Imagined Manchester: what our city could have been

There are four cities within each city. There is the city that was, the city that is, the city that will be, and the city that might have been.

This talk by award-winning guide and writer Jonathan Schofield combines narrative punch with extraordinary images to reveal the schemes that could have produced a very different Manchester to the one we know today.

The presentation will include the stories behind imagined schemes such as a part-Eiffel Tower in Piccadilly Gardens; a Deansgate travelator; a towering communications tower behind Piccadilly Station; a gorgeous mini-Parthenon on Upper Brook Street; boulevards over the Irwell; and so many schemes about heliports on Victoria Station, at Deansgate Station, Peter Street and Corporation Street.

Aside from the breathtaking stories of the actual projects, the many remarkable personalities involved in conceiving and developing them will also be covered. Familiar figures such as Alfred Waterhouse, Thomas Worthington and Edgar Wood will be featured, along with less familiar ones such as the bigamist Thomas Witlam Atkinson, the city Surveyor Rowland Nicholas and the Czech architect Eva Jiřičná.

Some of the stories and images will make you sigh, and some will make you laugh! This talk has many amusing moments, but it raises bigger questions too, such as: what ambitions do cities and their leaders have? Why are some schemes and plans realised and why do some fail?

It’s clear that some schemes never had a hope in hell due to their intrinsically absurd nature, but some of the plans discussed in this talk were sound and would have enhanced Manchester’s urban landscape. So, was it economics, the mood at the time, cronyism, patronage or simply a lack of ambition that meant these projects were never realised?

Jonathan Schofield has examined the reasons behind the success or failure of so many transformative ideas that never happened in two books, (that features Manchester Lit & Phil’s original premises on George Street) and Illusion & Change Manchester.

This talk will use that material to take guests on a journey through a fantasy Manchester that might have formed the fabric and grain of the city streets we walk through today. It’s almost an alternative history.

So, if you’ve ever wandered the streets of Manchester, looked up at the buildings and imagined a very different city landscape, this talk is just for you.

About the Speaker:

Jonathan Schofield is a Guide, Writer, Broadcaster and Public Speaker. In 2021, Jonathan was awarded the Medal of Honour by the University of Manchester for services to the city and region.

He has been a Blue Badge Guide since 1996, and when he is not out leading groups on tours of the streets of Manchester, Jonathan is Editor-at-Large of Manchester Confidential the city’s largest independent magazine. He has also written a couple of books, including Manchester: the complete guide.

Jonathan has guided around, interviewed or been interviewed by many notable public figures including Sir Alex Ferguson, Annie Lennox, Alistair Campbell, Victoria Wood, Anish Kapoor, The Hairy Bikers, and Maxine Peake.

He has been a key guest with Victoria Derbyshire on Channel 4’s No Place Like Home. Similarly, he was a main guest with Professor Alice Roberts on Britain’s Most Historic Towns.

Host or Publisher The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society