On the 15th of June 1996, Manchester was ripped apart by a huge explosion.
A massive IRA bomb, the biggest ever detonated on the British mainland during peacetime, was left in a white van on Corporation Street.
It carried 3,300lbs of homemade explosives, and when it went off at 11:17 am, it injured more than 200 people, destroyed 700 businesses, and caused up to £700 million in damage.
Yet not one life was lost.
That miracle is owed to a last-minute warning call and a heroic emergency response.
It was a turning point for the city. In the chaos that followed, Manchester began rebuilding, not just its buildings, but its confidence. The modern, global-facing Manchester we know today began here, in smoke and glass and dust.
But beyond the statistics and regeneration came the human stories, memories that still echo today.
Readers of I Love Manchester shared what they remember.
Some were nearly caught in the blast. Others made last-minute decisions that saved their lives. And all of them remember how the city changed forever.
I Love MCR readers share their memories of the 1996 IRA Bomb
“Get out now, we don’t have much time to evacuate”
Lucy Clarke was just 10 years old, shopping in the Arndale with her foster brother and his girlfriend:
“We were in a clothes shop next inside the Arndale when the announcement came over the tannoy for everyone to evacuate the building now, and fire alarms were set off.
“We were told to run out of the Arndale and far away from Market Street by a security guard screaming, ‘Get out now there’s a bomb, we don’t have much time to evacuate!’
“We wasn’t far enough away when the bomb went off (probably because of my little legs not running fast enough), so my foster brother told me get on the ground and he positioned himself over me in a press-up stance just before the blast.
“His girlfriend, who was also on the floor next to us, screamed, ‘Why are you shielding your foster sister and not me?’ My foster brother replied, ‘My mum gets paid £600 a month to look after her , I have to pay double that a month just to feed you!!’
“After the blast and the dust settled, my foster brother checked we were OK. He had rubble hit him in the legs but only minor scratches… My ears really hurt from the sound of the boom. I couldn’t hear properly at all, it was silent at first but then I could just hear muffled voices and screaming.”
“We were all absolutely caked in this thick brown dust.”
“We were sat in Piccadilly Gardens when the bomb went off”
Christine Collins, then 17, was working a Saturday job in BHS in the Arndale:
“I saw lots of police officers and cars on my way in to work, and as I walked through the Arndale there was a coded announcement that meant staff had to look out for anything suspicious.
“I started my shift, then we were evacuated around 20 minutes later. We were sat in Piccadilly Gardens when the bomb went off.
“There was an enormous mushroom cloud over the Arndale. Everything shook and leaves fell off all the trees.
“There were rumours along the way that there were more bombs, which was terrifying. I remember hearing what I believe was a controlled explosion near Piccadilly.
“I was very lucky because hardly anyone had a phone back then, and there were huge queues for the phone boxes. A very sad day.”
Su Oakley was out shopping on the fateful day.. but thankfully missed the blast:
“I’d arranged to meet my then boyfriend, now husband, outside Marks & Spencer at 11am as we were going to buy a wedding present in there. Obviously and thankfully, neither of us were near Marks & Spencer owing to the cordons. We had no mobile phones so couldn’t
find each other.
“When the bomb went off, I was in Piccadilly Gardens and I remember lots of glass raining down just behind me from what I think was Piccadilly Radio. I remember seeing the cloud but thinking ‘that was too quiet to be a bomb’. I walked around the corner and there was my boyfriend, like a miracle.
“The thing that freaked us out the most was that they were telling everybody to get on the buses for free, just to get people out of there, as a rumour was going round that there was a secondary bomb in Piccadilly Gardens. It’s a strange thought, but I remember thinking ‘this must be serious if they’re letting people get on the buses for free’.
“The earth shook. I thought it was a gas leak.”
David Palmer was a taxi driver: “Ten minutes before the bomb went off, I’d dropped a fare off at Victoria train station. I was on the Crescent, near the police station, when I heard the massive bang and the earth shook.
“At first I thought it was a gas leak, until it came over the radio that a bomb had gone off in the city centre.”
Michael Godfrey was working nearby on Blackfriars Road: “We were watching and as the bomb went off, we saw the shockwave travel down the street. You could see the large glass showroom windows almost flex with it. Then total silence for a few seconds.
“Remember injured people walking up the road. The next day we were inside the police cordon, they let us in to report for work. And Honda rang us late Sunday to ask why we hadn’t sold any cars that weekend!! Lol.”
“All the shop assistants started walking out…”
Karen Herd had come into the city centre to go birthday shopping with her sister and brother-in-law: “We were shopping for my 18th birthday, wondering why all the shop assistants started walking out of the shops. Then we were slowly asked to leave, whispers of what was actually happening. Few people started running, panic… tannoy announcing ‘please leave, no need to panic.’ Told not to go to our cars.
“We managed to get far enough away, but the noise of the bomb I will never forget.”
“I’ll always be grateful you were late”
Some people survived by luck, a delay, a change of plan, or a forgotten item.
Louise Polverino-Edge recalled:
“Ruth Hughes, I’ll always be grateful you were late this day! We were meant to meet outside Boots at 11am!”
Elaine Kelly was supposed to be in the city centre with her son: “I should have been in Manchester with my then eight-year-old son, who had a keyboard lesson booked. Half an hour before we were due to leave, he started feeling ill and went down with (yet another) bout of tonsillitis. I can honestly say that is the only time I was thankful my son was ill.
Charlotte Waywell added: “Halfway to Manchester with my mum to go shopping, we changed our minds and went to John Lewis/M&S at Handforth instead.”
And Yrag Noslen had a close call: “Lived in Bolton at the time, was on my way to the train station to go to Afflecks and the Corn Exchange but forgot something from home so went back… then decided not to go. I’d have been there right at the time.”
“The radio went silent”
Lynne Eldon was outside the city, but still felt the force: “I was in the garden putting my washing out instead of my normal visit into town as it was a beautiful sunny day. Local radio was on. The DJ said, ‘We’ve been told to leave because of a bomb threat.’ The radio went silent.
“I was six miles away from the city centre but felt the air move as the bomb went off.
Oliver Kay was working at Debenhams: “I just remember a split second of silence then a whooshing sound as the compression wave hit us first, followed by an almighty bang!
“Took me hours to walk home, my car was in the city centre car park for a week afterwards.”
“They naively trotted into the devastation”
Lottie Armstrong worked as a groom for the police horses: “We heard and felt the bomb go off, and moments later got the call to send the horses into the centre of town.
“Horses were prepped and mounted in short order, and we all stood, crying at the uncertainty and unknown, as we watched our precious charges heading innocently and naively towards the carnage…”
The rebirth of Manchester City Centre
In the hours that followed, the city centre was unrecognisable. Windows shattered, historic buildings like Manchester Cathedral and the Royal Exchange were severely damaged. Debris lay where once shoppers had bustled.
And Nadia Akhtar reminded us: “Whilst the UK government offered Manchester a pittance to get back on her feet, literally £1,000s, it was the EU, which this country voted to leave, which gave us £1,000,000s to put towards our city’s regeneration.”
Manchester Remembers the 1996 IRA Bomb
Every city has its scars. But Manchester turned an attack into a starting point for something new, a transformed skyline, a renewed energy, a city that never forgets, but always moves forward.
The memories of those who were there are not just stories. They are the human heartbeat behind the statistics, the soul of the city in its darkest hour.
And somehow, from the dust and silence of 11:17am, a stronger Manchester emerged.
