by Malcolm Pheby | Aug 1, 2018 | 1960s, Manchester, Music
It had to be one of the oddest encounters of the 1960s… Wacky Manchester pop group Freddie and the Dreamers rolled up at Longleat House in August 1965 to a play a gig for the aristocratic Marquess of Bath. Lead singer Freddie Garrity, all five foot three of him, went...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jul 18, 2018 | 1970s, Manchester
Buildings have often been known to sink, but very few have been known to rise. Even fewer that are more than 600 years old! But that was the extraordinary prospect in Manchester in July 1971 when architects designing the Arndale centre were faced with a monumental...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jul 4, 2018 | Manchester, Sport
It’s fair to say Manchester speedway stars the Belle Vue Aces leave most other teams for dust when it comes to winning trophies. Since they started racing in 1928, the Gorton-based outfit have ridden off with the British League five times and the British League...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jun 20, 2018 | Manchester, Music
Belle Vue basked in a golden age of popular music in the 1970s as almost every major band and artist made a beeline to play there. The Kings Hall was, quite simply, one of the biggest dates on the tour circuit. With more than 100,000 square feet of space and the...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jun 13, 2018 | Football, Manchester
Nostalgia remembers the Manchester footballers who played for England in four decades of World Cup finals from 1950 to 1986 The first World Cup since World War II did not go well for Manchester United fullback John Aston and England. The national side were dumped out...
by Malcolm Pheby | May 23, 2018 | 1950s, Manchester, Music
Nostalgia looks back on the remarkable life of Salford song-writer Ewan MacColl and the music of Manchester in the 1950s Who would have thought that one of the greatest love songs of all time would be shaped in the grimy streets of Salford during the Great Depression?...
