What was life actually like working in Victorian Manchester's cotton mills?

We discuss how young couples might tie the knot in mass 'penny weddings', often with disastrous results.

We'll talk about the immense pride working families took in their homes - and how 'donkey stones' were an essential part of the weekly cleaning ritual.

We'll also delve into the precarious conditions of factory life - and the impossible choices that women faced of going without work or leaving newborn infants in the care of nurses all too eager to pacify them with 'Mother's Blessing'.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC

Image: Lancashire Creative

Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.

Manchester's cotton industry created a blueprint for modern, industrial life.

But who were the men, women and children that lived in the shadows of the city's towering brick factories?

Chris, Dean and Yakub focus on the human stories from inside the mills - contrasting the uncompromising hardship of factory life in Victorian Manchester with the flickers of hope that kept people going.

We discuss how ordinary people enjoyed their time off, found friendship and sought love and marriage - despite exhausting shifts, crushing poverty and treacherous conditions, where danger lurked in every corner.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC

Image: Lancashire Creative

Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.

James Anderton has declared that AIDS patients are ‘swirling in a cesspool of their own making’. Days later, he makes cryptic remarks that he might be a prophet ‘being used by God’. Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government scrambles to deal with the fallout. In this episode, we discuss how civil servants and fellow police chiefs were openly questioning his sanity - and the documents that show how Mrs Thatcher directly intervened in his case. We also explore the background of prejudice and fear which existed in 80s Britain - and how controversial Section 28 laws, coupled with Anderton’s incendiary remarks, saw Manchester stage one of the largest LGBTQ+ rallies ever seen in Britain. In this final episode, Chris, Dean and Yakub also discuss the legacy of James Anderton’s tenure - and whether his hardline policies inspired Manchester bands, artists and social movements in opposition.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC; Image: Hardman Creative; Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.

It's Britain in the 1980s. Manchester's police chief is a household name. Satirised on TV comedy shows for his conservative Christian views. Celebrated by government ministers for his robust approach to crime. He is rarely out of the headlines for his clashes with politicians. But the crisis of the Stalker Affair is about to propel both Anderton and his force onto an international stage - threatening to derail hopes for a peaceful end to Northern Ireland's Troubles. We’ll also explore the reopening of the investigation into the Moors Murder case - and James Anderton’s decision to greenlight the clandestine operation to take killer Myra Hindley back to Saddleworth Moors to trace unfound victims.

Content: This episode contains descriptions of the Moors Murder case, which, while avoiding graphic detail, some listeners may find disturbing.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC Music; Image: Hardman Creative; Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.

God's Cop James Anderton has brought his crusade to the streets of Manchester. His officers have launched a crackdown on pornography, gay bars and clubs, and businesses selling ‘immoral’ material. But the new chief constable faces opposition at every turn. Running battles with the city’s politicians, the unruly threat of National Front marches, the explosive unrest of the Moss Side riots. We to explore the controversial early years of Anderton’s tenure in the Manchester of the 70s and 80s - including his force’s crackdown on independent publisher Savoy Press, ultimately leading to an extraordinary case of Lord Horror, Britain's last banned book.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC; Image: Hardman Creative; Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.

James Anderton was the most controversial police officer in modern British history. A hero to some. A reactionary menace to others. This is the story of how the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police brought a moral crusade to the streets of 1980s Britain, becoming an electrifying public figure famed for his outspoken views and religious zeal. His outrageous comments about AIDS and cryptic remarks about being ‘used by God’ - prompted a crisis for Margaret Thatcher’s Government and brought the police force to breaking point. In this episode, Yakub, Dean and Chris discuss James Anderton’s childhood in a Wigan mining community, the origin of his profound religious worldview, his early years as a beat cop in south Manchester and meteoric rise to become chief constable of Britain’s largest provincial police force.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC Music; Image: Hardman Creative; Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.

Buffalo Bill has packed up his travelling show, taking hundreds of performers back on the road. But what legacy has been left behind in Greater Manchester? Historian Dean delves into the truth of whether Sioux performers from North Dakota slipped into the Salford streets and ended up make their homes in Victorian England. Using archive material and family records, we close in on the truth to this enduring local legend - making a surprising discovery.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC; Image: Hardman Creative; our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.

American promoter Buffalo Bill Cody brings the greatest show on earth to a racecourse ground in Salford, where an army of performers and crew construct ‘the largest theatre ever seen in the world’. The Wild West show thrills England’s Victorian millworkers and is remembered for decades to come. But did, according to local legend, hundreds of native American performers disappear into the smog-cloaked streets of Victorian England, never to be seen again? In this episode, we explore the legend of the Salford Sioux. We’ll discuss the performers who took part in the show, the tumultuous and violent period in American history, and the impact this enormous wild west touring performance had on the imagination of workers in Victorian England’s powerhouse city.

Special thanks: Manchester BIPC; Image: Hardman Creative; Music: Our podcast music was provided by The Podcast Host and Alitu: The Podcast Maker app.