Hello from Salford Quays and MediaCityUK BBC North

[NonStopMark]

Hi Members, My name is Mark Whitfield and I work in the Salford Quays area... soon to be home to MediaCityUK for BBC North....I keep a photographic timeline (15,500 photos) attached to a LinkedIn group for MediaCityUK (1220 members to date and growing)...

Back in the Spring of 2007, the first digger arrived on site followed by more and more heavy construction hardware and materials with each passing day. The site is called MediaCityUK and is based in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester. For Phase 1, it will be home to the University of Salford, BBC North and other media companies in 2011 and will be followed by subsequent phases on the 200 acre site. Needless to say, it seemed like a good idea in May 2007 (one month before the exciting Peel MediaCityUK project) to start an online photographic timeline journal of the entire development.

Nearly 3 years on, a year before the doors open on Phase 1, I have catalogued 15,500+ pictures by financial quarter, month and day. The timeline journal is updated weekly to provide all interested parties (both visitors and those involved in the construction) with a snapshot status of the MediaCityUK development project.

The problem I had was getting close to the large scale development in the quays, that is ‘to be intimate without being intrusive’. Time then to test a modern compact camera with a good optical zoom and image stabilisation. The answer, the Panasonic DMC-TZ7 with Leica DC Lens, 12x optical zoom, wide angle 25mm lens and 10.1 megapixels (I used the TZ5 predecessor before this). The TZ7 packs a lot of power in a small case and consistently delivers great pictures and for this particular project, I chose the intelligent mode option on the dial for most shots.

I have 3 main vantage points to shoot from. The iconic Lowry Centre at the centre of the quays, the Imperial War Museum North observation tower (the 30 metre Air Shard viewing platform ) and the back of the development site, a road called Broadway which runs the length of Salford Quays (about a mile long).

I actually work as an IT Manager about 500 yards from the site and have been based in Salford Quays for nearly 15 years. Each time I pop over for a coffee (too many coffees for sure), I wield the Panasonic TZ7 (easy to pocket) and put it to work by walking a circuit around MediaCityUK. Most of the site, like the rest of Salford Quays is bounded by water and provides a picturesque backdrop to the diverse and ever increasing disparate architecture of the once flat terrain.

When I took up residence in the quays back in the mid-nineties, there were very few landmarks to navigate by. MediaCityUK provides yet another attractive and modern set of buildings to the current eye-catching mix. The BBC North main building provides a full glass façade to reflect the iconic buildings that surround it, and is itself reflected in the water.

Hundreds of new media jobs are being created as part of the first phase opening of the site and to make access to MediaCityUK easier, a new pedestrian bridge is being built to accompany the current Millennium Bridge which crosses over from the Lowry Centre to the Old Trafford side, close to the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ football ground.

I would never describe myself as a professional photographer, just an enthusiastic amateur who has fully embraced the digital age of compact cameras (my first in 2000). As you will see from the online photographic timeline, I have been able to get close to every stage of the MediaCityUK build with good clarity as a result of the on-board TZ7 image stabilisation (zooming between 3 and 50 times), not bad from 350 yards distance on each side. This even includes the stage by stage erection of the large cranes on the site, a great spectacle when viewed from the large viewfinder of the TZ7 (I no longer carry binoculars).

For anybody involved in the media or currently at university studying related disciplines including photography and photographic techniques, the MediaCityUK development represents an exciting prospect. I thought readers might like to see the extensive build 1 year off completion in 2011. Around 50% of the BBC staff (for the appropriate BBC departments) are moving from the south to Salford Quays leaving a lot of job roles to fill. This is aside of all the other media companies that will eventually settle at MediaCityUK.

This MediaCityUK Timeline link will always redirect to the current month’s photographs rendered at 800 x 600 resolution so that the web pages load quickly. There is also a link to an abridged timeline of 300 photographs resized to 1024 x 768 resolution. This shows the construction from the same point over nearly 3 years (excuse the Manchester clouds). Each page contains links to related articles and the official MediaCityUK website.

[Goggle]

Interesting that you casually mention that there are a lot of job roles to fill. Presumably this means there are an equal amount of people who will be put out of work in the south? Of is every one of those 50%, entirely new roles, at this time of austerity?

[NonStopMark]

Hello Goggle.... For those who can make the move North, those jobs will be taken by existing BBC staff. The other roles will need to be filled locally. The BBC intention and strategy was indicated 2+ years ago.

[Square Eyes]

Like Goggle says, it's clear that we are somehow supposed to feel elation at the development of a new regional centre, completely ignoring the fact that a stack of people are to be put out of work in the original studios.

And these new jobs, are they of a financial equivalence, or is this just like banks moving their call centres to India so they can get dirt cheap staff?

How many premium rate jobs in the south are to be replaced by near minimum wage staff in the oh so grateful, depressed north?

As for the intention and strategy being indicated 2+ years ago, that's little comfort for those losing a job, 'hey, don't be upset, I told you a couple of years ago I was going to crap on you. Why so surprised?!' Nice.

[alfsgag]

i would just like to say since thatcher shut my part of the north east we have learned to swallow plenty s~it, so do you people think manchester is the far north!as for your comments square eyes,we weep every time we hear of job losses down south GET USED TO IT!try the minimum wage,like thousands up .and. you with your bbc propoganda,your bloody jobs would be no good as none of you buggers down south can understand us!!no north south divide ********!!

[alfsgag]

they edited the end of my post it ryhmes with rollocks

[Square Eyes]

alf, I'm not down south and have, for many years, lived in several 'depressed' areas. I just think it's deceptive to ask people to cheer for 'new' jobs when, in reality, they are jobs taken away from someone else.

Of COURSE there's a north south divide, and it runs far deeper than economics. But it does nobody any good to allow major employers to play around with people's lives like this. It certainly only helps them if people benefiting in one area can only respond by sticking their tongues out and saying 'how do you like it?'.

[Square Eyes]

And who referred to Manchester as the far north?

[alfsgag]

what i meant was its only manchester not the end of the earth! if they had been asked to relocate to newcastle we would have heard the weeping and wailing up here!!

[Square Eyes]

Mind you alf, having spent time in Manchester (That's SPENT time, not DONE time!) I may not describe it as the end of the earth, rather the arse-end of the earth.

What a thoroughly horrid place.

[alfsgag]

with that i totally agree i drive lgvs and if i have to rest/or parkup over night i always get well outside of manchester before i park up.

[Square Eyes]

Scared of losing the load?!?!

[Goggle]

I thought that was Liverpool?

[alfsgag]

ditto they will even drill your tank to get at fuel!!!

[Square Eyes]

Really? Man, that's dangerous!