The Abbey has a storied past, and a bright future...
Weave through the low-rise office buildings and grassy verges in the Manchester Science Park, and you’ll find something unexpected.
An historic pub, a neighbourhood pillar of Hulme and Moss Side, which has been the scene of great change, overwhelming community spirit and now a new and exciting future.
Propped up either side by terraced houses as part of the Greenheyes estate, just behind what is now the sprawling Heineken brewery off Princess Parkway, it’s been a hub of the neighbourhood since the late 1800s.
A moment of ignominy changed its trajectory when, in 1953, the Clayton-born middleweight boxer Len Johnson was refused service at the bar because of the colour of his skin. According to recollections of the incident, Johnson, who has long lived in Moss Side, ‘ordered two pints and they said we don’t serve black men’.
The incident made the local press, Johnson telling the Daily Worker: “I was most embarrassed. I have spent the greater part of my life in Manchester and this is the first time I have ever been refused a drink.”
The following day, he launched a campaign to draw attention to the shameful ‘colour bar’, which was decisively endorsed by both Abraham Moss, the Lord Mayor of Manchester, and William Greer, the Bishop of Manchester.
More than 200 people attended the protests in the days afterwards, and following public pressure, the licensee lifted the ban.
In a display of conciliation, Johnson was invited to sit down and share a drink with the publican. Johnson even had the last laugh. He was teetotal.
The terraced houses surrounding the Old Abbey are now long gone, part of the slum clearances conducted by Manchester City Council of the Greenheyes estate in the 1960s and 70s.
All that now remains of the estate is the pub, which according to anecdote, was protected by a covenant put in place by a local MP (and pub regular) meaning that it was spared from demolition.
In more recent years, during the pandemic and the energy crisis, its then-owners Frankie Coker and Rachele Evaroa used its status as a Community Interest Company (CIC) to become a haven for local people facing crippling bills; a place to come and sit, play board games, get a meal for free and keep warm.
It was an act of charity the necessity of which felt more akin to the 1800s than the 21st century.
Now it is entering a new era, thanks to the team that has brought Manchester some of the most forward-thinking gigs and club nights in recent years, hosting shows everywhere from New Century to the Albert Hall to The White Hotel.
Jon Wickstead, Wesley Jones, Ruth Hemmingsfield and Gareth Butterworth, from Now Wave and Charles Street mainstay YES, will be bringing great music, great food and great drinks to this great boozer.
“I think a lot of news stories these days are about pubs closing, live music spaces closing, especially grass roots ones,” says Jon. “So to have managed to bring two back in one really, which is great.
“Most people have a story of seeing X, Y or Z in a hundred cap room, we want to be there for those stories of the next 10 years.”
They’re already having at it, with bookings over the summer including the likes of San Diego noise-pop pair Crocodiles, Paris-formed alt-rock band Spanish Horses and jangling psychedelics from The Dream Machine.
Breaking Bars, a spoken-word poetry and hip hop night paying tribute to Len Johnson, will be back too in the coming months.
Throw in two beer gardens and Pies from Pie Minister, and this could be one of the best new (old) pubs to open in the city in years.
“We keen to keep those things from the previous iterations of the pub,” says Ruth. “While bring our new slant on what it can be.”