Author Archives: ed

JUNE
• Mon 6 June, Royal Manchester, Zoom talk for Trafford Libraries, 2pm.
• Thu 9 June, Cottonopolis, 12 noon, HOME.
• Fri 10 June, Southern Cemetery, 12 noon, main entrance.
• Sat 11 June, The IRA Bomb 1996, 11am, Selfridges.
• Sat 11 June, Manchester Music, The Hacienda Years, HOME, 2pm.
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That’s your Christmas present sorted then: New Manchester Walks’ gift vouchers which can be redeemed on any tour. No time limit for use. Just make sure the tour is taking place before you set off from Stretford, Salford or Spitzbergen. To buy a gift voucher, please click “Continue reading” here to go to Eventbrite.
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How wonderful that Alan Turing, a man vilified in his lifetime by the establishment and unknown to the public on account of the secrecy surrounding his war work, has just been named the BBC’s Icon of the 20th century. Noting that the BBC’s own website on the subject wrongly claims that Alan Turing invented the computer, here’s the ideal opportunity to learn the true story…on our tour.

Next tour from the Manchester Museum Reception:
* Sun 11 July 2021 at 12 noon.
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Today, 5 May, is the birthday of one of Britain’s greatest political activists – Sylvia Pankhurst. She was imprisoned for her beliefs more than any other woman in British political history. She led the campaign for women to have the vote on the same terms of men, in contrast to her more celebrated mother, Emmeline, who was content just for middle class women to have the vote. She was also a gifted artist and an evocative writer, and came from Manchester (well, Old Trafford, near enough; her birthplace has gone unfortunately).

When a group of women sold out…
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Today is the 202nd birthday of Karl Marx. Unfortunately our unique “Karl Marx’s Manchester” will have to wait awhile. Meanwhile, here are some wonderful descriptions of the great man, for your enjoyment.

A description of Marx given to Princess Victoria by Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, Liberal Under-sec of State for India. Duff met Marx in 1879.

“He is a short, rather small man with grey hair and beard…
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What an opportunity this is, given that you can’t tour the Midland Hotel in person because of Covid and building works, and even when you can go in on a tour you find half the rooms booked out for conferences and meetings, and the guide telling you nonsense like “this is where Rolls met Royce”.
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He called himself a “simple man”, but he was the strangest of fellows. He never left the British Isles, enjoyed no sexual relations, and made his will over to a much younger woman, whom he befriended simply because she shared his surname. Yet he became Britain’s best-loved 20th century painter.

Ed Glinert, official Manchester tour guide and author of Penguin’s Manchester Compendium, leads this tour around the places Lowry painted and passed time in.
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Many thanks to all those who have been on our experimental free tours this year. It was a push to get people out post-Covid. The idea was that folk would pay at the end of the tour, say around ten pounds. Instead there have been a few pound coins, a few pence here and there and a lot of nothings! Some good folk have parted with a note but not enough to keep me off the dole. Pre-Covid, we snaffled around ten squid from you before the tour. It worked, but then there was the worry that the tour guide might not be up to much, that they might tell you nonsense like “Rolls and Royce met at the Midland Hotel” or “the three…
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Join Ed Glinert on an exploration of Manchester’s ever-fascinating history this Saturday, the 13th of May.

* Saturday, 11am, Secrets of Ancoats.
Meet outside the Band on the Wall, Swan Street.

* Saturday, 2pm, Angel Meadow
Meet Victoria Station wallmap, Victoria Station.
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The Hidden Gems of Manchester – an ingenious and original tour. We see and discover:
* The fascinating and eye-opening Mark Cazalet painting at Manchester Cathedral and the mediaeval cartoon scenes in the choir.
* The Masonic and Kabbalah stained glass windows in St Ann’s Church.
* The Stations of the Cross in the Hidden Gem Church, explained and explored.
* The story of the Portico Library and its treasures.
…plus a few more things we’ll spot en route.

  
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