Mancunians are sharing their memories of the Manchester Riots 10 years on

On August 6th, 2011, London descended into chaos as thousands of rioters and looters took to the streets in protests against the police shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham.

As Mancunians watched the racially-motivated violence unfold from the safety of their homes in the North, most believed that their city would never stoop to the astonishing levels of the rioting and looting ongoing in the capital.

Much to their dismay, however, they were mistaken.

Days later on August 9th, crowds began to gather at Salford Precinct with the intent to partake in pre-organised crime and violence. Fast-forward twelve hours and the entire shopping centre had been ransacked, countless police officers, firefighters and reporters had been attacked and the violence had slowly begun to trickle into Manchester’s city centre.

Phil Long / Flickr

Before long, shops in the Arndale shopping centre had been smashed up and Market Street lay in ruin as it fell victim to thousands of pounds worth of very deliberate damage. In total, hundreds of people were arrested, 400 calls had been made to the region’s fire service and over a thousand incidents had been recorded.

Ten years have now passed since the events of August 9th 2011 unfolded and, to this very day, it is still known and remembered as one of the darkest days ever experienced in Manchester. So, to mark the anniversary of the riots in true style, Mancunians have been taking to Reddit to share their own memories and personal experiences from the riots.

Here are some of the most stand out stories…

‘Absolute chaos.’

Sphinx111 wrote: “It was my first time in Manchester ever. I was completely unaware that this was happening. I got off the train at Piccadilly, and started wandering into the city to find a bus to the Trafford centre. Absolute Chaos. Wasn’t really sure what to do, so I just kept walking through it all with my headphones on and nodding here and there at anyone who gave a funny look to the guy in his late 30’s in Chinos just strolling along. A year later I moved here and haven’t looked back.”

Raymond Yau / Wikimedia Commons

‘Got a refund for the cinema.’

DeadCretin wrote: “I remember being in the Trafford Centre and there were plenty of people with hoods up, balaclavas etc congregating outside so they closed everything early, and I got a refund for the cinema.”

‘The apartment stank of smoke all night from the fires everywhere.’

Glittery_Mermaid wrote: “Got told to get home from work as soon as possible around 4ish, had to pop over to Tesco on Market St. before walking home to our apartment. The atmosphere was so tense and panicky. Got to Trinity Way and some chav lad threw a scone at my boyfriend out of a car before they all jumped out further up near the arena to go off looting. The apartment stank of smoke all night from the fires everywhere so we had to keep the windows shut and it was roasting.”

‘That’s normal for Salford, isn’t it?’

ColdChancer wrote: “I remember it was building up and telling a lecturer that there was a helicopter and riot police at Salford precinct. His response was just, ‘That’s normal for Salford isn’t it?'”

Richard Hopkins / Flickr

‘I will always remember the people who volunteered to clean the centre the next day.’

Dragon8723 wrote: “I was working 12 – 8 in Spinningfields so I was on lunch 3 – 4, I remember how eerily quiet Manchester Centre was, the only people I saw were going home other than teenage lads on bikes. I went back to work at 4pm and no work was done for the rest of the day, no phone calls into the centre and everybody just watching the news on their phone. We watched the news as the rioting got closer and we were finally allowed to leave once of the windows in our building get smashed. Weird day. ETA: although the night when the riots happened was awful, I will always remember the people who volunteered to clean the centre the next day, including parents with their kids.”

‘The Subway on Portland Street had a handwritten sign in the window that said ‘Closed due to impending collapse of society.’’

SwissJAmes wrote: “Was a very weird time in Manchester- there had been riots in London the night before, and it just became more and more inevitable that things would kick off here too. I remember the Subway on Portland Street had a handwritten sign in the window that said ‘Closed due to impending collapse of society.’ Was on Market Street at around 4pm as the Arndale was closing early, all of the shops were kind of watching what the others were doing, and when the shutters came down on a few of them- that was it, they all barricaded in.”

Yohan Euan / Wikimedia Commons

‘It just seemed like everyone was taking an opportunity to kick windows in.’

SubtractAd wrote: “I remember chaos on Portland Street, the shops were smashed up etc. The musical instrument shop was badly affected. You couldn’t actually get into the city centre as they were police surrounding it. It just seemed like everyone taking an opportunity to kick windows in. I’d never seen anything like it.”

‘I felt trapped in my flat so I fished a bottle of jäger out of the freezer.’

Spangledpirate wrote: “I was living near the top end of Dale Street at the time, obviously the main route from Piccadilly station to the shopping area is down the main drag but a lot of the looters snuck down Dale Street instead to avoid police. I felt trapped in my flat so fished a bottle of jäger out of the freezer (wow it really was 2011) and had a couple of shots while I watched the noise and chaos from above. I remember going out to help clean up the next day and seeing the Vans shop and Dr Herman’s all smashed up.”