So a warm welcome to my fellow Guardian readers – feel free to subscribe by email or leave a comment if you like the place. And regular Mancubist readers, check out the other sites to be blogrolled here.

Meanwhile, back to the usual Manchester miscellany: someone on urban exporation website 28dayslater.co.uk has done a recce of what they call ‘Manchester Underground’ – a series of air raid shelters under the city, accord to this poster:

There are 17 shelters in all and most of them have sub sections A. B. C etc… these are joined by one long corridor… there are numerous blocked up exits and stair wells… but the most jaw dropping feature was the toilets, the whole place was maze of small wonders…

Check out the rest of these excellent photos here.

Though the fire started on Dale Street, it eventually spread to Lever Street, which, as the Manchizzle notes, is home to many record labels, publishers and other creative companies.

One of these – D:percussion organiser Ear to the Ground – has been quick to draw up plans for a music event in the neighbouring Stevenson Square on May 28. It will raise money for traders and businesses affected by the blaze and has the support of the council.

Ear to the Ground’s John Drape told today’s Manchester Evening News: ‘Ten years ago when the IRA bomb went off we delivered a similar event and we feel it is appropriate now to hold a fundraising event.’

CIDS, the Northern Quarter-based creative industries development agency, has also offered support in the form of a Mac and desk in its Oak Street office, and has asked anyone affected by the fire or anyone with office space to spare to email info@cids.co.uk.

[The image above is one of several great shots taken by Flickr user root-2]

People, unaware of this intended signal, stared at each other with concern. “What was that?” Was it a construction site accident, or something far more sinister?

Two minutes later, another bang and the silence was over. In Piccadilly Gardens hundreds of pigeons took flight, while my pounding heart slowly began to relax.

Steve Smith, from organisers Ear To The Ground, says two sponsors have pulled out, leaving him just two weeks to fill a £40,000-sized hole in his budget.

For the Castlefield festival, which costs £150,000, this is very substantial indeed. Even Manchester City Council who already contribute £30,000 must be holding their breath.

If the festival on August 5 is canceled, it’ll be particularly sad because of its origin:

“In 1996 a huge IRA bomb ripped the heart out of the city of Manchester. A year later the city of Manchester was determined to show its spirit of resilience and optimism with a series of various initiatives. A young music promoter called Steve Smith decided if the city was going to celebrate then it had to do so using its most powerful asset; MUSIC.

“The redeveloped part of Manchester with its canals, walkways and summer bars seemed like the perfect location. The name of the event was RE.percussion and its aim was to promote the positive repercussions of the bomb. People said that Mancunian’s would use any excuse to party. Not wrong.”

The following year, to commemorate another Manchester triumph – the creation of a computer with stored memory fifty years previous – the RE switched to a D (for digital) and Dpercussion was born.

Two years later:

“Snow Patrol (who were they?) played a lovely set and Mark E Smith refused to go on stage till he had his fee in cash almost precipitating a riot. The aftershow party took place at the surreal Granada Studios with people chilling out on Coronation Street to Manchester’s electronic beats.”

Last year’s festival was excellent, with performances from Durutti Column, Stephen Fretwell, John Stammers, Beats for Beginners, Jack Cooper, Jane Weaver, Liam Frost, Aidan Smith, Nine Black Alps and Badly Drawn Boy.

But funding has been tough: both 2001 and 2003’s events were canceled. And though Smith looked to have found some stability after successfully organising two events in successive years, he sounds far from positive about this year’s situation:

“It seems terrible that 10 years after the bomb, one of its most successful and positive responses is not being backed the private sector.”

UPDATE: The cancellation is officially confirmed on this PDF:

“MUSIC FESTIVAL BORN OUT OF THE BOMB CANCELED DUE TO LACK OF SUPPORT

“Dpercussion has been forced to pull the plug on this year’s event after two of its main local partners pulled out after promising increased level of support earlier in the year.”

BETTER UPDATE: Dpercussion is miraculously back on.

Shortly after, at 11.20am on June 15 1996, this happened:

The 3,300lb bomb in the van produced an explosion large enough to break windows many miles away. This video shot from a police helicopter shows the fireball as it rips through the Arndale Centre and creates a cloud of smoke over the Manchester skyline.

The bombers phoned in a coded warning to Granada TV an hour earlier, giving Police just enough time to evacuate the city centre. Luckily, the Arndale Centre’s original evacuation point – next to the van itself – was quickly moved.

Considering June 15 was a busy Saturday – with people out shopping for the upcoming father’s day – it was a miracle that no one was killed. There were, however, over 220 people injured, including Melanie Serventi from Bolton.

There was also a rumour that one man living in the Arndale Centre had slept through the whole thing. I can’t find any evidence of this, however.

Manchester Evening News estimates the cost of damage by the bomb to be £200m, while The Guardian valued the subsequent face-lift at £700m. As the latter put it in 2001: “What it left was a crater where some of the ugliest buildings in Britain once stood.”

I wasn’t around at the time – I was probably kicking a football somewhere in the green fields of East Lancashire. The fall-out of the 1996 bombing, however, is plain to see by relative late-comers such as myself, and also by the city’s many millions of visitors.

But far from producing negative side-effects (panic, reduced investment, security fears, an exodus of people, anyone?), the long-term effects of the bombing have been almost entirely positive: namely Manchester’s regeneration.

Marks & Spencer rebuilt their flagship store on the bomb site, which itself led to the opening of the prestigious Selfridges. The Triangle, Harvey Nicholls and The Printworks (well, The Filmworks at least) added a bit of style nearby, as did the city centre’s most photographed landmark, Urbis.

Slightly further afield, the renovated Manchester Art Gallery redefined the city as an arts centre and truly miraculous things happened in both Castlefield and Salford Quays.

2002’s Commonwealth Games also followed, giving both East Manchester and the city’s transport system a much-needed kick up the backside.

Hell, even the formerly depressive city of Salford is now becoming somewhere people want to live.

Manchester city centre itself is now home to over 25,000 residents, according to the BBC, compared to just 70 (?) in 1990. I’d be one of them myself, if only I could afford.

So where’s this post going? Hooray for bombs? Pat on the back, the IRA? Karma exists? No, nowhere in particular. Just, long may the regeneration continue.