A literary tour of Manchester
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http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/oct/04/manchester-literature-festival-walking-tour Version 0 of 1. Manchester. Home to loud-mouthed musicians, even louder football fans and rainy skies, certainly. But a top destination for literary types? It’s not exactly Hay-on-Wye. But this week’s Manchester Literature Festival (opening on Monday and running until 19 October) will surprise even the most bookish of visitors. Manchester has a rich literacy legacy from Karl Marx writing about working life here in the mid-19th century, to Salford’s punk poet John Cooper Clarke and current poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, who has lived in the city for almost 20 years. To dip into all things book-related, I joined a literary walk with Manchester Guided Tours (manchesterguidedtours.com, £7 for two hours), following in the footsteps of the writers who have documented the evolution of this modern industrial city. “Manchester always had an edgy, radical feel as a city,” says Kate Dibble, our guide. “Great authors through the ages have always tried to capture it.” Starting by Oxford Road railway station – where the bookstore at Cornerhouse arts centre remains one of the best in the city for art and cinema literature – we strolled along Whitworth Street West, passing The Ritz, the venue where Cooper Clarke famously met Salome Maloney (“Standing by the cig’ machine, who did I see? In lurex and terylene, she hypnotised me”). Manchester always had an edgy, radical feel as a city. Great authors through the ages have always tried to capture it. The nearby International Anthony Burgess Foundation, dedicated to the Manchester-born author, houses an eccentric collection of possessions, including the original manuscript of A Clockwork Orange, with doodles by the author, and letters to Stanley Kubrick, who directed the infamous film of the book. On 16 October in the upstairs performance space, author Blake Morrison will deliver the annual Burgess Lecture, a highlight of the literature literature festival. Heading towards St Peter’s Square, Manchester Central Library reopened in March this year after a £50m refurbishment. It has since welcomed some 300,000 visitors to its hi-tech media lounge, contemporary exhibition space and interactive children’s library, while original architectural flourishes have been restored to their 1930s glory. The library is hosting several events from the Rising Stars strand of the festival, while Library Live events this autumn include a week-long residency by Manchester band Everything Everything (10-15 November). By contrast, a visit to the neoclassical Portico Library and Gallery on Charlotte Street is like stepping back in time. The 19th-century collection of dusty tomes, including travel literature, biographies and first-edition fiction, offers an insight into the mindset of Manchester in the industrial age. The genteel reading room is for members only, but the cafe and gallery are open to all, as is a programme of literary events. A walk through side streets to Deansgate brings us to the John Rylands Library, named after the 19th-century cotton magnate. The addition of a modern wing to the existing neo-Gothic structure has created a new exhibition space and a study centre to complement the hushed reverence of the historic reading room. There are tours of the building and its collection on the third Thursday of each month (free but book ahead on 0161-306 0555). Chetham’s Library, which was founded in 1653 and claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, traces Manchester’s literary legacy back to Tudor times. The rambling space of cloisters and courtyards has been a haven for studious types ever since. Marx and Engels worked here, and their desk in an alcove of the wood-panelled reading room is now a place of pilgrimage. A new visitor centre will open early next year. We finished our tour in the city’s Ardwick district, where Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, the family home of the author of Cranford, reopens on 5 October after a three-year restoration. The Grade II-listed Regency villa will look as if the family had just popped out and left the table set for dinner. The house is hosting two events as part of the festival: the Manchester Salon on 8 October, exploring Gaskell’s 1855 novel North and South; and a walking tour of Gaskell’s Manchester, ending at the house, on 15 October. Gaskell documented Manchester’s industrial revolution from her desk after the family moved to the house in 1850. Her views contrasted starkly with the ideals of the Victorian era: “Few female voices were as courageous as hers,” says Janet Allan of the Gaskell Society. “Her greatest skill was to use storytelling to address the social issues of the era.” A walking tour of Manchester shows that while the city may have evolved, its penchant for speaking out remains a source of literary inspiration. Beyond words: where to eat, drink and sleep StayThe Midland Hotel, the city’s stately grande dame, has contemporary rooms and Simon Rogan of L’Enclume fame running restaurant The French. A series of afternoon teas with authors during the festival include a reading by writer in residence Olivia Laing on 9 October (tickets £18). DrinkThe Briton’s Protection, opposite the Bridgewater Hall, is one of Manchester’s favourite old Victorian pubs and a regular haunt of Elbow frontman Guy Garvey. It hosts a storytelling session, Word of Mouth, on the first Friday of each month. Drink up the atmosphere over a pint of real ale or a wee dram from the collection of 300 whiskies. EatSam’s Chop House, near the Royal Exchange Theatre, where Maxine Peake is starring in Hamlet until 18 October, is where industrialists would cut deals over lunch. Anthony Burgess wrote of its “cotton brokers gorging red meat,” and there’s a statue of the artist LS Lowry on the bar. Today, the 19th-century eatery serves modern British food. • More information from visitmanchester.com |