It might look like an Alpine church, but St Antony's is set right in the heart of Trafford Park.

One of the few remaining corrugated iron mission churches surviving in Great Britain,

CHRISTMAS was celebrated at St. Antony's Church in Trafford Park with a carol concert given by children from the Catholic college of the same name, in Urmston.

Built on Eleventh Street in 1901 adjacent to the Old Trafford Hotel, a stone's throw from a series from of major factories and about a mile from Old Trafford football ground, St. Antony's Church is one of the few remaining corrugated iron mission churches surviving in Great Britain,

It originally served local parishioners but when the last residential houses were demolished in 1982 IT continued to serve as part of the St Antony's Centre.

St. Antony's Centre founder, Kevin Flannagan who established the centre in 1980 with the local parish priest under the auspices of the Salford Diocese, said: “We now work to enable a range of people with low skills or no skills to get back into the work place and maintain this historic church for special services throughout the year.”

He added: “None is more special than the St. Antony's College's carol concert and we have parishioners returning from far and wide on an annual basis to hear the children sing.”

St Antony's College headteacher Fiona Wright said: “The concert is always a very special day in out calender and allows us to learn about the vital work the centre does today and also the history of this wonderful church that has always been so much a part of Manchester's industrial and spiritual heritage.”

Kevin Flannagan is pictured with St Antony's College headteacher Fiona Wright, identical twins Orla and Roma Hackell and in the middle young chorister Scott Lee