A lot has changed since these photos were captured

Manchester city centre crowded with Christmas shoppers on a wet Saturday December afternoon. December 19, 1959(Image: Mirrorpix)

Brilliant images unearthed from our archive capture 1950s Manchester at work, school and play.

Taken from our archives, Mirrorpix, all of these images were taken in between 1950 and 1959 and show familiar streets, landmarks and people across the city region.

Long lost departments stores, Royal visits, newly built houses and when the circus came to town – these are a real trip back in time.

Read More: These nostalgic images of Manchester in winter will get you in a festive mood

Take a trip down memory lane with these fascinating photos of Greater Manchester from the 1950s.

For beautiful, historic images from the past have a look at memorylane.co.uk/ and see what you can discover

Do they awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.

Join our Greater Manchester history, memories and people Facebook group here.

Sign up to the MEN email newsletters to get the latest on sport, news, what’s on and more by following this link

1 of 57

Two of the male mannequins preparing themselves for the first male and female fashion show to be held in Manchester. They are left-Geoffery Bentley spraying Erid Howard with hair gloss as he powders his face. October 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)2 of 57

Manchester City players, including Joe Fagan, in training at Maine road, August 10, 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)3 of 57

Reconstructed Manchester Regiment Chapel, Manchester Cathedral. November 14, 1951

(Image: Mirrorpix)4 of 57

Fans queue at Old Trafford for tickets to see Manchester United verses Sheffield Wednesday, in the postponed fifth round F.A Cup tie. February 15, 1958

(Image: Mirrorpix)5 of 57

Orchestra, in traditional uniform of Chetham’s hospital (School), Manchester. March 1952

(Image: Mirrorpix)6 of 57

Only a few groups of men stand chatting at the gate of a deserted Manchester dock. May 1951

(Image: Mirrorpix)7 of 57

Ringways control tower in April 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)8 of 57

The Rylands Building, Market Street, Manchester. October 1, 1958

(Image: Mirrorpix)9 of 57

Looking bronzed and fit the famous 8th (Ardwuk’s) Battalion of Manchester Regiment are seen marching up Market Street, Manchester on return from annual camp at Llanberr, North Wales. June 1951

(Image: Mirrorpix)10 of 57

F W Woolworth store on the corner of Oldham Street and Piccadilly, Manchester. November 29, 1956

(Image: Mirrorpix)11 of 57

The interior of the Lewis’s department store in Manchester. Our picture shows the stocking department. September 17, 1957

(Image: Mirrorpix)12 of 57

The Girls of the Manchester Unit of the Girl’s Nautical Training Corps embark on their expedition of the city using as many forms of locomotion as possible in an effort to win the Blue Peter Challenge Cup which is awarded to the Training Corps as carries with it a free holiday in Europe. The girls are seen arriving at Manchester Fire Station on their bicycles. June 1952

(Image: Mirrorpix)13 of 57

Vivien Leigh, who appeared in a Gracie Fields movie, on stage in Manchester. March 1956

(Image: Mirrorpix)14 of 57

The tanker Appalachee on the Manchester Ship Canal, January 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)15 of 57

The Queen declaring open the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. The King George VI did not attend. November 1951

(Image: Mirrorpix)16 of 57

The Manchester winter wonderland in December 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)17 of 57

Manchester’s newest fire engine a £4,500 machine with covered in accomodation for its crew. February 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)18 of 57

Bright modern displays, cakes and fruit replaced the familiar bubbling tea urn and sandwiches when Manchester’s Victoria Station opened its new cafeteria. October 13, 1952

(Image: Mirrorpix)19 of 57

Workmen make last-minute safety checks before the opening of the new water chute ride at Belle Vue. April 17, 1957

(Image: Mirrorpix)20 of 57

A village of new prefab housing in Capenhurst, Manchester. A car drives through the village on what looks like a new road. October 19, 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)21 of 57

Hikers set off from a deserted Deansgate. Brian Duckworth and Geaorge Evans of Monton, Lancs who are hidden behind their heavy loads, made an unusual Good Friday Picture as they walked along the centre of Deansgate, normally Manchester’s busiest thoroughfare. They were on their way to a pot-holing expedition in the Manifold Valley, Derbyshire. April 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)22 of 57

Shoppers out and about on Market Street, Manchester. April 15, 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)23 of 57

Swedish world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson at Manchester airport, August 1959

(Image: Mirrorpix)24 of 57

A passing motorist pays up at one of the toll boxes in Victoria Park, Manchester, to-day. April 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)25 of 57

Manchester University students in Albert Square. March 2, 1954

(Image: Mirrorpix)26 of 57

A Christmas shopper walks past a snowy Albert Memorial and the Christmas tree in Albert Square, Manchester. December 13, 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)27 of 57

Firefighters tackle the blaze at Pauldens Department Store in Manchester which broke out shortly before the store was re-opened following renovation work. September 7, 1957

(Image: Mirrorpix)28 of 57

Manchester rock and roll fans compete for tickets in the Daily Mirror’s Bill Haley Contest at Belle Vue. February 7, 1957

(Image: Mirrorpix)29 of 57

A 79 year old Shand-Mason steamer fire engine bellows steam and smoke during a demonstration on Piccadilly at the opening of a campaign to recruit auxiliary firemen for the Manchester Fire Brigade. March 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)30 of 57

Cart horse with his groom John Barratt. Altrincham agriculture show. Altrincham, Trafford, Greater Manchester. October 23, 1957

(Image: Mirrorpix)31 of 57

Crowds gather in the rain on the Queens return to Manchester, October 1954

(Image: Mirrorpix)32 of 57

Bertram Mills circus elephants arrive in Manchester. The six Bertram Mills circus elephants, bearing road safety slogans, leave Central Station on route for Platt Fields, where the circus is being held for a week. September 1952

(Image: Mirrorpix)33 of 57

Queue at Maine Road, Manchester, for F.A. Cup Final tickets. Queuers had the comfort of mobile canteen which parked on the forecourt of the Maine Road ground. April 1955

(Image: Mirrorpix)34 of 57

Kim Novak shelters from the Manchester rain, June 1956

(Image: Mirrorpix)35 of 57

Manchester city centre crowded with Christmas shoppers on a wet Saturday December afternoon. December 19, 1959

(Image: Mirrorpix)36 of 57

Policemen on duty outside Maine Road stadium in Manchester to deal with crowds queuing for tickets for the FA Cup semi final match between Everton and Liverpool. March 19, 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)37 of 57

A Double Decker bus in Manchester during the Midday Smog. November 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)38 of 57

A Granada TV crew interviews passers-by in Manchester city centre, March 1956

(Image: Mirrorpix)39 of 57

Three ballerinas of the Festival Ballet which opens at the Palace Theatre were attracted by the fine weather to rehearse in a park in Whitworth Street Manchester. Left to right: Belinda Wright, Sonia Arova and Natalie Krassovska. April 1952

(Image: Mirrorpix)40 of 57

Gorton Skiffle Group go through their numbers in Manchester, November 1957

(Image: Mirrorpix)41 of 57

Manchester University and Faculty of Technology rag. Start of the attempt on the world pram pushing record. February 2, 1959

(Image: Mirrorpix)42 of 57

Director David Lean filming Hobsons Choice in Salford, September 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)43 of 57

A baby sits in its pram outside the front of a house in a terraced street in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester. March 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)44 of 57

The Murray Theatre Girls seen here performing at the Belle Vue fairground in Manchester. May 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)45 of 57

Manchester University showing the Oxford Road entrance, Greater Manchester. May 1951

(Image: Mirrorpix)46 of 57

For the last few weeks at the St Luke’s Primary School, Manchester, Greater Manchester have been putting away threepence a week to go on a picnic with a difference, for this is a picnic in the snow. These kiddies never see proper snow because it soon gets dirty in the centre of the city, so the headmistress Miss Ethel Parkinson decided to organise this trip for them. January 17, 1959

(Image: Mirrorpix)47 of 57

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visits the Transformer Factory, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester. November 23, 1957

(Image: Mirrorpix)48 of 57

Albert Square, Manchester. September 22, 1958

(Image: Mirrorpix)49 of 57

Crowns topped lamp posts to celebrate the coronation in Manchester, June 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)50 of 57

Mr. Harry Markley (69) of Orient Street, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, who is a traffic warden on Bury Old Road. September 1956

(Image: Mirrorpix)51 of 57

Fog in Manchester turns day into night – here is the scene at 1.30pm in Oxford Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester. November 17, 1953

(Image: Mirrorpix)52 of 57

The College of Technology, part of Manchester University. June 1952

(Image: Mirrorpix)53 of 57

A little girl in a Manchester department store is upset by the doves in Santa’s Grotto when one lands on her head. December 1954

(Image: Mirrorpix)54 of 57

Family Life in Oldham 1952. Mother sews while father watch his youngest son play with his toy car. Whilst his oldest son oils his cricket bat and dreams of being Jack Hobbs. The television in the corner had just begun to challenge the supremacy of radio. July 1952

(Image: Mirrorpix)55 of 57

You would not think that a hippopotamus, with its cavernous, leathery, creaking jaws, could put a pleading expression on its face. But Nick and Tony, of Belle Vue, Manchester, have had long experience of begging for food. July 1951

(Image: Mirrorpix)56 of 57

Coke queue Manchester. Pram loads of coke leaving Gaythorne Gasworks this morning. December 1950

(Image: Mirrorpix)57 of 57

The Free Trade Hall floodlit prior to the opening by Her Majesty the Queen. November 1951

(Image: Mirrorpix)