It’s a gas as ‘Steve’ sheds light on forgotten history

A YOUTUBER who has become an internet hit is uncovering forgotten parts of Macclesfield’s past.

YouTube channel Abandon’t searches for and documents old roads and buildings across Cheshire that have been lost over the course of history and often focuses on Macclesfield.

A man called ‘Steve’ creates the content for the channel and on a recent trip to the town centre looked into the area where the old gas works used to stand

It is opposite where the large Tesco now stands, and a road called Gas Road which is now an overgrown and abandoned path.

The same area was a hive of industry in the Victorian era and used to have multiple railway lines going through it.

The gas holders that loomed over Macclesfield on Black Lane, which stood for over 100 years, were demolished in 2016.

Steve said: “My YouTube channel is based on the infrastructure that’s connected us all together throughout history. The old Gas Road was obliterated by the construction of the (Silk Road) bypass.

“I had known about the old Commercial Road down by the side of where Arighi Bianchi is. And I noticed that there were the parapets like an old bridge and an old working flat area heading down next to the Silk Road.

“But there was a large gasworks there. I was interested in the infrastructure seeing if there’s anything left of the old road and seeing what imprints that had left in the town in regards to the bridge and the embankment that was left. People don’t realise how much history is in the area, literally right outside of Macclesfield there is loads of stuff, even in the town as well.”

Steve will be releasing videos about Macclesfield’s historic railway stations – it has had five of them – this month. One is about Danes Moss tramway, which is in at the controversial South Macclesfield Development Area site.

The channel can be viewed at youtube. com/c/abandont