Everyone Has Their Own Story…
However well you know Manchester, there’s always someone who can show you something you’ve missed. A detail you’ve walked past, a story you haven’t heard, or a memory that changes how you see a familiar place.
That’s part of what makes collaborating with YouTuber Martin Zero and his friend Roy so enjoyable. Our recent walk around Manchester’s Medieval Quarter brought together different perspectives on the city, a lovely group of people, and plenty of conversation… which carried on over drinks afterwards.
I’m Manchester born and bred. I’ve been around long enough to have watched quite a few changes happen. My memories of the ’70s are a little hazy, but from the ’80s onwards I’ve seen streets, buildings and whole neighbourhoods change, sometimes almost beyond recognition. And they continue to change.
Those experiences find their way into my walking tours alongside the research and old photographs. Places I remember, things that have disappeared, and little personal stories that connect the Manchester we see today with the city I grew up in.
I’m also an architect, although these aren’t architectural walking tours - you don’t need to know your cornices from your capitals to come along! My background naturally influences what I notice, but the walks are about how Manchester has evolved: its people, its everyday life, and how different generations have used and changed the places around us.
Martin and Roy are fellow Mancunians, with their own experiences and a curiosity that has taken them into some rather less accessible corners of the city. Their underground adventures add another dimension to places many of us only know from street level.
Between their explorations below ground and mine above it, there’s something of an “underground, overground” partnership going on, but not in a Womble way!
What I enjoy is the way our interests overlap. We can be talking about the same place, but each bring something different to it. A familiar street becomes more interesting when someone else adds a piece of its story, or makes a connection you hadn’t considered.
And that doesn’t stop with the people leading the walk.
Everyone who joins us brings something too: memories of Manchester, an interest in a particular subject, or simply a question that gets a conversation going. You can research a place for hours, then someone will tell you, “I used to work there,” and suddenly you’re hearing something you won’t find in a book.
It’s also why on my guest tours I enjoy having a drink together afterwards. There’s time to pick up a conversation, hear more about someone’s own experiences, and get to know the people you’ve just spent a couple of hours walking with.
Photographer Alex joined us for the walk, and I’m delighted to share his photographs. A huge thank you to him for his time and generosity, and for giving us this record of the day. Please do take a look at his other work: Alexander Photography
Thank you, too, to Martin and Roy, and to everyone who came along and contributed to the afternoon. Manchester has plenty of stories, and I love how sharing one so often brings another to the surface.
If you’d like to hear about future collaborations, new walks and more stories from around Manchester, you can sign up to my mailing list - there’s a form at the bottom of this page.
Photographs by Alexander Photography, with final group photos by Ric and Roy.
