Tiny street with big history

Named after the River Tib, the tiny Northern Quarter street has a huge history. Tib Street - or to be precise - upper Tib Street, is now known for its independent bars and cafes.

- LEE GRIMSDITCH

IF THERE’S one street in Manchester that can lay claim to having the wildest back-story, surely Tib Street would be in the running.

However, it was once a hotspot for both pet shops and sex shops, with both seemingly disparate businesses happily co-existing. Early references to Tib Street by James Middleton in the Victorian age reference the former connection, describing it as “a perfectly adorable street, where natural history was taught by living examples...birds, dogs, rabbits, poultry displayed in the windows or outside the shops”.

Tib Street has its origins in the 1780s and was previously the central trading district of Victorian Manchester as well as the city’s main shopping district in the post-war years. It was always associated with animals and livestock but its trade became geared more towards domestic pets as the area developed in the early 1900s.