Canal Street (Manchester)

Canal Street

Canal Street looks across the Rochdale Canal into Sackville Park in the city centre of Manchester. The street is the main focus of Manchester's gay community and is lined with gay bars, clubs, cafes and shops. At night time (and in the daytime during the warmer months) the street is filled with partygoers, many of whom are gay and lesbian tourists from all over the world. The Gay Pride festival, known as Mardi Gras, or Manchester Pride, is held in this street and the surrounding area during the second half of August each year. The event culminates with a three day festival known as the 'Big Weekend', which is held over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

History

Canal Street was built alongside the construction of the Rochdale Canal, with pubs built to service the users of the canal. In the 1960s, the canals of Northern England declined in usage due to the collapse of the cotton industry. The Canal Street area then began to attract the gay community, who moved into the area from the 1970s. As the confidence of gays in the UK improved, more and larger bars opened along the canal side, turning Canal Street into the largest gay village in Europe.

In the early 1990s Manto bar opened. This was viewed as something of a revolution as Manto had large glass windows, allowing the casual 'passer by' to view what was going on inside. Previously many establishments catering for the gay community were often keen to 'conceal' activities from the general public. As the decade continued more and more establishments began to open, each with their own 'feel'. Manto was briefly renamed as 46 Canal Street; however, the Manto name returned to Canal Street in 2003.

In the late 1990s it was felt by many that Canal Street was becoming too 'mainstream', represented by the opening of a number of chain bars and the increasing proclivity of 'straight' drinkers. Canal Street has always welcomed all comers, but it was felt by the gay community that the street was becoming too commercialised and losing its original ethos. A boycott was launched of the new Slug and Lettuce bar, which eventually led to its closure, when it was bought out and re-opened as Queer. This, along with the re-opening of Manto, is widely seen as the turning point that led to the resurgence of Canal Street.

The Canal Street sign intact

The street's sign has often been altered, by removing the 'C' and the 'S', to read 'Anal Treet'. Sometimes just the 'C' is removed, to read 'Anal Street'.

The gay scene on Canal Street was a focus of the show Queer as Folk, broadcast by Channel Four in 1999. The rejuvenation of Canal Street in the Nineties was the backdrop for Manchester Slingback, a crime novel by Nicholas Blincoe.

Scenes in an episode of Coronation Street, broadcast by ITV were filmed in Canal Street, broadcast in October 2006. It includes shots taken outside Spirit, looking down Canal Street.

The memorial to mathematician, logician, cryptographer, early computer scientist, and gay icon Alan Turing is situated in nearby Sackville Gardens.

Canal Street and the Gay Community

Canal Street's role in the gay life of Manchester is perhaps unique in its centrality and to how the community see themselves. The 'sexual liberation' of society and changing ideas about homosexuality have gradually meant that the area has been opened to up to those who would not have previously associated themselves with it thus fragmenting the formerly relatively homogenous 'regulars'. However, a unique and sometimes perplexing idea of gay community remains. As diversity and openness have increased, so has the Street's profile.

The continuing existence of a 'Gay Community' is also a questionable prospect. As society and Canal Street have become more diverse and pluralistic, there is little which may bind any such community together besides one of sexuality. This, increased openness about sex in general, a more transient population and disaffection which some hold either over Canal Street or the 'Queer Life' in general may ultimately lead to the end of the place of Queer as Folk fame.

Bars and Clubs on and around Canal Street

• Alter Ego (formerly Mutz Nutz) Famed venue for Poptastic

• AXM Bar

• Baa Bar, Corner of Bloom Street and Sackville Street

• Bar Below

• Company Bar, a long-established men only bar, Richmond Street

• Coyotes, a venue aimed at the lesbian community, Chorlton Street

• Churchill's, Chorlton Street

• Cruz 101 & Sub 101, Princess Street

• Denvers, previously Berlin's has since closed and is soon to become a Casino/Hotel

• Eden

• Essential, Minshull Street

• Gaia

• Hollywood Show Bar, Bloom Street (The name has now changed to "The Hollywood: Studio & Lounge")

• Legends, Bears and Leather Club

• Manto

• Manhattan, Princess Street

• Monroe's

• Moon Bar, Piccadilly Basin, Jackson's Warehouse

• Napoleon's, Sackville Street, one of the longest running gay venues on Canal Street

• New Union

• New York New York, Bloom Street

• Outpost, previously Wells Fargo

• Paddy's Goose, Bloom Street

• Paradise Factory, Princess Street - Closed to become "Industry" then once again reopened as Paradise Factory, sister bar to Manto. Has yet again since closed and the building has been set aside for City Centre apartments

• Queens Hotel, previously Hotel International

• Queer

• Rembrandt

• Risa/Jongleurs, previously known as Mash & Air, made up 2 of the 3 most popular bars in Manchester, including Prague 5 (now View) Risa/Jongleurs is now closed and has made way for new apartments

• Spirit, this venue was filmed to provide the gay bar scene when Coronation Street ran a gay storyline centred around the character of Todd Grimshaw

• Taurus

• Thompson's Arms, Sackville Street

• TriBeCa, meaning "Triangle Below Canal" Is just off the gay village but is often frequented and staffed by gay people

• Via, previously Via Fossa (meaning "By The Water")

• Vanilla, a venue aimed at the lesbian community, Richmond Street

• Velvet & Velvet Bar

• View, previously Prague 5 was launched July 2005

• Villagio, Bar & Restaurant

External links

• News about the gay village from the BBC
• Panoramic view of Canal Street from the BBC website
• Manchester Lesbian and Gay Foundation
• Manchester Pride Festival
• RealManchester Reviews, listings and pictures of events
• Gaydio Manchesters LGBT Radio station
• RED & WILD Manchesters Annual World AIDS Festival

53°28′40″N 2°14′08.25″W