The People’s Archive® · Collection
The Haçienda through personal photographs.
Friends in the Gay Traitor bar, nights in the club and the journey on to Hulme. Photographs and memories held in The People’s Archive.
Select a photograph to enlarge and browse the collection.
“Mancunian friends in the Gay Traitor bar in the basement of The Haçienda, Manchester, 1987.”
Martin Prendergast, known as Little Martin, DJed with Mike Pickering as MP² at the club’s Friday night, Nude. In his later interview, he recalls playing house and Detroit techno before the acid house crowds of 1988.
Martin Prendergast’s interview at Manchester Digital Music Archive
“Taken outside The Haçienda in 1989 by a girl we used to hang out with called Naomi. This was directly outside the club as we left, hence the Spectrum flyer (there was always someone handing out flyers).”David Kilner
Post Haç at The Kitchen, Hulme, 1989. The Kitchen was a makeshift studio and after-hours nightclub which was on the top floor of Charles Barry Crescent, one of the four Hulme Crescents. It was just two flats that were knocked through with a sledgehammer! DIY!
The Haçienda opened on 21 May 1982 at 11–13 Whitworth Street West, Manchester, in a former yacht showroom. Founded and financed by Factory Records and New Order, the club carried the Factory catalogue number FAC 51. Ben Kelly designed the interior, with graphics by Peter Saville.
Its music and audience changed over time. The early years and the later acid house era are both part of its history. These crowdsourced photographs cover the 1980s and the start of the 1990s: friends in the basement Gay Traitor bar, Little Martin in the DJ booth, and people outside the club.
The collection also follows a night on to The Kitchen in Hulme. David Kilner’s photograph and the accompanying archive note record the connection between The Haçienda and the after-hours scene in the Crescents.
These are personal records, supplied with the names, dates and memories people have kept. Some details remain uncertain. Further information from people who recognise a face or remember a night helps us make the record more accurate.
Opening and design details: FAC 51 The Haçienda’s history.
All Images © The People's Archive/British Culture Archive, all rights reserved.
Contribute to The People’s Archive
Did you take photographs at The Haçienda, in the Gay Traitor bar or outside the club? We welcome personal photographs, whether you were a regular or went for one night.
How to contributeRead the submission guidance and terms before sending your photographs.
Clear scans or digital copies of personal photographs are welcome.
Include names, approximate dates, club nights and any memories. Tell us where details are uncertain.
Find out how to send your photographs. BCA reviews contributions and selects photographs for The People’s Archive.