Author Archives: ed

Today is the 142nd Football Association Challenge Cup Final and one with a distinct local interest. The following piece has been adapted from my forthcoming book on Manchester United and it concerns United’s first final – in 1909, which took place in the now long-vanished Crystal Palace stadium, so named…
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Thu 20 June L S Lowry’s Manchester
Meet TfGM Travelshop, Piccadilly Gardens, 11.30am.

Fri 21 June May Angel Meadow pub tour
Meet Victoria Station wallmap, 6pm.

Sat 22 June Manchester Music: 40 Years of Unknown Pleasures Meet HOME, 11am.
Sat 22 June Secrets of the Northern Quarter
Meet Queen Victoria Statue, Piccadilly Gardens, 2.30pm.

Sun 23 June Alan Turing Tortured Genius of the Computer Age
Meet Manchester Museum reception, 11.30am.
Sun 23 June Strangeways No Escape!
Meet Victoria Station wallmap, 2.30pm.
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Next Walks
Sun 27 June, Hitler’s Plans for Manchester, 11am from Victoria Station wallmap. 
Sat 27 June, Exploring the Manchester Docks, Salford Quays and Media City, 3pm from Salford Quays Metrolink.

Next Zooms
Wed 23 June, Liverpool’s Wonderful Waterfront, 8pm.
Fri 25 June, George Orwell’s 1984, 6pm.
Fri 25 June, Underground Manchester, 8pm.
Mon 28 June, L S Lowry’s Lonely Life, 6pm.
Mon 28 June, The Pre-Raphaelites of Manchester Art Gallery, 8pm.
Tue 29 June, Manchester Town Hall: the Full Tour, 6pm.
Tue 29 June, Midland Hotel: The Rolls Royce of Zoom tours, 8pm.
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Why the bee for Manchester?

In the aftermath of Manchester’s tragedy the bee is appearing throughout the city as a solidarity symbol and a tattoo choice. The bee – the worker bee – is already evident throughout Manchester on municipal structures. In the Town Hall the platform outside the Great Hall is called The Bees and is decorated appropriately. The city’s coat of arms features a globe coated with bees; worker bees. At Manchester Art Gallery the most famous and admired painting is Work by Ford Madox Brown.

So how did the bee first appear in prominence?
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We have all been devastated by the dreadful events at the Manchester Arena and are in a state of shock. We cancelled all walks yesterday, Tuesday 23 May, and have cancelled them today, Wednesday 24 May, as a mark of respect.

Thursday’s Angel Meadow walk can’t take place as we can’t get into the area. It’s postponed until the next slot (Thu 8 June, 6.30pm).

Pre-paid tickets for the Town Hall tour that should have been held on Tuesday 23rd will of course be valid for special future Town Hall dates. At the moment we are not in a position to announce when those dates will be, but they will take place, probably on two separate occasions, over the summer. Everyone who bought a ticket for Tuesday 23 May will be able to use that ticket on those special Town Hall tours.

We have decided to dedicate the proceeds from the annual June 15th IRA bomb walk to an appropriate charity.
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Fri 24 May Marx & Engels pub walk: Drinkers of the World Unite!
Meet St Ann’s Church, 6pm.

Sat 25 May Manchester Music: The Hacienda Years
Meet HOME, 11am.
Sat 25 May Secrets of the Northern Quarter
Meet Queen Victoria Statue, Piccadilly Gardens, 2.30pm.

Sun 26 May Salford Quays & the Old Docks
Meet Salford Quays Metrolink stop, 11am.
Sun 26 May Secrets of the Northern Quarter
Meet Queen Victoria Statue, Piccadilly Gardens, 2.30pm.
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It was today 40 years ago, the 18th of May, that one of Manchester’s greatest talents, Ian Curtis, took his own life at his Macclesfield home. We pay tribute. Ian Curtis was a tortured soul, a visceral, troubled mind with a voice that echoed Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop and Matt Monro. Curtis briefly led Joy Division, the finest flower of the early days at Manchester’s Factory Records, shaking sensibilities and sending shivers down the spine on an all too brief catalogue…
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They’re going to let Ed Glinert out for the day so that he can take you on a barely legal tour of hangings, executions, escapes involving the worst names in British criminal history – Harold Shipman, Ian Brady, Ian Brown, “Mad” Frankie Fraser, Joey Barton.

Please register with Eventbrite.

We start at Victoria Station Wallmap. No slags, no privileges!
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