Salford Lads Club Tour
Demi Sheridan, Editorial Assistant
Made world famous as the centre-fold of The Smiths album, The Queen is Dead, Salford Lads Club is the finest example of its type and date in the country. Indeed it’s the only surviving Lads Club anywhere.
The building itself is fascinating, containing a grand entrance hall and staircase with lovely art nouveau details, as well as a gymnasium and viewing gallery. But arguably more fascinating are the stories the building contains, spanning everything from street gangs to towering figures in music and sport.
When Birmingham had Peaky Blinders, Manchester and Salford had Scuttlers – gangs of lads and lassies each with their own street uniforms and a willingness to battle for their tribe. Lads Clubs were an attempt to solve the problem of these violent youths through recreation and sport.
Among the thousands of people who passed through Salford Lads Club on their way to adulthood are sports legends like Manchester United’s Eddie Colman and music icons like Graham Nash and Allan Clarke of the Hollies. And then there’s the Smiths connection, which the Club celebrates with a special Smiths room covered in photos and post-it notes from fans who have visited from every corner of the globe.
Your knowledgeable tour guide will bring all of these stories to life as you explore the building from top to bottom, before walking a short distance to the attractive Middlewood Locks to take a look at part of the renovated Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. En route you’ll pass the New Barracks Estate, the site of the former regional infantry barracks before it became Salford’s first municipal housing scheme.
The finish point is just over the River Irwell from Spinningfields or Castlefield, where you can choose to pull up a bar stool with your tour guide in Salford’s very own Seven Brothers brewery.
