A Manchester musical history bus will be stopping in Macclesfield once more - welcoming fans of Joy Division from across the globe to our town.

As coronavirus restrictions continue to ease, Manchester Music Tours has announced their return after almost two years of inactivity.

The award-winning tour bus founded in 2005, takes music-lovers around the haunts of beloved Manchester bands, such as Oasis and The Smiths.

And Joy Division fans are coming back to our town as soon as next month, being one of the bands to have their own guided tour.

Two of the members of the post-punk band formed in 1976 were from Macclesfield - drummer Stephen Morris and singer Ian Curtis.

"The Joy Division tour is a four hour musical journey covering all things Joy Division and Factory Records," said Manchester Music Tours.

"It gives you the chance to visit many of the important venues and locations around Manchester and surrounding areas that helped shape and influence the Joy Division sound."

The intimate tour has passed the Barton Street home of Ian Curtis. It may also visit the Joy Division plaque at the Old Labour Exchange on Peak House, South Park Road, where he used to work.

Lovers of the Salford-formed rock band will also be able to visit Macclesfield Cemetery and Crematorium on Prestbury Road. Here lies a permanent headstone honouring Curtis, who killed himself in Macclesfield in 1980, aged just 23.

Other iconic places outside Macclesfield that will be visited on the tour include; The Hacienda, the legendary Manchester nightclub bought by Factory Records in 1982, The Epping Walk Bridge in Hulme.

The Manchester bridge is synonymous with the band due to Kevin Cummins' iconic photograph taken in 1979, where fans can recreate that important photograph that every Joy Division fan wants to capture.

The next Joy Division tour by Manchester Music Tours will take place on Saturday August 7 at 11am.

Tickets cost £32.10, plus a booking fee.

The experience was said to be popular with Belgian tourists, who came to Macclesfield as part of the tour.

This is due to the alleged affair Curtis had with Belgian journalist and music promoter Annik Honoré, just months before his passing.

Aside his short music career penning tracks such as She's Lost Control and Love Will Tear Us Apart, Curtis worked as a Assistant Disablement Resettlement Officer in Macc.

He was also a husband to Deborah, and father to Natalie Curtis.

Joy Division released two albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer, the latter of which was released two months after Curtis' death.

Two of Joy Division's members currently perform in the band New Order. While bassist Peter Hook performs with his band Peter Hook and the Light.

Manchester Music Tours was founded by the late Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill. You can follow them on Facebook here.

You can learn more about Manchester Music Tours, and future Joy Division dates here.

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