John Rylands Library and other impurities'. This, and the overcrowded site, created many design problems for the architect. During the century most textile manufacture moved to newer mills in the surrounding towns while Manchester remained the centre of trading in cotton goods both for the home and foreign markets but pollution from burning coal and gas remained a considerable nuisance. The site chosen by Mrs Rylands was in a central and fashionable part of the city, but was awkward in shape and orientation and surrounded by tall warehouses, derelict cottages and narrow streets. The position was criticised for its lack of surrounding space
Dadie Rylands involved in the theatre. He directed and acted in many productions for The Marlowe Society, and was chairman of the Cambridge Arts Theatre from 1946 to 1982. Rylands' 1939 Shakespeare anthology "Ages of Man" was the basis of John Gielgud's one-man show of the same title. Though Rylands specialised in directing university productions at Cambridge, he also directed Gielgud in professional productions of "The Duchess of Malfi" and "Hamlet" in London in 1945. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1961 and a Companion of Honour (CH) in 1987. Dadie Rylands George Humphrey