La Cave, Red Lion Street

La Cave, 15 Red Lion Street. (c) Manchester Beat [1].

La Cave was an unlicensed club in the 1950s and '60s on the corner of Church Street and Red Lion Street, run by Tommy Brown who also ran Brown's School of Dancing in Moston [1].  The likes of Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders played at the club to revellers, who may have nipped out to the Red Lion for something a bit stronger at times, if the pub and club's existence coincided.

Former location of La Cave, Red Lion Street, 2008. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

The lower sides of Red Lion Street have been torn down, the east side for the Church Street multi-storey car park, while the west side remains empty.  I'm guessing this was where La Cave once stood; by the 1987 the back of the exposed building had been taken over by Cafe Lahore, one of the many curry cafes that the area has become famous for.

Former location of La Cave, Red Lion Street. (c) Slbs at geograph Creative Commons.

Cafe Lahore is long gone but the old building has been tidied up a little in recent years as this scruffy little corner of the Northern Quarter becomes more gentrified, with a few restaurants and bars having opened around here in the last couple of years.  La Cave appeared to be a French-themed club, judging by the membership card; something even the NQ hasn't tried... yet.

Former location of La Cave, Red Lion Street, 2012. (c) Google 2013. View Larger Map.

1. www.manchesterbeat.com/venues/manchester_cbd/lacave/lacave.php.