Pubs of Manchester

All pubs within the city centre and beyond.
A history of Manchester's hundreds of lost pubs.

Monday 24 September 2012

Hulme Labour Club, Bonsall Street


Hulme Labour Club, Bonsall Street, Hulme, 1995. (c) Mick Pye with kind permission.

Looking grim here in the mid-1990s, the Hulme Labour Club is shown at the archive in happier times just after it opened, in 1971 as part of the new, regenerated Hulme.  Why the council or the owners eventually decided to brick up the windows is rather obvious when the disturbing history of this disastrous 1970s Hulme redevelopment is considered.  The Hulme Labour Club played host to famous bands back in the day, such as The Fall in 1977 and Fast Cars the following year.  However, by the mid-'80s the place had closed and was being used as a squat, perhaps by the sort of chaps shown below (it's "Dave Hulmanoid" with the hat).

Hulme Labour Club, Bonsall Street, Hulme, mid-'90s. (c) Mick Pye at Manchester District Music Archive [1].

Digging through the archives brings up this sorry story from 1982 in The Tribune:  "AT AN election night social in the Hulme Labour Club in May, two gay men suffered an unprovoked attack which resulted in both of them requiring hospital treatment.  The club, which has a long record of discrimination against gay people, has refused to condemn the attack or take any action against the attacker whose identity is widely known as a member of Hulme Labour Club.  Hulme Labour Party has now decided to break all connections with the club and will picket it every Friday evening."  Bonsall Street still spans Princess Road today, just south of Stretford Road; the club is, of course, gone.

1. www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?aid=8607&vid=631.

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