During the first lockdown in March 2020, prisoners at HMP Manchester were offered the opportunity to write down their reflections as part of a creative writing competition – and have their work judged by real authors. The results offer extraordinary insight into the minds of inmates during the onset of COVID-19.
When Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared on television screens last March staring solemnly down the lens and warning us not to leave our homes, it should have been shocking enough to send cups of tea spilling across living rooms right around the UK.
But as gloomy and demoralising as the broadcast might have been, it was not a surprising one.
By this point, most of us knew it was coming.
That infamous public address on March 23 had – just like COVID’s symptoms and knock-on effects – crept up on us in sinisterly steady fashion.
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For weeks, we read headlines about the increasing spread of the virus and watched many of our European neighbours bolting their own gates shut. So, when the decision was made to officially lock down in the UK, many of us had already mentally prepared ourselves for the worst.
For many in Manchester, the preamble to the address had involved messaging loved ones and setting up home working stations. But over in Cheetham Hill, there were 650 people behind bars still struggling to comprehend exactly what was happening.
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HMP Manchester’s inmates – concealed from view of the deserted city centre streets – had relied on TV sets as their sole window into the real world. But despite the drama unfolding on the news channels, they still felt once removed from the pictures being shown on the screens inside their cells.
It wasn’t until the morning of March 23 when officers told prisoners to “check their phones” that the seriousness of the situation sunk in.
After punching in their access codes, they realised something. Their call credit had increased.
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Prisoners could read between the lines. This was a full-scale lockdown.
For those who have never set foot inside a maximum security facility, HMP Manchester has an otherworldly aura; epitomised by its towering walls and fortress-like architecture.
Portraits of prison life – on camera or in print – can often feel like they belong to another realm. And this is exactly what made the onset of COVID such an unsettling time for its inhabitants.
As one prisoner’s grave confession at the start of the first lockdown testified: “I fear people are going to forget about us and we’re going to die because we’re bottom of the pile.”
But when the pandemic hit, inmates at Manchester were actually presented with a unique chance to share their stories through art. And now this material is set for publication.
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The booklet, titled Write Inside At HMP Manchester, is a compendium of astonishing reflections written by those incarcerated during COVID, ranging from real contemplations on an unravelling pandemic to fictitious worlds created out of a desire for a form of escapism.
Put together by MK College and curated by HMP Manchester’s Distance Learning Coordinator Maureen Carnighan, the project began life as a simple writing exercise to keep prisoners preoccupied.
But it quickly snowballed into a creative writing competition, with a panel of published authors – including Jonathan Aitken, David Nolan, Joseph Knox and Erwin James – stepping in to judge the work and offer feedback.
Aitken and James had previously served sentences themselves, whereas Nolan has produced extensive coverage of the Strangeways Riots throughout his career.
The submissions – which include diaries, stories, poems and illustrations – were originally scrawled on scrap paper and the backs of envelopes by prisoners at the height of the pandemic, before being collected and cobbled together to form an anthology.
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It’s set to go to print later this year; with all money raised going towards the Prisoners’ Education Trust.
After the writing competition ended, entries were judged and a prize was split between the winners. But a little bump to the prison bank balance was just a bonus. According to organiser Maureen, what was most important to inmates was the fact their stories were actually being read by others.
Nolan, Knox, Aitken and James added comments to every entry, and as Maureen passed on the feedback to inmates, she could hear their self-esteem “growing over the phone”.
“The fact that real authors read their work – they were amazed by it,” Maureen explains.
“All the stories [in the booklet] are so different. Some of the fiction is amazing.
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“But there are some surprises, too. There’s even some soppy poetry in there!”
Many of the most affecting pieces within the collection are the ones that pull readers inside Strangeways to share a cell with the authors.
One such article, entitled ‘COVID Diary’, paints an eerie picture of a cell block on the morning of lockdown where you could “hear a pin drop” – before going on to tell the tale of inmates scrambling to check their phone credit.
As the story ebbs on, the author expresses his concern for his fellow inmates.
“I’ve done many, many lockdowns,” he writes, having been in and out of prison for almost three decades.
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“[But] this is the first time there has been a lockdown like this.
“Only urgent health care appointments, no dentists, no work, and up to twenty-three hours banged up unless you are a servery worker or cleaner. I honestly feel for all those lads and girls who I think are ‘suffering in silence behind that door.’”
Another prisoner also describes the stress levels in prison as being so high that the wing is “crackling as if it’s charged with static”, with a lack of routine akin to having his “body vigorously rubbed with a cheese grater.”
The collection also features a haunting short story penned by an inmate who was among the first to become infected.
He recalls curling up around the toilet bowl, a big warning sticker being slapped on his cell, and guards dressed head to toe in quarantine suits bellowing at him to “stand back” so they could safely drop off food.
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“Shivering in my bed, thoughts ran through my head,” he writes.
“What if I don’t wake up? The thought of dying in prison was so scary.”
But not all prisoners felt compelled to write about COVID. Others seized the opportunity to pen letters to their former selves, whilst one inmate – sentenced for 28 years for gang-related murder – scribbled a painful and emotional apology to his mother for everything he’s done.
According to Maureen, the writing casts the inmates in a whole different light.
“We tend to ‘monster’ everyone that goes to prison,” she says.
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“But these people do come out [of jail]. It’s our job to re-educate and support them whilst they’re inside to reduce the chances of them reoffending.
“Here, in this writing, they come across as real human beings who have made very real mistakes.”
All prisons offer a core education curriculum covering English, maths, digital skills and relevant vocational training – which all inmates who would benefit are encouraged to attend.
But enrolling in higher education courses (e.g. university level) involves meeting certain criteria. Permission from the prison itself is required before applying for funding from the Prisoners’ Educational Trust and for individual courses. Proximity to release date is also taken into consideration.
What made Maureen’s writing competition so unique and appealing was that it was open to all inmates immediately, at no cost.
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When word got around, the uptake was big.
Even once the initial exercise was over, the Distance Learning Coordinator said she was “overwhelmed” with additional requests from prisoners – many of whom thrived on the experience and expressed a desire to keep learning whilst locked up for long portions of the day.
Educational in-cell packs have also been introduced at HMP Manchester in the absence of face-to-face education – covering subjects such as maths, English, business, art and ESOL (English for speakers of other languages).
Write Inside At HMP Manchester – a time capsule and window into Strangeways during an aberrant moment in history – is set for release at a pertinent point in the pandemic; with the whole penal system once again in lockdown.
Since March 2020, over 10,000 prisoners in England and Wales have tested positive for COVID-19. At least 86 have died.
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Interventional measures have prevented the numbers climbing higher. But this has meant more time in cells, with prisoners spending the past few weeks reliving the experiences they wrote about last spring.
Most in-person social visits have also been banned since the beginning of the second lockdown in November – with inmates instead meeting loved ones via ‘Purple Visits’; the prison equivalent of video calls (at HMP Manchester, a phone has been fitted in every cell so that support staff can speak to prisoners, with the Education Department using them to provide feedback for in-cell study packs).
Conditions have been tough – and in December one retired judge even suggested sentences of inmates should be reduced in order to compensate.
Still, there is cause for optimism across the penal system in the weeks ahead.
Cases of COVID-19 among inmates and staff have been steadily declining since the end of January.
The situation is improving, and there is cautious hope that a tough chapter for UK prisons is slowly coming to a close.
“Prisons are not the holiday camps that the public sometimes believe them to be,” Maureen states.
“They are difficult environments made more severe during lockdown for obvious reasons.
“Some of the men I come across are so keen to get educated and so determined to change their lives around.
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“But having the opportunity to write and tell their story? That’s definitely helped them.”
Write Inside At HMP Manchester is being published in the prison print shop and sold in support of the Prisoners’ Education Trust.
Details on how to purchase copies are available online.
Feature
The Salford deli with the best name in Manchester has a new home — and it’s even more of a hidden gem than ever
Danny Jones
If you’ve ever ventured down Chapel Street in Salford or sat with a pint in Bexley Square, you’ll probably have noticed the shop, cafe and deli space that once sat on the corner.
More accurately, if you know the spot, you’ll likely have chuckled to yourself when looking up at the sign and reading the name above the front door: Deli Lama. Still makes us smirk to this day.
The best-named Wholefoods Shop and Cafe sat as a literal cornerstone of the Salford community for over a decade and was a real favourite amongst locals but has since moved premises, and whilst it is more out of the way than it used to be, it has only reaffirmed Deli Lama’s hidden gem status even more.
Now located in the old Islington Mill just across the road — which currently serves not only as a residential space but as a key cultural hub for creatives and artisans — it’s arguably situated even deeper in the heart and soul of old Salford than ever. You’ve just got to know where to find them.
And that’s where we come in. After initially heading out on a weekend and wanting to enjoy a brew and a bite to eat, we decided to go on the hunt for their new venue and ventured down James Street to stumble across the mill itself.
An unassuming space, to say the least, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s still out of use at first glance, but once you spot the boards pointing you in the right direction of Deli Lama and the other names who have popped up in here, it does feel like you’ve stumbled across the best-kept secret in town.
Walking down the tunnel past the notice boards and the other indoor studios, you emerge out into the quiet little courtyard to find the deli’s new location, with fairy lights in the window and the old still just propped up against the wall as they’ve had little time for finessing — they’re just cracking on.
Although the space might be a little rough and ready in parts, what it achieves is that genuine rustic feeling that so many other trendy new openings attempt to contrive, whilst also carrying over a sense of familiarity from the former venue.
In the spacious new spot, you’ll find the same cupboard and pantry staples from rice, pasta and pulses to organic fruit and veg, bakery items, preserves, condiments and so on that you would find in the old shop, only now there’s room for more of anything.
There are also shelves of organic tea and coffee, fridges full of chilled drinks, soups and freshly prepared ciabattas, as well as literally the best vegan cookie we’ve ever had. They even make their own seitan.
Looking at the menu itself, as well as a regular rotation of specials, they do vegetarian brekkies that will knock your socks off like the Caribbean scramble, as well as plant-based breakfast burrito that we devoured within seconds alongside a big healthy portion of their chilli bean soup.
Topped with jalapenos, herbs and a lovely dollop of guacamole which thickens up the texture the more you swirl it in, just like when you used to dip your buttery bread into the bowl at home, it was divine and we could have had ladles of the stuff if it wasn’t for all the other customers ordering a portion as well.
Banging vegan sausages.The deli counter.Unreal.Not just the best-named deli in Manchester but some of the best food you’ll find in Salford too.
Speaking of the crowd, you can tell this is a real haven for artisans and the other residents. The mill has stood there for 200 years and as it now boasts apartments upstairs, virtually everyone living and working here has become a regular, with people from all ages and walks of life.
As well as being a quaint little creative corner, Islington Mill is also important in the LGBTQ+ community, with the Islington Mill is Queer audio series recorded here, not to mention serving as a key part of the council’s ‘The Other City’ fund and artist-led community project bigging up Salford as its own entity.
As for Deli Lama themselves, they’re a team of just three led by founders, owners and local couple, Linda and Lincoln, who opened up the original shop 12 years ago but have been set up here since November, insisting they are “much happier at home here” and now starting to regain their rhythm.
Together for two decades themselves, you can tell this isn’t just their livelihood, it’s a passion they’ve bonded over and a way of continuing to contribute to the area that clearly still means so much to them.
It already feels so vibrant and welcoming.Walls full of produce.Credit: The Manc Eats
What this small but incredibly dedicated team manages to do, beyond just delivering high-quality produce, is make every person who steps in the door feel like their best mate and part of the family. We’re not exaggerating when we say they knew everyone’s name in the two hours we spent there.
Even from the cosy little snug where you can sit on an armchair in the window next to some plants and a little poster wall promoting upcoming community events, to the little kitchen just behind the counter, you do get that feeling of being in someone’s home even with the big window and skylight above.
There’s plenty of bustle next door and across the courtyard from the pottery place, needlework studio and tufters also based within Islington Mill, but somehow this place manages to help block out all the business of town just down the road and even outside is relatively tranquil.
We were only supposed to come in for a coffee but we ended up feeling so relaxed we didn’t want to leave and ended up eating twice, buying a takeaway butty and some stuff from the fridge just because we fancied it.
Could spend hours chilling here.Salford coffee to boot.Get the lemonade, trust us.
More importantly, the wholefoods, zero-waste and almost entirely vegan approach means that Deli Lama is one of the most sustainable, sourcing directly from local co-operative Organic North and even eyeing plans to set up their own in the future.
They also cater events and private functions, including a substantial corporate do or two when they can, and might also be making their groceries and food menu available on Deliveroo later this year.
It’s also crucially one of the most reasonably priced cafes and stores of its kind you’ll find anywhere so close to the city limits which, in a cost of living crisis, should never be overlooked or left unapplauded.
Please give the wonderful team at Deli Lama Wholefoods Shop and Cafe in Salford a go — you will not regret going for the short wander to find them and we promise, you’ll fall in love with it just like we did.
Rochdale Town Hall, one of Greater Manchester’s most spectacular buildings, reopens
Daisy Jackson
Rochdale Town Hall is one of Greater Manchester’s most impressive and historic buildings – but until now, large parts of the building have been closed to the public.
All that has changed this weekend when, following several years of careful restoration, the magnificent Grade I-listed giant threw open its doors.
From Sunday 3 March, people are able to visit Rochdale Town Hall completely free of charge seven days a week (excluding Bank Holidays), exploring grand halls, historic offices, and impressive sweeping staircases.
The landmark looms over the heart of Rochdale town centre, an easy walk from tram and train stations.
Up until this year, spaces were available to book for events like weddings, and it was used for official business, but has never been properly utilised as a tourist attraction.
It’s taken a 500-strong team of volunteers and teams of conservation specialists thousands of hours to bring it fully back to its former glory – they’ve carefully stripped away years of grime using cotton buds and other equipment to expertly bring life back to the ornate stained glass windows and historic features in almost every room.
So what exactly is it like inside after its multi-million-pound refurb, you ask? Well it’s pretty damn impressive.
The most breathtaking space of all is the Great Hall, where 350 hand-painted panels cover the vaulted ceiling, carved wooden angels hold lanterns, stained glass windows tower overhead, an enormous organ stands on the stage, and a huge Magna Carta mural covers one wall.
The incredible hand-painted ceiling panels in the Great HallInside Rochdale Town Hall
It’s a room filled with red and gold patterns, including images of the English lions and Scottish thistle, and you might recognise these colourful walls from a little show called Peaky Blinders…
But before you even reach this point, there are wonders to behold.
The Grand Staircase sweeps its way up from the ground floor – look up and you’ll see enormous stained glass windows documenting Rochdale’s place on the global stage.
The Exchange will be used as the town hall’s main entrance, where different shades of granite and marble were used to make candy-striped ceilings, and craftsmen carved various flora and fauna into the stone pillars.
The Great Staircase at Rochdale Town HallThe Exchange will be used as the main entrance for Rochdale Town Hall
Off here there’s a brand-new exhibition space, known as the Welcome Gallery, which tracks the timeline of the landmark, including the fire that destroyed its original clock tower (it was later re-designed by the legendary Alfred Waterhouse).
There are also historic spaces, where the walls are covered not with wallpaper but with hand-painted patterns. These intricate designs have also been restored.
In one room, you can see the history of the cotton industry in the paintings, from the Ancient Egyptians all the way up to the industrial era that Rochdale played such a huge part in.
And as well as celebrating the historical features of Rochdale Town Hall, there are also new artworks that have been created with local community groups and schools, celebrating present day Rochdale.
Rooms which were formerly used by council staff and councillors have been turned into usable spaces for the public, like the new Bright Hall, which has double-height ceilings, angels along the walls, and a window overlooking the Great Hall from up high. The Bright Hall will now be available for community use and events.
Hundreds of volunteers and specialists have worked on Rochdale Town Hall’s refurbishmentAnother grand space in Rochdale Town Hall
When it officially reopens on Sunday 3 March, there’ll be bookable tours, longer opening hours, and new exhibition spaces for locals and visitors to explore.
And in a few months’ time, a brand new restaurant – The Martlet – will open, under the steer of executive chef Darren Parkinson who has honed his craft at some of the country’s best gastropubs.
The whole building has been made fully accessible for the first time, and there are new heating systems and a sturdier roof in place to future-proof Rochdale Town Hall for decades to come.
Councillor Neil Emmott, leader of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It’s been a long wait for our residents and I’m delighted that they will finally get to see their beautiful town hall, fully restored in all its glory.
“Not only will they see the town hall they know and love, looking as good as it would have when it first opened in 1871, but they will see brand new features, like the Welcome Gallery, which makes it an even better space than it was before. We can’t wait to welcome people back in.”
One of many beautiful stained glass windows inside Rochdale Town HallThe huge organ in Great Hall
Councillor Janet Emsley, cabinet member with responsibility for Rochdale Town Hall, said: “Sunday 3 March will be a wonderful celebration, but it’s really just the beginning for our brand new town hall. Our new offer means that residents will be able to see it and enjoy it seven days a week.
“We will soon be offering guided tours, alongside a full activity, events and education programme, which will be revealed soon.
“We anticipate the opening day being very busy, so people who would prefer a quieter experience may wish to come along another day. This beautiful building certainly isn’t going anywhere and our new extended opening hours offer many opportunities to enjoy this special place.”
The huge project was made possible with funding support to the tune of an £8.9m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
For its launch weekend, there’ll be activities at Rochdale Town Hall like rug tufting workshops, the roving Bombay Raja brass band, and a special puppet show by Fool’s Paradise.
Pre-booking is now full but walk-ups are available, so, if you don’t mind a wait, you can head to Rochdale Town Hall between 10am and 4pm this Sunday to see the incredible spaces for yourself.
For more information about the town hall, including opening times and upcoming events and activities, go to rochdaletownhall.co.uk.