World Cotton Day Heritage City Trail: Hayley Flynn

In celebration of UN World Cotton Day, the Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme presents this guided heritage city trail.

This route was part of a commission by Legacies of Enslavement Programme and GM Moving called the Heritage in Action Routes.

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The Legacies of Enslavement programme understands restorative justice as a process of dialogue and collaboration aimed at repair and healing between The Guardian – an institution that benefited from transatlantic enslavement – and descendants of the enslaved. Manchester was the first industrial city in the world. This was built on the cotton trade. This is a shared history.

This route largely focuses on the public art and monuments of the city and the ethics and equity of them, as well as critically assessing the cultural objects review undertaken by Manchester City Council as a response to BLM in 2020 in an effort to help us to draw the links between our past and present.

Please note that parts of the route covers popular public areas so there is risk of meeting crowds and experiencing sensory overload.

End destination: Stevenson Square, Northern Quarter Manchester

All tour scripts were supported by academic advisor, Moleka Newman, and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Centre.

ACCESS INFO: The majority of this route has step-free access. Where this is not the case alternative vantage points for stops have been identified. At points we may come across cobbled areas but will strive to avoid them. The walk involves walking along a canal which has gaps in the railings. There is at one rest point with the provision of accessible toilets.

Image credit: Ella Mayamothi