The ‘Northern Quarter’ is possibly one of those names that was dreamt up by planners to make a dowdy old bit of Manchester seem more interesting and vibrant. The northern quarter is not quite Ancoats but not really the centre either but too close just ignore and as such it is a fascinating mix of city life and industrial past.
It’s very old and it looks it too – This map of 1831 hosted here -> Click shows how little the lay out of the streets, and in many cases the buildings have changed. Tib Street and Oldham Street (the most vibrant throughfare) have been extant since at least 1772. Though little remains of the very earliest developments in the area, the whole place has a feel that the rest of Manchester doesn’t. Victorian warehouses and market halls nestle against new buildings and despite it’s popularity with the more bohemian element of Manchester’s consumer’s, there is still an impressive feel of dereliction.
This is one of the reasons I love the place – the development of Manchester moves so quickly that very few places retain the air of moody, fallen grandeur that I associate with the city. Sure, a lot of the old buildings remain but somehow, it’s hard to link the sandblasted and double glazed redevolpments with the dirty and slightly ominous feel of ‘my’ Manchester. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fantastic that the place is moving on and becoming such an impressive city – I think it’s fabulous that I can link the words ‘continental feel’ and ‘Manchester’ without sniggering, but it would sad if nothing was left of the quintesentially northern feel, if the dirty red brick and pigeon filled rotting windows were swept aside completely.
It would be strange to be in Manchester and feel little physical connection to towns like Bacup, Rochdale, Leigh and so on – to the places that built the past, the industrial heratage which gave the UK so much of it’s landscape, housing and it’s relative wealth. I’m in no way romanticising the past, but if the old buildings of Manchester were Royal Palaces or stately homes, they would be saved – Yet, to me, they are far more important than that, they are real, living, breathing history, filled with echoes of those who lived and died – if you squint (and ignore the sound of students and the clatter of cappucino’s cups and latte glasses from the many cafes and bars) you can still feel the ghost of industrial Manchester in the Northern Quarter.
It’s wrong to state the only reason I love the place is the patches of dereliction, for there is far more than semi morose building porn that recomends the place. We are frequently told the internet has killed the record industry, but visiting this little corner of the world, you can find a plethora of fantastic independant stores. The king of the quarter has to be Picadilly Records which boasts a vast range of stock and a decent supply of vinyl. Honorable mentions go to a wide range of specialist shops such as the extra-ordinary purveyers of IDM, glitchcore, dubstep and allsorts of marvelous wierdness Pellicanneck (you have to look inside Cafe Oklahoma to find it!), the legendary dance specialists Fatcity Records and best of all – the most engrossing shop a music fan could ever imagine – Vinyl Exchange where many an hour can be whiled away and incredable bargains found.
Afflecks Palace is probably the most famous aspect of the Northern Quarter – to me, it’s gone a bit up market in the last ten years and is a little bit less of the endearing shambles it once was, but their are still some fantastic vintage clothes stalls and a lovely vegan cafe and an awful lot of teenage kids in big boots and piercings trailing round. Beyond Afflecks, you can visit a fair few boutiques and a smattering of skate shops, buy comics in the large comic shop, browse the brilliant and rather lovely craft market or wander up the road and see where the Big Issue gets made. The north end of Oldham St takes you to Ancoats , and is yet to really feel the same breath of life as the main part of the quarter and is home to the most bizzare array of theatrical outfitters, turntable stockists and a second hand shop the size of a warehouse that just about only sells tracksuits from the early 90s.
You can eat at some great places – I recommend the ‘Odd Bar‘ which feels a bit pretentious at first gance, but actually is refreshingly down to earth and friendly (and the food is very well priced) but to be honest, you could spend a week or so eating in all the different little cafe’s and such. There are some fantastic watering holes which generally combine the feel of a Nathan Barley scene with a nice laid back ambiance. Visit the ubercool Dry Bar, which was once owned by New Order (you can often see the indie luminaries of Manchester there, though I have only ever seen John Robb….) or the Night and Day cafe next door for a more dingy atmosphere. The Night and Day, is also a music venue with decent live acts on most nights – just round the corner is the Roadhouse, first step to fame for many a Manchester band whilst if clubbing is more your thing, then sadly PlanetK is no more, but there are a few newer venues around and about.
It’s impossible to sum up why I love this place in a few words, without showing you and then you might not understand – I’ve been heading here for the last 12 or so years, everytime I’ve had some money to spend. Sometimes as a kid, I used to come and just have a coffee and smoke a fag in a cafe, to soak up the feeling of somewhere more interesting than Wigan. One of the greatest disapointments of my life was the day I went to Camden – expecting a vast range of music stalls, and people selling their own designer clothes, I found instead a plethora of ‘I like the pope – the pope smokes dope’ shirts and awful overpriced ‘ethnic’ tat. Maybe the best way I can describe the Northern Quarter is ‘It’s like Campden, if Camden wasn’t rubbish and over crowded.’ On second thoughts, perhaps the best thing I can say is, it’s nothing like Campden really…
Go and play on the interweb with these links
More pics from other folks here
A map, so you too can go there!
Manchester Council’s pretty crap site about the Northern Qtr
Charlie Sloth will fuck you up for dissing Camden
[...] are some cracking record shops and stuff but it’s all spread about from what I could see. The northern quarter in Manchester or somewhere like that is far more contained and thus no matter when you go it feels like something [...]