As the home of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester was molded by war, inequality, and social struggle; its monuments, though, honor peace. This easy walk and tram tour takes you past them.
Lincoln Square
First, quiet Lincoln Square links the bustling commerce of Deasgate (Karl Marx mulled the Communist Manifesto at Cheetham Library at the end of Deansgate) to the handsome Manchester Town Hall, a monument to capitalism.
Lincoln Square is across Deansgate from John Ryland's Library.
During the American Civil War, the English textile mills that packed every Lancashire valley employing most of its population whirred to a halt with no cotton to spin. While it is worth pointing out that many mill owners raised men, money, and actually stole a ship (the Alabama) to support the Southern cause and get the cotton flowing again, it is poignant that mill workers, virtually slaves themselves, seemed to remember anti-slavery principles (England outlawed direct association with slavery in 1807), and did not en masse agitate the English government to support the American South.
The contemplative Lincoln monument, erected in 1989, commemmorates an eloquent letter Abraham Lincoln sent, thanking the mill workers for their sacrifice and support. The square is quiet, pretty, and ringed with a post office, pub, and bistros.
Manchester Central Library
Leave Lincoln Square uphill toward the Town Hall, its architecture and stone-work strewn with cotton blossoms and boughs, an homage to the weird little plant that made the city rich and finally killed it. Cross Albert Square admiring its old statues and modern bustle head down its right flank (Lloyd Street) to Peace Square and its be-doved statue. The Manchester Tourism Information Centre (TIC) is here beside the bank.
Turn right, around the corner of the TIC. Ahead is the circular, columned Central Library with its 21 miles of book shelves and echoing rotunda. The library is also a theater and literary venue offering Internet access, frequent readings, and a pleasant cafe in the basement.
St. Peter's Square
In front of the library, St. Peter's Square tram stop is the site of St. Peter's Field Massacre, coined "Peterloo: The poor man's Waterloo", where, in 1819, tens of thousands of workers from around Lancashire congregated illegally to agitate for the repeal of the Corn Laws. The alarmed government sent in a thousand horsemen, foot soldiers, and artillery; 11 people were killed, hundreds wounded. The public was appalled. The Guardian newspaper was founded by reformers horrified by the events. The government recanted years later and paid the injured and relatives of the killed. John Ryland's Library houses the bill announcing the illegal meeting and the list of compensation rates paid for lost fingers, a nose, and eyes. There is a small plaque. The site is also the city's WWI memorial - small-town poignant in amid city clamour.
Have lunch across the street at the Midland's Hotel, the huge Victorian pile the size of a city block. A work of hubris and some humor, it is hoped, in terra cotta tile and cupolas. Or head back to Albert Square for noodles at hip Tampopo and a Town Hall view.
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