Despite some great additions to the city in recent years, it's hard not to think back to how Manchester was decades ago.
Back in the 1980s, Top Gun first hit cinemas, Cyndi Lauper released Girls Just Want To Have Fun and velvet scrunchies and crimped hair were all the rage. In the world of TV, Blackadder and The A Team were watched by millions, the Nintendo Entertainment System was released and The Walkman changed the way we consumed music.
In Manchester itself, some of the shops we visited, the nightclubs we danced in and where we socialised are now lost to the past. But they still live on in our memories and photos.
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With that in mind, we've rounded up 15 things you could do then in Manchester that you cannot do now. The list below isn't intended to be comprehensive, we've selected a few blasts from the past. But, if there is something you feel we should have included, please let us know in the comments section.
Go to Littlewoods
Littlewoods started out as a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool in the early 1920s. But by the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe, welcoming thousands into its Market Street store.
Increased competition from rivals and the internet saw the once dominant name decline. The original company – employing 4,000 people – was wound up in 2005 - however, its brand name is retained by The Very Group as the online retailer Littlewoods.com.
The latest Memory Lane special is available in many local newsagents and major retailers now. This instalment of the bumper picture special looks at fun in the sun - with pages of stunning photographs and treasured memories of family holidays from years gone by. You can also buy Memory Lane online here.
Visit the 'underground market'
In the 1970s and 80s, Manchester's 'underground market' was at the heart of the city centre. Just off Market Street, it was a hotspot for top fashion and boasted shops like Roxy and Stolen From Ivor.
Have a pint at The Isaac Newton
The Isaac Newton on Corporation Street is pictured above in 1986. The pub originally opened as The Samuel Pepys but had to change it's name to The Isaac Newton following a complaint by Sam's Chop House.
It later changed it's name to Seftons following a refurbishment. One of the first pubs in town to have a video juke box, it was destroyed in the Manchester bombing of June 1996.
Party at the Millionaire Club
The Millionaire Club - known to most simply as The Millionaire - was opened in the 70s by Peter Stringfellow. After his work at Rotters, John Barry was given the chance to audition for the DJ spot in a new club.
John continued to DJ at The Millionaire's club after Peter Stringfellow had sold it to Granada TV. The image above is a glimpse back into the lost nightspot.
Smoke indoors
Younger folk won't remember when smoking indoors in your local pub or a fancy restaurant was the norm. But throughout the 1980s and 1990s it was standard, until the smoking ban was introduced in the UK in 2007.
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Spend the day at Belle Vue
Opened in 1836, Belle Vue zoo started life as a small private collection of birds owned by gardener John Jennison - but his vision for a vast Victorian amusement park saw it blossom into much more – Manchester’s very own theme park. Generations of thrill seekers poured through its gates not just for the animals, but for the theme park’s legendary funfair rides and circus shows.
Spiralling debts saw the zoo wound up in the 1970s. The park, once described as a 'showground of the world,' closed its gates in 1982.
Watch a film at the ABC/Cannon
Originally opening in January 1914, the Deansgate cinema was reopened in November 1930 and known as the Deansgate Picture House. Fast-forward to the late 1950s, the site was taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) and modernised.
By 1971, a second cinema opened, named the ABC 2 and in 1986, ABC was bought out by Cannon and operated under its new name until August 1990, when both screens closed. The building was later converted to a bar for the J.D. Wetherspoon chain of pubs, named The Moon Under Water.
Swim at Gorton Tub
Gorton Tub opened in 1988 and was the place every kid wanted to go, where scores of birthday memories were made. Thousands of kids spent hours in its chlorinated water before heading for a Slush Puppie and a chocolate bar, or a burger and chips.
It later underwent a re-brand and became known as Neptune's Kingdom after the Roman god of the sea. It closed in the early 2000s.
Have an undocumented night out
Smartphones and social media were a long way off. Back in the eighties, you could live your best life without the worry of being captured on camera and feeling the need to post online the next day.
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Eat at The Moss Nook
The Moss Nook was opened in 1973 by Pauline and Derek Harrison and for decades was known as one of Manchester's finest restaurants. Boasting a menu of acclaimed French cuisine, it had a formal, Edwardian interior.
Being so close to Manchester Airport, diners could be sure to spot a fair few planes flying over too. But by 2011, the restaurant had closed down.
Visit Manchester's 1980s HMV
In the 1980s, HMV began to sell Compact Discs (CDs) for the first time, entered the Guinness Book of Records for the ‘World’s Largest Music Store’ with the opening of a new flagship store at 150 Oxford Street - down the road from its original store - and also came to Manchester. During the decade, it had a store located between Topshop and Thomas Cook.
The image above, courtesy of HMV, shows opening day at the store. Crowds can be seen queuing outside Manchester Arndale on Market Street.
Shop at C&A
C&A the people of Manchester with all their fashion needs for so long it would once have seemed unthinkable that it wouldn't survive. Trading in Manchester from 1928, it moved to a three-storey shop in the Arndale Centre in 1978.
Before that it operated at a building on Oldham Street, which is now Sachas Hotel. But after 72 years of trading, C&A announced in 2007 it was closing its doors for good.
Buy a Texan chocolate bar
A striking American-inspired chocolate was the Texan Bar, with the US colours emblazoned within each letter on the packaging. Once you opened the wrapper, you were met with a nougat and toffee bar covered with chocolate.
It was manufactured during the ‘70s and ‘80s before being withdrawn from sale. It was withdrawn in 1984 but made a brief return as a limited edition in 2005.
What do you miss about the eighties in Manchester? Let us know in the comments section below.
Dine at Harpers
The Harpers restaurant on Ridgefield, just off King Street, was opened back in April 1985 by Felix Moreno, who was famously persuaded to Manchester by his pal George Best to open up his Slack Alice venture. Felix and his business partner, Eugenio Fernandez, decided to open Harpers as a tapas style restaurant using their wealth of Spanish expertise.
After decades delighting diners, including the city's footballers, in 2008 Felix decided to retire, while Eugenio would carry on with the business until 2012 when it was to close for good. The site on Ridgefield has continued to be a restaurant though, reopening as Spanish tapas bar La Bandera in 2014.
Have a night out at Brahms and Liszt
Brahms and Liszt was a popular spot for clubbers in the 1980s. It was located in the basement that would later become Panama Hatty's.
Brahms and Liszt was known for its Tiger Lounge club night, which eventually became a now-closed club of its own. It was later announced that the site was due to be turned into a Middle Eastern restaurant by the owners of El Gato Negro.
Read Next:
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