7th February 2017
Manchester: The Northern Quarter
I always travel into Manchester by train. I love trains and live right on the Manchester to Buxton line. I love the sound and vibration of the passing trains in the early morning when I first wake up. It’s like the dawn chorus, but more regular.
Today, I noticed for the first time a sign at the end of the platform at my local station, advertising the Samaritans’ services. I suppose this is a sign of the times. Sadly, it’s probably not to save someone’s life, but to ensure the trains aren’t disrupted. I used to be a Samaritan. It was quite an eye-opener. Often people just called up because they were lonely. Often, gravelly-voiced men would phone to tell you what they were wearing: “A pink silk nightdress, an Alice band and my tight little lace knickers. Thank you.” Then they would hang up. They just wanted to share their secret with someone, anyone, and their politeness was always quite touching. Sometimes you would get a call from someone who had taken an overdose and was dying. People don’t want to die alone. You could offer to call an ambulance for them, but often they refused. It was an eye-opening experience.
So, Manchester’s Northern Quarter is roughly between Piccadilly and Victoria stations. It was originally an area of slums and filthy lanes, filled with roaming and snuffling pigs, then later dominated by factories, mills and warehouses associated with cotton and cloth manufacture. It was as late as the ‘Nineties, when someone decided on the name and the boundary and it became an area of alternative culture, very Bohemian; Manchester’s answer to Soho. It contains some stunning Georgian and Victorian architecture. Many of the old buildings have been converted into apartments, shops or pubs. There are little cobbled streets and back lanes which make it seem quaint and from another era. Today, it’s as mainstream as any corporate high street that’s trying to present itself as alternative, but it’s still very vibrant, full of cafes and bars. At night, the area is thriving.
My first stop is the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, housed in a former market, hidden down a backstreet. I have a pot of leaf tea and a brownie in the little café, to set me up for the day... or at least the next hour or so.
I was born in Manchester and have always lived on its outskirts. It’s such a diverse and impressive city; I like the fact that every time I come in for the day I can discover something new. Today I am visiting the Police Museum which is in an old police station on Newton Street in the Northern Quarter, built in 1879. There are two paid staff and the rest of the personnel are volunteers, all ex-cons. In this case that refers to ex-constables; they’re all retired police officers and all very knowledgeable and friendly.
This officer is having trouble with his bike – but then he’s bound to; he’s got no face.
There are displays of uniforms and equipment. I am astounded by the ornate detail and design of the many whistles. The dozens of beautifully sculptured and decorated batons and truncheons are a sight to behold; I’m not saying it would be a pleasure to be hit by one, but they are works of art.
At the back of the station are the cells, which are small and contain two wooden beds each and a flushing toilet in the corner. Each cell might have to hold up to twelve men, so it would be cramped. One of the cells contains mug shots of real-life Mancunian felons. Most of them look like right wrong’uns; in reality they may have been convicted of crimes such as stealing a loaf of bread. They were different times. Hard times.
The museum is a treasure trove and well worth a visit.
I notice there is a lot of graffiti around this part of the Northern Quarter. Some of it is “street art” and has been commissioned to brighten up dull, bare walls and give the area its own unique character, but there is also some mindless vandalism, in the form of random spray paint initials and so forth.
Street art and graffiti – where does one end and another begin? Part of this took a great deal of talent, while part of it took none.
Still keeping with my Northern Quarter theme, I have lunch in Pie and Ale. How Manc is that? This is just off Lever Street, a modern building but tastefully lit. I arrive at 12.15 and am the only customer, but it soon hots up with people on their lunch breaks. As their name suggests, they specialise in pies and do a range of vegetarian and vegan pies as well. I have mushroom and leek, which comes with mashed potato and gravy. It’s gorgeous.
Piccadilly Gardens has been in the news this week. There is a lot of work going on at the moment and it’s a mess. For some reason, two workmen are spraying a stream of water onto an area of mud that has been dug over. As if we don’t get enough rain in Manchester! Piccadilly Gardens used to be a sunken area of flowerbeds and lawns, but it became the haunt of drinkers and drug users, so nobody wanted to use it. Instead of dealing with these issues, at the turn of the century - by which I mean 2000, not 1900 - they just flattened the whole lot and – at the cost of approximately £10 million – the Gardens were renovated into the monstrosity we see today. The most notable and notorious feature is a brutalised concrete wall that looks like they forgot to finish, likened by many to the Berlin Wall. This is a hideous grey carbuncle that would benefit from some street art to hide it. Or better still a trellis and some clematis. Somehow, in 2003, the new gardens were nominated for the Better Public Building Award. It didn’t win. I don’t know what work they’re carrying out at the moment, but it surely can’t make it any worse. Oh, and the aforementioned drinkers and drug users now hang out around the statue of Queen Victoria to the far side of the Gardens, so nothing at all was achieved by all this.
After a trawl around the charity shops I call into the Printworks, now an entertainment complex on the edge of the Northern Quarter, near Victoria station. It was initially the premises of a newspaper conglomerate, established in 1873. At one point, it was the largest newspaper printing house in Europe. It housed a printing press until 1986, when it was bought by Robert Maxwell.
Today it houses a cinema multiplex and I’m going to see the new Star Wars film, Rogue One. (Review and spoilers in Film Review section on this site.) Short review: it’s great!
FACT: The Northern Quarter has been likened to the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg region of Berlin. I’ve absolutely no idea what that’s like, but let’s assume it’s very nice.