Canal Street

Canal Street runs alongside the Rochdale Canal between Princess Street and Minshull Street. It has a number of pubs that were strategically located to cater to the canal people. Below you can see Lock 87, the Eden bar on the canal boat and The Blyth Gallery in the building across the canal. The Rochdale Canal took a number of blows during its history. The first was the opening of the Leeds to Manchester Railway and the second was the collapse of the cotton industry. By the middle of the 20th century it lay abandoned and stagnating.



In the 1960s the area around Canal Street began to attract members of the gay community and a number of bars opened along Canal Street to cater for that new community. The television series "Queer as Folk" brought Canal Street to the attention of the world. Below you can see the "Manto" bar which was one of the first bars to open on Canal Street in the 60s. It was regarded to be a departure from previous gay bars since it had large windows so that people could see inside rather than people hiding away from public view.






Above is the Eden Bar a straight friendly gay bar and restaurant in the gay Village offering light snacks and heartier meals during the day. Formerly the Metz bar, you have to cross a bridge over the canal to get to it. Relax in their lounge bar, like the characters in the television series "Cold Feet" were often filmed doing, or on the famous floating barge outside on the canal. Below, is the Rembrant Hotel on the corner of Sackville Street and Canal Street which has a busy pub and a gay hotel.