I vividly remember hearing the huge explosion and seeing the massive ploom of smoke rising in the distance. I switched the television and radio on straightaway, desperately trying to find out what had happened. I watched the television for the rest of the day, waiting for any further news. A day I will never forget.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39123000/jpg/_39123684_van_238.jpg

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ContentResources/757.$plit/C_4_Image_2171_largeImage.jpg

http://www.nhi.clara.net/baby/bomb.jpg

http://www.atlasops.com/bomb.gif

http://irelandsown.net/CanaryWhrf.jpg

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/emergency/images/bomb.jpg

http://www.unitedmanchester.com/mancirish/photos/IRAbomb.jpg

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ContentResources/68.$plit/C_17_Articles_121257_BodyWeb_Detail_0_Image.jpg

http://www.midbeds.gov.uk/Images/tn_bomb2_tcm4-5530.jpg

I heard it in Eccles. I was working in Dry on Oldham Street at the time and the main window was bullet proof (cant imagine why!?!) but the windows on the first floor were smashed. I found it fascinating how the shock wave travelled round corners and up side streets. The story goes that you couldnt get a glazer from Aberdeen to Plymouth in the following week.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist but have one on the bomb which I am not going to share with you unless at least 5 people ask to hear it!

I WOKE UP AND MY MUM TOLD ME SHE HEARD A BIG BANG (IN WHITEFIELD) THEN MY GRAN PHONED AND SAID A BOMB HAD EXPLODED IN THE CENTRE! but i was about 8!

YOU WERE 8 ?????!!!!! :eek2:
Fuck me - that makes me feel old! :ancient:

I remember walking into the front room sitting down, my dad turned the tv on and it was all over the news. We were thinking about going to town that day, changed with the push of a button. I was also 8 years old at the time.

I'd been at the PC World and was headed for the Arndale Centre when it went off. Was at the big roundabout with the M in the middle when I heard the bang and saw the plume.

I've asked 5 people Longstreets and they all wanna know..with me that makes six in total. Spill them beans.
Not the International Regeneration Association is it?

I was 2 mins from the old house at home pub in West Didsbury/Withington. Boomed the windows of my bedroom it did (11 ish?). Bluetones where on the radio at the time.

I vividly remember hearing the huge explosion and seeing the massive plume of smoke rising in the distance. I switched the television and radio on straightaway, desperately trying to find out what had happened. I watched the television for the rest of the day, waiting for any further news. A day I will never forget. Sadly, there will doubtless be worse days to come. Maybe not in Manchester. But somewhere, someday. Because there are snarling evil people in the world. Bullies, murderers, gangsters. Terrorists, warlords, tyrants. They want what they can take, and to them the lives of innocents is just a weapon to be used.

Guys and gals, make a note of this for when the next bomb goes off:

Manchester City Council notes the work of the Refugee and Migrants' Forum, a network of groups and individuals working to empower refugees and migrants in Manchester. Council congratulates the Forum on their efforts in drafting the new Refugee Charter for Manchester (see below) Council endorses the Refugee Charter for Manchester, and in so doing, places on record its thanks to refugee and asylum seekers for the rich contribution they have made to life in the City of Manchester.

I was on a bus from ancoats new the retail park. I was on the top of a double decker 77 bus from newton heath. The junction just off the retail park, i heard a loud bang. 1st i thought it was (or it at least it sounded like) a plank off wood slamming full whack against the floor! I looked up an of course i saw the ploom hiroshima style lol rising up above the center.

The bus didnt go into the city center, we got off there an then. I remember you couldnt get near piccadilly gardens the das following.

Ill never forget it, ever!

I was also 8 at the time! (Is everyone 18 here?!)
I was playing in my mates back garden in Levenshulme when I heard it.
Remember thinking that a skip had been dropped in the area or something along those lines...nevertheless, I ran home and then got told the news by my mum.

Don't remember much of the aftermath or anything though...suppose when your 8 you just get on with it!

Guys and gals, make a note of this for when the next bomb goes off:


Quote:
Manchester City Council notes the work of the Refugee and Migrants' Forum, a network of groups and individuals working to empower refugees and migrants in Manchester. Council congratulates the Forum on their efforts in drafting the new Refugee Charter for Manchester (see below) Council endorses the Refugee Charter for Manchester, and in so doing, places on record its thanks to refugee and asylum seekers for the rich contribution they have made to life in the City of Manchester.

Words fail me, they really do. I didn't think it possible but Farsight has hit a new low with this. Talk about naive, muddled logic. :bash:

Hey i was actually 10 at the time. We were in the city center. I remember that the helicopter was flying overhead telling everyone to leave, and people were complaining. They shut the Metrolink down and we walked along the tracks back to Victoria. I didnt hear the explosion as we were back before it went, just heard about it after on the news. Im still so glad no one was killed, although the people full of glass was bad enough!

My mam had booked a holiday for us (me, our kid and my sister) to go to Scarborough on the 16th. She told me to buy three caps from Harpurhey market the day before coz 'itd be hot'.

They had no girl caps so I bought a 'Jurrasic Park' cap for me and a 'Ford' cap for our kid.

While walkin back past the ASDA, this noise took over. I thought a truck had fallen over. (silly kid)

Never forget it. I remember babies in prams screeming like ive never seen before.

....And how far away is Harpurhey from he blast site?!?!

I wasn't there, but one of my cousins was working in a nearby hotel as a manager in Piccadilly Gardens... I'll give her a ring tomorrow and give you a full report on the evacuation sequence...All i remember is all the staff/residents were sent to Muster points in the wrong direction!!!!!!!!

But look on the bright side ...Manchester city centre may have been burnt to ashes...but a new Phoenix arose!!!!!!!!

I've seen the redevelopment (in fact I did it as a case study for my urban design project last year) and on the whole it's excellent. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it did Manchester a favour as obviously terrorism is always a terrible thing even if the damage is only to the physical built environment but I will say that Manchester now has some of the best public spaces and is undergoing one of the most dramatic transformations of any city in the UK, as a result (in part) of the need to rebuild after the 1996 bombing.
Obviously since I am not from Manchester I never experienced that day personally and I was only 11 when it happened but I do have vague memories of the news reports.

I was at work for a travel consolidator located in those concrete offices around Sambles Square. It was a day I'll never forget.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but have one on the bomb which I am not going to share with you unless at least 5 people ask to hear it!

I'll give you mine and suffer the consequences....

...my mate who is a copper, told me that after consultation with the city 'they' decided to let the bomb go off, even though they could have done a controlled explosion. Personally I think its the best thing that could have happened... saved years of haggling with conservation groups for example!

SleepyOne: We can talk some more about naive muddled logic at some future date.

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/sport/football/manchesterunited/s/87/87770_united_match_was_terror_target.html

Is Farsight 8 years old now?

I was in London at the time of the Manchester bomb, but was close to the Canary Wharf bomb when that went off. :runaway:

No. More like 48. I was just trying to say when you're remembering some devastating incident from the past, think about whether it could happen again. I worry about stuff like Beetham getting all its glass blown out, because there's a kind of institutionalised PC deceit protecting people who want to cause hurt and harm.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,879505,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901030203-411393-3,00.html

I was working at Avis in Piccadilly at the time, I remember driving back into the office and at Dale St I noticed the helicopters overhead but I couldn't hear the warnings coming from the loud speaker and carried on driving back to the office. About 15 mins after I arrived back there was a massive bang and the whole office shook to its foundations, there was only me and this girl there in the office and we shit our pants. We were supposed to be open til 1:00pm that day but we said fuck this and shut straight away. I was 26 at the time.

The official opening for beetham tower should be June 15th 2006. That would put two fingers up to the IRA.

I wasn't in Manchester at the time, but was 18 and remember the day very well.
It was a mixed day, the bomb was really shocking but on the other hand Gazza scored his wonder goal against the Scots in Euro 96, which was brilliant. The next day Old Trafford opened for business where Germany played Russia.

SleepyOne: We can talk some more about naive muddled logic at some future date.

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/sport/football/manchesterunited/s/87/87770_united_match_was_terror_target.html
That article is full of crap :bash:

The people who were the 'terrorists' were the guys who worked at a kebab shop just round the corner from me. Good guys.

What was the evidence of this plot? Well, they were from Iraq, and they had tickets to Old Trafford. Crap - they must be terrorists! Um, no, they were just going to watch the game.

Sorry Farsight, but posting crap like that and telling us we should be afraid of refugees is just encouraging fear and division :moods:

^^ Yup its been known for some time those guys weren't terrorists

I went that Liverpool match is was shite. There were loads of extra police dressed up in funny clothes they were doing random searchs and everyone was get searched as we went in. Then Danny Murphy got a pen and we got beat 1 nill.

Sorry Farsight, but posting crap like that and telling us we should be afraid of refugees is just encouraging fear and division. I never said we should be afraid of refugees. I'm just trying to say it could happen again, and people should think about it and talk about it intelligently. It's around about this point, when I say some terrorists pose as asylum seekers, that somebody calls me a racist.

b4mmy - ah! i'm not alone - but mine goes deeper and involves MI5 and the scuppering of the peace process.
rolybling - a fellow car hire employee - i worked for National/ Guy salmon for many years off and on.
Farsight - skyscrapers? yes please! politics? no thanks!

OK, let's keep to the topic then. No more talk of conspiracy theories either.

Where was I on 15th of June 1996? I think I was at work. Was it a Saturday? I wasn't at home. I heard that a bomb had gone off in Manchester, and thought it would be something that had blown out a shop window or two. I was gobsmacked to see it was a scene of such devastation, then surprised to read OTT stuff like "destroyed the city centre".

Yeah what a bizarre day this was,i was a fresh faced 22 :)

I had been cluubing the night before, and went to a chill out in the NQ , first thing we knew was the whole apartment shake,,looked outsde and people were running around like nutters, saw all the smoke, and watched it all going on from a distance.
Was a bit worried for a while ,when i realised it was a bomb , cos my dad was working in the Ramada at that time,luckily the whole place was evacuated .
Manchester had a very lucky escape that day,thank god no-one was killed

i was in bed

I vividly remember hearing the huge explosion and seeing the massive ploom of smoke rising in the distance. I switched the television and radio on straightaway, desperately trying to find out what had happened. I watched the television for the rest of the day, waiting for any further news. A day I will never forget.

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/emergency/images/bomb.jpg



Tough little buggers those postboxes aren't they?

Scenes of absolute carnage. May this never happen to any of our towns and cities again.

Feel like I was affected twice by the IRA Cowards.

1993 - was living in Warrington, when the IRA murdered 2 Children. Luckily I wasn't in the centre of town that day.
1996 - Just moved from Swinton, would usually have been in Manchester at weekend, so feel like I escaped twice.

I remember hearing the sirens in Warrington, but wondered how far out of the centre of Manchester could the bomb be heard/felt???

Even though it was 10 years ago, I was still in my late 20's. Now that makes me feel old.

I heard the explosion from 4000 miles away in Ontario.

Let me clarify that, it was big news all over the world and carried by all the major N. American news networks. I saw it on CNN, I was at the '19th hole' after just completing a round of golf. One of the rare occasions when you'd see and instantly recognize the centre of town on TV.

I heard that it was the most powerful bomb to have exploded in the UK ever, (including WW2).

Full credit has to go to the GMP for the evacuation of all those thousands of workers, shoppers and tourists (there were a lot of Euro footy fans in town).
And a miracle that there were no fatalities with just 200 people injured by flying glass.

Just to continue from before, I was in town just a couple of months after the bomb and it was only after seeing the whole sides of tall office buildings opened up like sardine tins that you sensed the magnitude of this explosion. It was very surreal, but everyone seemed to be going about their business as if nothing had happened. It was just as crowded as ever.
I often wondered if the insurance companies paid out to all those hundreds of businesses that were affected.

Amazing that nobody was killed, dread to think if it was in today's climate and Al Qaeda had planted the bomb. They wouldn't give any warnings.

I was a couple of weeks off 8.

For some reason my family were at Trinity High School in Hulme that day, some function or other. I remember walking around there, but don't remember the actual explosion. Apparently the buildings shook and all the shutters rattled. I then remember us trying to get a bus into town only to be told 'the arndales been blown up'

Went to a barbecue later that day and remember being told of a '40ft hole in the Arndale' or something.

The next week I went to school and claimed to have been inside the Arndale when the bomb went off..... :runaway:

^^^ :hahaha: :hahaha: :hahaha: typical 8 year old..... :hahaha: :hahaha:

I was watching Bernard Manning at Radcliffe Borough. England were playing Scotland, Bernard gave a show before the kick off.

He comes on, giving it loads of anti-irish jokes etc, "they've just bombed town again", thought it was part of the act. Then it was on TV. First worries were for friends and family who work, shop and booze in town, then for the poor workers, emergency services and that.

Didn't go to to town for a few days after the bomb, but when I went, there were still sirens going off, blinds hanging out of shattered windows, really terrible. Really gut wrenching stuff.

Buildings aside, the people had a Blitz spirit about them. I had always thought of the blitz spirit as being hyped up war propaganda, but seeing the union flags, "Manchester Not Out", etc all around town after a bomb that killed no-one, I could accept that the spirit of the 1940's must have been great amongst people constantly getting the shite blown out of them day and night.

behind the CIS there was a wall, graffitied "1941-1996 Manchester Undefeated". It's gone now.

I was 17.

Don't really remember much of the day, only way I related to it was that I was 10 1/2yrs old.. n one of me brothers had been taken into manchester hospital cos one of his kidneys was apparently blocked n had been for some time n was.. on the verge of killin him, so he was havin that removed.. anyhow all i remember is hearin on news a bomb had gone off and, not having any geographical awareness of where the hospitals are to the city centre (and being a child) i worried he was involved.. thats all I remember.

I dont know about biggest bomb in the Uk - bombs that size were common place in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
I used to go out with a girl in Belfast and a 1000lb bomb (about the same size as the Mcr bomb) went off about half a mile away from her house whilst i was staying once. I am not being over dramatic when i say it makes you sick to the stomach being so close to a bomb that size. It does something to the body which you cant really explain and you dont feel right for a day or two. I wouldnt say they were used to it over there but they just got on with it and it was 'just another bomb' to them.

i remember it well but as i was at home in chorlton i have no interesting storys to tell,

anyway, someone should do a then & now style banner to be up up on the 15/06

I remember seeing pictures of the Arndale tower with every single window blown out even on the other side of the tower and blinds flapping in the wind.Even CIS had a few windows blown out some 1/4 or more mile away

I dont know about biggest bomb in the Uk - bombs that size were common place in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.
I used to go out with a girl in Belfast and a 1000lb bomb (about the same size as the Mcr bomb) went off about half a mile away from her house whilst i was staying once. I am not being over dramatic when i say it makes you sick to the stomach being so close to a bomb that size. It does something to the body which you cant really explain and you dont feel right for a day or two. I wouldnt say they were used to it over there but they just got on with it and it was 'just another bomb' to them.

The Manc bomb was 3,300lbs.
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/mancunian/expats/s/121/121257_then_and_now_the_manchester_bomb.html

Windows were blown out 500m away. And apparently part of the truck was thrown a similar distance.

How do you weigh a bomb once it's gone off!

I'd just gone down to Old Trafford to buy tickets for Germany v Russia with my dad. We were driving back on the Mancunian Way when we heard a loud bang - but didn't think too much of it until a news flash came on the radio.........

size of the blast?

I was celebrating PNE's promotion from Division 3.

I wasn't living in Manchester at the time of the bomb. In fact I was living in Northern Ireland, which may or may not be ironic.

I was almost 12, remember the day quite vividly and I was a couple of miles out of the city centre at my grandads cafe at the industrial estate in what is now the car park at MUFC/Old Trafford. When it happened the ground shook quite violently, we thought that the crane operators in the train depot had dropped a container or something, but when I went out to have a look I saw that huge plume of smoke rising over the city centre, it was a very bizarre feeling, wondering what happened.

It amazes me to this day that the emergency services did such a fantastic job of evacuating the vicinity of the explosion in the time they had on a Saturday afternoon, and that no one was killed in the attack.


How do you weigh a bomb once it's gone off!
Physics is a wonderful science. There are allsorts of after-effects that can be studied to estimate the size of the device.

We'd just drove past Central Retail Park when we saw shitloads of fireengines mincing down to town. 20 minutes later, outside of town on the way to Ashton, a muffled "flump" echoed in the distance. Didn't know what the bloody hell happened until the next day.

"Physics is a wonderful science. There are allsorts of after-effects that can be studied to estimate the size of the device."

I'm sure they can tell a lot from the explosive after-effects but I think they got their information via 'intelligence'. Their undercover agent in the IRA probably gave them the full specs of the device.
__________________

Chris - i'm not criticising you personally so dont get defensive but i dont know where the idea of this 3300lb bomb came from. It was figure quoted at the time and this misinformation has been just regurgitated continually since with little or no regard to the truth.
As i have said before i cant stand conspiracy theorists but there is no denying there was a cover up over the events. Dont take my word for it:

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/40/40765_ira_bomb_coverup.html

Ive seen what 1000lb bombs do and i can assure you if it was a 3300lb bomb not only would the post box not have survived but they would be picking bits of Marks and Spencers up in Wigan (exaggeration for effect before the pedants revolt!).
There was something not right about the events leading up to and folllowing the bomb and this 'myth' about a 3300lb bomb is just one of them.

Sorry Longford, but I'd rather believe documented writeups of the event, including encyclopedic writeups, than your speculation based on comparisons of two different devices in two completely different environments.

I have no clue about bombs whatsoever, and now I'm wondering why weight is especially important. Surely 3300lb's of plutonium would have a lot more impact that 3300lb's of rio snappers. Is there a standard? hmm.

And on the whole, where were you? thing, I was playying tennis in cheadle hulme. Found out when I got home, and really didn't give much of a toss as I remember. Ah, the shame of it. I was 16 though, but that's no excuse.

Well for the record, its always been my understanding that the Manchester bomb was biggest ever on the mainland, not in the UK, still I fail to see how you can compare a 1000lb bomb going off in NI to 3000lb bomb going off in (dense) Manchester city centre, the fact the bomb was heard some considerable distance away (I've heard about 12-13 miles from some people) should tell us it was large. Anyway "Our bombs are bigger than your bombs?" it was a disgraceful act that back fired on the IRA big time, it wasn't long after this they were disarming and getting round the table for talks. They lost a lot of sympathy when they bombed Warrington, Manchester just made it worse for them.

This thread has bombed...

Sorry Longford, but I'd rather believe documented writeups of the event, including encyclopedic writeups, than your speculation based on comparisons of two different devices in two completely different environments.

This isnt speculation - this is based on a considerable amount of research for my under graduate dissertation. I started off simply looking into the effects of the bomb on Manchester from a town planning/ regeneration point of view and the more i looked into the more it didnt make sense. I dont claim to be an expert but i can catergorically say the bomb was not as big as initial reports made it out to be ie. 3300lbs. Just because there are documented write ups (wikipedia? - that fount of all knowledge?) doesnt mean those write ups are based on real evidence - like i say they are just repeated mis-truths.
There is absolutely no doubt that there was a cover up and we have all seen that good has come out the bomb - no one was hurt - thats all that matters, but from how i understand it (and i dont claim to fully understand it) this was not as simple as it initially seems and we should not believe everything we read in the papers!

This thread has bombed...

Agreed - lets move on!

I remember coming down the dancers on the Saturday morning , after a night on the ale , and me Mam saying " listen to this on the radio " and on GMR it was the breaking news of the bomb.Straight away I went out and got the bus into Town . I dont know why but I just had to get into Town . On the way there were lots of roumers being bandied about and the bus driver had his radio on loud so everyone could hear what was going on . Any ways we get to the Adelphi pub , just before Salford Royal and the trafficks come to a dead stop so I bail out and walk in the rest of the way. I go up Chapel St and the Cops are there diverting everyone up Bridge St .I get to Deansgate and its fucking chaos , loads of Police and Firemen running around , the Police moving everyone back , some people scared and in a bit of a flap and others just having a good nosey. Next stop for me was the a boozer , really cant remember which one but it wasnt long before the dibble came in and closed it , and thats how the rest of the day went really , go in a pub for a bit and then the Police empty it , go to the next one , gets emptied etc. Ended up in Joshua Brooks watching the match , us against the Jocks , well pissed . But what I recall most about the day was complete strangers talking to each other like old friends , relating their own little tales to one another about where they were etc , and what had happened .There was just an energy , a buzz in the air that something big and dangerous had occured in the City, and the hoping that no one had died or that there wasnt another bomb ready to go off . It was a slightly deranged scene really , people seemed a bit mad , every one seemed a bit hyper. The bomb, the beer and Gazzas goal , just like drugs .

Well, I remember it very well, as I was in the city at the time when it went off. The time was 11.05 as I just got off the train at Manchester Piccadilly. We were preparing to travel to Dukes 92 in Castlefield to play the opening day of the Manchester Jazz Festival with the percussion band I was playing with at the time (you know, those big Samba bands that play carnivals and the like) - having done a neat little set the previous evening to a load of pre-Glastonbury types lounging and chilling in the warm sunshine outside the Salutation pub on that little patch of green land that is now taken over with halls of residence. The weather was once again sunny, warm and balmy but that didn't prepare us for what happened around 11.13 am...

Barely five minutes after stepping off the train there was this huge bang which reverberated around the station, shaking the roof.....it stunned the whole place into silence, but for some reason I kind of figured what it would be, because with the Euro 96 celebrations going on countrywide, I had a gut feeling that perhaps the IRA was waiting for a big event like this to plan for their next attack on the mainland somewhere ..... I wasn't far wrong then...rushing out of the station building towards the outside car park area I could see a plume of smoke curling upwards near where the CIS Tower was as I looked towards it.... then a bloke standing next to me said.. "Fuck, they've gone and done the Arndale haven't they?" - meaning the IRA had bombed it - and he took the words right out of my mouth. We returned to the station concourse as the police started motioning all passengers to stay in the building and make their way back from where they came - the city centre was being sealed off immediately. Pandemonium did not materialise - people were just too stunned - the place effectively became even quieter and people were talking in hushed tones, trying to make sense of what they'd just heard and felt.

We had to return to the platforms and check the trains to see what effect this would have on them - it didn't take long for the delays to start - as the city roads were being closed off obviously this was now affecting the trains - so it took much longer than anticipated for us to actually leave the station. Travelling between Piccadilly and Oxford Road itself took well over 45 minutes.... but even then it seemed like an eternity.

When we finally got to Oxford Road and exited the station building back onto the street, people were just standing around in ever increasing numbers looking bemused and disorientated - people who had been displaced from the streets all around, people who were ordered to leave their cars and make their journeys on foot even. There wasn't any cars in sight - just the odd policeman. Things were fast grinding to a standstill....and what was most noticeable of all was the eerie silence that had descended in on the city - we couldn't even hear any sirens or alarm bells ringing...just this strange, otherworldy silence....not even much roaring of traffic. At this point I decided to walk towards Dukes 92 in Castlefield to see what was happening there but it was obvious the events were all cancelled, but I spotted a few of my band colleagues there and after a few words we then made our way back out and scattered in different directions, some heading home and me heading back to Oxford Road station to try and catch what train there would be back to Liverpool to see my family on the Wirral (which was the intention after we had done the gig that afternoon anyway).

I was joined by a few other strangers who were equally anxious about how they could get out of the city - and then suddenly a woman yelped hysterically just ahead of us as a pigeon flew right past her just outside The Green Room. It was obvious from her frightened expression and behaviour that she was caught up in the scramble to flee the shopping centre before the blast went off - she seemed very distressed and terrified and implored us to help her find a way out... To her, the pigeon seemed like a piece of flying masonry - and the horror that registered in her frightened face said as much..."My car is in the car park [at the Arndale] but I can't go back there - I just want to know which way I can get out of here right now....I just have to get out of here! Please....." barely hiding the rising hysteria and panic in her voice. We helped calm her down and directed her to the nearest policemen who subsequently took care of her.

I have never witnssed anything like this before - the city being so quiet - people just silently standing around shell-shocked and barely able to raise their voices - all of them caught up in the same predicament that was both inexplicable and frightening.... it was etched on everyone's faces - that look of confusion and bewilderment, a mixture of fear, anxiety and relative incomprehension at what had just unfolded before their eyes, the feeling of not knowing if something else was going to happen, nerves frayed and then made to jump at the very first sudden noise from anywhere. It seems like a cliché to say this but everything DID look like it was happening in slow motion now - things seemed stretched out for an eternity, the smallest journey took ages, people just standing around waiting for things to happen...the trains being caught up in the gridlock.....people staying calm despite everything.....

The time was now after 1pm and it took us another two hours of standing around before I could finally leave Oxford Road station - with the city now in complete traffic deadlock as people were slowly trying to make use of what transport was available in order to get to relative safety away from the scene. The trains were packed with people needless to say - I guess we were the luckier ones, others may have had to wait for even longer before they too could get away.

When I finally got back to my parents on the Wirral - it was nearly 5pm and I immediately tuned into the news to see the pictures for myself - and it was shocking - never have I seen such damage - not since the Bishopsgate Bomb in London anyway - the Arndale was a complete ruin and whole sections were just levelled... I even recall that when I returned to work the following week some of us were offered counselling if we were unlucky enough to have been caught up in the city at the time of the bomb, just in case of delayed traumatic effects having taken their toll and that......but I declined it as I already knew what had happened anyway, for me the bigger shock wasn't so much the actual bomb going off - and feeling its immense power shaking the ground beneath us - but the fact that everyone who I saw in the city at the time had an unmistakable haunted look about them as they tried to come to terms with what they had just experienced - and that to me is something that would live in my memory much longer than just the sensation of the blast itself.

Because the 96 bomb was so momentous we forget the 'other' bombs. The Arndale was fire bombed in 91 and two car bombs went off in 92 and there were lots of serious injuries with that because people were trying to get away from the first bomb behind Kendals and walked straight in to the other one which was where Harvey Nicks is now.
In terms of casualities the 92 bombs were a lot worse - and you can still see a bit of damage on one of the buildings behind Parsonage Gardens.

Great thread this, very interesting to hear people's personal stories of the event. Out of interest, does anyone think that the 'best thing that ever happened to Manchester' thing is a bit strong? I have two worries about it. 1) I assume (but don't know) that some of the people who were injured were so badly, and they seem to have been forgotten because we have a 0 in the deaths stats. and 2) Wasn't quite a bit of the development already on track (bridgewater hall and stuff) by then, and isn't most of what has happened since due to a whole host of other factors such as general economic conditions. I sometimes think that this particular line of argument is a bit unfair on all the people who have contributed to Manchester's renaissance.
Any thoughts, no idea whether I have a point on this one or not?

It is a good thread. Not too sure what I was up too, didn't realise/remember that it was the same time as Euro '96, was in town alot at the time too. Suppose if it was the same day as the Scotland game I was round at my mates sisters house getting pissed watching the game.

Think my cousin (who is a good few years older than me) may have been caught up in the bombs of 91 or 92, did they use the Cathedral as a refuge or something, seem to remember that being the case anyway whilst they waited for it to be confirmed safe.

Because the 96 bomb was so momentous we forget the 'other' bombs. The Arndale was fire bombed in 91 and two car bombs went off in 92 and there were lots of serious injuries with that because people were trying to get away from the first bomb behind Kendals and walked straight in to the other one which was where Harvey Nicks is now.
In terms of casualities the 92 bombs were a lot worse - and you can still see a bit of damage on one of the buildings behind Parsonage Gardens.


Oh, make no mistake - I remember that one all too clearly too and it WAS nasty especially how it happened as you just described - but the major difference between that one and the huge 96 one was that I wasn't in the city when those went off so of course cannot provide any genuine first hand account of how it affected me psychologically.

These threads are a perfect oppurtunity for you to refine your English skills aren't they Martin!

Very interesting nontheless :)

Because the 96 bomb was so momentous we forget the 'other' bombs. The Arndale was fire bombed in 91 and two car bombs went off in 92 and there were lots of serious injuries with that because people were trying to get away from the first bomb behind Kendals and walked straight in to the other one which was where Harvey Nicks is now.
In terms of casualities the 92 bombs were a lot worse - and you can still see a bit of damage on one of the buildings behind Parsonage Gardens.

I worked in Arkright house (on parsonage gardens) when the earthquakes went of the other year and the old dear i was working in the office in with at the time was in the same building when the parsonage bomb went off, understandably she was rather wide eyed when the building started shaking.

God , were going back a bit now, i was at St John's college (CJC is now there )when the Parsonage Gardens bomb went off.

I was in my student house in Fitzwarren St, Pendleton when I heard a big crash at the door. We were quite used to having scallies chuck bricks at our windows/try kick the door down/push fireworks through the letterbox etc so we thought it was just the usual scum but then about 30 mins later I saw it on the TV.

Me and a couple of mates tried to get into the city centre to have a look at the carnage but we couldn't get there due to the police cordons so we spent all afternoon in the Adelphi Riverside pub on the Crescent in Salford getting drunk!

Agree with the idea of a banner with say a before and after pic of the area around the Arndale with footbridge and a relevent short message, I'd do it myself but it would be shit.

What would be fitting for the upcoming 10th annerversary of the bombing, is an unveiling of some public art / statue, lets say outside the new entrance to Next, as a celebration to all the regeneration that as been done since the attack.

i was playing football on my school 'playground' in bury when i heard a muffled crunching sound, i paused and thought nothing of it. My auntie worked in what now is the orange shop on market street, wen i saw the news i wondered...

She told me she had to check all the clothes for bombs...

BBC1 - tonight 7.30 - Inside Out.

The moment.

http://www.urbanstrategies.com/images/uploads/Manchester_1_pop.jpg

I have never seen that photo in my life (and i did my dissertation on the bomb)- where the fuck did you get that from? Fanatstic (in a way!)

I have never seen that photo in my life (and i did my dissertation on the bomb)- where the fuck did you get that from? Fanatstic (in a way!)


Here Mr Longford.

www.urbanstrategies.com

Also.

Bombers 'will never face justice'

[img]http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ContentResources/569.$plit/C_17_Articles_205849_BodyWeb_Detail_0_Image.jpg/img]

HUGE: The bomb's dreadful effect.

A TV documentary recalling the horror of the IRA bomb in Manchester city centre claims the culprits will never face justice.

The BBC's Inside Out, which is broadcast tonight (Monday), says that security forces knew who had planted the bomb.

About 200 people were injured in the attack in June 1996. It was the second largest device ever used by the IRA on the British mainland. No one was killed.

The M.E.N. named the main suspect, but he was never arrested.

The only person to be charged over the bombing was Det Ch Insp Gordon Mutch, who was accused of leaking information to the M.E.N. He was cleared of any wrongdoing in court.

Arrested

Former M.E.N. crime reporter Steve Panter was arrested over the leak but never charged.

The programme backs up the M.E.N's revelations and features an interview with editor Paul Horrocks.

In the documentary at 7.30pm, Prof Richard English, who is the author of Armed Struggle - The History Of The IRA, says that it is known who was responsible and that the bomb was built in South Armagh.

Police said they did not have enough evidence to charge the bombers.

The story of Cathy Malcolm who was heavily pregnant at the time and ran a shop in the Corn Exchange is told. She was traumatised by the blast and left Manchester to live in a small village near Milton Keynes with her daughter Bethany, now aged nine.

Psychologist Noreen Tehrani says many people caught up in the blast still suffer post-traumatic stress.

That urban stratergies website is interesting. I havent come across these people before but they seem to have a good cv. I'm surprised their names arent mentioned in various literature ive read (perhaps they charge so much for doing little or nothing that Mcr City council is trying to disassociate themselves with over paid 'consultants'.)

That pic is also sat inside the interior of the warm-yer-cockles Mr Thomas's Chop House (featured in said bomb image).

highriser: did you say public art or statue? It's been done, but in the wrong location.

http://www.360spin.co.uk/bofthebang/images/DSC_0072_bofthebang_night_v.jpg

I cant remember where I was at the exact moment, must have been in bed (I was a student at the time)
My mum said that she heard it on Gorton Market! that must be 3 or 4 miles away.

Ian Simpson explained on that TV prog, that the bomb forced the mostly London based land holding companies to finally agree and get involved with a major new masterplan for the city. And I supose once it began, it spiralled.

It was the same day England played Scotland at Wembely in Euro 96.

Had a few friends up from round the country, we all planned on going into town to watch the game.

Didn't actually hear the bomb going off - I must have been on the tram at the time, we got to GMex, there was chaos, all trams were stopped, ours must have been the last one to reach town for many hours (the tracks between Gmex and Victoria were out of action for several days).

We walked down to The Old Garratt (near UMIST) and spent the whole day in there getting leathered - it was a really really hot day I remember.

After watching the football, we wanted to leave the pub, only to find the pub was by this point well and truly inside the 'danager area'.

If I remember correctly there was 3 other 'suspisious' vechicles in the city centre that day, and the police were running around closing the city centre off bit by bit. I remember looking along Princess Street (??) towards the city centre from the door way - not a soul in sight, just abandon cars and alarms going off. Looking away from town and the police were forcing people back, and shouting at us to get back in the pub (which we gladly did).

I spent the rest of the day drinking, and ended up going for a curry - eventually when I realised what had happened, and where the bomb was I realised that my friend who worked in Superdrug (in the Arndale) at the time must have been heavily involved.

As I lived in the same house at the time, and could not get hold of him either at our house, and none of my friends had heard from him, I called the missing persons line in a very drunken state - to this day I think the person at the other end didn't believe me.

I did not hear or see my friend for another 36 hours, he had had to run out of the shop, leaving his coat, and everyones phone numbers in the shop (all were destroyed) - remember mobile phones were just starting at this point, he had been forced to go north out of the city and had no way of getting home, and had no contact details for anyone to let us know he was alright - he stayed with another friend and was fine.

All in all, by far the most memerable day of my life, arriving in Manchester just before 11am, expecting to go on an all day drinking session, and ended up in the most momentous day the city has had since the end of WWII.

Came to Town to do some shopping. Parked on Red Bank under the Victoria Rail lines so we were completley unaware of what had happened other than hearing a lot of sirens (This is Manchester so it seemed normal). We walked up on to Corperation Street by Vic Station/CIS and were met with an umbelievable view. I think the bomb had gone off a few minutes earlier. There was no traffic or sign of anyone at all. We (being curious 18yr old lads) decided to go an investigate. We made it as far as Balloon street before the helecopter flew overhead with a loud speaker telling everybody to get out of the area due to high risk of falling glass. It seemed to me every last piece of glass was under my feet (I even took a piece just in case it was a repeat of the berlin wall, sadly not to be!). What really got me was the sound, 100s of security alarms/car alarm all sounding at the same time.
I am glad my friend had decided to save money on parking. Had we tried to park in the arndale, we'd have been stopped outside the City and not seen anything but a cordain (although I think I should count myself lucky I wasn't hit by falling glass).

my memories.....my alarmclock waking me up @ 8:45am with the intention of going down to manchester early on the bus......and then my mum ringing me on my brick mobile @ 12ish asking me if i was ok......thankfully i'd fallen back asleep and was still in bed when she rang and i was blissfully unaware of what had happened......


in a stange way i wish i'd have been in town that day...

my memories.....my alarmclock waking me up @ 8:45am with the intention of going down to manchester early on the bus......and then my mum ringing me on my brick mobile @ 12ish asking me if i was ok......thankfully i'd fallen back asleep and was still in bed when she rang and i was blissfully unaware of what had happened......


in a stange way i wish i'd have been in town that day...

Almost exactly what I did. I woke up early intending to go shopping in town, then decided on "just ten more minutes" in bed. I woke up again two or three hours later, went downstairs and heard the news. I too felt oddly like I'd missed out on something.

The city centre was full of German footy fans too, as I recall, as their games were all at Old Trafford.

being lazy but is there anything on this thread about the people who were relocated from the corn exchange afterwards? be interesting to know what happened to them. miss that place. shame on the council for not rescuing them and returning them after the building was restored.

Found this little beaut.

http://www.allrounddefence.com/images/Arndale%20Centre.jpg

Visitors to Manchester Cathedral are being urged to unite in song to mark the 10th anniversary of the IRA attack on the city centre.

A service is planned in memory of the blast, and clerics hope it will form the focal point as the city unites to remember the events of 15 June 1996.

The cathedral's lead roof was lifted three inches by the bomb, and three stained glass windows were shattered.

Two hundred people were injured in the explosion but there were no fatalities.

Destruction

The bomb destroyed a large area of the city centre near the cathedral, but a warning allowed the area to be evacuated.

Damage put at £700m was caused, including the destruction of Marks and Spencer and parts of the Arndale Centre.

The service is intended to give thanks for the spirit of Manchester and for the subsequent rebuilding of the city.

An extensive rebuilding programme took place after the blast, transforming the area with new architecture and designer shops.

The Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Rogers Govender, said: " The bomb was not good for Manchester, but I think the people of the city have ensured something good has come out of it."

The service takes place at Manchester Cathedral on 15 June at 1100 BST.

From bbc Manchester.

Well, yesterday (or today, if you still inhabit a bizarre time zone like I do) was the official 10th anniversary and of course the BBC have been covering it quite thoroughly on their local website and news bulletins. I have been reading up on all the articles on the website earlier and was struck by how many people have contributed with very detailed recollections of their own experiences.

Apparently there was a "studio 6" media set up in Exchange Square the past few days leading up to yesterday's anniversary where people could drop by and give accounts of their own stories of the event....shame I missed that cos I haven't been into the city since passing through it on Monday returning back from a weekend in Liverpool...

Anyway, I read with interest all of the letters that were sent to the BBC website but this entry I have quoted in its entirety below warrants some particular attention - if only for the fact that it's submitted by a 44 year old hotel worker who - for his mature age/seniority - must have never been taught in school how NOT to use capital letters in his grammar.... it's almost a piss take to have to read this one, sorry but I couldn't help it..... ;)


Ian McCaffery, 44 from Salford


On that dreadful day, i was working at the Midland Hotel. Getting one of the Function Rooms Ready for the Wedding we had on that day as the Main Function Room Was allready set for The Charity Dinner. All Staff was informed that the City was Being Evacuated and all Senior Staff was called to The Foyer to assist all People that were coming into the Hotel at that time. Just after the Blast the False Ceiling at the Front Doors of The Hotel came down. After we clean that up, Myself and My Colleague Stood at The Front and Listend to the Earie Silence of the City, Not even a bird in sight. Total Silence. Then our Security Manager at the Time Managed to get the Wedding party through to the Hotel and the wedding went ahead as planned, But Throughout the Brides Day We Still kept Getting False Bomb Threats at the Hotel and Surrounding Area's. We Did Have a lot of Police on the Premises at the Time to Advise us Management of what to do. But i Really felt sorry for the Bride and Groom ! as that would have ruined their day having to evecuate the function room on more than one occasion, But we tried our best to keep them happy. Our Evening Charity Event Never Took Place, Late on in the Evening A Police Officer Said That a Suspect Package was in a Bin Across the way in St. Peter's Square and a lot of Guest and News Reporters went outside onto Mount Street and i thought that would be very Dangerous if it went off, So i Followed the Guest and Announce that they return to the Hotel as they would be much safer inside. All the staff at the hotel stayed on all day and evening to look after those who was evacuated to the Hotel. The Day After we had 600 Football Supporters in for Lunch Before going to watch the Denmark Game at Old Trafford During Euro 96, So Manchester was back to business and picked itself up, and rise to its Highest Peak, Thats What Mancunians Do!!!!


^^ !!!! (!!!!)

Eh up, it's not doka dan by any chance ? ...... or could it be ??? :runaway:

being lazy but is there anything on this thread about the people who were relocated from the corn exchange afterwards? be interesting to know what happened to them. miss that place. shame on the council for not rescuing them and returning them after the building was restored.


I knew lots of stallholders from the Corn Exchange (some of whom I became good friends with) who lost their businesses and did NOT get any further help from the council in re-establishing their ruined trades. A handful were relocated temporarily a couple of weeks later to places like the ill-fated Emporium (now the large OXFAM store) on Oldham Street and the more well-known Coliseum complex on Church Street - which subsequently was repossessed with a compulsory purchase order in 2003/4 to be [currently] turned into - yup you guessed - more fucking flats. But many have gradually seen their business hit the buffers.

A friend I got to know who had the Earwaves Records stall in the old Corn Ex was lucky enough to relocate to Paton Street (off Piccadilly) and set up his shop there where he remained for the next 7 years but then he finally closed his doors in late 2003 as a result of high rents to concentrate on running his business online through mail order instead - with the result that his premises is now occupied by another Corn Exchange "refugee" - Clampdown Records - who themselves moved from a site near the Martial Arts club and the Roadhouse venue on Newton Street to take over where Earwaves left off.....

But just about every other displaced business - be it fancy goods, secondhand books, jewellery, army surplus or clothing, have all finally succumbed to the inevitable and over the last few years have one by one fizzled out and disappeared from the city altogether - which is an absolute disgrace considering the fact that the council didn't really do anything to help these independent alternative business keep their heads up and if anything dealt them all a bigger whammy - to add insult to injury - by constantly putting up the rents in the places where they were relocated to (i.e. Coliseum). This made it practically untenable for many of them to survive - let alone continue trading.

I knew quite a few people from them days - I'd always drop by and chat with them and the Corn Ex was a great place for lazing away a Saturday afternoon just socialising... so when the bomb happened, it effectively destroyed this little area of bohemian culture and wiped it off the map - with the result that in its place was an all too predictable soulless designer shopping hell.

For example, places like New Aeon Books (which ended up on Tib Street then Oldham Street), Sue Knight's Personalities (displaced to Emporium then Coliseum), and John's Old Antiquarian Bookshop (displaced to Paton Street then Lloyd's Building on Newton Street - closing in 2003), were regular calling points for me and I got to know the people who ran them very well and became friends with them all.....since they've all folded now it's like another part of my social circle in Manchester has disappeared....it's sad really.

Was asleep on settee of freinds house on Hardy Farm estate, Chorlton, with hangover- only found out when TV was put on later that day. Went to have a nosey in town a few days later.