JONATHAN SCHOFIELD TOURS
DON'T MISS THE NEW AND EXCLUSIVE TOUR: ST LUKE'S, CHEETHAM HILL, A MAGNIFICENT AND SPOOKY RUIN WITH A FABULOUS STORY
July public tours
All the tours are available as private or corporate tours. Tours can be customised to fit exactly the client's needs.
Every Saturday
The Saturday Walkabout Series
The Manchester Music Walkabout 1pm every Saturday
Saturday 11 July
10.30am Secrets of Ancoats and New Islington
Has any area of the UK been transformed so utterly than this fascinating area of mills, canals, new development and controversy? The answer is no. So join me for a stroll around the most interesting urban story in modern Britain with an extra special visit inside an 1820s mill.
Saturday 18 July
NEW 10.30am Sleazy, Sinister and Haunted Manchester
A tour highlighting the darker side of city history in all its craziness including delving into the supernatural. This is an amusing and fascinating tour.
Wednesday 22 July
6pm EXCLUSIVE: Jewels in the Crown - the Oxford Road tour
Interior visits to superb buildings old and so brand new the polish still shows through. Some of these places will make your jaw drop. There are wonderful stories of truly world-changing importance.
Sunday 26 July
10.30am EXCLUSIVE: Jewels in the Crown - the Oxford Road tour
Interior visits to superb buildings old and so brand new the polish still shows through. Some of these places will make your jaw drop. There are wonderful stories of truly world-changing importance.
1.30pm & 3pm Exclusive: Ruined St Luke’s Church, Cheetham Hill, a very special tour for 2026
Imagine this as a tour. A ruined church, an overgrown graveyard, a gloomy crypt. There will be music and projections. This will be special, this will be spectacular.
In association with the North West Heritage Trust
Wednesday 29 July
5pm One off tour: Piccadilly Gardens
Don't scoff, this area has one of the best stories to tell in the city centre. We visit some great buildings as well. AS AN ADDED bonus this one off tour is only £10 per person, half the usual weekend tour.
August
All the tours are available as private or corporate tours. Tours can be customised to fit exactly the client's needs.
Saturday 1 August
10am Secrets of Stockport
We go up and down and all around exploring the great stories of this sandstone town. Fine buildings to see, music to listen to, tragedies to weep over and how to count your life by moons.
DON'T MISS THE NEW AND EXCLUSIVE TOUR: ST LUKE'S, CHEETHAM HILL, A MAGNIFICENT AND SPOOKY RUIN WITH A FABULOUS STORY
July public tours
All the tours are available as private or corporate tours. Tours can be customised to fit exactly the client's needs.
Every Saturday
The Saturday Walkabout Series
The Manchester Music Walkabout 1pm every Saturday
Saturday 11 July
10.30am Secrets of Ancoats and New Islington
Has any area of the UK been transformed so utterly than this fascinating area of mills, canals, new development and controversy? The answer is no. So join me for a stroll around the most interesting urban story in modern Britain with an extra special visit inside an 1820s mill.
Saturday 18 July
NEW 10.30am Sleazy, Sinister and Haunted Manchester
A tour highlighting the darker side of city history in all its craziness including delving into the supernatural. This is an amusing and fascinating tour.
Wednesday 22 July
6pm EXCLUSIVE: Jewels in the Crown - the Oxford Road tour
Interior visits to superb buildings old and so brand new the polish still shows through. Some of these places will make your jaw drop. There are wonderful stories of truly world-changing importance.
Sunday 26 July
10.30am EXCLUSIVE: Jewels in the Crown - the Oxford Road tour
Interior visits to superb buildings old and so brand new the polish still shows through. Some of these places will make your jaw drop. There are wonderful stories of truly world-changing importance.
1.30pm & 3pm Exclusive: Ruined St Luke’s Church, Cheetham Hill, a very special tour for 2026
Imagine this as a tour. A ruined church, an overgrown graveyard, a gloomy crypt. There will be music and projections. This will be special, this will be spectacular.
In association with the North West Heritage Trust
Wednesday 29 July
5pm One off tour: Piccadilly Gardens
Don't scoff, this area has one of the best stories to tell in the city centre. We visit some great buildings as well. AS AN ADDED bonus this one off tour is only £10 per person, half the usual weekend tour.
August
All the tours are available as private or corporate tours. Tours can be customised to fit exactly the client's needs.
Saturday 1 August
10am Secrets of Stockport
We go up and down and all around exploring the great stories of this sandstone town. Fine buildings to see, music to listen to, tragedies to weep over and how to count your life by moons.
Click here for the full calendar which has more than ninety Greater Manchester tours covering more than forty themes for 2026. More than any other operator.
Public tours coming up.
All the tours are available as private or corporate tours.
This is what people are saying about the tours.
This is a 2024 podcast called We Built This City with Lisa Morton of Roland Dransfield
Buy three beautiful Mcr books by Jonathan Schofleld here.
Join The Manchester Talks Series to learn about Manchester's history and architectural styles across the region
Discussing the Manchester Bee on Radio 5 Live here.
You can read a profile of Jonathan Schofield here in The Guardian.
Most tours are dog-friendly
Do you want your building or area researched? Not just the architecture but the human stories associated with it? Mulligans pub did on Southgate Street.
The results proved fruitful.
Tom Dellow of Scoop who hired me certainly thought so.
Public tours coming up.
All the tours are available as private or corporate tours.
This is what people are saying about the tours.
This is a 2024 podcast called We Built This City with Lisa Morton of Roland Dransfield
Buy three beautiful Mcr books by Jonathan Schofleld here.
Join The Manchester Talks Series to learn about Manchester's history and architectural styles across the region
Discussing the Manchester Bee on Radio 5 Live here.
You can read a profile of Jonathan Schofield here in The Guardian.
Most tours are dog-friendly
Do you want your building or area researched? Not just the architecture but the human stories associated with it? Mulligans pub did on Southgate Street.
The results proved fruitful.
Tom Dellow of Scoop who hired me certainly thought so.
We approached Jonathan to do a deep dive into the history of Mulligans and the pub that came before it, The Waggon and Horses, and the results were fascinating. He uncovered loads of stories about the pub and the colourful characters connected to it, some more outrageous than others, plus maps and images that really bring it to life. His research has given us a brilliant insight into this Mancunian institution, from its opening in the 1820s to its transformation into Mulligans in 1990. I’d wholeheartedly recommend Jonathan for any research into buildings or places across Manchester.
Here's my favourite quote about Manchester in its nascent industrial days from Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society in 1785. Its meaning is self-evident and although it refers to science the sentiment applies to every other field of endeavour.
‘Men, however great their learning often become indolent and unambitious to improve in knowledge for want of associating with others of similar talents and improvements. But science, like fire, is put in motion by collision. Where a number of such men have frequent opportunities of meeting and conversing together, thought begets thought, and every hint is turned to advantage. A spirit of enquiry glows in every breast.’
‘Men, however great their learning often become indolent and unambitious to improve in knowledge for want of associating with others of similar talents and improvements. But science, like fire, is put in motion by collision. Where a number of such men have frequent opportunities of meeting and conversing together, thought begets thought, and every hint is turned to advantage. A spirit of enquiry glows in every breast.’