Pubs of Manchester

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

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Cloisters, Oxford Street

Cloisters was the less famous neighbour of Rafters, Rotters et al on Oxford Street. The club was cheaper to get into with cheaper drinks, so probably attracted a certain type of punter in the '70s (think modern day Peter Street). It was a sticky-carpet cellar club and bar, with a bizarre slightly medieval theme and it had life-size suits of armour around the dance floor. There is even a documented haunting recorded for Cloisters - in the '70s the deceased owner, Bill Benny, was reported to have turned up on CCTV a few years after his death [1]! Cloisters closed in the late '70s, and from what I can gather was on the same side of Oxford Street as Rotters, towards St Peter's Square.

16 comments:

  1. omg we got drunk as a scunk's trying to chat up the barmaids, latter got arrested about 04 30 in the morning then going to be best man at is wedding the same morning.

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  2. Looking for people who used to go cloisters in 1977

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    1. I used to go every week

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    2. I was there in 1977 great night met some people

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    3. Brilliant nights there met Jimmy Morrison if ur out there

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  3. I've still got a ticket for free entry to Kloisters from the 70s, happy times

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    1. Hi mate is there any chance you can send me a picture of the ticket please I would love to see one again thanks

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  4. I remember if you paid on Friday got free entry for Mondays and Wednesdays at Kloisters or Genevives loved them both good memories

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  5. remember chatting up and dancing with one of the suits of armour !!

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  6. An old family friend owned cloisters and joe berry and his wife Diane berry later owned banshees

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  7. My parents used to work there in the 70s

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  8. Never went in due to the clubs bad reputation and I often witnessed knife fights outside usually on a weekly basis. Cops everywhere and women screaming, how it didn't get shut down I will never know. Was a regular at Genevie's in Longsight which was a sister club to Cloisters, a bit rough but great times were had there in the late 1970's.

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