The Curry Mile is a nickname for the part of Wilmslow Road running through the centre of Rusholme in south Manchester, England. The name is earned from the large number of restaurants, takeaways and kebab houses specialising in the cuisines of South Asia and the Middle East, thought to be the largest concentration of South Asian restaurants outside the Indian subcontinent.[1][2][3]
Within a length of half a mile there are least seventy establishments of this kind.[1][2] The Curry Mile is notable for its streets being busy into the early hours of the morning. The area is frequently visited by local students, because of its location near the Oxford Road and Fallowfield Campuses of the University of Manchester, Xaverian College and the Oxford Road/All Saints campus of the Manchester Metropolitan University.
Restaurants
From the 1980s to the early 21st century, the area was dominated by mainly Pakistani cuisine.[citation needed]
On film
In May 1995, Aneel Ahmed and Faisal A. Qureshi wrote Movin As A Massive, a Channel 4 documentary written for the Lloyds Bank Film Challenge, of which it was the winning entry. It also won the 1996 "Race in the Media Award" for Best Youth Programme, and was nominated by the Royal Television Society in 1996 for "Most Innovative Film/Video".[4]
It was directed by Ninder Billing, and produced by Andy Porter and Madeline French for Compulsive Viewing.[5] A semi sequel, Wimmy Road, was later written for BBC Radio Drama by Qureshi and directed by Nadia Molinari. It was nominated for a "Race in the Media Award" for Best Radio Drama.[6] The Curry Mile was the main filming location for the episode Serving the Community (1997) from the television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.[7]
In books
The Curry Mile, a novel written by Zahid Hussain, is set in the contemporary Curry Mile, and features characters involved in the restaurant trade.[8]
References
- ^ a b Nicholls, Josh (6 April 2014). "Manchester's Curry Mile told 'clean up act' on food litter if hope to bring back Rusholme footfall". Mancunian Matters. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ a b Gorringe, Anne (22 July 2013). "10 great things to see and do in Manchester". Daily Express. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ Umbreen, Ali (4 September 2013). "Business of the Week: Take on the spice challenge at the Kebabish". Asian Image. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ "Race in the Media Awards". www.theguardian.com. 17 November 1999. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "Movin' As a Massive (1995)". BFI. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ Jordan, Dianne Louise (14 September 2005). "Hot wheels of Wimmy Road". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates Collection: Complete BBC Series 1-4 (1996)". Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ Hore, Rachel (2 December 2006). "Rachel Hore on The Curry Mile". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2 July 2015.