The bakery, cafe and brewery breathing life back into one of Salford’s forgotten landmarks

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

For more than a decade, Salford’s Old Fire Station, by the cenotaph on Albion Place, has been derelict - neglected and mainly used for storage as part of the estate of Salford University.

Built in 1903, it was Salford’s central fire station for nearly a century, with the firemen all living in the nearby Fire Station Square, where they’d train and clean down the fire engines.

Now the only tanks on site are full of fermenting amber nectar from the newly minted Lark Hill Brewery, and the heat comes from the ovens baking its fresh croissants and sourdough. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features This beautiful square has been reclaimed, as part of both the University and Salford City Council’s ‘masterplan’ to revive the area as a cultural quarter of the city, with the Old Fire Station cafe, bar, bakery and brewery as its gleaming new centrepiece. “We’ve tried to keep as many features as we can, keeping the old tiles on the walls, and the window in the bakery,” says Siobhan Youngs, the place’s operations manager. “It’s a hub for the people.

If you’re university staff, a student, local residents, everyone is welcome. There’s going to be events, people can come and learn how to make sourdough, meet the brewer and brewery tours.” They could have bought the bread and pastries in, as many new openings do, but not here.