The contrast in this image is stark with the quiet, rural scene in the foreground and the sprawling mass of early nineteenth-century Manchester in the background. Country visitors to the area must have been either horrified to see the gobbling up of the countryside, or in awe at this huge, industralised machine.
This was an exciting time as the Liverpool to Manchester railway opened in 1830 - the very first inter-city railway. Manchester had already grown tremendously, but the influence of the railways was a contributing factor to transform it even further. In 1801 there was a population of around 88,577, by 1831 the population had jumped to 205,561, and thirty years later it was 398,611.
Drawn by G. Pickering. Engraved by T. Higham
Published by Fisher, Son & Co., London, 1844
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