Manchester’s Strange Quarter is alive with creativity. Can it survive a 130-hectare redevelopment?
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<p>Thriving venues such as the White Hotel have turned the area around Strangeways prison into a cultural hotspot – but owners are worried for its future</p><p>Walking across the so-called Strange Quarter takes 20 minutes but encompasses a vast array of artistic endeavour. Over the last decade this loosely defined district straddling Manchester and Salford, previously known for industrial estates and Strangeways prison, has emerged as a hotbed of DIY clubs, arts spaces and prac
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Manchester’s Strange Quarter is alive with creativity. Can it survive a 130-hectare redevelopment? Thriving venues such as the White Hotel have turned the area around Strangeways prison into a cultural hotspot – but owners are worried for its future W alking across the so-called Strange Quarter takes 20 minutes but encompasses a vast array of artistic endeavour. Over the last decade this loosely defined district straddling Manchester and Salford, previously known for industrial estates and Strangeways prison, has emerged as a hotbed of DIY clubs, arts spaces and practice rooms. The White Hotel programmes groundbreaking music in a defunct MOT garage. Around the corner, Hidden offers a multi-level club and large open-air dancefloor, with scores of studios split between the main Downtex Mill building and a more recent addition, Inca. The DBA is a historic pub reborn as a focal point for queer and electronic music communities, and the Yard is an intimate indoor-outdoor venue, with yet more studios. The list goes on. In a city still somewhat in thrall to its heritage, from the Haçienda to Oasis, many in the Strange Quarter say the area has redefined Manchester’s cultural life. “The scene here will be remembered far beyond many of the histories celebrated today,” says Sam Rushton, who manages the events and studio space 1520. A creative hub with photographers, music producers and more working over various floors, its intimate blank canvas basement hosts everything from barefoot ambient gatherings to techno sessions. When we speak, Rushton is designing an “Art Attack meets Star Wars” stage for IDM artist Tommy 2000’s album launch. But the area’s future is far from assured. Sitting next to Britain’s fastest growing urban centre, until last year the neighbourhood was untouched by the vast developments dominating much of the surrounding city. Then in November, the Strangeways and Cambridge Strategic Redevelopment Framework was finalised and put forward after consultations. A ...
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