Manchester has one of the biggest gay scenes outside of London, as immortalised in ‘Queer as Folk’. QX were lucky enough to go up to visit the heart of Mancunia recently, so here’s our account of its lures, alongside a quick preview of Manchester Pride…
We started off our odyssey to the North at Euston station on a positively ungodly hour of Saturday morning, but after topping up on coffee, croissants and orange juice in the Virgin First Class lounge we were ready to jump on our 9.40am train to Manchester. The best thing about travelling Virgin is that its high speed trains not only truly do speed between the two cities, but there are very few stops to slow the whole operation down, so we pulled into Piccadilly Station, Manchester, at a cool ten to twelve.
As dithering Withnail-and-I type gay Londoners, shaken by any circumstances bringing us outside of Soho, we wandered around for a good three minutes initially, shaking iPhones and trying to decipher maps before realising that Canal Street is in fact pretty much opposite the train station. Despite being famous for horny gay boys and ‘cocking off’, Canal Street is actually a rather pretty cobbled lane, quiet and sunny at midday, with the canal it borders upon providing a pleasant sound of burbling water.
All of which put us in a rather nice mood for discovering our place of residence, the boutique Velvet Hotel, at the very beginning of Canal Street itself. Having checked in our bags, we wondered out again to take the tram to MediaCityUK, part of the Salford Quays development, where out first lunch date was scheduled at the On the 7th private members’ club. Taking the tram is a cheap option at two or three quid return and a great way to some of the city’s outer parts, including the Old Trafford football ground.
On the 7th was literally on the seventh floor of its building, and the club boasted both exquisite service and wonderful views of the ‘Salford riviera’. After a suitably wine-soaked lunch we took a short walk to The Lowry where we explored the current Top of the Pops exhibition they have on display, attempting to guess the pop stars through the ages. Hopping back on the tram, our rooms were ready at the Velvet and a short nap and a shower had us raring and ready for dinner.
Room Restaurant was an incredible place to dine, with soaring windows letting in the late evening light, and vast purple lamps hanging like chandeliers above our heads. Both food and cocktails were quite sumptuous enough to get us ready for hitting the gay village at night… And hit it we did, swinging past the Velvet’s bar, Boyz, G-A-Y Manchester, and a myriad of other bars, before diving into Poptastic, a three-roomed club of, you guessed it, pure pop music.
Peeling ourselves up from our drunken stupors the next day we staggered bleary-eyed to meet Matt from Visit Manchester at the truly wonderful Molly House pub, via a tonne of Imperial Gunpowder Green Tea at the Richmond Tea Rooms and a visit to the Dior Exhibition at Plat Hall. The Molly House fed us delicious tapas including calamari and chorizo to line our stomachs, and some huge hair of the dog cocktails to make the train journey home whizz by. We’d very much advise the pint glass-sized Zombie.
All in all, we were blown away not only by the quality of everything in Manchester that we managed to sample, but also by the sheer friendliness of everyone we spoke to. London’s our city, we’ve loved it for years, but sometimes London forgets how to be friendly and for that, Manchester could easily be our new little bit on the side.
• For more information go to: www.visitmanchester.com/summer
THE MOLLY HOUSE
Richmond Street, Gay Village, M1 3HZ
www.themollyhouse.com
Vintage venue that charms with rustic and stunning surroundings, serving extensive tapas menu and cockle-warming cocktails!
THE VELVET HOTEL
2 Canal Street, M1 3HE
www.velvetmanchester.com
The only independent boutique in the North West, Velvet is a sumptuous bar, restaurant and hotel in the heart of Manchester city centre on bustling Canal Street. Our room had Vitruvian Man wallpaper – sexy kitsch!
ROOM RESTAURANT
81 King Street, Manchester
Beautiful room and excellent cocktails; the menu is based on classic dishes with a contemporary twist. Moroccan Quail and Prawn/Crab Cocktail whetted our appetites for starters, followed by Classic Duck a l’orange and Monkfish.
ON THE 7TH
The Landing, Blue Tower, MediaCityUK
Bloody Marys to die for made by an excellent mixologist; we shared a Mezze platter for starters and then sunk our fangs into the Steak Frites and Chicken dishes for mains, all washed down with a bottle of Gruner Veltliner.
MANCHESTER PRIDE
Fri 23rd – Mon 26th August
www.manchesterpride.com
Manchester Pride is the perfect excuse for anyone, acquainted with the town or not, to hop on that train and get up there to join the four-day party. Renowned across Europe as one of the biggest and best Prides that there is this is a paid-for event but you definitely get your money’s worth: especially with early bird tickets currently going at the price of £21. This year acts include The Feeling, Kate Nash, Patrick Wolf, Amy Lamé, Sam Sparro, Rylan and Lucy Spraggan to name but a few. But make sure you book your hotels early – places like the Velvet will sell out quick!
What fabulous review which I totally echo–Although im a Leeds Loiner the majority of my social life is spent in Manchester–I have a flat in canal street and the whole atmosphere is great from canal street to the northern quarter to deansgate and castlefield to name a few–So glad you enjoyed and hope to see you hope here again –luv Linda