The Factory Records Three in Manchester’s Southern Cemetery

 Finding the Factory Records Three in Manchester’s Southern Cemetery

“I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand…”

It was a beautiful autumn day and I decided to call in at the Southern Cemetery and look for the resting place of three significant figures in the Manchester music scene. Three people who transformed how we looked at bands from the regions and who put in place the building blocks for many other bands and artists looking to produce music which could reach a wider audience without being based in the capital.  

Much has been written about Factory Records, the Hacienda nightclub and life in the music business of that time by band members, fans and journalists. Somehow though after all the hype it’s comforting to know that three key people are laid to rest near each other in the same cemetery. Indeed Tony wanted to be buried here because Martin and Rob were already there. These ‘band of brothers’ are clearly still close even as they rest in peace.

 “To the centre of the city where all roads meet, waiting for you…”

To help with your visit, details of Sothern Cemetery are below:

Southern Cemetery, Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 7GL

You can download a plan of the grounds for the Southern Cemetery from the link on this page:

 https://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/download/4990/plan_of_cemetery_and_crematorium_grounds

This map is quite useful and I’ll refer to it to direct you the headstones. Also, if you go to Google Maps on a laptop and go to Street View by dragging the little yellow figure on to the cemetery you can walk round ‘virtually’. But if you visit in reality, when you arrive at the cemetery you can park in the bays left or right as you turn into the entrance.

“Avenues all lined with trees, Picture me and then you start watching…”

Anthony Howard Wilson - 20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007.

To find Tony’s resting place walk straight ahead to the large circular path, it looks a bit like a roundabout. Take a left down Holly Avenue; this is not on the map but the sign is there. (Plot B on the map to the left of the roundabout). Walk just a few yards and Tony’s headstone is on your left. It looks like the obelisk from 2001 a Space Odyssey. It is highly polished and so provides good opportunities to get some creative reflections in photographs. It’s a beautiful piece of design, as you’d expect, and I particularly like the reference to Tony being a ‘Cultural Catalyst’. 

 

 “I travelled far and wide through many different times…”

Robert Leo Gretton - 15 January 1953 – 15 May 1999.

From Tony’s headstone head back towards the ‘roundabout’ go straight across and across another smaller ‘roundabout’ to the East Chapel. At the Chapel turn right down the path and Rob’s resting place is a little way along on your left. On the map it’s about three quarters down plot G. It’s a large cross with the word ‘Gretton’ in gold on black marble; a very impressive monument and a fitting tribute to Rob. 

“No language, just sound, that's all we need know…”

 James Martin Hannett - 31 May 1948 - 18 April 1991.

From Rob’s headstone, head back to the East Chapel and walk round to the opposite side of it and straight ahead towards Nell Lane. Cross Nell Lane and enter the cemetery, walk about a hundred yards and take the first right. Martin’s gravestone is a little way along on your left set back from the path. (Plot FF above BB on the map). It’s a black monolithic design with bold white typography. I really think the epitaph ‘…Creator Of The Manchester Sound’ is highly appropriate as no one did more to ensure the bands and artists he worked with had a unique quality to their production that set them apart from their contemporaries. 

 

“Turning around to the next set of lives, Wondering what will come next…”