Just beyond Victoria Station, in a hollow by the River Irk, was teeming Red Bank, a seedy shabby slum, colonised by Russian/Jewish refugees in the late 19th century. And towering over the place was Britain’s most notorious prison, Strangeways, its very name enough to send a frisson of fear down the spine of even the most hardened criminal.

We will explore the intricate back alleys of this desperate downhome demesne, hanging about outside the prison walls to take in torrid tales of escapes, hangings and prison riots.

You’ll go home happy that you don’t have to slop out.