Hope & Anchor
A gig at the Hope & Anchor
Islington, London
The basement on Upper Street where Joy Division played on 1 March 1979 still has live music several nights a week, for about 80 people.
Read about itManchester · Stockport · Rochdale · London · Paris · 1976–1980
Joy DivisionBreak a bottle. A place is inside.
At Strawberry in 1979, when the producer wanted breaking glass, the band smashed milk bottles. Here every bottle on the step holds a real place from their four years.
- Free Trade Hall
- Old Granada Studios
- The Russell Club
- Cargo Studios
- BBC Maida Vale Studios
- Hope & Anchor
- Bowdon Vale Youth Club
- Strawberry Studios
- Manchester Central Library
- Les Bains Douches
- Britannia Row
- High Hall
Twelve full bottles, 1976 to 1980.
Twelve places · 1976 to 1980
Twelve bottles. One step.
Each bottle holds one real place, in time order. Break it and the place is there behind the glass.
Twelve full bottles. Break one, or start at the left.
Nothing open yet. The first bottle is Peter Street, June 1976.
Rochdale, Stockport, Islington · October 1978 to March 1980
The studio as an instrument
Joy Division recorded Unknown Pleasures here with Martin Hannett in April 1979. Recording Unknown Pleasures cost more than £10,000.
The lift at Strawberry, door open.
Morris says he only heard Curtis’s words properly when they recorded; he kept them in notebooks in a plastic bag.
The Kenion Street music building in Rochdale, once Cargo Studios, 2018. Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0 October 1978
Cargo Studios
In October 1978 Joy Division recorded Digital and Glass here for the Factory Sample: their first work with Martin Hannett. The tracks were mixed at Strawberry. Cargo, owned by John Brierley, was the cheaper choice, with 16 tracks to Strawberry’s 24.
Rochdale’s blue plaque says Joy Division recorded here from 1978 and had their bass equipment custom built on the ground floor.
Read the blue plaque from Kenion Street. The building is not open to visit.
Sources
The old Strawberry Studios, 3 Waterloo Road, Stockport, 2019. Matt Harrop · CC BY-SA 2.0 April 1979 and August 1979
Strawberry Studios
Strawberry belonged to 10cc. Opened eleven years earlier, it was a 24-track studio, reckoned the first major one outside London.
Transmission was taped here in August 1979 and rushed out as a single, FAC 13. At first only 3,000 of the 10,000 pressed sold.
Offices now. See the front and the blue plaque from Waterloo Road; there is no way in. Stockport station is a short walk. The studio closed in 1993 and the building is offices. Stockport Heritage Trust’s blue plaque went up on 2 May 2007.
Sources
Britannia Row, Islington, 2012. Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0 March 1980
Britannia Row
The band moved the recording of Closer to Britannia Row. Hannett produced Closer here in March 1980. Britannia Row was the London studio Pink Floyd set up.
Hannett called Closer his most mysterious production and would say no more.
You can walk along Britannia Row; there is no studio to visit. Angel is the nearest station.
Sources
Hannett produced every studio track Joy Division released, over about eight sessions.
Hulme · 1978
The Factory was a Friday
In 1978 Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus ran a Friday night at the Russell Club in Hulme and called it the Factory.
Joy Division played there in 1978, and a little later were on an EP released by Factory. The label’s first record, the Factory Sample (FAC 2), came out early in 1979. The Factory club held its last Friday nights in April 1980.
Factory ran from Alan Erasmus’s flat on Palatine Road, Didsbury, until 1990.
The club has gone. Royce Road is a street of homes in Hulme now.
Sources
1978 to 1979 · five nights
How a night survives
Every Joy Division night that can still be heard got through some way. Pick how.
Pick a way of keeping a night.
The Hope & Anchor, 207 Upper Street, Islington, 2014. Adam Bruderer · CC BY 2.0 1 March 1979 · A cassette in the crowd
Hope & Anchor
It cost 75p to see Joy Division here.
Still a pub with live music downstairs several nights a week. Highbury & Islington is the nearest station.
Sources
Bowdon Vale, near Altrincham, 2017: the neighbourhood around the old youth club. Richard Sutcliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0 14 March 1979 · The sound desk and a Super 8 camera
Bowdon Vale Youth Club
Whitehead also filmed the night on Super 8; the film was shown at the Scala cinema in London as Factory release FAC 9.
The old youth club is a Post Office now, in Bowdon Vale near Altrincham. We could not fix the building, so it is named here and not mapped.
Sources
Les Bains, 7 rue du Bourg-l’Abbé, Paris, 2019. Celette · CC BY-SA 4.0 18 December 1979 · A radio broadcast
Les Bains Douches
The building opened in 1885 as Les Bains Guerbois, one of Paris’s first luxury bathhouses. In 1978 it became the Bains Douches, a concert venue, restaurant and club.
A hotel with a restaurant and a club now. Étienne Marcel and Réaumur–Sébastopol are the nearest Métro stations.
Sources
BBC Maida Vale Studios, Delaware Road, London, 2008. John Andrew · CC BY-SA 2.0 31 January 1979 · A BBC session
BBC Maida Vale Studios
The building began as a roller-skating palace and has been used for recording music since the 1930s.
Look at the long front from Delaware Road. There is no public access.
Sources
Old Granada Studios, Quay Street, Manchester, 2017. Gerald England · CC BY-SA 2.0 September 1978 · Television
Old Granada Studios
They played Shadowplay, in September 1978, and it was there that they met Tony Wilson.
The old studios are mostly gone. Aviva Studios on Water Street stands on the site; go in with a ticket for a show.
Sources
Peter Street, Manchester · 1976 and 1979
Peter Street
On 4 June 1976 the Sex Pistols played Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall to no more than 50 people. Peter Hook saw the advert in the Manchester Evening News and rang Bernard Sumner. They paid 50p each on the door.
Sumner calls it a myth that the band began that night: he had already bought a guitar.
Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook put an advert for a singer in Virgin Records in Piccadilly. The number was Sumner’s mother’s; when Ian Curtis rang, they had already met at punk gigs. Stephen Morris found a fanzine with “drummer wanted” adverts for three bands on its back page, Warsaw among them. He came from Macclesfield, where Curtis lived by then. They started as Warsaw and changed the name to avoid confusion with the punk band Warsaw Pakt.
The adverts
Black on white, as Sumner found it.
Unknown Pleasures came out on Factory on 15 June 1979.
The hall was built between 1853 and 1856 to designs by Edward Walters. It is a hotel now; the Peter Street front was kept.
Free to go in. Monday to Saturday from 9.30am, closing at 4.30pm (6pm on Thursdays). The Reading Room is under the dome.
Sources
Manchester City Council
Manchester Central Library
St Peter’s Square, Manchester · Free
Walk up Peter Street as Bernard Sumner did and sit in the domed Reading Room. Monday to Saturday from 9.30am, closing 4.30pm (6pm on Thursdays).
Plan a visit
Edgbaston, Birmingham
2 May 1980
On 2 May 1980 Joy Division played High Hall at the University of Birmingham. It was their last concert, and it included Ceremony.
Ceremony was played for the first time that night. It became New Order’s first single. A recording of the night came out on Still. High Hall was later renamed Chamberlain Hall.
Ian Curtis died later that month.
The twelfth bottle is not broken.
The Edgbaston campus is open to walk round. The pin marks the campus, not the hall.
Sources
Visit
Where it is now
11 places you can visit. Bowdon Vale’s old youth club is a Post Office now and we could not fix the building, so it is named here and not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A hotel now. See the 1850s front from Peter Street; the Central Library is a few steps up the road.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The old studios are mostly gone. Aviva Studios on Water Street stands on the site; go in with a ticket for a show.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The club has gone. Royce Road is a street of homes in Hulme now.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Free to go in. Monday to Saturday from 9.30am, closing at 4.30pm (6pm on Thursdays). The Reading Room is under the dome.
The former Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, Manchester, 2008. Its front was kept when it became a hotel. Bernt Rostad · CC BY 2.0 Peter Street, Manchester
Free Trade Hall
On 4 June 1976 the Sex Pistols played Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall to no more than 50 people.
A hotel now. See the 1850s front from Peter Street; the Central Library is a few steps up the road.
Sources
Old Granada Studios, Quay Street, Manchester, 2017. Gerald England · CC BY-SA 2.0 Quay Street and Water Street, St John’s, Manchester
Old Granada Studios
Joy Division made their television debut at Granada’s studios in 1978.
The old studios are mostly gone. Aviva Studios on Water Street stands on the site; go in with a ticket for a show.
Sources
Royce Road, Hulme, 2016: the street where the Russell Club stood. The club has gone. habiloid · CC BY-SA 2.0 Royce Road, Hulme, Manchester
The Russell Club
In 1978 Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus ran a Friday night at the Russell Club in Hulme and called it the Factory.
The club has gone. Royce Road is a street of homes in Hulme now.
Sources
Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, 2010. Ricardo from Manchester, UK · CC BY 2.0 St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD
Manchester Central Library
Bernard Sumner worked on Peter Street for a firm that made television commercials. On slow days he walked up the street to the Central Library to look through books.
Free to go in. Monday to Saturday from 9.30am, closing at 4.30pm (6pm on Thursdays). The Reading Room is under the dome.
Sources
Not on the map · 14 March 1979
Bowdon Vale Youth Club
On 14 March 1979 the band played here. The recording combines the sound desk with Malcolm Whitehead’s audience tape. Whitehead also filmed the night on Super 8; the film was shown at the Scala cinema in London as Factory release FAC 9. Martin O’Neill, 18 at the time, photographed the gig. Twenty-six of his pictures were shown at Hale Library in May 2005.
The old youth club is a Post Office now, in Bowdon Vale near Altrincham. We could not fix the building, so it is named here and not mapped.
Sources
Stay
Sleep where they played.
A hotel inside the Free Trade Hall and another in the old Bains Douches in Paris.
Manchester’s Finest
The Edwardian Manchester, in the Free Trade Hall
Peter Street, Manchester
A five-star hotel inside the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, where Hook and Sumner saw the Sex Pistols in 1976: Peter Street Kitchen, a bar, and a basement spa with a 12-metre pool. Some rooms look over to the Central Library.
See the hotel
Les Bains Paris
Les Bains, Paris
Paris 3e
The old Bains Douches, where Joy Division played in December 1979, is a five-star hotel now: 39 rooms and suites, a spa, the Roxo restaurant and bar, and the club downstairs.
See the hotelGo there
A library, a basement and walks.
The Central Library is free; the Hope & Anchor still has bands downstairs; music walks in Manchester, London and Paris on the marketplace.
Manchester City Council
Manchester Central Library
St Peter’s Square, Manchester · Free
Walk up Peter Street as Bernard Sumner did and sit in the domed Reading Room. Monday to Saturday from 9.30am, closing 4.30pm (6pm on Thursdays).
Plan a visitHope & Anchor
A gig at the Hope & Anchor
Islington, London
The basement on Upper Street where Joy Division played on 1 March 1979 still has live music several nights a week, for about 80 people.
Read about it
Viator · Ad / affiliate
Manchester music tours
Manchester
Live marketplace results for Manchester music walking tours. Check each itinerary for the stops you want.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare tours
Viator · Ad / affiliate
London music tours
London
Live marketplace results for London rock music walking tours.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursViator · Ad / affiliate
Paris music tours
Paris
Live marketplace results for Paris music walking tours.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
Nothing dated yet.
We found no Joy Division-related event on or after today on an official page. The Hope & Anchor and Aviva Studios publish their own listings.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
Three posters, three books, three records.
A 1980 original in stock and two sold-out originals for reference, all from our own store, with three books and three records made in the places on this page.
Printed Originals · Our poster store
Joy Division, Love Will Tear Us Apart (1980)
An original 1980 poster for the single, FAC 23. 19.8 × 28.3 in, rolled, previously folded, very good.
In stock
View posterPrinted Originals · Our poster store
Joy Division, Factory (1979)
An original 1979 Factory poster. 29.9 × 20.3 in, rolled, very good. Sold out; shown for reference.
Sold out · archive reference
View posterPrinted Originals · Our poster store
Joy Division, Closer (1980)
An original 1980 poster for the album made at Britannia Row. 17 × 23 in, rolled, near mint. Sold out; shown for reference.
Sold out · archive reference
View posterBookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division
Peter Hook
The bassist’s own account, gig by gig. Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Find the bookBookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else
Jon Savage
Joy Division in the words of the people who were there. Faber, 2019.
Find the bookBookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate
Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures
Chris Ott
A short book on the making of the first album. Continuum 33⅓, 2004.
Find the bookeBay · Ad / affiliate
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division · Vinyl LP, Factory FACT 10, 1979
Made at Strawberry in April 1979, lift and milk bottles included.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyeBay · Ad / affiliate
Transmission
Joy Division · 7-inch single, Factory FAC 13, 1979
Taped at Strawberry in August 1979.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyeBay · Ad / affiliate
Closer
Joy Division · Vinyl LP, Factory FACT 25, 1980
Recorded at Britannia Row in March 1980.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The sources
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 13 of 13 Moments
Free Trade Hall
Peter Street, Manchester
Fifty pence
Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner see the Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.
Old Granada Studios
Quay Street and Water Street, St John’s, Manchester
Television
Joy Division’s television debut at Granada, playing Shadowplay.
The Russell Club
Royce Road, Hulme, Manchester
The Factory
Joy Division play the Factory night at the Russell Club in Hulme.
Cargo Studios
Kenion Street, Rochdale
Digital and Glass
Digital and Glass recorded at Cargo for the Factory Sample, with Martin Hannett.
BBC Maida Vale Studios
Delaware Road, Maida Vale, London W9
First Peel session
The band’s first session for John Peel, recorded at Maida Vale.
Hope & Anchor
207 Upper Street, Islington, London N1
Upper Street
Joy Division play the Hope & Anchor basement; two audience tapes survive.
Bowdon Vale Youth Club
Bowdon Vale, near Altrincham
A youth club
The band play Bowdon Vale Youth Club; the desk, an audience tape and Super 8 film survive.
Strawberry Studios
3 Waterloo Road, Stockport
The lift and the milk bottles
Unknown Pleasures recorded at Strawberry with Martin Hannett.
Transmission
Transmission taped at Strawberry and rushed out as FAC 13.
Manchester Central Library
St Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD
Up the street
Bernard Sumner finds the pulsar plot in a book at the Central Library.
Les Bains Douches
7 rue du Bourg-l’Abbé, Paris 3e
On the radio
Joy Division play Les Bains Douches; France Inter broadcasts it.
Britannia Row
Britannia Row, Islington, London N1
Closer
Closer recorded at Britannia Row with Martin Hannett.
High Hall
University of Birmingham, Edgbaston
High Hall
The last Joy Division concert; Ceremony is played for the first time.