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
The best Manchester-based anime-style memes we’ve seen online as Ghibli craze takes over
Danny Jones
Now, the internet can be used for a lot of silly and pointless things – you might argue us sharing our favourite memes every morning is a prime example of that – but we have to admit, the second we saw a Manchester-inspired Studio Ghibli image on social media, we were hooked.
If you have absolutely no idea what we’re talking about, there is a current craze that has taken over the internet, which has seen recognisable memes and images recreated in the style of the iconic Ghibli anime films, created by legendary animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
Once you’ve found one, you tend to start spotting them more and more frequently, and in the case of the chronically online like us, we’ve been inundated with them for weeks now.
People are using AIto create them in various different contexts, but it won’t surprise you to learn that our favourite Ghibli/anime memes are those based around Manchester. For example:
Bloody hell, the internet really is brilliant sometimes, isn't it? 😂 https://t.co/virpFx60u7
As it happens, this was the first and perhaps still the best we’ve seen to date, but it didn’t stop us from falling down an animated rabbit hole looking for others.
To be honest, we didn’t actually have to do much searching ourselves as they’re absolutely all over the algorithm at the minute, and have been for a good month or so.
‘Ghibli memes’ may be an overgeneralisation of what is a rather specific and famed art style, but this ongoing flood of anime-style cartooons is being created by users giving prompts to ChatGPT, the increasingly popular large language model (LLM) and AI tool.
Designed with OpenAI software, the artificial intelligence chatbot can do everything from write extensive study notes and flash cards to fixing blurry images, writing computer code, entire essays and quite literally countless other things.
In this instance, people are just reimagining moments from the zeitgeist and famous memes in this style by feeding the image to ChatGPT, along with an ‘in the style of Studio Ghibli’ prompt.
One for the Blues…And the Reds.All of these images have been designed using ChatGPT. (Credit: Eleventh Minute/centredevils via X)
Pretty cool, right?
You’ll find that footballer Twitter (sorry, X*), in particular, is absolutely full of fan accounts recreating iconic club scenes in the Miyazaki art style, giving their favourite players big ‘Chibi’ eyes (another unique aspect of anime) and so on.
It’s all just a bit of a laugh, after all; even we here at The Manc put ChatGPT to the test back in June 2023 and asked it to design ‘the perfect day out in Manchester’ – to varying degrees of success, we might add.
As ever with machine-learning, the more information you feed it, the better the result and although we know these are original pictures being reimagined, it still goes to show just how impressive and varied AI is becoming.
We’ve also enjoyed some that aren’t necessarily Manc but are quintessential British humour or simply more universal memes.
Exhibits E and F…
Even after all these years, we feel like we still see this in some context at least once a week – and it still makes us laugh.‘What a sad little life, Jane…’Credit: brandsynario (via Instagram)/No Context Brits (via X)
Despite these memes riding a real wave right now, the Ghibli portrait fad is just that; there are plenty of other aesthetics being toyed with, too.
Actually, it already has, as we’ve now started coming across people making action figure versions of themselves and/or famous people, full decked out with accessories inside blister packs and everything.
On the other hand, many people are understandably concerned about what this means for artists and although there is no substitute for genuine human expression, whatever form that may come in, lots of people are railing against it as the possibility of AI-based pop music has been posited.
With that in mind, maybe the best twist we’ve seen is our very own Stanley Chow subverting the trend and doing Ghibli stuff in his equally iconic style. We’ll take these geometric gems over computer-generated imitations any day.
For now, it’s just a bit of fun and we confess we’ve got some light entertainment out of it, but the increasing possibilities being thrown up by AI in terms of art do pose a lot more complex questions.
We’ll finish with one final example because let’s be honest, there’s only really one thing on our minds at the minute – at least until the summer finally rolls around…
Let us know if you’ve seen any other fun examples and what you make of the whole Ghibli meme trend down in the comments.
LF System on headlining Amber’s for ‘The Drop’, dancefloor anthems and more
Thomas Melia
Scottish DJ duo LF System are playing an intimate set in Manchester as part of ‘The Drop’, a special monthly event series for a very important cause.
‘The Drop’, sees the hitmakers joining two more greats, DJ Paulette and Turno, as headliners for this remarkable event all about raising awareness and funds for mental health in the music industry.
The mastermind partnership of Headstock and Skiddle, each event champions a charity which benefits including Music Minds Matter (Turno) and Nordoff & Robbins (DJ Paulette and LF System).
The first monthly set comes from the DJ duo behind one of the biggest UK club staples, ‘Afraid To Feel’, as LF System take over Manchester’s newest clubbing venue, Amber’s – who typically keep their lineups private – for an exclusive ‘Coffee Table Session’.
LF System, Conor Larkman and Sean Finnigan, outside their New York session venue.Credit: Supplied
LF System Interview
This event is in aid of Nordoff & Robbins: how important is this cause to you?
We feel like music should be enjoyed by. Anyone, no matter what. Nordoff & Robbins make that possible.
They help everyone, all ages through music therapy. It’s important to us that [this event] supports them. Everybody deserves a chance to have a go at music, it’s a great cause that allows people to have great opportunities.
You’re going to be playing Amber’s, which is one of Manchester’s newest clubbing venues, how are you feeling?
I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, so I just really want to get in there and experience it for ourselves.
It’s weird coming to Manchester at this time of year as well; we’re always here in winter, usually freezing and raining, so it’ll be quite nice to come down this April.
Amber’s nightclub has some very important rules, including a no-phone policy in order to bring clubbing back to its roots – how do you feel about this?
Oh, we’re all for that!
I think there’s been a bit of a problem recently, so anything that can be done to make clubbing all about the music and as immersive as possible the better. It’s about living in the moment. I think that’s a good thing.
I don’t think we’ve ever actually done anything with a no-phone policy before; somehow, they’ve always snuck them in. Exciting.
LF System’s Conor at a recent event in New York.The Scottish duo LF System, playing an intimate set in New York.Credit: Supplied
What can fans expect from your special set for the monthly music series ‘The Drop’?
It may be a bit different to what we usually do as it’s a coffee table session set-up, but there’ll definitely be good vibes and good music all night.
There’ll be a lot of unreleased stuff that we’ve been making recently, mostly from our new EP that’s coming, and it gives us a chance to play our new songs and see people’s reactions. So far, they’ve been good every time we’ve included them.
How come you’ve opted for a ‘Coffee table session’ rather than a huge rave vibe, especially considering how much your music gets crowds up on their feet?
We’ve never actually done a coffee table session in a club before, so that’ll be our first for us. It’s going to be electric and fresh.
You just get to showcase a lot more music than when what you do when you’re playing a club set, different BPMs.
[Coffee table sessions] still get people up and dancing, but it’s just a different type of night. It’s relaxed, happy dance music, you know what I mean? You don’t have, don’t have to go mad ‘fer it, just a nice chilled one.
As well-respectedDJs, it’s only fair we consult you on Manchester’s clubbing scene, so how would you rate the club culture and atmosphere in our city?
We always have a good time in Manchester and there’s always good crowds. It [Manchester] is just like that.
There’s a good culture to do in this city, so I think it’s a good place to bring this session too, and we’re looking forward to it.
It’s got a really rich history and you can always feel that when you’re there, it’s always a good time in any of [Manchester’s] different venues. Everyone always seems right up for it.
House music is known to improve people’s moods, and ‘The Drop’ is all about music and mental health, so to finish off, what’s your all-time favourite top three mood boosting house tracks?
Sean
‘Music Sounds Better With You’ by Stardust
‘Beautiful People’ by Barbara Tucker
‘In Love With You’ by The Paradise
Conor
‘Why Not?’ by Skate Bård
‘I Think I’ll Do Some Skipping On My Own’ by Sandy B (Opolopo Rework)
‘Night Walkin” by Mermaid S
LF System are bringing their bangers to ‘The Drop’ in Manchester.Spinning the decks just like they will at Amber’s in Manchester later this month at ‘The Drop’.
Emily Sergeant -
21st June 2021 
