Walk Talk Tour - Manchester: Then & Now

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Manchester: Then & Now, Walk Talk Tour

There’s more to Manchester than most people might think.  The city is perhaps most readily associated with its two famous football teams United and City, famous musicians ranging from The Smiths to Oasis and the regularity with which it rains.  (According to a Meteorological Office report in 2004, Manchester was the ninth rainiest UK city).

Visitors can now discover the city for free with the Manchester: Then & Now, Walk Talk Tour.  The professionally produced and recorded audio tour guide is downloadable in MP3 format and can be played on iPods, iPhones, smart phones, MP3 Players and other devices with MP3 playing capability.

Unlike a conventional guided tour, listeners to the Manchester Walk Talk Tour have the freedom to stop, start and listen again to any part of the 44 minutes audio commentary, which consists of thirteen stops across the city over a 2.4 mile (3.8 km) route.

Listeners will hear about Manchester’s Roman origins.  The Governor, Agricola, called the site Mamuciam.  The word may well form the basis of the word Mancunian – meaning resident of Manchester.

Manchester has been at the forefront of change from the Canal Age through to the birth of the modern computer and beyond.  Hear where Rolls met Royce, see and hear how the widow of Manchester’s first millionaire spent her late husband’s fortune, discover how much of the city centre was rebuilt after an IRA bomb 1996 and much, much more.

Manchester Walk

Manchester Then & Now

Start at the Town Hall, a symbol of civic pride and industrial might, and see its grand interior.  Visit the Central Library with its great circular reading room. Pass the Midland Hotel where Rolls first met Royce, on your way to Manchester Central – an old station with a new use. See the Bridgewater Hall before strolling beside the Rochdale Canal and passing the site of the former Hacienda nightclub.

Feel the new beat of the city at Deansgate Locks, in the shadow of Beetham Tower and hear how Britain’s first canals accelerated the city’s development. Visit the site of Manchester’s Roman Fort.  The next stop on your Walk Talk Tour is the Museum of Science and Industry where you will hear of many scientific and industrial firsts which put Manchester on the world map.  

Pass Granada Studios, home to the Coronation Street soap opera and follow your Walk Talk Tour plan to John Rylands Library.  Then stumble upon the Hidden Gem tucked away in Mulberry Street.

Return to Albert Square, site of civic celebrations and hub of the annual Christmas Market.  Head along Cross Street, to pedestrianised King Street, and emerge by St Ann’s Church.  Stroll through St Ann’s Square and pause at the Royal Exchange Theatre – once the Royal Exchange, hub of the world’s textile trade.  Learn how an IRA bomb, in 1996, precipitated exciting redevelopment.

Walk down New Cathedral Street and into Exchange Square, site of the Manchester Wheel and the Old Shambles.  Discover how several colourful characters left their marks on the city around the corner at Manchester Cathedral.  The Then & Now tour ends in nearby Cathedral Gardens where the world’s oldest free library, Chetham’s, sits opposite Urbis.

Distance: 2.4 mile (3.8 km) walk.

Length: 44 minutes audio. Allow 2 hours.

Audio File Size: 36.4MB.

Click here to download the mp3 file

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