In the mid 1980s, Manchester's LGBTQ+ community was being scrutinised and let's face it, terrorised by the Greater Manchester Police (GMP), under the orders of James Anderton.
Anderton, (subject of the Happy Mondays' song 'God's Cop'), was then the hard-right-wing chief constable of GMP. He was a controversial figure, with many people citing his law-enforcement actions as a moral crusade and brought about by prejudice.
According to The Guardian newspaper, Anderton "encouraged his officers to stalk [The Gay Village's] dank alleys and expose anyone caught in a clinch, while police motorboats with spotlights searched for gay men around the canal's locks and bridges" (Wikipedia).
In 1986, Anderton accused HIV and Aids patients of "swirling around in a human cesspool of their own making".
He wasn't a nice man.
So when MANTO and Paradise Factory opened (in 1990 and 1993 respectively), it flew in the face of the city's policing. Here were two establishments that were openly 'out', attracting some of the most flamboyant and outrageous characters in Manchester's gay community. With drag queens on the doors ('Door Whores') and a lot of nakedness inside, the dance floor was steamy (and so were the nooks and crannies, the stairs and under the stairs). With DJs such as DJ Paulette and Kath McDermott (both also of FLESH fame), Tim Lennox and Dave Kendrick (No.1 Club), the music was upbeat and funky-as-funk. Anything went in Paradise Factory.
Paradise Factory was opened by Peter Dalton and Carol Ainscow, who also opened and ran the successful MANTO bar. It was the start of the Canal Street as we know it, although a lot of the movers and shakers in the scene started to feel frustrated with the commercialism of what had become known as 'Gaychester', and started to move back into the underground, with clubs like Homo Electric, Bollox and Club Brenda starting up and becoming successful.
Paradise Factory was housed in the old Factory Records building, the one that was covered in
Happy Mondays posters at one point in 1989. It is now FAC251, and still a club, run by New Order's Peter Hook catering mainly to students.
It is now FAC251, and still a club, owned by New Order's Peter Hook, catering mainly to students.
Photo courtesy of Peter Dalton
