Manchester Walking Tours, with a difference

Welcome to my very first newsletter!

I’m aiming to send one of these roughly once a month, unless there’s something especially exciting or urgent to share. So there may be the occasional extra one, but I promise I’m not going to overwhelm you with emails.

First of all, a very quick introduction to who I am and why I’m doing these guided walking tours.

I’m an architect, currently focusing on modular eco homes - perhaps more about that another time - and I’ve always been fascinated by how Manchester has changed over the years. I’ve lived in and around Manchester for most of my life, and I find its constant evolution fascinating. Some changes are good. Some, perhaps, not so good. But every building, every street, every square and every hidden corner has a story.

I do get quite sad when a building is demolished. Even if it wasn’t a great building. Partly, I think that comes from knowing what goes into creating one: the design, the planning, the challenges, the compromises, the construction. But more importantly, it’s about the stories created by the people who used it, worked in it, lived in it, or simply passed it every day.

And all too often, those stories get lost, especially as one generation gives way to the next.

Through my tours, I hope to highlight some of the big changes Manchester has experienced, but also the tiny details that often give the city its personality.

I should probably also admit that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Manchester. I love this place, but that doesn’t mean I think it always gets things right.

Manchester has always been a complicated and controversial city. Its growth was deeply tied to cotton, and cotton was deeply entangled with transatlantic slavery. It was a city of invention, trade, radical politics and extraordinary ambition, but also one of exploitation, inequality and power.

And, of course, those tensions haven’t completely disappeared. They just tend to show up in different ways now… sometimes not quite so plainly in sight…!

And that’s really what my tours are about: helping people see Manchester differently, whether it’s familiar territory or completely new to them.

I bring along a small screen so I can show archive photographs, old maps and historic images while we’re standing in the places they relate to. It means you’re not just hearing about how Manchester has changed - you can actually see it, right there in front of you.

For me, that’s where the tours come alive: not just in the big landmarks, but in the lost streets, old buildings, hidden details and stories that still shape the city today.

New tour dates added for May

I’ve just added some new dates to my calendar.

At the moment, I’m generally adding tours around a month or so in advance. This gives me a bit of flexibility to respond to changing demand, make room for new tours I’m planning to add, and - being a practising architect - make sure I don’t overcommit around the workload in my modular housing business.

I’ve also added a couple of extra tours for the upcoming bank holiday weekends, including additional Medieval Quarter tours on Monday 4 May and Monday 25 May.

Please see the Calendar or Full List of Tours for all forthcoming dates.

I’m also really pleased to be supporting Greater Manchester’s Walking Festival by offering free places on my Introduction to Manchester walking tour on Saturday 2 May and Friday 29 May.

This month-long festival celebrates community connection and brings people together through walking and wheeling, as part of May’s National Walking Month. Walking and wheeling - meaning moving at walking pace, including with pushchairs, wheelchairs and other mobility aids - can be a great way to meet people, get outdoors, discover new places and feel more connected to the area around us.

More details about the festival can be found on the Greater Manchester Moving website: https://gmwalking.co.uk/festival/

Scratching beneath the surface

My newsletters will also give me a chance to expand on some of the things I’ve shared previously on Instagram and Facebook, as well as preview a few ideas and stories that may become future posts… or even future tours.

Although I’m an architect, it’s probably worth saying that my walking tours aren’t just about buildings, or even just about architecture.

The buildings are often the way in. They give us something to look at, question and understand. But really, the tours are about how Manchester became Manchester. That means looking at its streets, markets, fairs, canals, railways, mills, pubs, music, politics, protests, public spaces, hidden corners and everyday details. The big stories matter, of course, but so do the smaller ones - the things you might walk past every day without noticing.

I also try to mix up the themes of the tours, and the ones I’m planning for the future. Manchester is too rich and complicated a city to be reduced to one story.

A huge part of that richness comes from its people - those born and bred here, and those who have arrived here over the centuries, helping to shape the city into the layered, sometimes messy, but always fascinating place it is today.

One of my favourite quotes is from “Mr Manchester” himself, Anthony H Wilson:

“We are Britain’s great immigrant city, and no one notices it, because we are so successful… We’re the great immigrant city, we’re open and hospitable, and similarly we’re open and hospitable to musical influences, Manchester kids have the best record collections…”

And I think that says something really important about the city.

Whether we’re talking about music, architecture, politics, industry, public space or the way different communities have shaped different neighbourhoods, Manchester is full of overlapping stories. That’s what makes it such a fascinating place to explore… and why, from my point of view, there are almost endless possibilities for walking tours.

And they’re not just for visitors… they’re for anyone curious about Manchester.

Someone commented recently on one of my social media posts that “if yah a Manc you don’t need a walking tour you should know…”

I had to disagree.

I’ve lived in and around Manchester for most of my life, and I’m still constantly surprised by what this city has to offer.

My tours don’t just cover the obvious landmarks or the well-known stories. I try to dig into the details, the lesser-known histories, and the ways the city has changed over centuries. Sometimes the best clues aren’t the statues, plaques or obvious landmarks, but the marks, fragments and half-hidden details that quietly reveal another layer of the city.

Because even if you know Manchester, there’s always more Manchester to know.

Artwork in photo (on Factory 251): @StewyStencils