It's a question as old as time, or at least since the year of our lord 1974 during which Salford Council made what some came to see as a land grab of surrounding areas and a hostile take over their borough councils, some still reluctant to forgive them for. We all know the story of Salford's creation myth, it's passed down through the ages both in oral history a well as being clearly written in the ink of a nicked BetFred pen on the hallowed pages of the Salford Bible. The tale goes that a sub species of Salfordian known as NeanderFlynn, whilst out hunting for free food, discovered the great Salus (Willow) Tree on the banks of the wild and constantly flooding River Irwell located next to the local man Mr Henry Ford's horse and cart dealership, and from there the scene was set. The name Sal Ford was bestowed on the land with it's lush forests and green pastures and to celebrate, there was much drinking and rejoicing but mainly drinking I suspect. A church was quickly built with a steeple reaching high into the heavens, which could be seen for as far as the eye could see, which would eventually not be that far at all after the later invention of smog. Step forward a council of Salford's finest, wisest and most educated, which rose to power, quickly determining that a church was simply not enough, we needed a University which foreign exchange students from as far as the mythical land of Bolton could easily locate on a map, a Police Station which would later become a planning permission officers nightmare, a beautiful and stunning Cathedral (It really is, can't knock it) and a string of Luxury hi-rise (almost affordable) dwellings overlooking the heathen tribes of Mancunium over the other side of the constantly overflowing river, or so at least I believe to be the truth. Some other things happened over the years but to keep it brief with just the important bits, we invented Coal, Smog, Childhood Rickets, The Weekend and the Happy Mondays which was our greatest musical triumpth. Traditionally the old City of Salford's seat of power and governance remained focused around the Trinity and Crescent areas and it was to be like this for a long time after but with the absorption of the other more outlying boroughs, the need for a larger base of administrative operations was required and so the decision was made to pack up the bags of cash and relocate to Swinton, so that surely must make Swinton our new city centre right? Well no, if you asked most people in Salford where the City Centre was would give a wide and varied list of answers and so to prove a point we did just that, posing the question on our Facebook Page, which pretty much went as expected. Some claimed Pendleton, (especially the shopping precinct) as being the official city centre, others that it's now located at Salford Quays, with many more maintaining that it was the 'Old Salford' location near Trinity Church which is in fact true to some degree. Officially the cities centre has never moved, it is and always has been nestled up to the border with our twin city of Manchester, which in turn has given rise to a myth that we are a 'city without an actual defined centre' or a 'city within a city', as the lines between Salford and Manchester continue to blur further with the construction of each of those new hi-rise's that reach up to the sky. It would seem that in our minds, we each have our own very personal location for what we see as our city centre, even if in most cases it's not actually true, a lot even seem to be confused as to where Salford actually covers. I remember reading a story about one guy who bought a home on Salford Quays and was mortified to find he was not living in Manchester, despite the glaringly obvious location in his new homes address. He claimed he was sold the home under the belief that he lived in Manchester which is hardly surprising when even some of the companies operating from there badge themselves as being located in our sister city. I have to acknowledge to their credit and give a little recognition to the BBC which seems to be intensely proud of their Salford HQ location, so much so they mention is on almost every broadcast they make from MediaCityUK. They could have very easily done as many others have done and claim they were based in Manchester having relocated from their oxford road studios but fair play to them, they fly our flag. I just wish more companies did the same as a lot of Salford money was invested which could have gone into other areas, it would be nice for that to be shown some respect from time to time. Oh and I ruddy well refuse to call it 'The Quays' either, it is Salford Quays. It doesn't help matters much that our cities established seat of power is based in Swinton having relocated from the old town hall at Bexley Square. Our magistrates court is now shared with Manchester and even our University at one point felt the need to add the word Manchester in red to it's name in order to apparently 'help students find it on the map'. Our nightlife and entertainment centre seem to now be focused upon Salford Quays and MediaCityUK whilst our major sports clubs are located in Barton, Kersal and even across the ship canal, along the M60 as far as Sale in the case of Swinton's Proud and Majestic Lions. So when the question is asked; is it any wonder that the response is so wide and varied? Which begs the further question... should we define a new location to call our city centre and the even further questions of do we really need to and does it really matter? Personally speaking I don't think it really matters, as 1974 may seem a long way off but there are still those who remember the old town halls, local councils and administrative centres of the absorbed boroughs. Despite the passage of time many are reluctant to admit that they even live in Salford. You could define anywhere in Salford as the city centre and they just would not care a hoot about it. Some still cling on to that anger and it is understandable to a degree. For a huge proportion of people, if you mention you are going into town they imagine you're heading to Manchester anyhow and I have to admit I find myself in that camp too. Still to this day I add the words Salford 5, Lancashire when describing where I grew up, I do add the post code but even that for me has always been a sore point as Salford as a city does not have it's own. Even Bolton and Bury have their own designated post code but that is for another day and another rant. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that yes I live in Salford but I also now live in Eccles, or to be correct Winton in Eccles and I am intensely proud of that. This November 11th I will be paying my respects at the Eccles Cenotaph as I have done for many years. I try to shop local in Eccles and love promoting Eccles when and where I can, although Winton Fish Bar is not to be surpassed as a location for fine cuisine. So I suspect the real truth is, 'Town' is where YOU want it to be and I like it like that, I love the fact that we live in a City in which not everything is focused in one place. Our political governors and wisdom'd overlords should always be mindful that not everything needs to be located at Salford Quays, up on the Crescent or on the 'SalChester' border and that other areas of Salford need to see fair and equal investment and opportunity. Which I am cautiously happy to see has been happening in recent years, with investments in Eccles and the purchase of the shopping centre and plans to redevelop it as well as the much needed redevelopment around Broughton and other areas. It's a start but still needs much more. I also love the fact that people are still fiercely proud of their local boroughs and why the hell should they not be? The sad realisation I suppose that as time rolls on, fewer of us will remember a time when the boroughs were not in Salford but I would love to see a future in which their unique identities remain still remain intact. To sum up, I suppose if I personally had to choose a spot to define as a NEW city centre I have to admit it would most likely be Salford Quays / MediaCityUK, mainly due to the shear amount of money invested in it and the fact that it is a major part of our cities economy but until someone sends the tram to places like Walkden, Little Hulton, Swinton, Irlam & Cadishead, it will remain just as distant to those who live there as Bolton, Warrington and Wigan. In a strange way, not having a city centre actually helps preserve the unique identities of those boroughs which were swallowed up. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
