Manchester’s Strange Quarter is alive with creativity. Can it survive a 130-hectare redevelopment?

2026-03-24 - 11:10

Thriving venues such as the White Hotel have turned the area around Strangeways prison into a cultural hotspot – but owners are worried for its future Walking across the so-called Strange Quarter takes 20 minutes but encompasses a vast array of artistic endeavour. Over the last decade this loosely defined district straddling Manchester and Salford, previously known for industrial estates and Strangeways prison, has emerged as a hotbed of DIY clubs, arts spaces and practice rooms. The White Hotel programmes groundbreaking music in a defunct MOT garage. Around the corner, Hidden offers a multi-level club and large open-air dancefloor, with scores of studios split between the main Downtex Mill building and a more recent addition, Inca. The DBA is a historic pub reborn as a focal point for queer and electronic music communities, and the Yard is an intimate indoor-outdoor venue, with yet more studios. The list goes on. Continue reading...