8 ISSUE EIGHT east

Rising Aspirations Clean Sweep Co-op Memories Thai Delights

ISSN 1745-8277 SPRING 2008

the magazine about regeneration in east free

Clean Sweep

Once home to the boilermakers, steelworkers and engineers of east Manchester, these houses are no longer considered fit for the 21st century. Len Grant follows the fall and rise of Toxteth Street. Toxteth Street Of the seven houses on Norman Gurley’s By the end of the millennium, while other experienced the stretch of Toxteth Street only two are left parts of east Manchester were gearing up for spiral of decline occupied. The rest are boarded up, some with the XII Commonwealth Games, an increasing and deprivation signs declaring that ‘all material of any value number of empty properties were appearing on which has been removed’. Next door is optimistically Toxteth Street. Home owners were suffering characterised advertised as being for sale or rent but has negative equity and entrepreneurs looking for a many inner been empty for eight years and, like its vacant quick killing were buying houses cheap and letting them to tenants who had little cities: poor neighbours, is now uninhabitable. In the front room of his two-up two-down connection with or interest in the area. housing, problem 73-year-old Norman describes the new house Toxteth Street experienced the spiral of residents and he’ll move into before the end of the year, now decline and deprivation which characterised high levels of being built no more than 50 metres from his many inner cities: poor housing, problem anti-social back gate, as part of the Housing Market residents and high levels of anti-social behaviour. Renewal Programme which will see over 500 behaviour. terraced houses like his replaced by 430 new It was exactly this deprivation that led a homes in a phased programme of demolition group of young people from the Salvation Army and construction. to move to Openshaw in 2000 and live amongst “It’ll be two-bedroomed but with a garden the community. and somewhere to park the car,” he says. “Helping communities regenerate has been “There’s a space on the ground floor where I at the heart of what the Salvation Army is can install a lift, if I need it later.” On a plan of about,” explains Church and Project Leader, phase one he shows where his house will fit into Sam Ward. “We were looking for an estate that the bigger picture: “There’ll be a three- or needed help and found it here.” four-bedroomed house next to me. So I guess Sam and his team resurrected a derelict I’ll have a family as neighbours.” Salvation Army mission hall on the edge of the They call it Toxteth Street but this area of area – and began offering youth clubs, parent Openshaw in east Manchester, right on the counselling classes and family support for city’s boundary, is more than one street. It’s a residents. grid of tightly-packed back-to-backs with “There was such a feeling of hopelessness,” Toxteth Street as its spine. he says. “Children just couldn’t see the point of At the peak of the manufacturing heyday going to school or seeking out further every home would have been occupied. Streams education. They felt they had no hope of ever of men would flow to work at giants like English getting a job because their parents had never Steel or Ferguson and Pailin whilst housewives had a job. I really don’t see any point in would ‘donkey stone’ the front step or chat regenerating housing and building new schools over the back gate. Every stereotype of the if you don’t regenerate the person as well. northern industrial ‘good old days’ would have That’s why I think our work amongst the been played out on Silverdale, Gransmoor and community is so important.” Cheeryble Streets, so much so that the 1999 Sam and his colleagues became involved film, East is East, was shot here: Bowness with the regeneration process not just as Street rolled back in time to resemble working- residents but as advocates for those less class Salford at the beginning of the 70s. willing or able to express their views. He Many factors have influenced the area’s reluctantly agrees with the decision to demise. Clearly the collapse of the manufacturing demolish. “They’re beautiful and well-built,” economy has meant that those who could have he says, “but too many of these houses are in moved elsewhere. Some with growing families disrepair now. Keeping this number is just not emigrated over the border to Tameside where sustainable.” larger family housing was available. Some kept The clean sweep approach has been Norman Gurley follows their terraced house but moved away and rented advocated by the Housing Market Renewal progress as Lovells start it out with little experience of managing a Team (HMRT) for some time, based on the work on his new home. property at arm’s length. overall aspirations of the east Manchester

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6 east Sam Ward of the Eden Project: “There’s still work for us to do here.” Now, at last, regeneration agencies and the desires of most are ‘fit and competent’ and are held responsible things are of the residents. for the actions of their tenants. moving. The HMRT project manager Mike Corcoran The revised plan – with less demolition and diggers are out explains, “It fits the wider objectives of New fewer apartments – was announced over two and residents East Manchester of offering existing residents a years ago and yet the cogs of the regeneration and construction wider choice of housing and attracting new machine have moved painfully slowly since then. staff have posed people to come and live in east Manchester.” “We’ve been just as frustrated as the residents,” says Corcoran. “We want this for the photocall In the Toxteth Street area, because the houses were essentially all the same size, there scheme to advance as quickly as possible, and on the new has never been an option for homeowners to at the same time we want to make sure the foundations. move up or scale down. “These properties were neighbourhood is managed effectively whilst built for factory workers 100 years ago,” says the construction is going on.” Corcoran, “but we’ve moved on from that. Now, at last, things are moving. The We’ve got to make new properties that are fit diggers are out and residents and construction for the 21st century.” staff have posed for the photocall on the new It’s a view that was echoed by many at the foundations. Meanwhile compulsory purchase initial discussions more than five years ago. orders are pinned to the boarded-up front Consultations showed that residents would like doors of the empty properties to await their to stay in the area but wanted a radical change absentee owners. and more choice. The developers, Lovells, will complete 83 The consultation process has been a long new homes in this first phase over the next two one. There have been drop-ins, newsletters, years, and while they’re building energy- one-to-one meetings and study visits. Plans efficient, secure homes with gardens and car have changed to accommodate the comments parking, more rows of terraced housing will be of residents, not all of whom have been emptied ready for the demolition gangs. It’ll be supportive of the Housing Renewal Programme. another 10 years before the whole process of The original plan had recommended demolition and construction is complete. wholesale demolition and included the So now work has begun isn’t it time Sam construction of a number of flats which many Ward and his Salvation Army project moved on residents had objected to. Flats to local people to find another area on its knees? meant short-term, uncommitted tenancies. To “We would like to be the key provider of planners apartments, as they’d prefer to call community facilities here,” he says. “There them, meant more options of house type isn’t a specific objective within the plans that especially for the elderly. focuses on improving the life of the “After listening to people’s views, we individual… and that’s why we think we should reviewed some of our plans,” says Corcoran. still be involved.” “We’ve reduced the number of properties being Corcoran would disagree that his team is demolished, keeping some of the larger ones in only concerned with the bricks and mortar. better condition around the periphery. “We’re looking at the personal aspect of this “We still wanted a number of apartments project too,” he says. “But we’re not being because there are lots of older people in the sentimental about it. We’re up front and area who can’t manage a house, and it would practical. Residents are supported in making also stimulate the first time buyer market. But informed choices about their options.” we’ve reduced the number from 70 to 36 in the Norman Gurley is happy with the choice revised neighbourhood plan.” he’s made. He seen good times and bad in this Offering apartments for sale doesn’t go part of Openshaw and even considered moving. down well with existing residents who have But he has a strong attachment to the area and suffered from the disruptive tenants of uncaring like many others just wants the tide to turn. landlords. But the Housing Market Renewal Team “I’m looking forward to it, I just want to get in. are confident new private sector licensing rules It’s taken so long.” will substantially reduce previous problems. Nowadays landlords have to demonstrate they

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Rising Aspirations

Facilities and results continue to improve at local high schools. Roger Williams recounts some personal success stories.

One only arrived from Romania less than seven them – and is on a similar trajectory. Once she years ago. One has lived in Burnage most of finishes her A Levels at Cheadle and Marple her life. But Alma Dimitriu, 20, and Mahmuda College, she too plans to embark on a lengthy Begum, 18, have plenty in common. medical degree. Between them they boast no fewer than 32 While Alma and Mahmuda are talented GCSEs. Both have set their sights on medical individuals, in some ways it would be careers and hope to specialise in paediatrics. misleading to label them exceptional. The talents of both were nurtured at east Granted, not everyone leaving school is going Manchester high schools. to need a separate bookshelf for their GCSE When Alma started at St Peter’s RC High certificates. Yet east Manchester schools’ School her initial difficulty understanding her strong focus on helping pupils see beyond the schoolmates’ accents was matched by their confines of the classroom to promising futures friendly curiosity at the American-inflected ahead means you don’t have to look far for English she had learned in her homeland. stories of ex-pupils embracing their potential. Not only did she adapt, she flourished, Some of the educational strides being finishing with seven GCSE A*s and seven As. made in east Manchester are more obvious Two of the subjects, Italian and German, than others. The most visible statements are weren’t even on the curriculum. the ultra-modern learning environments Alma is keen to acknowledge the role the themselves. Wright Robinson College moved East Manchester’s welcoming school played in helping her realise into its £43 million new home last year, St attainment her potential. Peter’s into impressive new premises in 2003. figures exceed the “The teachers were always helping,” she When Cedar Mount relocates into a state-of- Manchester says. “They were encouraging throughout. the-art new campus in September it will average, and are I wanted to do extra GCSEs and the school complete an inspiring hat-trick. Investment improving faster arranged it and teachers even took time during continues with the creation of a new East than both citywide lunch hours to help with my studies.” Manchester , due to open in 2010, and national Now, via A Levels at Loreto College in meaning parents will have four good quality performance. Hulme and a gap year partly spent teaching in high or secondary schools to choose from. Peru’s Amazonian region, Alma is relishing her There is no shortage of statistics to show first year studying biomedical science at St the improvements the schools are making Andrews. Recent graduates of the prestigious either. Last year, for instance, Wright Robinson Scottish university include Prince William. had the most improved GCSE results of any After three years at its Medical Centre Alma Manchester school, the number of pupils Ex-St Peter’s pupil, Alma will spend three more on a hospital-based gaining five or more grades A* to C rising by 21 Dimitriu will spend another placement in Manchester, and another two per cent. East Manchester’s attainment figures three years in Manchester qualifying as a doctor. exceed the Manchester average, and are after her studies at St Mahmuda, former head girl at Cedar Mount improving faster than both citywide and Andrews. High School, gained even more GCSEs – 18 of national performance.

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12 east Jasmine Edwards (left), a modern apprentice at a veterinary hospital: “On my first day I thought I was going to pass out!” Neville Beischer, Even the infamous Ofsted inspectors have his father owns a garage and his brother is a Wright Robinson’s warm words such as “impressive improvements” truck mechanic. From Years Nine to Eleven, he headteacher, (St Peter’s), “very good and progressive spent every Wednesday honing his skills at a takes great pride curriculum” (Wright Robinson) and “high Levenshulme garage. in the efforts to expectations of success” (Cedar Mount) to Building on the experience gained he’s now equip pupils for describe the three schools. on a three-year apprenticeship at Evans the future. But it is teenagers such as Daniel Halshaw in Old Trafford specialising in Sammons who embody how the regeneration of panelling, commercial body-building and east Manchester is beginning to transform not spraying and hopes one day to go into business “A huge amount just physical landscapes, but expectations. with the other two mechanically-minded of energy goes The 17-year-old, from , is studying members of his family. into helping for A Levels at Loreto College, aiming to Former Wright Robinson pupil Jasmine support progress to a computer science degree and Edwards is also confidently acquiring new skills, youngsters,” he ultimately a career in programming. He is on albeit tending to pets rather than prized motors. says. “Some of course to become the first person from his Ultimately she hopes to become a zookeeper. them come from family to go to university. The 17-year-old has embarked on a difficult His ambitions were stoked by a mentoring modern apprenticeship in veterinary nursing, backgrounds and programme run in association with Manchester with the theoretical knowledge she gains one every one of University which sees pupils interested in day a week at animal college put into practice them has an science assigned a mentor from a business for the rest of the time at Woodcroft Veterinary individual story. working in a related field. Such schemes are Centre in Cheadle Hulme. The practice offers a It doesn’t end just one of the ways in which schools are 24-hour emergency service to its clients, and with GCSE results working closely with universities to foster her typical working day can include anything – we love to hear achievement. from assisting a vet who is performing surgery how former St Peter’s headteacher John McNerney – sterilising and passing the surgical pupils are getting notes that, like Daniel, the majority of east instruments required – to bandaging injured on.” Manchester pupils come from families without pets or comforting anxious owners. traditions of higher education. In many cases “It’s constantly busy,” she says. “On my the obstacles preventing pupils from first day I thought I was going to pass out! You considering university are psychological rather are thrown in at the deep end but I’m learning than academic. If you listen carefully, you can a lot and it’s very rewarding.” hear the clatter of such barriers being overturned. If anything James Hasker, another ex- Organised visits to universities encourage Wright Robinson pupil, exudes even more young people to aspire to university and enthusiasm. The school’s media club helped campus-based residential workshops give him develop his passion for animation, starting them a flavour of undergraduate life. with crude efforts using Lego figures. So too does another mentoring scheme From those basic beginnings he has gone where Manchester Metropolitan University on to master stop motion. Now studying media students share their experiences with pupils. at City College, 17-year-old James from Gorton It can have a profound effect. hopes to follow in the creative footsteps of “When you get the students in it inspirations such as Wallace and Gromit demystifies university,” says Mr McNerney. “The creator Nick Park by specialising in animation. pupils find out that students don’t have horns, James is quick to recognise the Guy Hutchence, they aren’t necessarily geniuses, they’re springboard his former school provided. head of Cedar people just like them.” “Wright Robinson has a great atmosphere,” he Mount High, says: But whether young people’s chosen path is says. “It’s just a top place.” “Education is academic or vocational, the three schools You get the feeling schools will be hearing about preparing share an emphasis on personalised, forward- more from flourishing ex-pupils like James, people for their looking learning. Alma, Mahmuda, Daniel, Neil and Jasmine. future. The needs One beneficiary of this approach is former Talking to the six, their tales may differ but the of pupils need to Cedar Mount pupil Neil Cummins, 18. While Neil ambition and assurance are shared. be paramount.” wasn’t quite born with a spanner in his hand, Aspirations are rising in the east.

14 east Opposite top: Biology practical for Mahmuda Begum who aims to be a paediatrian. James Hasker, left, with Stefan Mincher and Stefan Andrews, all east Manchester ex-pupils now studying media at City College. Remember the ‘Divi’?

A couple of generations ago the corner Co-op was a lifeline to many working- class families. Not many of the buildings still survive today but, as Louise Tickle discovers, the memories are as vivid as ever.

If you were poor in Manchester in the first half of the last century, life was exceedingly tough. If a parent died or lost their job, then your family – likely to be a large one with lots of mouths to feed – was in truly dire straits. The three Co-operative Societies that set up grocery stores, butchers and bakers in the east Manchester area over a period of a hundred years from the mid-1800s became a vital element in the struggle for survival in this rapidly expanding metropolis. With the buying power to order groceries in bulk, Co-operative Societies could offer customers reasonable prices, and rewarded loyalty with the ‘divi’, an early form of cashback on money spent. Though the shopfronts of stores owned by the Manchester and Salford Equitable Co-operative Society, the Droylsden Co-operative Society and the Beswick Co- operative Society have mostly gone now, some evidence of their existence still remains. Glance upwards as you drive along busy new arterial roads or residential streets, and you might just glimpse the odd shop name cut into the worn stone mantel above the doors of once-grand buildings and end- of-terrace properties which have long since undergone a change of use. Now and then: No. 10 Branch of the Beswick Co-op at Ashton Old Road.

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Phyllis Smith, 75, worked at the Emporium Randall Cockshoot, 100, started as a shop owned by the Beswick Co-operative Society, boy aged 14 on 22 July 1922, at the Beswick on Hyde Road in Gorton, from the age of 14 Co-operative Society No. 1 Branch at 68-70 till she married at 21. Ashton New Road. He later became a manager and finally retired in 1973. “After leaving school it was the war years. My twin sister got a job first at the Emporium, in “That first job was cleaning up, brewing up, Ladies’ Shoes, and I started not long after her. doing all the dirty jobs. I was on 14 bob a I had an interview with a very stern man called week. I worked 48 hours, six days a week, with Mr Lunt, and was started on a pound a week. a half-day on Wednesdays. When I got older, “The Emporium was massive. The windows I went on full pay in the grocery and were huge, just gorgeous. And it had a lift. provisions section. I’d be rolling and cutting Drapery and Menswear were on the left, Men’s bacon, packing for customers and sweeping Shoes were on the right, and it was up the the floor. I got a rise every year, so by 1931 stairs to Fancy Goods and Ladies’ Hats. I was when I got married, I was on £3 6s 8d a week. on Menswear. It was a nice sociable place to I had 10 days’ holiday for the first few years, work. My boss, Mr Lynch, was in Men’s Suits. then it went up to 14 days. All on full pay of There were huge rolls of cloth up high, and he course – the Co-op was a good employer. was a very short man, and he’d heave them “My first shop, No. 1, was a double-sided, down with a tremendous bang. with bacon, eggs and butter on one side, all “In the war, when you bought anything, dried goods, flour, sugar, fine sago on the there was good quality and there was Utility, other. Customers got good service and good which wasn’t as good, and was labelled so you quality stuff. You learnt butchering skills, knew. One day I was selling gloves to a man because you had to do all your own boning of who questioned the quality – there wasn’t a meat. I’d bone six or seven sides a week, then Utility label inside, so they were for sale at the you hung it from a big hook. higher price. And later, it turned out that one “We got the divi four times a year. My of the girls had been cutting the Utility labels number was 29813, and the highest I ever got out, selling stuff at a higher price and was two shillings in the pound. pocketing the difference! “Co-ops started to decline because they “There were no tills, so you didn’t give your didn’t keep up. They tried to, but some of the own change. You made out a chit with the price prices were being cut by self-service shops. and the amount tendered, and put it all inside No. 1 Branch was the first to start self- this little tub which would be sucked up in a service in 1954. vacuum pipe to the top floor. Seconds later, “After I retired I did another seven years the clerks would have put the right change part-time, relieving at different shops when back in the tub and they’d whiz it back to you. managers went sick or on holiday. When I “Now I go up the Co-op on my scooter, finished there were 40 odd branches. I’m because I can’t walk. This week, they said, ‘why proud to have worked for the Co-op. I’ve never A century on: No. 11 Branch don’t you become a member?’ It turns out you been out of work, and never had a day’s of the Beswick Co-op on get a card and then either cashback or tokens. unemployment in my life. And I’m still Vincent Street in Openshaw It’s 60 years since I started working there, and drawing my pension now.” was opened in 1905. finally now I’m a member!”

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Marjorie Cheetham, 61, lived on Hewitt Street in Lower Openshaw, and used to go on errands for her mother to the Co-op shop on Gresham Street. The family’s divi number was 205063

“You had a corner shop at the end of the “You used to get bags of broken biscuits street, but it was Co-op where you got your for thruppence. There’d be cherries in a big proper shopping. As a kid you couldn’t really tin and flour out of bags. Sugar they’d put in see over the counters. The walls were white a blue paper bag, and fold the top over and tiles with a line of green ones around the over. Bacon ribs, butter, tongue, eggs, milk, middle. When I’d nip down for some bits, my and if you could afford a piece of fresh meat, mother would tell me, ‘Don’t you go to Dirty you’d go to the Co-op butcher next door. Gertie, because she gives short measures’. I “Bonfire night was a big thing. They would got a good hiding once because Dirty Gertie throw all the cardboard and orange boxes was serving and I piped up, ‘Oh, I mustn’t go they’d stored in the upstairs warehouse out to you because you cheat on the weight’! onto the street for us kids to collect to build “Once we pawned the clock so we could our bonfires. have shopping that week. Never got it back. “The Co-op was a lifeline for people in my We had nothing really. My mum had to work mam’s position you know. They were able to all hours as a silver service waitress after my buy in at good prices and so give us working dad died, to keep the family. We’d get the people a bit off. The butter, ooh, it was nice cheapest things. Pig’s trotters and cow’s ears. from there. Really salty. I’ve tried all I’m not joking. That was your meat, then you’d different ones, but I can’t find it like that make a stew and throw dumplings into it. Co-op stuff.”

Right: Some of the 50+ branches of the Beswick Co-operative Society as listed in the 1957 Co-op Directory. Opposite: The corner Co-op on Ravensbury Street, Clayton.

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East Meets East

Time Out critic Susie Stubbs checks out east Manchester’s newest restaurant and asks if the cuisine matches the opulence.

On paper, Vermilion has got it all. A no- This is a place where the service is served expense-spared interior dreamt up by one of up Thai-style: visitors are greeted with a wâî the world’s leading architects. Thailand’s top (the palms-together gesture considered polite chef, a man more at home catering to Thai in Thailand) before being whisked up to either royalty than he is to the Miles Platting masses. bar or restaurant via a lift. Waiting on staff A drinks list the length of a small, inebriated hover discreetly throughout, pouring drinks, novel. And fawning press reports that describe offering advice, unfolding napkins. Service like Manchester’s most ambitious bar-cum- this comes as something of a revelation in a restaurant as ‘a sumptuous affair’ and ‘jaw- city that can otherwise lean towards the ‘be droppingly opulent’. grateful I’m serving you’ snarl. But although Vermilion opened to Almost all Vermilion’s waiting staff are startlingly good reviews, there have been a few Thai, drawn to Manchester by the reputation of dissenting voices. There are those who Bangkok chef Chumpol Jangprai. “He’s seen as question the viability of a restaurant so far off a big deal in Thailand due to his royal the gourmet’s track. Those who, while connections,” says Manzur, referring to a admitting Vermilion is a fabulous venture, career that has seen Jangprai establish a wonder if laziness will get the better of renowned Royal Thai cookery school in his potential diners who opt to stay in town rather native country and lauded as Best Chef in than take a cab into east Manchester. This Bangkok by Saveur Magazine. Jangprai’s skill is doesn’t concern Manzur Ahmed, Vermilion’s evident in every dish, from the shipped-in manager and son of owner Iqbal Ahmed. special ingredients essential to Thai food – “We’ve been planning this for three and a half galangal, kaffir lime, shrimp paste – to the years,” he says. “Initially, it was going to be an expert balance of sweet, sour and heat that ordinary restaurant attached to the super- give Thai meals their distinctive flavour. casino. When it became clear that the casino Nothing has been done on the cheap. wasn’t going to happen, we thought why not Vermilion was built on a budget of £4.5 make it a destination restaurant instead?” million, and it shows. “We want people to feel Destination it certainly is. Located close like they are in another world,” says Ahmed, to the City of Manchester Stadium, there is “almost as if they don’t know where they …as the doors little else here to draw the ‘work hard, play are.” Cinnabar – the top floor bar that allows swing shut, hard’ punters Manzur is keen to attract. drinkers to peer down at the restaurant below drinkers and Signage is sparse and, from the road, all that – is a confection of east-meets-west design. diners are distinguishes Vermilion from neighbouring A two-storey centrepiece of multi-coloured immediately warehouses are its glowing red windows and Buddha heads, for example, is somehow transported to rather neat car park. But step inside and matched by dozens of glowing globes hanging another, everything changes: as the doors swing shut, overhead, which pulse through a rainbow of distinctly Thai, drinkers and diners are immediately muted colours and lend the bar a hazy end- location. transported to another, distinctly Thai, location. of-a-great-night feel.

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Dream décor – but how does the food fare? Manchester has its fair share of Thai eateries. The city centre groans with Asian fusion restaurants. So food lovers would be forgiven for greeting news of another Thai with a ‘so what?’ shrug. And yet, no matter how good the Thais in town, Vermilion beats them all hands down. For starters, few could compete with Cinnabar for pre-dinner drinks, with its lavish surroundings matched by a liquid menu that most bars can only drunkenly dream of. There are no less than nineteen different types of whisky (and thirteen brands of vodka), champagne by the bottle or glass, classic Walking into The fact that such overblown décor works cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks and a ‘signature’ Cinnabar is akin at all is down to international architect, cocktail list that includes the Gaia Martini (£8), to walking into Miguel Cancio Martins, the designer an intriguing mix of apple, galangal, vodka and one of Bangkok’s responsible for Paris’s Buddha Bar. His tongue- lemon. Walking into Cinnabar is akin to walking most fashionable in-cheek interpretation of eastern design into one of Bangkok’s most fashionable watering watering holes unwittingly embodies the concept of sànùk, holes – though go easy on the booze as the way the sense of cheeky playfulness that to the restaurant is via a staircase in full view of permeates every aspect of Thai life – and it’s diners. Pace yourself or risk a stumble. entirely appropriate for a Thai restaurant on Downstairs, Vermilion’s extensive menu is the edge of a Manchester industrial estate. dominated by finely honed Thai specialities. Martins is just one of an impressive line-up Pad Thai (£8) is a modest meal, its fried assembled to help pull off the Vermilion noodles, crushed peanuts and crisp vegetables dream. This is the real strength of Vermilion a staple in every restaurant and roadside stall because, while neither Iqbal nor Manzur have across Thailand. Sadly, back in Blighty, it’s also any direct restaurant experience, they do have the dish most likely to end up stodgy and bland. the humility (and the deep pockets) required That Vermilion has preserved the lightness of to put together the right team to deliver the this dish, its tamarind sauce a counterpoint to project. Iqbal is perhaps best known as the noodles and egg, is testament to the skill of the chairman of Seamark, a $200 million global chef. Elsewhere, Kang Kiew Wan Kai (£8.50) – seafood distributor based in east Manchester. green curry – is the best this writer has eaten The reason the Ahmeds went Thai with their outside Thailand, with the Khang Pa Pla (jungle restaurant venture is entirely pragmatic: “Our curry, £12) not far behind. Although the chef biggest business is in Asia, we have great doesn’t spare the chilli, any heat is balanced by contacts in Thailand and we love Thai food,” coconut milk, sweet Thai basil or the sharp tang states Manzur. But this simple explanation of freshly squeezed lime. conceals the Ahmeds’ huge ambition, not only The menu does display an understandable for themselves but for east Manchester. Iqbal (given Seamark’s trade) bias towards fish but and Manzur weren’t content to let their grand there’s also a healthy vegetarian selection – idea go the way of the casino; instead, they’re our waitress told us to take our pick; the chef the ones who’ve taken a gamble, spending would rustle up a non-carnivorous option their own cash on the kind of high-end eaterie whatever we chose. Side dishes include a Manchester so sorely lacks. Vermilion selection of rice, including jasmine and a just- Vermilion represents both glamour and ambition on a right khâo niew (sticky rice). With food, Hulme Hall Ln/Lord North St, monumental scale, and it’s this money-where- service and (admittedly crazy) décor this Miles Platting, M40 8AD the-mouth-is action that has the power to good, Vermilion offers rich rewards to 0161 202 0055 transform east Manchester. A brave venture gourmands willing to make the short hop out www.vermilioncinnabar.com and one that deserves to succeed. to east Manchester. Book your cab now.

26 east East is the magazine about regeneration in east Manchester About East and is published three times a year by Len Grant Photography Welcome to another issue of East. It’s with regret that we report the departure of our Chief on behalf of Executive, Tom Russell, who has taken up a new post at the London Development Agency as New East Manchester Ltd Director of Legacy for the 2012 Olympics. Issue 8 Spring 2008 East Manchester has changed dramatically under Tom’s leadership over the last seven Editorial address: years. From the building of Sportcity and the Commonwealth Games that were the catalyst East Magazine for much of the regeneration of the area to the emergence of new housing developments c/o Gill Gourley – many using innovative and cutting edge design – the area is certainly changing for the New East Manchester Ltd better. Central Park, with Fujitsu’s new HQ at its heart, is a tremendous boost for the area’s 187 Grey Mare Lane Beswick economy and the approval of two Metrolink lines through the area means east Manchester Manchester will become more attractive to both new residents and new businesses. New Islington M11 3ND is now emerging from the former Cardroom Estate as Will Alsop’s masterplan is being tel: + 44 (0) 161 223 1155 brought to life and Ancoats with its strong industrial heritage has risen from dereliction to become a place of choice for trendy city centre dwellers and some of Manchester’s most Photographs © Len Grant creative companies. Text © Roger Williams, Louise Tom has done an incredible job in spearheading the regeneration of this part of the city. Tickle, Susie Stubbs, Len Grant His drive, tenacity and long-term strategic vision for physical, social and economic change have enabled us to come a long way in a relatively short period of time. ISSN 1745-8277 We wish Tom every success in this high profile new role, which is hugely deserved, but we are Designed by Alan Ward @ especially sorry to see him go. www.axisgraphicdesign.co.uk Printed by Andrew Kilburn Print Eddie Smith Services Ltd. Acting Chief Executive All rights are reserved. No part New East Manchester Ltd of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without written consent from the publisher. The rights of the photographers Contributors in this issue and writers to be identified as Len Grant is a freelance photographer based in Manchester. For the past decade or so he has authors of this work have been made regeneration the subject of his personal and commissioned work. His latest book, From the asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Ground Up: New Islington 2001-2007 charts the development of east Manchester’s Millennium Patents Act 1988. Community. Also see www.lengrant.co.uk. The opinions expressed in East Roger Williams is a former political editor of the Carlisle News and Star and Bolton Evening News are not necessarily those of and is currently a press officer for . He has a particular interest in New East Manchester Ltd regeneration issues. Cover: Neil Cummins on a Louise Tickle is a freelance journalist based near Manchester. She regularly contributes a variety three-year apprenticeship at Evans Halshaw of features to The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph and The Times. Her particular interests include social justice, emerging solutions to the environment crisis and efforts to mitigate distortions in world trade. Susie Stubbs is a freelance journalist who writes for The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out. She is Online Editor for Time Out Manchester and has written a number of guidebooks, including the Time Out Manchester Shortlist Guide and a new guide to Tate Liverpool.

Partly funded by Acknowledgements Len Grant would like to thank Manzur Ahmed at Vermilion restaurant and bar; Sophie Stewart and Gillian Lonergan at the National Co-operative Archive; Loreto College; City College Manchester; Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College; Woodcroft Veterinary Group; Evans Halshaw; Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals, and everyone who appears in this issue of East. In this issue of East: Toxteth Street eventually gets underway; Roger Williams assesses high schools’ success stories; remembering the ‘divi’ with Louise Tickle and Susie Stubbs samples the Thai delights of Miles Platting. 8