The Mancunian Way: Strangeways, here we come

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Hello,

It’s been almost a year to the day[2] since the announcement that Manchester’s Wild West, Counterfeit Street, was set to be bulldozed. Though shoppers who venture onto Bury[3] New Road for a fake designer handbag or a cheap pair of trainers likely have no idea of the misery linked to the warren of shutter-fronted shops, the area has been a hive of criminal activity, carried out with virtual impunity, for decades.

It has been linked to drug dealing, forced prostitution, slave-labour and firearms.

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Last year, chief constable Stephen Watson said he was not prepared to have a ‘criminally hostile’ area in his force patch. While council leader Bev Craig had already promised a transformation of the area, reasoning:[4] “We have to have more aspiration for that bit of the city than being able to buy a ripped off North Face jacket.” Of course, the area is also ripe for development with the opening of a new GBP93m campus for Manchester College on the site of the old Boddingtons Brewery and a new Travelodge hotel both catalysts for action.

There are even hopes that HMP Manchester – better known as Strangeways – could be moved from the area.[5] Over the last year, there has been raid after raid at the warren of shops around Strangeways and Cheetham Hill[6], with police seizing millions of pounds worth of knock-off goods, fake prescription drugs and weapons. Just last week[7] police busted a huge ‘badging factory’, with around GBP800,000 worth of fakes uncovered inside. As of July, 72 counterfeit shops have been closed, 75 arrests had been made and 257 tonnes of seized counterfeit goods with a value of GBP39m ‘repurposed’.

Meanwhile, the senior officer in charge of the ongoing operation has now been asked to steer another major project – the cleaning up of Piccadilly Gardens.[8] But around Strangeways, the clean up continues, and Avison Young has now been chosen to draw up a masterplan[9] for the area. The team will work with Salford[10] and Manchester councils to develop the Strangeways and Cambridge Strategic Regeneration Framework[11] ahead of public consultation next year.

Coun Craig says Strangeways has ‘huge potential’ as a gateway into the city centre. “Following months of intensive operations between the council, GMP and other agencies we have worked to remove the criminal enterprises that have undermined the reputation of the area and limited the chance for existing legitimate businesses to prosper,” she says, adding that the plan will deliver new homes, quality public realm and new commercial spaces that grow the area.

And Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, says the work will complement the regeneration and development of Greengate, Blackfriars and Trinity and Lower Broughton adding: “It’s an obvious ‘missing piece of the jigsaw’ when we think about the on-going development of our city.”

‘More sinister than a fading star trying to remain relevant’

If you’ve been watching the BBC[12] series The Reckoning – which charts the horrific offences of paedophile Jimmy Savile – you’ll no doubt be tuning in for the final episode tonight. Former Manchester Evening News features writer Simon Donohue got a unique insight into the notorious presenter and DJ following a one-time encounter before his death. It was back in 2005 when Simon and photographer Chris Gleave travelled to Leeds to interview Savile[13] at his penthouse apartment.

Simon describes it as an ‘unsettling’ encounter that was among his ‘oddest professional experiences’.

Photo by Chris Gleave from Simon Donohue’s interview with Jimmy Savile (Image: M.E.N./Chris Gleave)

Entering Savile’s apartment, he says the designer furniture had ‘a faded demeanour similar to that of Savile himself, who looked somewhat dishevelled in a Nike shell suit, open to the waist, gold chains hung around his neck’. As they sat and talked, Savile puffed away on several Romero Y Julieta Cuban cigars and with ‘a superior air’ lounged in a chair which lay too far back. “I guess there was a slight sense of reverence and fun at first but it faded fairly quickly,” Simon writes.[14] “Susceptible as feature writers often are to a little pop psychology, I imagined at the time that this was part of his attempt to keep his flame flickering – still relevant and worthy of an interview.

Understandable if he was a little odd. Slightly bitter.” When Simon probed him on his relationships, Savile claimed there’d been ‘lots of women’. “It wasn’t that you were a dirty bugger or anything like that – it was part of life,” he said, asking the interviewer to ‘move on’.

Simon writes: “Perhaps most chilling given his life’s work, and the sordid details that would emerge after his death, he said that one of the reasons he’d never settled down was because ‘he didn’t really like children’. “In hindsight, I think it might have been much more sinister than a fading star trying to remain relevant. Was he playing with us?

Teasing? Enjoying the thrill of hiding in plain sight? Was he waiting to be caught out?

“Photographer Chris and I both agreed afterwards that it had been among the oddest professional experiences we’d had. The atmosphere was strange, his conduct unsettling. It would be a few more years until we would comprehend just how unsettling this icon of TV really was.”

You can read Simon’s Substack blog here[15].

Tributes to woman killed at Piccadilly Gardens

Almena Amica, 77, who died following the crash (Image: GMP)

A woman has sadly died after a bus crashed into a shop[16] at Piccadilly Gardens[17] yesterday. Almena Amica, 77 – who was a pedestrian during the incident – was taken to hospital with serious injuries but later died. Almena, from south Manchester, was known as Mena to her family and friends.

In a statement issued by Greater Manchester Police[18], her family said: “Mena was dedicated to her family, friends and faith. She loved music, gardening, TV soaps and nature. She was the senior member of our family, the eldest sister and great-great-aunt.

She was well-loved, our matriarch, and her presence will be hugely missed. Mena was a private person and her family asks that this be respected during our time of mourning. We thank all the services and people who came to her aid.”

Eleven other people, both pedestrians and bus passengers, were either treated at the scene or in hospital for minor injuries following the collision at around 1pm yesterday. A 64-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has since been bailed.

Inquest continues

A fresh inquest examining the death of schoolboy Yousef Makki is continuing today.

Crime reporter John Scheerhout is bringing live updates from Stockport Coroners’ Court and you can read them here.[19][20] And you can read the details from the first day of the inquest here.[21]

Greenbelt campaigners call for Gove intervention

Campaigners want Michael Gove to step in to save Greater Manchester’s green belt as controversial plans to build 175,000 homes in the city-region[22] are set to be approved. As Joseph Timan reports[23], the Places for Everyone masterplan for ‘housing, jobs and growth’ reached a key milestone last week[24] as the final stage of public consultation got underway.

Its predecessor, the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework[25], went through several rounds of consultation before Stockport council[26] pulled out of the plan in 2020[27], leaving the other nine boroughs in the city-region to come up with a new one. The revised plan, which was subject to months of public hearings starting last year, would see more than 2,000 hectares of land taken out of the green belt. But Save Greater Manchester’s Green Belt say lifting protections on these beauty spots would ‘betray future generations’ by ‘destroying ecologically-rich community assets, which play a huge role in mitigating against climate change, supporting food security and improving health and wellbeing’.

They are now calling on housing secretary Mr Gove to step in.

Could the Metrolink be coming to Stockport?

(Image: MEN MEDIA)

Stopfordians rejoice – your reliance on the rail and bus network and those late night, expensive taxi rides home may soon be a thing of the past. There are signs Metrolink services in Stockport are finally taking a step closer to becoming reality. That’s because space for a future tram track has been included as part of a development project in the town, as Declan Carey reports.[28][29]

As Network Rail prepares plans to replace the deteriorating Greek Street and Stockholm Road bridges, they’ve included tram-train futureproofing for one additional track through a tunnel which ‘insures the bridge can be adapted when Metrolink comes to Stockport’. Mayor Andy Burnham[30] expressed a wish to see a Metrolink service in Stockport, Bolton[31] and Wigan[32] back in 2019. But locals were promised trams in the borough way before that.

Speaking at a recent Stockport Council communities and transport scrutiny committee, Labour[33] and Co-operative Party Coun Rachel Wise said: “I’m absolutely thrilled. I’m somebody who likes to get buses and trains and would love to get a tram, I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do, to not close off any possibility of the tram coming to Stockport, coming to the right places, being functional, and getting it to the places that people need to go.”

What threatened to be a very expensive white elephant

Central Park Metrolink station in 2011

Let’s hope the Stockport Metrolink – if it does ever manifest – doesn’t go the same way as Central Park station. With its swooping copper-clad roof, the stop – in Newton[34] Heath – became an instant landmark when it was built in 2005. But as Damon Wilkinson explains,[35] it took seven years before any trams actually stopped there.

That’s because the Metrolink line it was meant to serve wasn’t actually open yet. “It has beautiful swirling architecture, cost millions to build and was finished on time. All this Metrolink stop needs now is a tramline,” the Manchester Evening News reported at the time. The delays were all linked to plans to redevelop a derelict former industrial area with the new Greater Manchester Police headquarters, a regional HQ for Fujitsu and a science park for all four of Manchester’s universities.

The saga that followed involved some flip-flopping from a former Transport Secretary, a gamble from transport bosses and an M.E.N campaign. You can read all about it here.[36]

Celebrating Salford

One of the first industrial cities in the world, Salford has reinvented itself as a hub of culture and innovation. And while the city is separated from its larger neighbour by the River Irwell – they have grown together over time.

To celebrate Salford and its communities, Lee Grimsditch has delved into the archives and created a fascinating gallery showing its people, places and streets from the 1960s right through to the 1990s. You can view it here.[37]

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Weather etc

Wednesday: Cloudy changing to light rain by nighttime.

15C. Road closures: A5145 Kingsway, Stretford, eastbound closed for long-term roadworks between A5181 Barton Rd and A56 Chester Rd.

Until Aug 31, 2024.

Manchester headlines

• Suspended: A former senior Greater Manchester Police officer has been suspended from his role[39] as chief constable of Northamptonshire Police amid an investigation into his wearing of military medals. Nick Adderley, who was in charge of GMP’s Tameside division in 2012 when Dale Cregan shot dead PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, is alleged to have misrepresented his past by wearing a Falklands War campaign medal. He has been suspended while an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct takes place.

• Resignation: A Manchester councillor has quit the Labour Party over Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on Israel.

  Ardwick councillor Amna Abdullatif has resigned from the party citing comments made by the Labour leader about the conflict in the Middle East. She will now serve as an independent councillor and will continue working with Labour representatives in the area. More here.[40]

• Tour: Liam Gallagher has announced a new tour to celebrate the 30 year anniversary[41] of Oasis’ debut album Definitely Maybe. The run of dates in 2024 include three huge homecoming gigs in Manchester.

  The tour will see Liam perform the Definitely Maybe album in full for the first time. Tickets go on sale on Friday.

• Grotto: Bosses at the Trafford Centre have confirmed details[42] for its Christmas Grotto for 2023 – and a new indoor Christmas Market will surround it. This year it will go back to a traditional grotto style with an ‘immersive wonderland’ where kids will walk through an Enchanted Forest to meet Santa.

Worth a read

For the last 18 months, Matthew Curtis has been trying to visit as many pubs and bars throughout Greater Manchester as he can.

The freelance writer and photographer has visited more than 180 different venues in an attempt to come up with a definitive list of the best places to find good beer in the city-region right now – and he’s finally at a point where he can share his findings.[43]

Beer critic and writer Matthew Curtis shares his favourite pubs and breweries in Greater Manchester

“The beer and pubs scene in Manchester is the best in the UK, I really do believe that,” Matthew, who is also the co-editor of independent beer magazine Pellicle Magazine, told Adam Maidment.[44] “There are some amazing cities in the UK for beer – there’s Sheffield, Liverpool and Newcastle who all have so much going on – but Manchester has this great mixture of the old and new that most other cities don’t seem to have the same balance of. “There are some amazing traditional pubs like the Peveril of the Peak, The City Arms and The Marble Arch on Rochdale Road as well as this incredible choice of modern cafe bars, like Cafe Beermoth and Port Street Beer House, which was one of the first craft beer bars in the UK.” You can

That’s all for today

Thanks for joining me.

If you have stories you would like us to look into, email [email protected][46].

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References

1. ^ right here (mancunianway.co.uk)
2. ^ a year to the day (e.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^ Bury (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
4. ^ reasoning: (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
5. ^ could be moved from the area. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
6. ^ Cheetham Hill (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
7. ^ Just last week (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
8. ^ the cleaning up of Piccadilly Gardens. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
9. ^ has now been chosen to draw up a masterplan (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
10. ^ Salford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
11. ^ Strategic Regeneration Framework (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
12. ^ BBC (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
13. ^ travelled to Leeds to interview Savile (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
14. ^ Simon writes. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
15. ^ Substack blog here (substack.com)
16. ^ has sadly died after a bus crashed into a shop (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
17. ^ Piccadilly Gardens (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
18. ^ Greater Manchester Police (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
19. ^ Stockport (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
20. ^ you can read them here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
21. ^ details from the first day of the inquest here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
22. ^ plans to build 175,000 homes in the city-region (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
23. ^ As Joseph Timan reports (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
24. ^ a key milestone last week (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
25. ^ Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
26. ^ Stockport council (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
27. ^ pulled out of the plan in 2020 (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
28. ^ Metrolink (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
29. ^ as Declan Carey reports. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
30. ^ Andy Burnham (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
31. ^ Bolton (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
32. ^ Wigan (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
33. ^ Labour (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
34. ^ Newton (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
35. ^ But as Damon Wilkinson explains, (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
36. ^ You can read all about it here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
37. ^ You can view it here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
38. ^ clicking on this link (data.reachplc.com)
39. ^ has been suspended from his role (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
40. ^ More here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
41. ^ a new tour to celebrate the 30 year anniversary (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
42. ^ have confirmed details (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
43. ^ share his findings. (shop1.camra.org.uk)
44. ^ told Adam Maidment. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
45. ^ Matthew’s findings here. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
46. ^ [email protected] (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
47. ^ sign up (mancunianway.co.uk)