Kenny Mackenzie, 58, from Scotland, was fresh out of school when he came to stay with this Aunt Babs in Manchester for a week’s holiday and took a fascinating set of photographs
06:05, 10 May 2025Updated 07:00, 10 May 2025
Kenny Mackenzie’s photo of Manchester city centre and the cathedral in 1983
A set of nostalgic photographs featuring north Manchester and the city centre have been unearthed after over 40 years. The pictures were taken by Kenny Mackenzie, who was visiting a relative in Blackley from his home in Dumbarton, Scotland.
Now 58, Kenny was fresh out of school when he spent a week’s holiday in Manchester, visiting his aunt Barbara in 1983. Known to Kenny as Aunt Babs and living on Bromfield Road, Blackley, she was originally from Scotland but had moved to Manchester many years before.
Kenny, who was about 16 then, was accompanied by a pal called Cha on his visit to his aunt. Recalling how his holiday in Manchester came about, Kenny said: “She [Babs] was always up in Dumbarton. She always came up to visit my mum and my aunties.
“She was actually my mum’s auntie – so my great auntie. I said to her I need to come down and see you sometime.”
During the holiday, Kenny photographed himself and Cha wandering through north Manchester and into Manchester city centre.
“Babs didn’t really go out much at this point, I don’t think,” Kenny said.
“I said to her, ‘How do you get to the city centre?’ And she told us. We just walked that same route every day.”
He added: “I was into music, and I remember finding a wee record shop or market or something and remember buying a load of singles,” said Kenny.
“We just walked about the place, I don’t think I was into pubs at that point. It was just a quiet holiday.
“But I thought it was great and the people were very nice. I think the people in the north are really friendly.”
Aunt Babs sitting on her doorstep in Bromfield Road, Blackley. 1983
Another stop they made was to the grounds of the city’s two big football clubs. Kenny and Cha made pilgrimages to Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium and Manchester City’s Maine Road.
Kenny said: “I went to Maine Road, but it was closed. There’s a picture of me outside of it.
“I got into Old Trafford, that was open. But it wasn’t a tour, I just walked in and there was a groundsman there. I said, ‘Can I have a look about?’ He said, ‘Yeah, just keep off the pitch’.”
Kenny said he hasn’t returned to Manchester since that week, when he visited his Aunt Babs in 1983.
He said: “One time, it just popped into my mind to see how much I could remember. I went on to Google Earth and I found Aunt Babs’ street. I walked the route virtually online. It looks like it’s changed quite a lot.
Kenny’s photograph of his friend ‘Cha’ looking down The Brew
“That hill [in the photo] that my mate Cha’s sitting on, she called that The Brew. I think that means like when you call a hill a ‘brae’ [a lowland Scots word referring to a hillside or slope]. That’s where we always started to get into the town.”
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One regret Kenny admitted to was that he wished he’d taken more pictures at the time. However, he recently unearthed some of the photos he did take from the holiday and posted them on the We Grew Up In Manchester Facebook Group.
The post attracted hundreds of likes and comments from people thanking him for uploading the nostalgic set of photos.
Steve Crolla wrote: “Well done for thinking ahead and capturing all those memories. Thanks for sharing.”
Helen Ferns wrote, “Brilliant pictures just capture the everyday. So nostalgic. Thanks for sharing.”
While many others posted comments saying things like “lovely photos” or “great memories”.
You can view Kenny’s nostalgic photos of Manchester in 1983 in the gallery belowREAD MORE: Kenny Mackenzie’s photos of his Manchester holiday back in 1983