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Radical Manchester - part one

Radical Manchester - part two

Manchester as the first industrial city inevitably found itself at the forefront of social movements and radical thought. The character of the city reinforced this. Manchester has been described as the least aristocratic city in the UK and was largely a middle-class and working class creation. This tour, in two parts, explores Manchester’s radical credentials from its support of Parliament in the English Civil War, its non-conformist visionaries, the Peterloo Massacre, the Anti-Corn Law League, Chartism, Trade Unionism, the Labour Movement, the Votes for Women campaign and the Suffragettes through to today’s Manchester Pride.

This is a flash map, right click to zoom in/out and click drag to move the map around

Meet your guide

Jonathan Schofield - photograph © Jon Jordan

photo: Jon Jordan

Jonathan Schofield has been a Blue Badge tour guide in Manchester and the North West since 1986. During that period he’s taken over 40 different nationalities around the region from general visitors and conference and convention guests via journalists and broadcasters to eccentrics and specialists. Jonathan writes regularly for the Manchester listings magazine City Life and more sporadically for diverse others. He is the author and editor of several guidebooks about the North West of England.

Trail audio

Click the circular play icon beside each link to listen to the commentary (requires the Adobe Flash plug-in) or right click on the links themselves and 'save as' to transfer the audio files to your computer. The audio files are in mp3 format compatible with iPod or equivalent players.

  1. Manchester Cathedral
    1. introduction & cathedral
    2. long millgate
  2. Chethams Library
    1. Cheetham gates
    2. Library visits
    3. inside the library
  3. Urbis Square
    1. 'of the city'
  4. Todd Street
    1. Todd Street
  5. Corporation Street
    1. corporation street
  6. Shude Hill
    1. Shude Hill
    2. Thomas Street - Tib Street
  7. Tib Street
    1. Tib Street
  8. Tib Street, Afflecks Palace
    1. Afflecks Palace - mosaics
  9. Mosley Street
    1. Portico Library
    2. Portico visits
  10. Abingdon Street
    1. Mechanics Institute
  11. St Peters Square
    1. Messenger of Peace