Author Archives: admin
River Irwell
It’s the river that divides Manchester from Salford, snaking its way through the centre of the metropolis and almost meeting itself near Salford Crescent. Never a picturesque centrepiece like the Thames or Seine, it was a conduit for goods and … Continue reading
Along the Manchester Ship Canal
Next tour: 17 July 2024, 1pm. Meet: Entrance to the Science & Industry Museum, Lower Byrom Street. Booking: Please press here to book for free with Eventbrite. It’s the world’s greatest waterway, as deep as Suez, as wide as Panama, … Continue reading
Theatreland – Manchester On Stage
Please contact the guide, John Alker, on 07759 173786 for further details.
Charles Dickens in Manchester
Next tour: Friday 8 November, during the Manchester Literature Festival. Meet: Outside the Mercure Hotel, Portland Street, 1pm. Booking: Please press here to book with Eventbrite. Private bookings: To book privately, please phone Ed Glinert on 07769 29 8068. What a … Continue reading
The Glories of Manchester Architecture
The Glories of Manchester Architecture. Next tour: Thursday 23 April 2026, 11.30 a.m. Guide: RIBA judge Ed Glinert, author of “Manchester: The Biography”. Starts: Outside the Midland Hotel, Peter Street. Booking: Please press here to book with Eventbrite. *** The … Continue reading
Coronation Street
When Julie Goodyear first turned up at Granada to play Bet Lynch in 1966, a friend gave her a lift into Manchester in his van. In the back was a cement mixer. Julie expected the pal to drop her on the main road, but as it was raining he insisted in pulling up outside the TV company’s front entrance on Atherton Street. By an amazing coincidence Pat Phoenix was just getting out of her Rolls Royce at the same time. Pat looked Julie up and down “as if I were a piece of dog dirt on her shoe,” as Julie recalled, and said, “‘Don’t you ever, ever dare to upstage me again, young lady.’” Continue reading
City of Culture
Manchester Man of the mid-19th century wanted to show the world that the place was more than just a forest of smokestack industries and belching chimneys by creating a city of culture; a metropolis where the arts and the glories … Continue reading
The Pre-Raphaelites
Next tour: Tuesday 31 March 2026, 2.30 p.m. Meet: Outside Manchester Art Gallery. Booking: Please press here to book with Eventbrite. Ed Glinert, official Manchester tour guide and author of Penguin’s Manchester Compendium, leads this fascinating fact-filled tour around the … Continue reading
Manchester Art Gallery
Next tours: See Walks & Tours: “The Pre-Raphaelites” or “The Great Art Treasures of Manchester”. Meet: Art Gallery. “What in the world do you want with art in Manchester? Why can’t you stick to your cotton spinning?” That was the … Continue reading
L. S. Lowry
Next Walking tour: Saturday 21 June 2025 Meet: Outside the Mercure Hotel, Portland Street. Booking: Please press here to book with Eventbrite. Spurned, snubbed and sniggered at, Laurence Stephen Lowry became Britain’s most famous and best-loved 20th century painter, whose … Continue reading
