THFMagazine2018/19

The Home Magazine 2018.
– Blog on how music has shaped the identity
of Manchester
– Creative writing piece from someone who was
at the Peterloo Massacre
The Peterloo Massacre, 1819, St Peter’s Fields
Over 60,000 peaceful pro – democracy and
anti – poverty protesters gathered but were attacked
by infantrymen and Yeomanry on horseback.
Between 10 and 20 people died and 700
were injured. The protest was hugely influential
in giving ordinary people the vote, as well as
leading to the rise of the Chartist movement,
trade unions, and the establishment of The Manchester
Guardian in 1821.
The Art Treasures of Great Britain exhibition
1857, Trafford Park
Inspired by London’s Great Exhibition of 1851,
the Manchester version was bankrolled by the
city’s cotton trade business owners. 1.3m attendees
visited the exhibition during its 142 – day
run and it remains the largest art exhibition to
ever be held in the UK with over 16,000 works
on display. The orchestra that played at the
opening became the Hallé.
The millworkers’ stand against slavery 1862,
Free Trade Hall
In the 1860s, Manchester imported up to 75 per
cent of all cotton grown on southern US plantations.
Millworkers refused to touch raw cotton
picked by US slaves resulting in Lincoln writing
to them praising their stance. His statue now
stands in Lincoln Square.
The Battle of Bexley Square, 1931, Salford
10,000 unemployed men and women marched
on Salford’s town hall in protest at the introduction
of means testing at the height of recession.
Deeply Vale festival, 1976 – 1979, Bury
Deeply Vale was a free festival held for four
years in the hills between Bury and Rochdale. It
grew from 300 to 20,000 in two years, and was
bigger and more organised than the nascent
Glastonbury festival.
Moss Side riots, 1981, Moss Side
Two days of rioting in the inner city district of
Moss Side were fuelled by mass unemployment
and racial tension, particularly between local
youths and the police.
Manchester is notorious
for its radical ideas.
As a result, its history
is steeped in mass
gatherings that embrace
politics and protest.
The Festival of the Tenth Summer, 1986,
Various venues
A music and arts festival organised by Factory
Records to celebrate 10 years since the Sex Pistols
played the Lesser Free Trade Hall, viewed
by many as catalyst for a generation of Manchester
musicians. The final gig at G – Mex was
headlined by New Order and The Smiths.
Acid house raves, 1986-92, The Kitchen,
The Haçienda and beyond
From 1986 acid house became the underground
sound of the city, from warehouses and illegal
clubs like The Kitchen to Factory Records’
legendary hangout The Haçienda and the city
fully embraced the communal nature of the rave
revolution.
Section 28 rally, 1988, Albert Square
20,000 people descended on Albert Square for
a rally against the Conservative government’s
Section 28 act, which decreed that councils
should not ‘intentionally promote homosexuality
or publish material with the intention of
promoting homosexuality’.
Manchester Pride, 1989-present day,
Manchester gay village
Manchester’s annual LGBT festival and parade
attracts thousands from across the UK to the
city’s gay village in and around Canal Street.
The three – day celebration takes over the city
every August bank holiday.
Dpercussion, 1997-2007, Castlefield
Initially conceived as Manchester’s response
to the 1996 IRA bomb that injured 200 people
and devastated the city centre, Dpercussion
became a huge free urban music festival, with
over 70,000 people pouring into Castlefield every
August. The festival was a precursor to what
became Parklife.
Reclaim the Night, 1977 – Present Day, Oxford
Road
A yearly women’s march in Manchester, is returning
on the 22nd February to allow women
to ‘raise their voices and unite their energies to
stand up to street harassment, sexual violence
and victim blaming
England riots, 2011, Manchester and Salford
Following the shooting of Mark Duggan, riots
broke out all over the UK. Thousands of youths
ransacked shops, attacked officers and torched
cars in the city centre and over a thousand police
and supporting staff were deployed. Police
were called to 800 incidents in the city centre
and the Fire Service reported 155 fires across
the city centre and Salford.
Stop Brexit and anti – austerity protests, 2017,
Manchester City Centre
Around 30,000 Anti – Brexit campaigners and
activists, protesting the government’s austerity
policies held rallies to coincide with the start of
the Conservative Party conference. Protesters
were demanding a second Brexit referendum
and an end to the Government’s austerity policies.
LGBT Campaign
From protests to flash mobs, Manchester has
played a significant part in the campaign for
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
rights. The history of the Manchester’s LBGT
community is an important part of the social and
cultural history of the city and the North West.
The LGBT community has had to campaign for
its rights. Just fifty years ago many homosexual
acts were illegal and the community was hidden
and discriminated against. Manchester was
the birthplace of the Campaign for Homosexual
Equality in 1964 and in the lead up to the passing
of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, one of the
influential meetings was held in Manchester on
Deansgate. Currently the city hosts the United
Kingdom’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) community outside London
and is renowned for its Gay Village centred on
Canal Street.
The Suffragette Movement
In the nineteenth century Manchester was a
hot-bed of radical and liberal thinking in many
areas, political, social, economic and religious.
Women were struggling to have a say in public
affairs, to have a vote and in 1903 Emmeline
Pankhurst established the ‘Women’s Social Political
Union’ in response to her dissatisfaction
with the progress of the ‘Manchester Women’s
Suffrage Committee’ at her house at 62 Nelson
Stree, the Pankhurst centre.
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