Manchester Venues 153 to 155 – Caribbean Festival

One of the strengths of my hometown of Preston is that it has always been a multi-cultural city with a large proliferation of the Windrush generation amongst others settling there in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

As a result of this cultural background there were two thriving establishments dotted across the city, the first being the Caribbean Club in Kent Street which had a golden period in the 1980’s and 1990’s where I saw The Membranes, Snuff and Scream perform. The club is now long gone but Jalgos in the city centre remains, a venue where I once saw UK Subs play upstairs.  

Jalgos Club. Image Credit lep.co.uk

There is also every May bank holiday a large Caribbean procession on the Preston streets with colourful floats and steel bands with the end point of the parade being a festival gather in Avenham Park. The 50th anniversary version of this event took place in 2024.

When we relocated over to Manchester, I always endeavoured to make an appearance at their own festival. The actual start year of their event is somewhat disputed, some say 1970 and others say 1971, what is not in doubt however is that the location for the festival has always been the large Alexandra Park in the Moss Side area of town. It can’t be easily overlooked that the shindig has over the years sometimes had a chequered history with gang incidents, drugs arrests and even murder.  

The original British festival was held in London in 1959, in direct response to the racist riots that took place in Notting Hill and also Nottingham the summer before. The driving force and organiser was Claudia Jones who is now revered as the ‘mother of the British Caribbean carnival’.

A flyer for Preston Caribbean festival fundraising. Image Credit socanews.com

Her back story is fascinating as she was born in British Colonial Trinidad in 1915 before her childhood years in 1930’s Harlem in New York. As a black woman and a ‘communist’ she was victimised in the McCarthy post war era and was shamefully classed as a criminal and deported to Britain in 1955. She admirably became a strong advocate of fostering the local community and continued to fight the politics of the day and the inaugural festival was created four short years later. Ms Locita Brandy was Claudia’s equivalent in being the impetus behind the subsequent inception of the Northern version.  

Alexandra Park dates back to 1864 and was first opened to the public in 1870. There were at that time experimental usage from the architect Alexander Hennell of oval shaped and curved pathways, a raised walk and a half mile lime walk wide enough for horse drawn carriages. Additionally, one of the original park keeper’s homes, Chorlton Lodge still remains to this day.

The park was the location of the great Manchester Woman Suffrage demonstration of 24th October 1908 and several Rock Against Racism events took place there with a particular one on 15th July 1978 which featured both Steel Pulse and the Buzzcocks. 

Thus, on Sunday 11th August 2024 we decided to make our long overdue debut. Initial thoughts were to walk the 5 miles there, but a stiflingly hot day put paid to that idiotic idea. We travelled over on the metro and alighted at Withington tram stop which is a stone’s throw from those cemetery gates that Morrissey famously sang about, it was about a mile trek from there to the park.

Manchester Caribbean Carnival. Image Credit themanchestercarnival.com

There was extremely thorough security checks at the gate before we undertook a circuit of the huge site. Initially on the Manchester Caribbean Youth Stage we saw a band called Black Oxygen before catching up with Axis Attack on the Manchester Caribbean Jamaican Corner Stage.

There were fun fairs and vendors of all different shades including numerous rum bars which we swerved around. We did however hit one of the food stalls and sampled a terrific homemade curry which was served with rice and beans, salad and plantain. 

Now, in my time I have been to more loud gigs than you can wave a stick at, but the noise level there was astounding, and the bass was vibrating through to your very soul. We grabbed a spot on the grass but could not hear ourselves to have a conversation, so were virtually reliant on sign language. Whilst we munched on our food our ears were assailed by a chap called RJ on the Manchester Caribbean Main Stage.

Stockport Venues 7 to 8

If you turn left off Shaw Road onto Heaton Moor Road in Stockport, you encounter many differing retail units of shops, restaurants and bars. The first of interest is the Cork of the North wine shop and bar, though I have only thus far graced the doors just the once and not frequented any of their numerous wine tasting events.

The next destination is the Stockport Crown Inn. Now, I don’t know if they were short of available names back in the day, but I can think of five different hostelries with the Crown moniker within a five mile distance of this one. This particular version is a highly traditional bar with one long room and two separate back rooms, one an old fashioned mini snug and a small beer garden with barbecue facilities at the rear.

The Crown Inn. Image Credit beerintheevening.com

It was built in 1820 and initially was set back from neighbouring buildings because of the existence in that spot of three poplar trees. A century later the local lumberjack felled them, and the pub was extended in 1930 by building forwards to line up with the other buildings. The pub was originally under the auspices of Richard Clarke’s Reddish brewery before morphing into a Boddington’s Bitter house in the 1960’s. It has retained many of the original floorboards and wooden effects which only embellishes the allure in my view. Apparently also the tabloids were reporting recently that Ricky Hatton and Claire Sweeney were spotting leaving the said establishment after a night out.

They have a few TV screens showing sporting events but also stage live music every Friday and Saturday in the bay window area by the front entrance. Our first musical visit was there on 20/07/19 with Jo and Paul after grabbing some tea at Valentinos restaurant in nearby Moor Top. The band on stage was a local rock covers band called Rock Doctors who mainly play 1970’s tunes and I recall two or three Bad Company and Free tracks.  

We visited again last month just prior to Christmas and the place was bustling with groups of menfolk imbibing prior to the later showing of Tyson Fury’s latest boxing match. There was a duo called Moor Irish playing which consisted of two lasses, one on acoustic guitar and the other playing a suite of instruments including flute and penny whistle and they were very enjoyable. When I look at the roster board outside there is an act who play there periodically called Reservoir Dads, who I must endeavour to witness one day as (Dad gag incoming alert) they could be ‘bloody’ great!    

Reservoir Dads. Image Credit reservoirdads.co.uk

As you progress down the road you pass (or go in) the Plough on the Moor, a regularly visited homely pub where they produce a rather fine Sunday roast, and we have whiled away many hours in one of their cosy corners.

Further on you reach Casa De Moor, our favourite Tapas restaurant in the region. Beyond the fine evening fare, they also provide huge hearty breakfasts where we have frequented a couple of times on Cheltenham Gold Cup morning before heading home to watch the racing. The last bar on that side is an establishment called the Eden Bar and Eatery which has various different incarnations including being called the Scarlet Door. The road then leads you down to the evocative old fashioned Heaton Chapel train station.

Across the road you will find the Moor Club, a private members club (previously the Conservative Club) which has been in place in that location for over a century. They have five snooker tables within and have professional exhibition matches there. They used to have monthly vinyl nights and have jazz musicians who play every Wednesday and in the summer months you can purchase cold beverages as a non-member and bask on one of the tables outside.

A more extensive beer garden is situated next door at the Stockport Elizabethan, though finding a seat in the warmer months can still be a challenge! Originally built in 1874 the pub started life as Bampton House, a private residence before in the early 1900’s morphing into a private members club but retained the original name. To coincide with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, it changed to its current name and became a public house.    

The Elizabethan. Image Credit searchstockport.co.uk

The hostelry is one of many in the area under the auspices of the local JW Lees brewery, which suits me as I am partial to a drop of their ale. It is a large wood furnished establishment and is generally always busy with many sampling the food on offer.

It had a short blast of fame in 2017 when Liam Gallagher’s brother Paul was turned away at the door for wearing tracksuit bottoms, generating an extensive twitter rant from his kid brother. Apparently, they have form in this regard as many moons ago a young David Beckham was refused entry for wearing trainers. For the record, I have never been denied entry, but this is probably more to do with the fact that I have rarely seen a bouncer in residence than of it being due to my sartorial elegance!    

I thought they were a non-live music pub but on one exception on a sunny August evening I just happened to be ensconced there when a local singer called Serena performed a turn.