Everything But A Beach
Exploring Manchester’s hidden history. Dr Dean Kirby, author of best-selling book, Angel Meadow: Victorian Britain’s Most Savage Slum, and journalists Chris Osuh and Yakub Qureshi delve into offbeat, hidden and unreported stories from the past. Discover compelling stories about the world’s first industrial city, from its Roman origins to the present day, and how its inhabitants created a template for modern music, sport, and culture.
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Episodes
Saturday May 11, 2024
Saturday May 11, 2024
Welcome to Victorian Manchester, where the streets throb with violence and teenage gangs are waging war. The Scuttler gangs pose a menace unlike any England has seen before. Groups calling themselves the Bengal Tigers and Meadow Lads prowl the cobbled streets, marked by their distinctive clothes and vicious weapons, including brutal brass belts. Battling for status, territory and bonded together by crushing poverty, the gangs of lads and lasses fight pitched battles of such intensity that the authorities fear the violence will spill into open warfare. In this episode, Dean, Chris and Yakub talk about the rise and fall of the Scuttlers, their fascination with fashion (including why they put butter in their hair), how the 19th century phenomenon sparked the birth of sports and social clubs (including Manchester City FC and Salford Lads Club) and the cult youth movement’s possible inspiration for Anthony Burgess' dystopian A Clockwork Orange.
Special thanks: Manchester BIPC Music; Image: Hardman Creative; Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.
Saturday May 04, 2024
Saturday May 04, 2024
As Britain’s official executioner, Albert Pierrepoint hanged notorious murders, spies and war criminals. But he also lived a seemingly ordinary life as a grocery man and pub landlord in Greater Manchester, balancing his work behind the bar with grim professional duties as a Home Office hangman. As his fame grew, so too did doubts about the death penalty and Pierrepoint becomes unwillingly tangled in some of Britain’s most controversial and notorious criminal cases. Chris, Dean and Yakub discuss the peculiar double life and legacy of this enigmatic public figure.
Content: this episode contains descriptions of executions, which, while avoiding too much detail, some listeners may find uncomfortable.
Special thanks: Manchester BIPC. Image: Hardman Creative. Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.
"Manchester has got everything except a beach,"
Ian Brown
Discover fascinating stories from Manchester’s past.
We discuss the heroes and villians, pioneers and visionaries who turned an anonymous Roman outpost into the world’s first modern city – giving birth to new ideas, technologies and social movements.
It’s the tale of how a city partied, dreamed and experimented its way through 2,000 years.
Learn about innovators, scientists and believers whose bold ideas have changed the world – as well as the loves, lives and struggles of ordinary people who give the city its indomitable character.
Whether you are a Manc or not, we hope to persuade you that a single city can – and has – changed the world.