Strangeways is one area of central Manchester that is often overlooked. While neighbouring areas like the Green Quarter and Ancoats develop into highly sought-after areas, Strangeways' reputation for crime and disorder continues.
But there are faint signs that change could soon happen in Strangeways. Manchester and Salford city councils have recently appointed a team of consultants to help regenerate the area, and, last year, the Ministry of Justice rejected the council’s request to move the prison out of the Grade II-listed building.
The surrounding area is not much better. Bury New Road, nicknamed ‘counterfeit street,’ is one of the main targets of Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Vulcan to crackdown on organised crime in the area.
The prison’s reputation extends further than Manchester and it is widely regarded as one of the most notorious prisons in the country. In 1990, inmates made headline news for their 25-day strike which saw rooftop protests
Another reason the prison has become so infamous over the years is because of its equally infamous residents. Here are some of the most notable ones – daytime TV celebrities, revered activists and some of the country’s most despicable murderers.
1. Ian Brown
The Stone Roses singer spent three months in Strangeways in 1998 for threatening a stewardess and captain while on a flight back from Paris.
2. Joey Barton
The former England and Manchester City footballer served 74 days of a six-month sentence for assaulting a teenager in Liverpool. He was released in 2008.
3. Ian Brady
Ian Brady spent three months in Strangeways as a teenager for petty crimes. Years later, in 1965, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing five children in one of the most famous cases in UK criminal history, the Moors Murders.
4. Emily Davison
The suffragette was imprisoned at Strangeways for two months after she threw stones during a protest over the 1909 budget.