, but it didn’t happen / Was it Arson?

Manner wanted this in part to be redeveloped,
to be in part a 35-storey student tower / An anonymous
individual appealed against this and wanted it
grade listing only for it to get rejected in Court / Was it Arson?

Twelve hours later, they finally got the fire out / Was it Arson?

Will we get an investigation? / Was it a crime?

Of course, the city will move on / the skyline no
doubt will change into probably into another faceless
development / Was it a crime?

Was it murder of our heritage? / Was
it not a fraud case but a crime of killing our history,
everything our ancestors built, stood for, lived, breathed?

Was it a stripping away of our communal memory, a
betrayal of our past paved over for
profit in the guise of redevelopments.

Was it the end of summer for this city’s soul?

Was it Arson?


(From the forthcoming poetry book 'The End of Summer II' due August 2025)

(Hotspur House is a 19th Century mill in the heart of Manchester. The 56,000 sq ft five-storey warehouse was formerly used as a cotton mill, before being taken over by printing company Percy Brothers. The building was more recently used as a printing shop until 2011 when the building was left vacant. Sadly the major fire in 2025 has now left its future in doubt)