153 years ago this week, central Manchester’s high-security prison opened its doors for the first time.
HM Prison Manchester – which is commonly referred to as Strangeways by all that know it, which was its former official name derived from the area it’s located, until it was rebuilt following the major riots in 1990 – was declared open on 25 June 1868.
Built to replace the New Bailey Prison in Salford which closed in 1868, Strangeways was famously designed by architect Alfred Waterhouse.
With construction said to cost in the region of £170,000, the eye-catching Grade II listed building has the capacity to hold 1,000 inmates and is instantly recognisable to Mancunians primarily thanks to its 234 feet (71 m) ventilation tower – which is often mistaken for a watchtower, and has become a local landmark.
The prison’s walls are rumoured to be 16 feet thick, and are said to be impenetrable from both the inside and the out.
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Because of this, Strangeways has been home to some pretty notorious inmates over the years.
From some of the UK’s most-prolific serial killers, to television personalities, Premier League footballers and more, here’s a handful of famous faces who’ve spent time behind bars at Strangeways during its 153 year history.
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Harold Shipman
Harold Shipman was held at Strangeways in 1998 / Credit: Biography
Harold Shipman remains to this day one of Britain’s most prolific serial killers.
Serving as a GP at a medical centre in Hyde, Shipman often targeted the elderly by injecting them with lethal doses of diamorphine, resulting in a victim number thought to be between 215 and 260 people over a 23 year killing spree – which is one of the worst ever documented.
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Shipman was eventually arrested on 7 September 1998, and was held in Strangeways.
His trial took place at Preston Crown Court in 1999, where it took four months to find him guilty of just 15 cases of murder, and he was sentenced to 15 life sentences.
Ian Brady
Ian Brady served a three month stint at Strangeways prior to the Moors Murders / Credit: Biography
Ian Brady is most-known as one half of Britain’s infamous killing pair, The Moors Murderers.
Many will know that Brady and Myra Hindley devastatingly murdered five innocent children between 12 July 1963 and 6 October 1965 and buried their bodies in the vast landscape of the Saddleworth Moors, which eventually led to Brady being found guilty of three murders and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Prior to all of this though, within a year of moving to Manchester, Brady was caught with a sack full of lead seals that he had stolen and was trying to smuggle out of the market.
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He was subsequently sent to Strangeways for three months.
Joey Barton
Joey Barton served 74 days of a six month sentence / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Former Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton’s prolific football career and life have been marked by numerous controversial incidents and disciplinary problems over the years, as well as two convictions for violent crimes.
On 20 May 2008, Barton was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty for common assault and affray during an incident in Liverpool city centre.
Barton served 74 days of this prison term at Strangeways, being released on 28 July 2008.
Ian Brown
Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown was sentenced to four months imprisonment in 1998 / Credit: YouTube
One of the more well-known names to serve a stint behind bars at Strangeways is Stone Roses’ frontman, Ian Brown.
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Brown was charged for threatening behaviour towards a British Airways flight attendant and captain, and was sentenced to four months in the summer of 1998.
He served only two months of his sentence at Strangeways, and admitted that while locked up, he wrote three songs – including ‘Free My Way’.
David Dickinson
Credit: ITV
Another one of the more surprising Strangeways residents comes in the form of Cheadle Heath-born antiques expert and television personality, David Dickinson – who you’ll probably recognise as the host of Bargain Hunt and Dickinson’s Real Deal.
Believe it or not, at the tender age of just 19 years old, Dickinson served three years of a four-year prison sentence for mail-order fraud, with the majority of that sentence being spent at Strangeways.
Dickinson has since described this time as “horrendous”, and that he’s learned to “take it on the chin and accept it was his own fault”.
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Dale Cregan
Dale Cregan is one of Manchester’s most notorious killers / Credit: Greater Manchester Police
Undeniably one of Manchester’s most notorious killers of this century is one-eyed murderer Dale Cregan.
He began his life of crime from an early age dealing drugs, but then notably turned to gun crime by first shooting Mark Short in the Cotton Tree Pub in Droylsden and attempting to kill three other men, before violently murdering Short’s father a few months later.
He then made national headlines when he tricked two female police officers to a property in Mottram in Longendale by reporting a burglary, before ambushing them with gunfire and a grenade which murdered them both.
Greater Manchester’s chief constable Peter Fahy called the attack “cold-blooded murder”, and then Prime minister David Cameron said it was a “despicable act of pure evil”.
Cregan handed himself in and was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a whole life order on June 13 2013.
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Emily Davison
Suffragette Emily Davison was detained at Strangeways twice / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Suffragette Emily Davison was detained at Strangeways twice as a result of her efforts for the women’s rights movements during the early twentieth century.
Her first stint was for disrupting a meeting with Chancellor David Lloyd George and throwing rocks at the windows, and during this imprisonment, she famously went on a significant hunger strike, which resulted in her losing 21 pounds.
She was released just five and a half days later.
Her second Strangeways stint came just two months after, again for throwing stones, and lasted two and a half days.
Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor was the ringleader of the infamous 1990 Strangeways Prison riots / Credit: Merseyside Police
Unlike the other people on this list, it was Paul Taylor’s actions during his time inside Strangeways rather than prior that have ensured his name is written in the prison’s history books.
It all started when a visiting Church of England preacher had just delivered the sermon, and the prison chaplain stood to thank him before Taylor took the microphone and addressed the congregation.
Over the course of 25-days, the riots – which are still the longest in British prison riot history, with one prisoner killed, and 147 prison officers and 47 prisoners injured – spread throughout much of the prison, and Taylor famously ended up on the roof.
Much of the prison was damaged or destroyed, with the cost of repairs coming to £55 million.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons / Biography
Feature
Self Esteem at Manchester Academy – a night of pure energy and immaculate music
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston
A Complicated Woman – the name of Self Esteem’s album, she is currently touring around the UK and Europe. While she may be complicated, there is nothing complicated about how absolutely sensational a performer is.
I only ‘got into’ Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) this year. I kept hearing others talk about her and her music, but I’d never really given her a listen until we saw her on the line-up for Glastonbury. A Complicated Woman had just come out, so that was my intro, and I immediately became a massive fan.
I was lucky enough to watch her set at Glastonbury, which brought tears to my eyes for being both an incredible performance and thematically. When the opportunity then came to see her again, but at home in Manchester, I practically bit the promoter’s hand off.
The energy is palpable at Manchester Academy; everyone is just buzzing with a joyful energy that’s incredibly infectious.
Unfortunately Moonchild Sanelly, the collaborator on ‘In Plain Sight’ and Self Esteem’s support act on this tour, was unwell, so the delightful Tom Rasmussen stepped in at the last minute.
Fresh from a family christening and pulling in some last-minute pals, he delivers a delightfully camp and moving show, getting everyone pumped up.
The lights went down at 9pm, and the audience was met with a wall of handmaids, and then Rebecca walked out on stage to a huge eruption from the crowd. Her fans (myself included) clearly love her. She opens with ‘I Do And I Don’t Care’ which brings a tear to my eye once again.
This is more than just a ‘gig’. It is a full, theatrical experience with dancing and storytelling the whole way through.
Whilst Taylor is very clearly the focus, her team of performers are an essential element of the whole show: they’re so much more than just simple backing singers/dancers. They’re so in sync with each other, and there is so much joy on stage as they shine together – a very clear bond ripples through with such love.
The show flows almost as different ‘Acts’, with the running order not following the album order itself, with a mix of songs from her current album and the 2021 album, Prioritise Pleasure. ‘Mother’ gets the crowd grinding away as she moves onto ‘Lies’ and ‘69’ – which always gets a chuckle from the crowd.
We are fixated on her. She just draws you in and holds you there throughout the whole gig. Nobody is shifting around to go to the loo or get a beer; everyone is just glued to their spot and basking in her sensational energy. Despite some of the themes during the gig, everyone was abuzz with energy.
When ‘Fucking Wizadry’ comes on, every single person sings (or screams) along, and Taylor and her onstage posse absolutely lap it up.
With Moonchild Sanelly being unwell during our gig, when ‘In Plain Sight’ is performed, Self Esteem still moves to the side of the stage when the recording of Moonchild is played, giving space to where she would have been. Hopefully, she is feeling better for her further dates, because her presence would have been a powerful addition to the song, and I’m gutted to have not experienced it.
When ‘Cheers To Me’ came on, the party really began; the audience went utterly MAD for it when the inflatable men (like the ones you see at car garages) appeared. It is honestly so hard to describe the feeling of euphoric joy that is just blasting through the crowd – it is a sight and sensation to behold.
Now you may or may not know, but Self Esteem is personal friends with Julie Hesmondhalgh – yes, as Hayley Cropper from CORRIE! – in who appeared on stage on night two of her three-night gig in Manchester.
She admits to us that on night one, she forgot that Julie was only doing night two and had shouted to introduce her during ‘If Not Now, It’s Soon’, which had apparently caused a bit of a stir with some of the night one’s audience.
Making light of it, she asked if the crowd wanted her to shout Julie Hesmondhalgh again, so we all felt equal – of course, we did.
The show goes from strength to strength, “finishing” with ‘The Deep Blue Okay’ which perfectly encapsulates the raw emotion and talent of Self Esteem. The crowd is beside itself with cheer as they erupt in applause, deafening just about everyone around them as the stage empties and the lights dim.
Self Esteem returns to the stage alone initially, and chats to us about two important charities she is raising money for, the Schools Consent Project, which goes into schools and teaches kids about consent, and the other is X – helping relocate people displaced as a result of conflicts around the globe.
She then moves into ‘I Do This All The Time’, joined by her troupe again on stage, and finally finishing on ‘Focus Is Power’. Emotions are incredibly high. There isn’t a single person who hasn’t been moved and hyped by the whole show.
Review | FLO at Manchester Academy – three fly girls and a cardboard box full of hits
Thomas Melia
UK girl group FLO visited Manchester Academy yesterday and let the crowd ‘Access All Areas’ of their discography on their tour of the same name.
Jorja, Stella and Renée, more widely recognised as R&B girl group FLO, had Manchester in awe, treating the crowd to a night of silky vocals, stylish choreography and expert harmonising.
After visiting New Century Hall in 2023, Gorilla in 2024 and Parklife twice, the latest being earlier this summer – this time they’re setting ‘The Mood’ in Manchester Academy.
As the show begins, the trio pop out one by one and poses in a way that harks back to cult classic action film Charlie’s Angels, with the girls only visible by their silhouettes.
FLO played to a very lively Manchester Academy crowd last night (Credit: Audio North)
The song soundtracking this initial greeting is none other than the Cynthia Erivo-narrated ‘AAA’, which gives each member their own individual time to shine.
This girl group are ready to show off their musical skills in full force.
Next is the sassy and playful ‘Walk Like This’ which has the Manchester Academy crowd strutting their stuff while chanting “There’s a reason I walk like this / Side to side with a sway in my hip.”
‘Check’, which clocks in at just under three minutes, sees the girls ticking off some important relationship traits: “Is he loyal? Check / He spoil you? Check”; “Is he faithful? Check / Gentleman? Check.”
Jorja, Stella and Renée wowing the Manchester crowd with their stacked musical roster (Credit: The Manc Group)
This fun-filled single keeps the vibes at a high with the girls finishing each chorus admitting, “The way I trust him, I ain’t gotta check”, while giving each other a smile or two.
The gospel influenced ‘Bending My Rules’ was nothing short of religious. FLO made sure to take us to church for four minutes with their vocal runs, belts and stellar harmonies.
Following this is a number of much-loved album tracks like ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’, ‘Get It Till I’m Gone’ and the confident ‘How Does It Feel?’ which all go down a treat and show the girls in their elements or as they’d phrase it… in their bags.
As soon as the trumpet-heavy instrumental for ‘In My Bag’ plays out, the audience self-appoints themselves the role of US rapper GloRilla, making sure to recite her flow bar for bar – “On gang, gang”.
UK girl group FLO performing as part of their long-awaited ‘Access All Areas’ tour in Manchester (Credit: The Manc)
During this track, the girl group brought their A-game, recreating the choreography from this song’s music video with the audience acting as their hype men – it’s safe to say, it wasn’t just the girl group lapping up this moment; everyone was in their bag.
As Stella blurts “I got a confession”, the opening line to the band’s debut single ‘Cardboard Box’, there’s a flurry of screams from the crowd for this fan favourite.
Performing this penultimately really gave fans, such as myself, the time to process the journey these three have been on in the past five years and also to come to terms with the fact that the show was almost over.
The introduction to ‘I’m Just a Girl’ plays out, and in that moment, it’s safe to say no one could name a better closing song, as this encapsulates the band’s feelings towards the industry they’re working in.
This R&B trio put on quite the performance at Manchester Academy last night (Credit: The Manc)
Lyrics like “What’s a girl got to do to be seen?” and “How many black girls do you see on centre stage now?” reinforce the harsh realities this girl group have had to face and how they’re slowly inserting themselves in mainstream conversations.
Although this rock-twanged R&B hit might not be the perfect fairytale ending, the fact that over 2,000 fans have shown up and shown out for FLO’s Manchester gig is.
Their fanbase isn’t leaving anytime soon, and last night was a prime example.