Strangeways (was Re: There Goes A Tenner lyrics)

[pkh%computer-science.nottingham.ac.uk@NSS.CS.UCL.AC.UK]

To this I say "pah!", explaination afterwards:

> It could very well be Strangeways.  However, Strangeways is not a
> prison.

> Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before, but
> Strangeways, Here We Come - The Smiths recent CD is named after the
> local Mental Institution, I believe in Manchester.

> Ken Crissey    whuts!0707dab@Bell Laboratories

Let's clear this up once and for all. I was born and bred in
Manchester, living there for 21 years, and can definitely tell you
that Strangeways is NOT a mental institution (where did anyone get
that idea from anyway?). It is one of Her Majesty's prisons (HMP
Strangeways in fact) which was built in the late 19th Century. It is
very overcrowded and conditions are disgusting by most accounts. It is
not a remand home for youngsters but a run-of-the-mill prison for male
offenders. It happens to be only a mile out of Manchester (on the
north side - Bury New Road) and is positioned adjacent to the world(?)
famous Boddington's Brewery. If you've never had a pint of Boddie's
your life hasn't been worth living! Strangeways is also known locally
by the quaint name of "Strangeways Motel".

For those who do not know by now, Morrisey (of a little known group
called the Smiths :-) come's from Manchester, in fact from Whalley
Range which is about 2-3 miles south of the City. I think he would
have know that Strangeways is an ordinary prison, if not he must have
been living under a stone for the last 20-odd years of his life.

BTW, the local mental institution for the Manchester area is Prestwich
Hospital (which is nearer Bury actually). Thus any phrase to do with
Prestwich meant that the poor person was off to the local mental home.

I thought that this might clear up the point once and for all.

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