Skip to main content

Winter 2022Memory lane

Legendary former Joy Division and New Order bass guitarist Peter Hook unveiled two blue plaques in Heywood and Rochdale on 24 September 2009.

The plaques celebrate the musical contributions of Joy Division and DJ John Peel and the roles they played in the local music scene.

One of the plaques is on the former Tractor Sound Studios in Heywood. The studio was financed by John Peel in 1973, after local band Tractor had sent him a demo tape.

The other can be found at the Kenion Street Music Building, formerly a home to Cargo Studios and Peter Hook’s Suite 16 Studios. Joy Division were among the bands to use it, and even had their bass equipment custom built on the ground floor. It was also used as a filming location for the film ‘24 Hour Party People’.