city centre bench

Snapshot of a city: Manchester’s city centre is beginning to return to some version of normal

  • NQ photographer Fiona Hammond heads into the city centre to get an idea of how busy it is during the current lockdown

Despite being in a national lockdown, the sights from Manchester City Centre would beg to differ.

After spending a short while on a Thursday afternoon in March, images depict a very busy city centre with members of the public aged around 16 to 65+.

It almost seems as if people are fed up, raring to get back to normal and heading into town for a trip out. More positively, the public are pictured wearing their masks.

Busy city centre captured in reflection of shop window.
The streets are surprisingly busy in the city centre

 

Public walking through busy city centre, man on bicycle as main subject
Shoppers going about their business in Market Street, with street vendors conducting business as usual
Busy tram stop in city centre with skyline visible
The trams are still running and this sene is typical of any pre-covid

 

Busy city centre with a masked pedestrian as main subject
Face masks and social distancing is being observed