First Wednesday Spinningfields series
12 noon every first Wednesday of the month from April
One hour lunchtime tours but you can leave whenever you want
FREE
April 1
The Dark Side of Spinningfields.
The area was once known as the 13th District and contained the notorious Green Man pub with its crazy and unruly entertainment. The area went from a sweet and pretty area of big houses with gardens and summer houses to a place of dense working class accommodation over a couple of decades and by the middle nineteenth century was no as a fetid ‘rookery’, a slum which needed its own charities such as Wood Street Mission. Mary Burns lived in this deprived area in the 1840s and became the lover of German writer and businessman, Friedrich Engels, the best friend of Karl Marx. She was his passport to witnessing the lives of the poor in this period of early industrialisation, and thus was instrumental in giving the world The Communist Manifesto.
May 6
The Hardest Worked River in the World.
A stroll around the River Irwell and Leftbank as far as the Victoria & Albert, Le Meridian, Hotel at St John's. A tour wrapped up with the Ice Maiden ghost, the tragedy of the ship called Emma, stirring deeds and pioneering science. The Irwell is the North’s mini-Danube, separating the two cities of Manchester and Salford just as the Danube does Buda and Pest. In the 1700s it was famously sweet river, teeming with life, with trout and salmon. Now after 200 years of pollution, brown trout are back and the developers have turned to face the river once more. The river is alive again and this tour brings it alive for guests.
June 3
John Rylands Library and the People's History Museum
Two buildings, two incredible collections. A tour that explains the architecture and the significance, one building built for beauty and learning, the other for industry and power. The powerful personalities behind the buildings are also revealed and some of the items on display discussed. For example the woman who gave the city the library is Cuban-born Enriqueta Rylands. There was a whiff of scandal around the circumstances of her marriage to John Rylands but eventually she became the first woman to receive the Freedom of the City.
July 1
Bright lights, big plans, and a world-famous University is born.
The south side of Spinningfields into St John's Gardens is full of amazing stories from treading the boards at the Opera House, the houses with pleasure gardens at Hardman Square, the 1945 'classic' skyscraper that was refused planning permission, the strangest bollards in Britain and how Manchester merchant John Owens instigated the University of Manchester. There is drama, intrigue and wooden streets.
August 5
Deansgate and Spinningfields tour
Deansgate is an old Roman Road with a possibly a Viking inspired name. This was the street down which cavaliers attacked the town in English Civil War, but also where fashion took root in the nineteenth century. It is still host to the oldest family owned music shop in Europe. The stories of the pubs, still here and disappeared, are fascinating too, and there’s an alleyway on the tour where the devil came to Manchester and also a room which used to host the Club for Fat Men.
All these tours are sponsored by Spinningfields Estate Limited. They all take place at noon on the first Thursday of the month from April until August and are free of charge. The tours last an hour but you can jump on and off whatever time suits to fit with your lunch hour.
Reserve tickets here.
The Dark Side of Spinningfields.
The area was once known as the 13th District and contained the notorious Green Man pub with its crazy and unruly entertainment. The area went from a sweet and pretty area of big houses with gardens and summer houses to a place of dense working class accommodation over a couple of decades and by the middle nineteenth century was no as a fetid ‘rookery’, a slum which needed its own charities such as Wood Street Mission. Mary Burns lived in this deprived area in the 1840s and became the lover of German writer and businessman, Friedrich Engels, the best friend of Karl Marx. She was his passport to witnessing the lives of the poor in this period of early industrialisation, and thus was instrumental in giving the world The Communist Manifesto.
May 6
The Hardest Worked River in the World.
A stroll around the River Irwell and Leftbank as far as the Victoria & Albert, Le Meridian, Hotel at St John's. A tour wrapped up with the Ice Maiden ghost, the tragedy of the ship called Emma, stirring deeds and pioneering science. The Irwell is the North’s mini-Danube, separating the two cities of Manchester and Salford just as the Danube does Buda and Pest. In the 1700s it was famously sweet river, teeming with life, with trout and salmon. Now after 200 years of pollution, brown trout are back and the developers have turned to face the river once more. The river is alive again and this tour brings it alive for guests.
June 3
John Rylands Library and the People's History Museum
Two buildings, two incredible collections. A tour that explains the architecture and the significance, one building built for beauty and learning, the other for industry and power. The powerful personalities behind the buildings are also revealed and some of the items on display discussed. For example the woman who gave the city the library is Cuban-born Enriqueta Rylands. There was a whiff of scandal around the circumstances of her marriage to John Rylands but eventually she became the first woman to receive the Freedom of the City.
July 1
Bright lights, big plans, and a world-famous University is born.
The south side of Spinningfields into St John's Gardens is full of amazing stories from treading the boards at the Opera House, the houses with pleasure gardens at Hardman Square, the 1945 'classic' skyscraper that was refused planning permission, the strangest bollards in Britain and how Manchester merchant John Owens instigated the University of Manchester. There is drama, intrigue and wooden streets.
August 5
Deansgate and Spinningfields tour
Deansgate is an old Roman Road with a possibly a Viking inspired name. This was the street down which cavaliers attacked the town in English Civil War, but also where fashion took root in the nineteenth century. It is still host to the oldest family owned music shop in Europe. The stories of the pubs, still here and disappeared, are fascinating too, and there’s an alleyway on the tour where the devil came to Manchester and also a room which used to host the Club for Fat Men.
All these tours are sponsored by Spinningfields Estate Limited. They all take place at noon on the first Thursday of the month from April until August and are free of charge. The tours last an hour but you can jump on and off whatever time suits to fit with your lunch hour.
Reserve tickets here.