The Manchester Talks Series: History of the city and architecture of Manchester in seven hour long talks
Wednesday 18 February - The Manchester Talks: Romans to Normans
The years up to 1301
The first in a serious of talks telling the story of Manchester this time exploring the city’s early history. We look for evidence of pre-Roman activity including a human sacrifice and then trace the arrival of the legions and their auxiliary troops and the creation of the first Manchester. We examine if Rome left any legacy in the region. Moving on we tell the story of Saxon occupation and Viking attacks. The purpose of the mysterious Nico ditch is discussed. On this occasion we take the story forward through the Norman conquest and the creation of the Barony of Manchester to the first charter in 1301. The talk includes real characters such as General Agricola but also mythological figures including a giant and a knight in our very own Arthurian legend.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. I will be using various venues I hope to match with the theme.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
The years up to 1301
The first in a serious of talks telling the story of Manchester this time exploring the city’s early history. We look for evidence of pre-Roman activity including a human sacrifice and then trace the arrival of the legions and their auxiliary troops and the creation of the first Manchester. We examine if Rome left any legacy in the region. Moving on we tell the story of Saxon occupation and Viking attacks. The purpose of the mysterious Nico ditch is discussed. On this occasion we take the story forward through the Norman conquest and the creation of the Barony of Manchester to the first charter in 1301. The talk includes real characters such as General Agricola but also mythological figures including a giant and a knight in our very own Arthurian legend.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. I will be using various venues I hope to match with the theme.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
Wednesday 18 March - The Manchester Talks: Going Gothic, Pointed Arches and Finials
This talk explains Gothic architecture describing the details and elements that make up a Gothic building. It is the first in a series of three talks looking at the main architectural styles on display across Greater Manchester. We start in the Middle Ages with Manchester Cathedral and other fine Greater Manchester churches. However it was in the nineteenth century that Manchester and the region became one of the great international galleries of neo-Gothic architecture. Think Manchester Town Hall, Rochdale Town Hall, Manchester University, John Rylands and churches such as St Augustine in Pendlebury and the Church of the Holy Name on Oxford Road plus glorious smaller structures such as the Law Library. The talk will also feature masterpieces we have lost such as the Assize Courts. Architects will be discussed too such as Alfred Waterhouse, Edward Salomons and Thomas Worthington. At the conclusion you should be able to read Gothic buildings easily. A glossary will be provided for guests.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. I will be using various venues I hope to match with the theme.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
This talk explains Gothic architecture describing the details and elements that make up a Gothic building. It is the first in a series of three talks looking at the main architectural styles on display across Greater Manchester. We start in the Middle Ages with Manchester Cathedral and other fine Greater Manchester churches. However it was in the nineteenth century that Manchester and the region became one of the great international galleries of neo-Gothic architecture. Think Manchester Town Hall, Rochdale Town Hall, Manchester University, John Rylands and churches such as St Augustine in Pendlebury and the Church of the Holy Name on Oxford Road plus glorious smaller structures such as the Law Library. The talk will also feature masterpieces we have lost such as the Assize Courts. Architects will be discussed too such as Alfred Waterhouse, Edward Salomons and Thomas Worthington. At the conclusion you should be able to read Gothic buildings easily. A glossary will be provided for guests.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. I will be using various venues I hope to match with the theme.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
Wednesday 15 April - The Manchester Talks: Charter to Civil War
1301- 1660
The story of Manchester from its first charter to the English Civil War when the town was besieged by Royalist forces under the leadership of the dashing but daft Lord Strange. We trace the fabled origins of the mighty textile trade in Manchester with a visit from Queen Phillipa of Hainault, wife of Edward III. We discuss the expansion of the parish church into a Collegiate church and the creation of what is now Chetham’s Library and School of Music. The effects of the Reformation on the town and why Manchester was Parliamentarian is described. There are lots of big characters to talk about including (literally) James Stanley ‘the tallest man in England’ and the enchanter and scholar Dr John Dee who endured a tragic time in the city.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. I will be using various venues I hope to match with the theme.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
1301- 1660
The story of Manchester from its first charter to the English Civil War when the town was besieged by Royalist forces under the leadership of the dashing but daft Lord Strange. We trace the fabled origins of the mighty textile trade in Manchester with a visit from Queen Phillipa of Hainault, wife of Edward III. We discuss the expansion of the parish church into a Collegiate church and the creation of what is now Chetham’s Library and School of Music. The effects of the Reformation on the town and why Manchester was Parliamentarian is described. There are lots of big characters to talk about including (literally) James Stanley ‘the tallest man in England’ and the enchanter and scholar Dr John Dee who endured a tragic time in the city.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. I will be using various venues I hope to match with the theme.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
Wednesday 20 May - The Manchester Talks: Conjuring Classical, capitals and cornices
This talk explains Classical architecture and its offshoots describing the details and elements that make up a Classical building. This is the second in a series of three talks looking at the main architectural styles on display across Greater Manchester streets. We start in the early modern age with early examples of the style such as the Mosley Memorial in St James’s church in Didsbury, we then look at other buildings such as St Ann’s Church in Manchester and lots of halls and houses such as Heaton, Foxdenton, and Lyme. From the nineteenth centre we have the Portico Library and Manchester Art Gallery. We also have the magnificent and dignified ‘palazzos’ such as the Free Trade Hall and the Manchester and Salford Bank, now the Edwardian Hotel and Cut’n’Craft restaurant respectively. We will take a look at Central Library and see how in the first half of the twentieth century a sort of Imperial Baroque style developed out of the classical tradition with The Midland Bank (now Hotel Gotham) and others. The talk will also feature masterpieces we have lost such as the mighty portico of the third Royal Exchange. Architects will be discussed such as Charles Barry, Edward Walters and Charles Heathcote. At the conclusion you should be able to read Classical buildings easily. A glossary will be provided for guests.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. The Manchester Talks will take place in various venues.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
This talk explains Classical architecture and its offshoots describing the details and elements that make up a Classical building. This is the second in a series of three talks looking at the main architectural styles on display across Greater Manchester streets. We start in the early modern age with early examples of the style such as the Mosley Memorial in St James’s church in Didsbury, we then look at other buildings such as St Ann’s Church in Manchester and lots of halls and houses such as Heaton, Foxdenton, and Lyme. From the nineteenth centre we have the Portico Library and Manchester Art Gallery. We also have the magnificent and dignified ‘palazzos’ such as the Free Trade Hall and the Manchester and Salford Bank, now the Edwardian Hotel and Cut’n’Craft restaurant respectively. We will take a look at Central Library and see how in the first half of the twentieth century a sort of Imperial Baroque style developed out of the classical tradition with The Midland Bank (now Hotel Gotham) and others. The talk will also feature masterpieces we have lost such as the mighty portico of the third Royal Exchange. Architects will be discussed such as Charles Barry, Edward Walters and Charles Heathcote. At the conclusion you should be able to read Classical buildings easily. A glossary will be provided for guests.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. The Manchester Talks will take place in various venues.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
Wednesday 17 June - The Manchester Talks: Restoration to Rebellion
1660 - 1750
The story of Manchester from the return of Charles II through to the fruitless Stuart rebellion under the leadership of the hapless Bonnie Prince Charlie. The latter tale includes how many foolish Mancs joined the prince which led ultimately to some of their number suffering a cruel execution. We paint a scene of Manchester in the period through the eccentric proceedings of the Court Leet. Personalities abound, there’s diary keeper and peruke maker Edmund Harrold, church builder and fashionista Ann Bland, epigram writer John Byrom plus the ridiculous Syddall family.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: various to be announced.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
1660 - 1750
The story of Manchester from the return of Charles II through to the fruitless Stuart rebellion under the leadership of the hapless Bonnie Prince Charlie. The latter tale includes how many foolish Mancs joined the prince which led ultimately to some of their number suffering a cruel execution. We paint a scene of Manchester in the period through the eccentric proceedings of the Court Leet. Personalities abound, there’s diary keeper and peruke maker Edmund Harrold, church builder and fashionista Ann Bland, epigram writer John Byrom plus the ridiculous Syddall family.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: various to be announced.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
Wednesday 16 September - The Manchester Talks: Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, International Modern, Brutalism
This talk examines 20th century architecture describing the details and elements that make up the Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, International Modern and Brutalist styles. This is the third in a series of three talks looking at the main architectural styles on display on Greater Manchester streets. We start with the stunning St Anne’s church in Denton, the beautiful light fittings in John Rylands Library, the eccentric but glorious First Church of Christ Scientist, Long Street Chapel, Middleton and elements of Salford Lads Club. There’s a detailed look at the ‘streamline moderne’ of the Daily Express Building and Manchester’s biggest lump of Brutalist concrete at Piccadilly Plaza. Other featured buildings will include St Nicholas, Burnage, St Michael and All Angels, Wythenshawe, the Toast Rack, Redfern House, Hexagon Tower, the CIS complex and Oxford Road Station. The talk will also feature masterpieces we have lost such as utterly beautiful interior of the Market Street, Kardomah but also Hulme Crescents which it’s fortunate we lost. Architects under discussion include Edgar Wood, W A Johnson and L C Howitt. At the conclusion you should be able to understand this period of architecture. A glossary will be provided for guests.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. The Manchester Talks will take place in various venues.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
This talk examines 20th century architecture describing the details and elements that make up the Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, International Modern and Brutalist styles. This is the third in a series of three talks looking at the main architectural styles on display on Greater Manchester streets. We start with the stunning St Anne’s church in Denton, the beautiful light fittings in John Rylands Library, the eccentric but glorious First Church of Christ Scientist, Long Street Chapel, Middleton and elements of Salford Lads Club. There’s a detailed look at the ‘streamline moderne’ of the Daily Express Building and Manchester’s biggest lump of Brutalist concrete at Piccadilly Plaza. Other featured buildings will include St Nicholas, Burnage, St Michael and All Angels, Wythenshawe, the Toast Rack, Redfern House, Hexagon Tower, the CIS complex and Oxford Road Station. The talk will also feature masterpieces we have lost such as utterly beautiful interior of the Market Street, Kardomah but also Hulme Crescents which it’s fortunate we lost. Architects under discussion include Edgar Wood, W A Johnson and L C Howitt. At the conclusion you should be able to understand this period of architecture. A glossary will be provided for guests.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: to be announced. The Manchester Talks will take place in various venues.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
Wednesday 21 October - The Manchester Talks: Growth and Innovation
1750 - 1800
The pace of development in the Manchester area accelerates both commercially and socially. During this period a series of inventions combine to deliver a huge technological leap forward. Infrastructure joins in with the opening of the Bridgewater Canal. The first steam mill opens on Miller Street. Cotton becomes the dominant textile under production in Manchester. Meanwhile Ann Lee invents a new religious sect with the Shakers. Thomas Clarkson delivers a sermon which leads to the first petition to Parliament from any town or city demanding the abolition of the slave trade. Newspapers start up and debate begins about the reform of Parliament. There’s a Thinking Club which is serious and the Club for Fat Men which is not. There are amazing people in the city, Elizabeth Raffald, Thomas Walker and Thomas Butterworth Bayley amongst others.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: various to be announced.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
1750 - 1800
The pace of development in the Manchester area accelerates both commercially and socially. During this period a series of inventions combine to deliver a huge technological leap forward. Infrastructure joins in with the opening of the Bridgewater Canal. The first steam mill opens on Miller Street. Cotton becomes the dominant textile under production in Manchester. Meanwhile Ann Lee invents a new religious sect with the Shakers. Thomas Clarkson delivers a sermon which leads to the first petition to Parliament from any town or city demanding the abolition of the slave trade. Newspapers start up and debate begins about the reform of Parliament. There’s a Thinking Club which is serious and the Club for Fat Men which is not. There are amazing people in the city, Elizabeth Raffald, Thomas Walker and Thomas Butterworth Bayley amongst others.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: various to be announced.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
Wednesday 18 November - The Manchester Talks: Industry, Trade and Protest
1800 - 1850
There’s a lot to pack in here. Industrial muscle becomes fully flexed and Manchester becomes notorious, ‘the shock city of the age’. Visitors are either appalled or energised. Along with cotton and textile production the city becomes an engineering and scientific superpower. The Railway Age truly begins with the celebrated and tragic opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway. With industry comes terrible working and living conditions which the father of Communism, Friedrich Engels, records as he starts almost 22 years of life in Manchester. Politics and protest flourish. The Peterloo Massacre underlines the conflicts in society. Manchester and the other regional towns gain MPs in 1832 but the franchise is so narrow it leads to the development of the Chartist movement. Meanwhile Manchester businessmen are battling with the establishment to repeal the Corn Laws. Characters such as John Dalton, Elizabeth Gaskell, Richard Cobden, Abel Heywood amongst others populate this talk.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: various to be announced.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.
1800 - 1850
There’s a lot to pack in here. Industrial muscle becomes fully flexed and Manchester becomes notorious, ‘the shock city of the age’. Visitors are either appalled or energised. Along with cotton and textile production the city becomes an engineering and scientific superpower. The Railway Age truly begins with the celebrated and tragic opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway. With industry comes terrible working and living conditions which the father of Communism, Friedrich Engels, records as he starts almost 22 years of life in Manchester. Politics and protest flourish. The Peterloo Massacre underlines the conflicts in society. Manchester and the other regional towns gain MPs in 1832 but the franchise is so narrow it leads to the development of the Chartist movement. Meanwhile Manchester businessmen are battling with the establishment to repeal the Corn Laws. Characters such as John Dalton, Elizabeth Gaskell, Richard Cobden, Abel Heywood amongst others populate this talk.
Ticket price £10 live, £6 for the digital version
Venue: various to be announced.
Start time: 6.30pm
Duration: one hour
My guarantee: these talks will be fascinating and mightily entertaining. The hour will fly by.