And time was when it was just like that – but now? The brochure is old – wrinkled in sepia tone – chemical memories of amyl nights. The brochure makes this place sound like the last days of Rome: Cupid nursing a hard-on in the long grass, Bacchus on his knees in the bushes.
But trees and bushes grow back, and police raids are needed elsewhere.Īnd all that theatre can be seen for free if you park your arse at the picnic benches at the right time. And putting up warning signs, cutting down trees and bushes – depriving the enemy of cover – with a couple of police raids thrown in for good measure, was effective enough in the short term. The “powers that be” didn’t actually do much – they just had to be seen to be doing something. Walking up and down or hanging back in the shadows, checking each other out, disappearing together into the bushes: we were noticed and the police and the council acted together to put a stop to it… for a while. In its heyday, this place would be crawling with gay and bisexual men once the sun disappeared.
They attract attention because they’re mostly exhibitionists, and they bring the police. Doggers are high-risk stupid people, often fucking in plain sight in broad daylight. Bastards, get your own place, we were here first. With darkness you’ve only one option left: the car park by the visitor’s centre, where the Doggers might be hiding out in the open. The middle bit used to be busy at dusk, and you still might get lucky even today, though it’s doubtful.
Nothing doing, head across the footbridge to the pub for a couple, while all around are walking their dogs, jogging, cycling, pushing baby buggies, then follow the dying sun along the footpath to the middle bit – another wooded area. And if you’re still hungry after lunch, why not hang around all afternoon, walk in circles until your balls ache and convince yourself the fuck of your life is just around the corner, because one day… Enjoy the lunchtime rush at your leisure, with two spikes around 12 p.m. You can, as the brochure says, start in the apple orchards about midday. There are two main areas, car park or woods, and the action tends to move with the sun.
Illegal or inappropriate – sounds great – but look a little closer – Paint cracked and peeling, metal fringes rusting…
Please note that for your safety this area is regularly visited by the police and local authority patrol servicesĪny person participating in illegal or inappropriate behaviour may be prosecuted If you approach the cruising area from the other direction, from the pub car park on the other side of the river (this being the famous River Mersey no less) you’ll see the warning sign:
In a city, you’re never more than a hard-on away from a cruising area, but this is the big one: “Manchester’s answer to Hampstead Heath” (where I once fell headfirst into a bog and played Othello to declining taxi drivers all the way back to Islington.) Exit my back door at speed (so many have), turn left, hotfoot it past the school, take another left and slide on down to the nature reserve… and you’ll find yourself at a gay cruising area.