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A soccer player lying on the field, another player in a black uniform, and a person in a black vest standing with arms crossed. 1
A person standing in front of a brick building with a window. 2
A person sitting in front of a backdrop with repeated text and a logo. 3
A person wearing a black cap and vest, standing in front of a brick wall with a window. 4
A group of people standing on a sidewalk, a man gesturing, and a building in the background. 5
By Top Tours Global

Reviews

10 out of 10
Exceptional
Free cancellation available
The previous price was €24 and current price is €19 per adult
See tickets

Features

  • Free cancellation available
  • 2h
  • Mobile voucher
  • Instant confirmation

Overview

  • Step into Manchester’s past and discover how industry, poverty, protest, revolution and football shaped the city. From the rise of the cotton mills and the tragedy of Peterloo to the fight for workers’ and women’s rights, this is a storey of a city that has always challenged the establishment.

    But this is also the storey of how Manchester’s streets became the birthplace of a football culture that would eventually conquer the world. Hear the stories of Engels, Marx, Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes, before uncovering a surprising side of Manchester’s history.
    Discover how poverty, overcrowded neighbourhoods and a lack of opportunities helped create the notorious Scuttlers, and how football was introduced as a way of giving young men something more positive to fight for. Follow the storey from early working-class football clubs to the rise of Manchester United and Manchester City, and discover how both clubs grew from communities trying to improve the lives of local people.

Activity location

  • St Peters Square
    • Lower Mosley Street
    • M2 3WS, Manchester, United Kingdom

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • M2 4BQ
    • Kennedy Street
    • M2 4BQ, Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Check availability

Millworkers to Mid Field an Industrial Tour with a Football Twist

  • Activity duration is 2 hours2h
    2h
  • English
Language options: English
Starting time: 15:00
Price details
€23.28
€18.62 x 1 Adult€18.62
Total
The previous price was €23.28 and current price is €18.62
20% off

What's included, what's not

  • Inclusions
    Information and entry for the tour
  • Exclusions
    Alcoholic Drinks

Know before you book

    • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
    • Service animals allowed
    • Public transport options are available nearby
    • Not recommended for travellers with spinal injuries
    • Travellers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
    • In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, activities services are not subject to the right of withdrawal. Supplier cancellation policy will apply.
    • This activity is provided by a professional trader (a party acting within their trade, business or profession).

Activity itinerary

St Peters Square

  • 10m
We would discuss how Manchester changed during the Industrial Revolution. We would explain how factories, steam power, the cotton industry, canals and coal helped Manchester become a wealthy industrial city. We will also discuss Richard Arkwright and how his success encouraged the growth of textile factories and brought more workers to Manchester.

Peterloo Massacre Monument

  • 10m
We would discuss the poor living and working conditions in Manchester after the Napoleonic Wars, including overcrowding, low wages and lack of political representation. We would explain how people demanded voting rights and reform, leading to the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, when soldiers attacked a peaceful crowd, and many people were killed or injured. Discuss how Peterloo became an important event in the fight for democracy and helped lead to later political reforms.

Abraham Lincoln Statue

  • 10m
We would discuss Manchester’s textile industry and how it depended heavily on cotton from the American South. We would explain how the American Civil War caused a cotton shortage, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. We would also discuss how Manchester’s workers supported the Union and opposed slavery, including their letter to Abraham Lincoln. Finally, we would look at Manchester’s role in the abolitionist movement and its links with figures such as Frederick Douglass.

Chetham's Library

  • 10m
We would discuss Chetham’s Library and how writers like Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell showed the struggles of the working poor. We would then learn about Friedrich Engels, who saw the terrible conditions in Manchester and worked with Karl Marx. Together, they developed their ideas about class struggle and capitalism, which led to the publication of The Communist Manifesto in 1848. Manchester played an important role in shaping their revolutionary ideas.

National Football Museum

  • 10m
We would discuss the rise of Manchester’s Scuttlers, young working-class gangs that formed in overcrowded neighbourhoods and fought over territory. We would look at their distinctive clothing and hairstyles, as well as how football and Lads’ Clubs were used to give young people safer alternatives to gang violence. We would also discuss how local football clubs, including Manchester United and Manchester City, developed from efforts to improve the lives of working-class communities. Finally, we would compare the Scuttlers with later football hooligan firms and how both were linked to poverty, unemployment and a lack of opportunities for young men.

Statue Of Emmeline Pankhurst

  • 10m
We would discuss Emmeline Pankhurst and the fight for women’s right to vote. We would explain how she grew up in Manchester surrounded by political activism and later founded the WSPU, helping lead the suffragette movement. We would look at the protests, arrests, hunger strikes and sacrifices made by suffragettes, including Emily Davison. Finally, we would discuss how women gradually gained voting rights, with equal voting rights to men achieved in 1928.

Location

Activity location

  • LOB_ACTIVITIESLOB_ACTIVITIES
    St Peters Square
    • Lower Mosley Street
    • M2 3WS, Manchester, United Kingdom

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • PEOPLEPEOPLE
    M2 4BQ
    • Kennedy Street
    • M2 4BQ, Manchester, England, United Kingdom

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