Is Fallowfield’s student culture dying?
- Is Fallowfield's reputation as a student-hub dying out?
- In a recent survey conducted by the Northern Quota, we found that 80% of 1st year students would rather live in the city centre opposed to the infamous student town
Manchester has a thriving student population with over 85,000 students spread across three universities within the city.
Like any other city, Manchester has areas in which students come together to live and in Manchester’s case, this is Fallowfield.
If you are a student in Manchester, Fallowfield has always been the place to live but now with the closure of a number of pubs, clubs and bars, has Fallowfield lost its spark?
Daniel Sandford, 26, ex-student at Manchester Metropolitan University Said: “When I was a student in Manchester the only place I wanted to live was Fallowfield. There we’re tonnes of house parties going on all the time and loads of bars to drink at”.
In 2014/15 Fallowfield saw the closure of three of its main bars and all of a sudden the options for student night life dramatically declined.
The first to go was the underground night club, Red Rum, which was shut down by Manchester city council due to repeated violent attacks on the premise. Local Councillor Chris Paul commented at the time and said: “In the previous year they had not made a single emergency call despite four serious attacks and large numbers of robberies”.
Then came the announcement that BaaBar, that then became IQ, which also shut down, was set to close. According to the Tab student newspaper, no one cared anyway.
Finally came the announcement that the famed student pub The Orange Grove was set to shut and be turned in to flats. The Orange Grove built up its reputation on cheap drinks and was a high light to Fallowfield’s night life.
Jordan Balldock, 23, ex-student at Manchester Metropolitan University expressed his concerns: “I still live in Fallowfield and the difference between the nightlife then and how it is now is crazy. I don’t understand why everyone wants to come here when you can find just as nice places closer to the town centre”.
Fallowfield still has a number of bars and pubs such as the Friendship, Weatherspoon’s, Revolutions and 256, but this has been deemed not enough by many potential residence.
Jess Crosby, 18, Student at the University of Manchester said:
My friends and I won’t be living in Fallowfield. It’s too far away from town and there’s not really a lot to do there.
In a short survey carried out by the Northern Quota, 50 first year students were asked: “Would you rather live in Fallowfield or somewhere closer to town?” 80% said that they would rather live in the city centre. When asked why, a majority said that there was not enough to do in Fallowfield.
The future of Fallowfield looks to be an uncertain one. Although it may still be a thriving one in terms of places for students to live at the moment, the closure of more pubs and bars could cause a knock on effect that see the student population to decrease.