I took a left turn off Bury Old Road on my way to a meeting in Simister and pulled up for the first time in many years to have another look at the Heaton Park Reservoir Pumping Station. Opposite very ordinary houses this iconic, simple, rectangular building attracts, I guess, very few close examinations. But it is a hidden gem and in 1988 was listed as a ‘complete work of art.’ The only building listed as such since 1945. 

 

The structure is elegant and stripped back architecturally, but the beauty is in the frieze depicting men working on the creation of the aqueduct which brings millions of gallons of water each day the 82 miles from Haweswater in the Lake District to Manchester. Sadly the inside of the pumping station is not accessible, but is equally impressive with walls of diagrams created from marble and sycamore. 

 

So what‘s the connection between this industrial work of art and the iconic BAFTA mask? Both are the work of New York born Mitzi Solomon.

 

Mitzi was born in 1918 and in 1930 began a long journey of education and creativity at the Art Students League of New York and then Columbia University. After graduating she moved to Paris, studying at The Academy and, on seeing the western side of Chartres Cathedral determined to become an architectural sculptor. After moving to Sweden she began building a reputation in architectural and institutional architecture, with her work admired by – amongst others – Corbusier. 

 

In the 1940s Mitzi created sculptures for a new fleet of ships, also exhibiting in Philadelphia and around the world. 1949 saw her meet Marcus Cunliffe who was a lecturer at Manchester University and so Mitzi Solomon became Mitzi Cunliffe. The couple moved to Didsbury where Mitzi worked in the garage of their house and then 1951 saw her first large scale commission for the entrance hall to The Festival of Britain. The sculpture was of figures emerging from a tree, perhaps echoing the graphic theme that would see her commissioned to design the Heaton Park Pumping Station friezes, when it was built in 1955. That same year she was commissioned to design the BAFTA mask which has become another instantly recognisable and enduring icon.

 

Her career blossomed and she worked on many projects for – amongst others – Lewis’s Department Store in Liverpool, textiles for Tootal and ceramics for Pilkington. 

 

It is worth noting that the five panels below the main frieze at the Pumping Station, relating a history of construction of the Haweswater aqueduct and a host of stats of water volume moved each day (in the millions of gallons), are exquisitely crafted typographically. There appears to be no information as to whether this typography was also the work of Mitzi Cunliffe…but I would love to know. 

 

Manchester University and UMIST also purchased sculptures of ‘multiple blocks’ created by Cunliffe. 

 

Mitzi died in 1988, leaving such a legacy in so many diverse works. And so, if you are ever on Bury Old Road in Prestwich, it’s worth veering off towards Simister Village and spending a little time to have a closer look at this unique structure with a beautiful relief frieze and sensitive typography – not exactly hidden, but not on any well travelled route.