Discover more about the history and architecture of Victoria Baths: ‘Britain’s finest historic municipal swimming pool’.

The Grade 2 listed building was opened to the public in September 1906 and cost £59,144 to build. In his opening address, the Lord Mayor of Manchester described the building as a “water palace”. For 86 years Victoria Baths provided both essential and leisure facilities. Private baths and a laundry were housed there along with three swimming pools and a Turkish bath.

No expense was spared in the design and construction of the building, Manchester having at that time one of the world’s wealthiest municipal coffers. Many of Victoria Baths’ finest decorative aspects can still be enjoyed today. The facade has multi-coloured brickwork and terracotta decoration, the main interior public spaces are clad in glazed tiles from floor to ceiling and most of the many windows have decorative stained glass.

Whilst the facilities, architecture and unique atmosphere of Victoria Baths was enjoyed by local residents for many years, in 1993 Manchester City Council decided to close the building as they couldn’t justify the expense of keeping them open. A Charitable Trust was formally set up in the same year, with the aim of fully restoring the building and bringing it back into public use.

The Trust took control of the building in 2001 and in September 2003 Victoria Baths won the first series of the BBC’s Restoration programme. It was awarded £3.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and a restoration project began in 2007.

Whilst there is still a lot of work to be done, the building now hosts many events and has over 30,000 visitors a year. Join us for this tour to get a insight into Victoria Baths’ past, present and future.

Good to know: We will meet in the main entrance area. The tour will start promptly at 10.00am, so please arrive in good time. Refreshments are available – please see ticket types for further details.

What can we learn about ‘the human condition’ through the artworks in Manchester Art Gallery’s ‘Out of the crate’ exhibition?

The gallery holds an early piece by the modern sculptor, Henry Moore, titled Mother and Child (1925), that will greet us at the start of this tour. This remarkable work seems to contain so much energy within such a restricted space. The emotional bond between mother and child is somehow intensified by the sense of mass and gravity.

Henry Moore said that sculpture was just an interest in shape and form and that anything at all (for example a tree, a cloud or a person) might provide the spark for a creative idea. And it is the extension of this notion that has enabled the frontiers of the genre to expand so that the more contemporary and ground-breaking works in our exhibition can challenge and provoke in the way that they do.

Perhaps it is because sculptures seem to occupy a similar space to ourselves that we find them so imposing. But how much do they reveal of the artists behind them and how well do they illuminate the joy and pain of human existence?

Join volunteer tour guide John Ward in an exploration of some of Manchester Art Gallery’s most thought-provoking sculptures.

Good to know: We will meet in the main entrance of the gallery. The tour will start promptly at 2.00pm, so please arrive in good time.

How do Historic and Contemporary Art speak to one another at Manchester Art Gallery?

One of the most exciting things about the display of art at Manchester Art Gallery in 2023 is the cutting-edge contemporary pieces living in the immediate presence of dreamy seventeenth century landscapes, Dutch Golden Age portraits and world-famous Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces. How do these vastly different pieces relate to each other?

Take the example in the illustration here: on the left, a detail from George Stubb’s The Cheetah and a Stag with Two Indian Attendants painted about 1764; on the right, a detail of 14/73 by Jeremy Moon (painted in 1973). The one draws upon the deep well of age-old human experience. The other operates on the very frontiers of the unknown. But are these paintings so very different from one another?

Few subjects divide public opinion in the way that contemporary art does. But we are also reminded that a relentless creative impulse has always driven artists to explore alternative worlds in which they can then provoke, challenge and question. This is equally true of these two very different artists, George Stubbs and Jeremy Moon. Their works will begin the tour.

Earlier this year, novelist and critic Sarah Dunant spoke on Radio 4 of how when “the past is speaking to the present, it can be a rich conversation”. Join gallery Guide John Ward as we put this observation to the test, by taking several different journeys back and forth across the centuries.

Good to know: We will meet in the main entrance of the gallery. The tour will start promptly at 2.00pm, so please arrive in good time.

Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) was quite the polymath! He was a novelist, poet, playwright, linguist, translator and critic. And a talented and prolific composer who wrote over 250 musical works during a compositional career that spanned more than 60 years.

Join us for a tour of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester to find out more about his exceptional life and works.

The Foundation’s staff will introduce Burgess’ work and members will have the opportunity to see a selection of objects from the archive – which includes books, music and papers.

The visit will last approximately 2 hours. Tea/coffee will be provided.

Good to know: Places are very limited so book soon to avoid disappointment.

About the International Anthony Burgess Foundation

The Foundation encourages and supports public and scholarly interest in all aspects of the life and work of Anthony Burgess. Based in Manchester city centre, on Cambridge Street, they have an extensive library, archive and study centre containing Burgess’s books, music and papers. There is also a performance venue where new work by writers, artists and musicians is presented.

Established in 2003 by Liana Burgess (1929-2007), the Anthony Burgess Foundation is an independent educational charity which welcomes all individuals and institutions interested in Burgess’s work.

Come along to the Manchester Lit & Phil’s Theatre Group visit to the UK Premier of Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s play ‘No Pay? No Way!’ at the Royal Exchange Theatre.

The play was a smash hit at Sydney Opera House in February 2020. The Royal Exchange production is described as “a ferocious and feisty political comedy” and “an urgent exploration of our global and economic reality.”

‘No Pay? No Way!’ has received numerous rave reviews, including:

“Funny? There has to be a stronger word? Funny? If I wasn’t sitting down, I’d have fallen over. I mean, at one point I was crying.” Sydney Morning Herald

★★★★★ “A complete joy to watch… Liberation takes many forms in this stellar offering which contorts riotously for two hours to hit the frontal lobe along with the funny bone.” ArtsHub

Members and friends are invited to book their seats directly with the theatre for the matinee performance (2.30pm) on the 20^th May. Visit the theatre’s website to book your ticket(s).

As part of this event there will also be an informal post-theatre meal. If members and friends would like to reserve a place for the meal, please contact the organiser, including a note if you have particular access requirements (as this may influence the choice of venue).

Good to know: Members and guests who register for the event will receive briefing notes before the visit. There will also be an on-line discussion on May 22^nd at 6.30pm, led by Professor Tony Jackson. See details below.