This building- The Hotspur Press- sits by the River Medlock, off Whitworth Street, just south of Manchester city centre. It's a local landmark in a lot of ways but has become derelict in recent years and is in danger of complete collapse. Originally part of the Medlock Mills complex it was a cotton mill through the 19th century and then at some point became a printing press (and was apparently still operating as a printing press well into the 1960s). In the 2000s it was artist's studios for a while and the scene of many after hours parties- the word acid is painted in large letters several times on the top floor. The land all around it has been massively redeveloped in recent years, all part of the Manchester property boom- student accommodation, flats, a new arts centre called Home in a new public square called Tony Wilson Place (I say public square, it's probably privately owned), numerous fast food and coffee outlets... the whole area has changed rapidly. The company who own The Hotspur Press tabled plans to save the building in 2017, to keep the facade with its famous letters and build 171 new apartments on the site. Or a hotel. There have been differences of opinion with the city council and the project has stalled. Covid probably hasn't helped. Looking at the building at the weekend it looks more and more like it'll just be allowed to fall down and save everyone the bother of deciding what to do with it.
At the turn of the 1980s an unknown experimental Mancunian electronic synth punk group called Gerry And The Holograms made some deeply uncommercial, idiosyncratic and plain odd songs. Gerry And The Holograms contained Salford legend CP Lee, a man stitched into the underground of the Manchester music scene. Increased Resistance was the B-side of their debut single, released in 1979, and it still sounds ahead of the curve. The first two minutes are percussive noise conjured up from a synth but eventually a guitar line comes in and a heavily treated vocal intoning 'they call us the foolish young ones', before seagull noises and more synth sounds see the final minute and a half out.
1 comment:
It would be a shame if that building was knocked down (or fell down, as you suggest). You can guarantee that whatever they replaced it with wouldn't have any character.
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