Over the years, I have probably spent more time overall at Manchester Oxford Road train station, but I have still had a sustained period also in residence at Manchester Piccadilly station. This would either involve grabbing unwholesome late-night snacks prior to waiting for trains or undertaking a frantic lengthy scramble up the escalator to furthermost Platform 14 for last trains to Preston (many for the 1.24am ghost train!) or more latterly Platform 13 for trains out to our current digs in South Manchester.
One welcome change over the last 5 years is the removal of the annoying financial change for the courtesy of spending a penny! A couple of star spots whilst traversing the platforms there have been Graeme Souness and the Sunday Independent music critic Simon Price identified via his very distinctive hairdo.
Upon departure from Piccadilly via the main entrance or through the adjacent car park drops you directly into the Northern Quarter. There is an abundant area of back streets and original industrial units and dark satanic mills at your disposal. As a result, it is the perfect backdrop for TV and movie filming with the list including the Crown, Peaky Blinders, Das Boot and the Captain America: The First Avenger film.
One such street exemplifying the area is Tariff St. Your initial impression would be there is just industrial units but there is in fact a plethora of viable options. At the far end lies the Pen and Pencil which is a decent bar to visit.
At the other end is the Tariff and Dale bar which has been a very useful destination prior to a midnight train as most of the hostelries close to the station shut up shop at 11pm prompt. Next door is the Takk Coffee House which leans heavy on its Icelandic influences.
A further door down is the Kosmonaut bar which opened in 2011 and it merged into the area with its stripped-down floors, urban feel, and a terrific choice of craft ales on tap. It has been taken over in last couple of years by the Northern Monk brewery.
It gained inclusion to the Dot-to-Dot roster for a couple of years with gigs taking place in the downstairs bar. Thus on 28/05/16 we saw Crosa Rosa, a very heavy local psychedelic three piece who were gathering some attention and featured on a Huw Stephens ‘Best of BBC Introducing’ that year. A couple of years later we saw three to four songs within a noisy chaotic set from another local band called the Threads.
Further down the street is located the Whiskey Jar. The bar has been converted from an old textile mill and we first visited the ground floor prior to a gig at the Soup Kitchen and living up to the Preston peasants that we are, we readily devoured the pies that were on the menu! This bar holds acoustic events, but I have only witnessed acts in the downstairs space.
I initially visited there as part of the Carefully Planned Festival before it then also became part of the Dot-to-Dot schedule.
The first gig I saw there was with Uncle George and Dave Dyson on 19/10/14 and The Rattle were a very unusual combo consisting entirely of two female drummers. It was an interesting sight and sound initially but soon became a tad monotonous!
In 2016, I saw Bristol based Stevie Parker who provided an ethereal backdrop. A couple of years later I saw a noisier 4-piece Manchester called Dear Caroline who broke up a year later. The final act I saw there was Sylvette an art rock band also based in Manchester. Google informs me they are still in existence and are playing the mighty Mad Ferret in Preston later this year.