One thing that hasn’t changed too much in Manchester is the number of good pubs (both traditional and new) and breweries in the area. For traditional pubs you have the following gems:
Marble Arch
The Angel
The Smithfield
The Castle
Hare & Hounds
All of the above being in the Northern Quarter / Shudehill. On the other side of Manchester, you have the following:
Peveril of the Peak
Britons Protection
Both of these in the shadow of Bridgewater Hall.
In central Manchester:
City Arms
Circus Tavern
Grey Horse
The Old Monkey
Some new bars / pubs worth visiting include Cafe Beermoth, Port Street Beerhouse and The Gas Lamp.
Breweries include traditional brewers such as Holts, Hydes, Robinsons and Lees, plus lots of new breweries such as Black Jack, Marble, Pomona and Cloudwater.
The issue of whether Manchester was grim in the 1980s has also been discussed above. Personally, I don’t remember it as grim but this might have more to do with me starting work there in 1980 in what to me was a big and exciting city with lots of large record shops and other attractions.
After growing up in a northern mill town in the 1960s and 1970s, you can see how this might appeal.
I feel the same. I used to travel up from North Wales in the 1980s for music, map and book shopping plus gigs. Compared to where I’m from there was very much a sense of bright lights/big city. When I reflect back on it now I do appreciate just how grim it was.
That’s quite funny. I was going to say “Canal Street after 11pm”.
I find Piccadilly to Portland is fine and it’s often my route home post midweek football if I’m on a train which doesn’t stop at Oxford Road. Either route has always been fine for me i.e. back of the station and down Piccadilly to Portland or out the front, over the rainbow crossing, over the bridge, past TfGM, up Aytoun and then onto Portland. Letter is much brighter and open so you tend to be able to see trouble coming but former is generally fine.
Tend to have issues on the former with people so drunk they’ll assume I’ll be getting out of their way and then they collide, snap the cane etc. Although it freaks me out it can occasionally be funny. The bloke who collided with me when we were on the very widest part of the pavement, dropped his phone, snapped my cane, looked horrified and just silently… ran.
Suspect other pedestrians don’t have such issues because you see a group coming toward you and can naturally swerve them and not have to even engage with how drunk they are.
Only issue I’ve had recently was the corner of the TfGM offices which is collusion central. That and the very odd bloke on Oxford Road who saw me from many yards away, started yelling for me to get out of his way - at a point when I couldn’t see who was yelling - and then appeared to deliberately walk into me to the horror of all the surrounding students.
Thanks for explaining all this HH. I was ignorant of The Smiths connection.
FYI, I was not into The Smiths at all, more into The Doors, The Communards, David Bowie, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, Propaganda, The Jam, The Pretenders, The Stranglers, …..
Actually quite a few more bands - just not The Smiths.
I have looked up on Wikipedia the description of the controversy over the song by The Smiths you referenced - it brought back strong memories for me.
The wiki article reminded me of quite a few conversations that I would have with taxi drivers when travelling around Manchester after midnight to get back to the student shared house.
That situation had a very big impact in the communities of Manchester.
Edit: Have just tried to locate my Propaganda album ‘A secret wish’ CD and cannot locate it. Did I lend it to any forum member?
On the question of safety, I recall going to many gigs at the long gone International and International 2 on the south side of the city (sort of in the Longsight / Rusholme area) and being very wary and keeping my wits about me when parking up in this slightly insalubrious area! Saw some great gigs at these venues though.
I grew up in Saddleworth and my parents are still there. Manchester still feels like the same city to me really, of course it’s evolved and grown but the general feel is the same. There might be more money in the centre but that centre is mostly surrounded by working class neighbourhoods, it’s that down to earth nature that gives Manchester its identity imo. Its allure is very much social and cultural.
I was 18 in 1989, at that time it felt like the centre of the Earth with the emergence of the Hacienda and so many great bands . Give me one more night of that please! It seemed like the safest and friendliest place in the world at that time.
Is it safe now? I’d say mostly yes but like any other city you need to be street wise to a degree, getting off the train at Piccadilly isn’t the best introduction. A bit like Le Gare du Nord (literally). There are areas to avoid but they are mostly outside the centre, you can say the same about London.
They were great venues, I cant remember which International it was but we saw the Wedding Present and the Inspiral Carpets on consecutive nights one weekend.
I know I get confused with these venues, but I think International 2 was the larger of the two. I also get confused as to which bands I’ve seen at which venue, especially as the hall at Manchester University seemed similar to International 2 (at least in my hazy memory).
I’m not sure - is there more than one? It was located on Oxford Road. Just had a quick look on Google Earth and I think it was the building where the student union is located.
place in the world at that time.