1: Cutting Room Square

Listen to the square. Can you hear it?

The beginning. Change. Revolution. It all happened here.

Centuries of history colliding together at once.

I am cobbles.

I am red brick and stone.

I am cotton mills.

I am the water racing through the canals, connecting Manchester to the

rest of the world.

I am communities that care. Looking for a connection.

I am stadiums, growing out of the ground, bringing people together.

I am cold air rushing through streets, the wet slap of rain, the brief and

joyous Manchester Sun.

There….can you hear it?

A beat. A rhythm. The heartbeat of this place.

This is our beginning. Look up at Hallé St Peters. Both old and new.

Brick and rust.

That tower climbing up to the sky, calling out to be noticed.

Like a great big pin on a google map demanding you to know that this is

where it all happened. This is where it happens.

Take it in. We’ll be back. This is the beginning of our journey and our

destination.

Let’s begin.

…

Look to your left. At the end of the row of the bars and restaurants there’s a

building dwarfed by the rest. Deepest red brick, fortress like, with a

smooth curved arch for a doorway and terracotta and black tiles

underfoot. Have you got it? Go to it. And walk down the road to its left.

Cotton Street.