Over the last 15 years, the Salford Star has interviewed loads of Salford celebs and in Part 1 we unleashed them talking about regeneration and the current state of the city.*
In Part 2 we have the stars talking about Salford, plus some unique photos Michelle Keegan backstage at Coronation Street snapped by Nigel Pivaro, Mark E Smith and The Fall performing at Lower Kersal Social Club, and Ronaldo filming an advert at Web Film Studios in Little Hulton, where Media City should have been based.
Also filming at the Studios were Helena Bonham Carter, Wayne Rooney, Justin Timberlake, John Hannah and Salford's own John Thomson. The Web Film Studios story has only ever been told in the Salford Star issue 7.
Meanwhile, here is a selection of Salford words from Salford Star's archive...
Catherine Tyldesley, speaking in 2017...
"I am proud to live in Salford. I am not really political, although I did march on the streets to support my old school St George's when it was threatened with closure. I am lucky to have a voice on social media to help local charity and promote what is important.
"There is a great sense of community in Walkden. I think a lot of that is fostered by its schools. I went to Christ The King Primary and St George's High School...St George's was so important to the community. We loved that school, and it is sadly missed. As well as the schools there are always community events in Parr Fold Park. I lived in Roe Green for a few years and again there is a very strong sense of community there.
"When I look at Salford, it is a city which is constantly flourishing. Things are changing so fast. It is important though to get the balance right and I hope places like Salford Lads Club will be there forever. It is really important to hang onto built heritage. Salford people are so talented and creative..."
To read the full interview click here
Sir Ben Kingsley, speaking in the Salford Star print issue 6, 2007...
"My father was a GP and his neighbour ran a printing business...but on the top floor was Lowry's attic apartment. The neighbour destroyed a lot of Lowry's paintings when he left - I think he was in arrears with his rent or something. But Lowry was a patient of my father's for a short time and I wonder if the painting of the waiting room he did was, in fact, my dad's waiting room...
"Salford was very industrial, I remember the skyline. We had a lovely old house which is now an old people's home, and from the upper windows of my bedroom I could see a lot of chimney stacks and these massive beautiful mineshafts with cables and such, and the skyline was very Lowryesque. It disappeared during my teens I saw the chimneys go and the mines closing and it became rather depressed. But I do have a very romantic image of the city."
Read the full interview click here for virtual print issue 6
Stephen Lord, speaking in the Salford Star print issue 6, 2007, looking out over the knee rails and crofts of Langworthy and Seedley...
"It's hard to swallow...this was a vibrant community and now you're looking at streets that you used to play in and everything's boarded up with fucking metal...I mean, sign of the times and all that but it's hard to swallow...This is seriously barren...
"I went to Seedley school and these little terraced houses were just dead posh. I was from the flats, the little three storey flats, and all the kids whoi I used to hang round with were from our estate and Sutton flats, so people who actually had a house...we used to think they were dead posh!"
Read the full interview click here for virtual print issue 6
Bez, speaking to the Salford Star during his bid to become Reality Party Salford MP in 2015, with a message to Christopher Eccleston's mum...
"She'll remember people who lived through the First World War, and she'll definitely remember people who lived through the Second World War, and all those social things that were being built, everything she knew as a young girl, has systematically been destroyed.
"There's nothing left of what she once knew, and if you want to see the end of that you need to start looking elsewhere... because if you carry on voting for the two main parties, these people have destroyed everything that England used to be about. You have to look at alternative parties, like the Reality Party, who are standing up for the people, for a social system that we once had."
To read the full interview click here
And Black Grape's Kermit speaking to the Salford Star at Media City in 2015, backing Bez...
"I'm all for what Bez is doing, it's a good cause and he believes it with all his heart. I've known him for nearly thirty years and I've never seen him get fired up about anything like this. He's dedicated. And fracking? It's like `Oh my god', they can drill underneath your house and take the gas without your permission, and flames coming out of taps and stuff...
"This is an alternative and, like it says, a Reality Party for the reality of things. Governments are always going to lie to us but if Bez got in you'd have like full disclosure, I know that much. Bez for Prime Minister! And I'd definitely get in the Cabinet...Minister for Education!"
To read the full interview click here
Graham Nash, speaking in Salford Star print issue 11...
"My earliest memory is living at number one Skinner Street; my dad grew up at number nine. I was about a year and a half old and I remember sitting with the Beano as my mum hung up black out curtains, the Beano was upside down.
"After the war there wasn't really much to do, but pick up a ball and kick it around, or there was music...skiffle, Lonnie Donnegan...You got your mother's washboard, a cheap acoustic guitar and that was it, you played.
"The last time I was here I had a look around Salford and it has changed so much, but you know what I noticed? The pubs had all gone. Pubs were, like, where people got together, it is sad they are disappearing."
To read the full interview click here for the virtual print issue 11
* For Salford Stars Part 1 click here
For a full background on the closure of the Salford Star see previous articles...
Salford Star To Close After 15 Years click here
A Star Is Born click here
Alice's Story: Injustice From South Africa to Salford click here
The Battle of Barton Moss click here
Nigel Pivaro Looks Back Over 15 Years of the Star click here
Planning Scandals and the Affordable Housing Crisis - click here
Campaigns, demos and protests click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions - click here
What's Left and What's Worth Saving in Salford - click here
Eight Happenings That Encapsulate Salford: Part 1 click here
Eight Happenings That Encapsulate Salford: Part 2 click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions Part 2 The Human Cost - click here
How Salford City Council Tried To Stop The Star - click here
How Salford City Council Tried to Block and Discredit The Star click here
The Salford Star Closes After 15 Years of Attitude and Love xxx - click here
Main photo Michelle Keegan by Nigel Pivaro
.jpg)
 -(1).JPG)
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
