Lungs of the City: A historical walking tour of Manchester's air

Join The Material City for a 2-hour guided walking tour in Manchester city centre exploring the history of air in the city: smog, wind, weather, birds, transport, public health and pollution.

We’ll meet in front of the statue of Queen Victoria in Piccadilly Gardens and walk just over 1.5 miles to Mayfield Park.

About the Air tour

How do we talk about an invisible element? How has Manchester’s attitude to its air changed over time? How does the city breathe along with us?

Join The Material City air walking tour to find out.

On the way we’ll chat about smog, miasma, birds, planes, and wind. We’ll be talking about what is actually in air, how air moves through our bodies, and how humans change air. There will be stories about hot air balloons, sailing ships, politics, and train brakes.

What is “The Material City”

This is a project that gives you a different way of looking at an urban environment. The aim is to make you stop and think about the everyday things that make up the city of Manchester. Things like brick, tarmac, sandstone, and canal water; things we walk past, walk over, and ignore as part of the background noise. A Material City tour invites you to interact with some of Manchester's key components -water, stone, air- and learn how their material properties influence humans, and explore the history of this influence in the urban environment. This is a mix of new materialism, environmental history, and urban history. Find out more on The Material City project's website: thematerialcity.com/