Author Archives: ed

Hi folks.
The free tour experiment is drawing to a close.
It’s not worked.
The final blow was this last fortnight.
* 115 people registered for the Hacienda 40th anniversary tour on 21 May – 12 turned up.
* 23 people registered for Strangeways last Saturday – no one turned up.
* 79 people registered for The Smiths this Sunday – eight turned up. Continue reading →

No, we didn’t run into Joey Barton or Jim McDonald.

There were 23 registrations for this morning’s tour (Saturday 4 June) and at the starting time, 11am at Victoria Station wallmap, no one was there!

What a waste of everyone’s time.

I’ve been doing these tours for free but one or two people are spoiling it for everyone. To add insult to injury… Continue reading →

An enthralling FA Cup Final, and the metropolis of Manchester was the winner.

Millions, possibly billions, around the world and maybe on other planets tuned in to see the most remarkable start to any of the 142 F A Cup Finals, and here at New Manchester Walks Towers we’ve seen most of them.

But the watching world – from Vermont to Vladivostock; from Ouagadougou to Ogmore – thought: “We must go to this Manchester. What an exciting place!” Continue reading →

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… Continue reading →

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. Continue reading →

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. Continue reading →

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? Continue reading →

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. Continue reading →