Category: Manchester

Manchester Venues 172 to 174

It fills me with a warm glow that the excellent independent Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC) festival recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, though I could not attend this year as I decided to head to another festival on the same weekend. However, I shall now return to my review of the 19th edition which took place in 2024.

There is a glacial but gradual regeneration of the buildings and venues on Chapel Street near to Salford University, one such site is the Manchester Old Fire Station Cafe. The first recorded occurrence of fire fighting in the Salford area was in 1635, and the new fire station at Albion Place, Salford Crescent was built much later in 1903. It was a striking design of red brick and buff terracotta with a shaped gable, balcony and clock face, which has been retained to this day.  

The Old Fire Station. Image Credit soundsfromtheothercity.com

This was followed 25 years later by the building of an adjoining Ambulance house and additional houses were also provided for the firemen and their families. In the square of the front of a fire station you will find a War Memorial which was originally erected in 1922 to commemorate the Lancashire Fusiliers.

The fire station remained in operation for around a century before ‘Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb’ closed their doors for the final time!  Salford University subsequently reclaimed and restored the site and accommodated their Council Chamber and three boardrooms and they thankfully retained the fireman’s original poles.

More excitingly in July 2023 within the auspices of £2.5bn Salford Crescent Masterplan they opened up a bar and café including a sourdough bakery. They also housed in situ the new Lark Hill brewery with a select choice of local brews and there was an initial competition instigated with University staff to find the best name for one of their new ales. I have visited a few times and sampled breakfast there and also partaken of a couple of cold beers later on in the evening at one of their outside tables. 

Heading out to the Trumpton Riots! Image Credit fia.uk.com

They have a regular weekly quiz and were sensibly chosen for inclusion as a venue within the SFTOC roster. On that particular day we saw SHEwillprovide? who are a collective trio from Manchester with their music ensconced in their Jamaican roots. We also say Ayy Den, now based in Manchester who badges herself as a genre-fluid DJ.

In 1953, two book afficionados Eddie Frow and Ruth Haines met at a Communist Party Summer School, they then hooked up and their pooled collections was the initial germination of the Manchester Working Class Movement Library. Over the next couple of decades, they continued to expand their compendium, gaining charitable trust status but conversely running out of storage room in their house in Trafford.

In 1987, Salford City Council agreed to provide support and provided a home for the library and the couple in Jubilee House, across the road from the University of Salford. The building was originally built in 1897, and it had a previous function as a nurse’s home.

Working Class Movement Library. Image Credit Geograph Britain and Ireland

In 2007, the trust agreed to provide the lease and annual costs with additional funding provided by trade unions and personal subscriptions. The 30,000 books contained in the library cover the subjects of trade unions, co-operative movement and left wing politics.  It is an old brick building set from the main road and on our visit, we saw a local hip hop artist called O’Sapien performing.  

As you progress down Chapel Street, and you reach Bexley Square you would find the Manchester Porta Tapas restaurant. Gill and I have visited a couple of times, and it is a lovely, homely spot and they also serve the excellent Pastel de Natas!

The owning brothers Ben and Joe Wright have sister restaurants in Chester and Altrincham and have recently opened a further branch in West Didsbury on the old site where Simon Rimmer’s Green’s restaurant was located for many years.  In the last couple of SFTOC events they have been added as an additional venue on the roster, and they utilise a function room for the acts to play on the second floor accessed via some cramped stairs.

When we landed there was an artist called Yeguachita playing who is self-described as a queer, neurodivergent musician from Abya Yala. I had to look up that last reference and it is apparently a term used by some indigenous people of the Americas when referring to their ancestral lands. She was very quirky and crossed many genres, and I found her performance quite intriguing.  

Manchester Venues 170 to 171

Manchester Jimmys was founded in 2016 by the One Night Only bandmates and brothers George and Jimmy Craig. The band were an Indie rock outfit that were formed in 2003 and hailed from Helmsley in Yorkshire and released three albums in total with their biggest commercial success being the single ‘Just for Tonight’ which peaked at No 9 in the UK singles chart.

The venue was located on Newton Street in the Northern Quarter, a veritable stone’s throw from the legendary Roadhouse venue. It sadly closed in 2019 to create room for office space, but a new version sprung up a year later in Cutting Room Square in Ancoats and was a sister venue to their Liverpool branch.

Manchester Jimmys. Image Credit ilovemanchester.com

The residential location of the latter site has resulted in no musical licence being obtained and the requirement for earlier closing times than the former which had a later licence until 2am. I have never yet visited the Ancoats site but attended the Newton Street space a few times. The venue was very colourful and glitzy and resided over two floors. The ground floor containing the main room and bar with the music stage and a further bar situated downstairs, it was a compact but inviting space to watch a band.

They had their own beer supplied in conjunction with the local Holts brewery and even named a Jimmy lager after me, though unfortunately it was an acquired taste that I never acquired! I do seem to recall they only had one lavatory in total in the building, which was a far from ideal scenario.

They had regular gigs taking place there and I recall hearing about an early gig from local band the Blinders and even a DJ set from our very own mayor Andy Burnham! I attended five times in total, and all were part of multi-event wrist band events such as the Dot-to-Dot festival.

Jimmy’s Ancoats venue. Image Credit jimmys.group

My first appearance was in 2017 to see a London based artist called JW Ridley who had just released his self-titled debut EP. He provided some dreamy post-punk sounds and has been gathering some airplay on 6 Music and I noticed was listed on the recent Liverpool Sound City event roster.

My next visit was the following year was to see an artist/producer named Devon. He hails from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and is obviously proud of his heritage as he displays a F.O.D moniker across his clothing when playing live. He also cites the remote location as inspiration for his music and bedroom DIY approach.   

My third visit was to see a four-piece indie act from Glasgow called Rascalton who had just released their debut single ‘This Is It’, I don’t know whether that was intended as a respectful nod to the Strokes whose debut album was titled ‘Is This It’. I next saw a band called Callow Youth from North Manchester who were formed the year before at high school and I would badge their sound as in the ‘lad rock’ mould.  

My final attendance in 2019 was the best of the lot as I witnessed a band called Secluded Sea. They were initially a collaboration between Halifax born multi-instrumentalist Blair Murray who has worked with Laura Cantrell, and ex-Foxtales singer Angela Hazeldine.  They expanded in a live setting to a six piece and created a very pleasing dream pop sound, though unfortunately they now appear to be no longer in existence.

The Manchester Crown & Anchor is situated on the corner of Port Street and Hilton Street within the Northern Quarter and has occupied that very spot since 1791. In its former life it expanded by incorporating the house next door and used to have a 150 capacity meeting room upstairs. Like many older boozers it was split into different areas, namely a wine and spirit vault, two parlours and a tap room.

Manchester Crown and Anchor with old signage. Image Credit alamy.com

It used to be under the auspices of the Chester Ales brewery in the 1960’s and 1970’s and this was reflected in the vintage signage before being extensively refurbished back in 2011 with the addition of a pool table and a roof top smoking area. It was also once featured in the Sky TV drama ‘Wolfe’. Members of the Stone Roses were reputedly visitors to the hostelry back in the late 1990’s.

It displayed an innovative streak during Covid by partnering up with the nearby Bread & Bowl to sell takeaway food and beer and enabled this pursuit by creating a new outdoor space because at the time the restrictions specified only beer gardens. It shut briefly at the end of 2021 but swiftly reopened under new owners. Due to its location, it can become busy on Manchester City match days, and they occasionally have live music. About a year ago after attending another gig, I saw a solo artist called Stefan perform there.