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.