Salford Lads Club tour, 3 Feb 2024: a remarkable building & special price
Jonathan Schofield
Award-winning writer, guide and public speaker. University of Manchester Medal of Honour, 2021, for 'services to the city'.
The 10.30am tour this Saturday is a look inside Salford Lads Club plus a scoot round the area. The club is a remarkable survival from 1903 with a splendid interior full of rich detail. It has a superb story to tell. The main thing about the Salford Lads Club is that it’s still doing what it did in 1903 providing activities and a safe space for local young people, now of course including both girls and boys.
Celebrity links to the club will be highlighted such as the fact both Alan Clarke and Graham Nash were members; the pair would later found the hit group, the Hollies. Footballing members such as poor Eddie Coleman will feature and we’ll see the stunning ‘Wall of Names’.?
The Smiths will, of course, be part of the tour because it was the almost accidental occasion of the four young men of the band standing outside the club for a photoshoot which has been key to its survival. The Smiths’ Room in the Club has to be seen to be believed. It has a marriage licence although guests won’t have time to get married in it no matter how much they like the Smiths.
In December I helped host Chanel at the club which inevitably delivered a few new stories.?
The tour will also take in the New Barrack Estate of which the club is an integral part. The estate includes Coronation Street but not that one. We’ll then stroll over to Middlewood Locks with its?fine views of Manchester city centre. As we go I’ll tell the story of this part of Salford and also that of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury canal which is our companion here. The tour will finish around 12/12.15pm at Seven Brothers bar and people are welcome to join me for a coffee or a point.
Start: 10.20am for 10.30am start at Salford Lads Club, St Ignatius Walk, Salford, M5 3RX.
Finish at Middlewood Locks, Lockside Lane, Salford M5 4YP
Usually tours are ￡15 but this one is the special price of ￡10, the ridiculous reason for which I’ll let you know if you come on the tour. 25% of the ticket fee goes to Salford Lads Club.?
Other tours in February
Every Saturday
The Saturday Walkabout Series The Manchester Music Walkabout?1pm every Saturday;?The Manchester Pub Walkabout?3pm every Saturday. Total entertainment, brilliant stories, great fun.
Sunday 11 February 11am?EXCLUSIVE: The Secrets of Heaton Hall and Park This is a love story in stone, the passion between a young married couple turned into architecture. At the same time the utterly stunning interiors are all about music, so naturally amongst the lovely stories there will be playing music. This is one tour not to miss.?
Saturday 17 February 10.30am?Kimpton Clock Tower Hotel Tour?(Refuge Assurance) The most spectacular terracotta building in the North of England. The Kimpton Clock Tower Hotel is a beauty and on this tour you learn its secrets.
Sunday 18 February 11am?The Secrets of Chorlton: The Surprising Manchester Series From a hamlet on a road to nowhere to desirable suburb the story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a fascinating tale of people, places and events. This tour will explore the characters that inhabited the suburb, the good, the bad and the ugly.?
Saturday 2 March 10.30am?The Tour of Uninteresting Objects We miss so much strolling the city centre because they aren't obvious yet often they provide delight and real insights into the story of Manchester and the country. Come on this tour to find out about some of the secrets of the city.?
And here are a couple of my recent articles:
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Yours,
Jonathan