Clashes
Gang members fought with a variety of weapons, but they all carried knives and wore heavy buckled belts, often decorated with pictures such as serpents, hearts pierced with arrows or women's names. The thick leather belts were their most prized possessions and were wrapped tightly around the wrist at the onset of a "scuttle", so that the buckle could be used to strike at opponents. The use of knives and belts was designed to maim and disfigure rather than to kill.
Some of the clashes between rival gangs involved large numbers; the Gorton Reporter described one such instance in May 1879 as involving more than 500 people. Scuttling reached a peak in 1890–91; it was said that by 1890 more youths were held in Strangeways Prison for scuttling than for any other offence.
By the turn of the century the gangs had all but died out owing to some of the worst slums having been cleared, the setting up of Working Lads' Clubs (such as Salford Lads Club) to engage the working youths in more peaceful activities, the spread of street football and the advent of the cinema. One initiative to provide an alternative to gang warfare resulted in the formation of St Marks (West Gorton) Football Club, which later became Manchester City FC.
Read more about this topic: Scuttlers