Collyhurst

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Collyhurst
Collyhurst (Greater Manchester)
Collyhurst

Collyhurst shown within Greater Manchester
OS grid reference SD855000
Metropolitan borough City of Manchester
Metropolitan county Greater Manchester
Region North West
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town MANCHESTER
Postcode district M40
Dialling code 0161
Police Greater Manchester
Fire Greater Manchester
Ambulance North West
European Parliament North West England
UK Parliament Manchester Blackley
List of places: UKEnglandGreater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°29′48″N 2°13′04″W / 53.496703, -2.217846

Collyhurst is an area of the City of Manchester, in North West England. It is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of Manchester City Centre, on Rochdale Road and Oldham Road. The River Irk passes through the area.

Prominent buildings in Collyhurst could be said to include its local police station and large Catholic church, St Patrick's.

For a brief period in the mid 1970s, The Electric Circus, a run down former bingo hall on Rochdale Road, found itself at the centre of Manchester's punk rock scene. It played host to bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Jam, Joy Division—then known as Warsaw—and the Buzzcocks, before its closure in 1977. It has now been demolished.

Although the area is one of the poorest in the city, it has been home to a number of sport stars and entertainers, including former world champion boxer Michael Gomez, the former Manchester United footballers Brian Kidd and Nobby Stiles, former QPR star Stan Bowles, TV stars Jack Smethurst and Bruce Jones as well as comedian Les Dawson. Collyhurst has also been the home of writers such as the best-selling author Billy Hopkins (Our Kid), sports biographer Brian Hughes MBE (Jackie Brown - the Man, the Myth, the Legend) and prize-winning playwright Jim Allen (The Spongers, Days of Hope)