Inside the dark and dangerous underground nightclubs of Manchester's lost 'Soho'

In the 1960s, Manchester's underground club scene thrived with a dynamic mix of dossers, beatniks, mods, rockers, and drag queens. The unlicensed clubs and coffee bars they frequented didn't just influence the city's nightlife - they transformed it forever.

In the 1960s, before the Arndale Shopping Centre dominated central Manchester, the city was home to hundreds of unregulated clubs and coffee bars. The clubs became the focus of a moral panic, with some believing they were little more than venues where immorality and drug taking thrived in the shadows of their dimly lit rooms.

Beat music, which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, was the catalyst for creating these new unlicensed clubs catering to teenagers and young adults. Melding British and American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle, and traditional pop, the Beat sound was epitomised by The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and The Dave Clark Five.

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In the early 1960s, Liverpool and Manchester were seen as rivals for the Beat capital of the UK. Liverpool's homegrown pop heroes, The Beatles, led the charge in the British Invasion of America. At the same time, the city was home to the thriving Merseybeat scene and the legendary Cavern Club.

But Manchester soon had its own scene, with clubs named The Bamboo, The Forty Thieves, Three Coins, The Half-Moon, and Heaven and Hell. A stand-out venue was the Oasis, which not only staged shows by The Beatles and the Rolling Stones but also hosted Patti Labelle and Elton John's early band, Bluesology, on the same night.

Manchester had bands, too. By 1964,