Today marked a significant moment in the modern history of Angel Meadow - the first time that the bell of the former St Michael's Church had been heard in more than 80 years. The parish church of St Michael's and All Angels watched over the violent and disease-ridden streets of Angel Meadow for more than 140… Continue reading Ringing the bell of St Michael’s
Tag: slums
Angel Meadow trailer
Book trailers are all the rage these days, so I've created one for the book. Check out the video trailer by clicking on the link below. Angel Meadow is now available on Amazon Kindle. Click here to buy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ0fTrPybLk&feature=youtu.be
Hot off the press
A big day today after the first copies of Angel Meadow finally arrived, hot off the printing press. That strangely comforting smell of ink and newly-pressed paper is now wafting through the house and five boxes of books are sitting in the hallway, waiting to be picked up and read. It's hard to believe I… Continue reading Hot off the press
Angus Bethune Reach, 1849
The lowest, most filthy, most wicked locality in Manchester... inhabited by prostitutes, their bullies, thieves, cadgers, vagrants, tramps, and in the very worst sties of filth and darkness, those unhappy wretches, the low Irish.
Angel Meadow’s tobacco factory
Angel Meadow's tobacco factory loomed large over the slum's skyline and added a sickly sweetness to the toxic atmosphere. The factory was built by the Co-operative Wholesale Society in 1898 and made cigarettes and cigars from leaves imported from as far away as Borneo, Sumatra, Brazil and Cuba. The most prized workers were the cigar makers,… Continue reading Angel Meadow’s tobacco factory
Angel Meadow archaeology
Chris Wild from Oxford Archaeology North talks about the Angel Meadow dig in this interview in 2012. https://youtu.be/PqUBCQtgg0I
Sharp Street Ragged School
Sharp Street Ragged School had an inauspicious start when it opened its doors in the 1850s. Youths threw stones through the school’s windows, left dead cats on the doorstep and attacked the teachers as they were walking down the street. It took the teachers five years to win over hearts and minds in the slum and… Continue reading Sharp Street Ragged School
The Spy, 1893
The dreary wastes of Angel Meadow. Down Angel Street, with its pestiferous lodging houses, with its bawds and bullies, its thieves and beggars, one had need to visit such a place when the sun is high in the heavens. When night falls I had rather enter an enemy’s camp during the time of war than… Continue reading The Spy, 1893
Manchester Guardian, 1870
It is all free fighting here. Even some of the windows do not open, so it is useless to cry for help. Dampness and misery, violence and wrong, have left their handwriting in perfectly legible characters on the walls.
Charter Street Ragged School
Charter Street Ragged School still looks forbidding, even today. The school opened in a former dancing hall in the 1860s and provided thousands of children and adults with free meals, clothing and education. The aim was to keep the children off the streets and to divert their parents away from the slum's pubs and beer houses. It… Continue reading Charter Street Ragged School
Angel Meadow 