Ian Curtis's House

77 Barton Street: where Ian lived

The photos on this page were taken in 1987 by Michel, who now runs the Joy Division-The Eternal web site - here's his story:

"I had a friend who worked for more than a year in Macclesfield, after we left school, around 1986/1987. I was already a JD fan at the time but I did not know much about the band history. I had no books and had few if any bootlegs. He invited me over in early 1987. It was only a couple of months before that I read somewhere that Ian was from Macclesfield.

Barton Street 1987 with old front door

New front door in 2004

I was supposed to stay at his place, but we had to change our plans as he had to move at very short notice. So I had to find a B&B, had a look at the B&B list in the Town Hall. I made a first call to no avail. Then I decided to call Mrs Dorothy Smith. The place was available. The address was 77 Barton Street... She lived with her family on the other side of the road. I spent my time looking for JD bootlegs, JD books, some NO stuff, and other new-wave band LPs & CDs. You could not get these in Paris - pre-Internet times!

I found many bootlegs - I even made friend with one of the sellers, Dave from Chester - and bought several books. One morning I was reading one of these books, when Mrs Smith came in. She noticed the book and said she knew Ian and he was a nice guy. I asked her how come she knew him, that is when she told me he had lived in the very room I was sitting!!!

I went back to Macclesfield in autumn 1987 for a month, and probably half a dozen times in the following years. Most of the time I was in the same room. Once I had the whole house to myself. That was the time I took the photos.

About 1990, I believe Dorothy sold the house. So I never went back - although I visited Macclesfield several other times.

I came back to Macclesfield in 2004, and I took a photo of the façade of the house and when I was about to leave I bumped into Dorothy! We had a nice chat and she gave me a copy of the book she wrote on Macc.

All except one of the pictures above were taken when I stayed there in 1987. It is likely that the furniture had changed in between though I never discussed it with Dorothy Smith".

All the photos on this page are (C) Copyright Joy Division-The Eternal web site and reproduced here with permission

77 Barton Street: where Ian lived

The photos on this page were taken in 1987 by Michel, who now runs the Joy Division-The Eternal web site - here's his story:

"I had a friend who worked for more than a year in Macclesfield, after we left school, around 1986/1987. I was already a JD fan at the time but I did not know much about the band history. I had no books and had few if any bootlegs. He invited me over in early 1987. It was only a couple of months before that I read somewhere that Ian was from Macclesfield.

Barton Street 1987 with old front door	New front door in 2004

I was supposed to stay at his place, but we had to change our plans as he had to move at very short notice. So I had to find a B&B, had a look at the B&B list in the Town Hall. I made a first call to no avail. Then I decided to call Mrs Dorothy Smith. The place was available. The address was 77 Barton Street... She lived with her family on the other side of the road. I spent my time looking for JD bootlegs, JD books, some NO stuff, and other new-wave band LPs & CDs. You could not get these in Paris - pre-Internet times!

I found many bootlegs - I even made friend with one of the sellers, Dave from Chester - and bought several books. One morning I was reading one of these books, when Mrs Smith came in. She noticed the book and said she knew Ian and he was a nice guy. I asked her how come she knew him, that is when she told me he had lived in the very room I was sitting!!! I went back to Macclesfield in autumn 1987 for a month, and probably half a dozen times in the following years. Most of the time I was in the same room. Once I had the whole house to myself. That was the time I took the photos. About 1990, I believe Dorothy sold the house. So I never went back - although I visited Macclesfield several other times. I came back to Macclesfield in 2004, and I took a photo of the façade of the house and when I was about to leave I bumped into Dorothy! We had a nice chat and she gave me a copy of the book she wrote on Macc.


All except one of the pictures above were taken when I stayed there in 1987. It is likely that the furniture had changed in between though I never discussed it with Dorothy Smith". All the photos on this page are (C) Copyright Joy Division-The Eternal web site and reproduced here with permission