Skyliner

06/12/2025

I'll do at least a few of these over December. I like the element of surprise that you just don't get from a daily advent

(or my adhd makes commitment impossible or whatever)

01/12/2025

The chapel at Philip's Park cemetery going off in the winter sun.

Xmas shoppers: despite what my website wants you to think, I am still selling your gift vouchers.

They come as a pair, with no expiry, for £30 and are a digital file that you can print at home if you wish.

My site thinks I'm in America and won't let me change my default currency back, and won't accept purchases as a result. Thanks - not like I've not sent you a small fortune over the last 15 years 😭 So if you wanna buy, you can send payment direct to PayPal or message me for bank deets!

PayPal. Me/skylinermcr (will update bio with this link).

Thanks so much for all your support so far, and for any incoming Xmas support...god bless you, everyone
*Tiny Tim grin to camera*

25/11/2025

Took this five years ago and that's how rapid my content turnaround is.

Those little bridges you'd get between mills and warehouses had a few purposes but staff retention in the early days of capitalism was a struggle, with people being forced out of agriculture or of a life where you made and provided for yourself or transactionally for your community. People just hated labouring for wages (girl, same) and a motivation for many bridges or tunnels was to at least remove temptation when workers had to move between sites, of running off back home instead of delivering messages. All power to the fleeing labourers if early capitalism - my soul sisters.

(There's some really interesting figures about the labour retention in Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert) .

Beautiful Ancoats (pretty sure this was inspired by a shot by from a similar time?)

22/10/2025

Really great to see this uncovered again at

Covered up sometime around 2010, the work was created by Wendy Jones and Liam Curtin of Majolica Works in the early 80s who'd been based in the centre at the time and also created the fish mosaic on the rear of the building.

This shows fish swimming through the centre (formerly the retail fish market). Liam is delighted it's back :)

11/07/2024

Aged 7 - 11 and fancy becoming a tour guide for the day? Encourage critical thinking skills of young people with a focus on places, placemaking, and equity. Come and join my fledglings 🐦

29/05/2024

So thrilled to announce that I'm working with Manchester University Press on a book to be published in November 2025.

It's about Manchester's Northern Quarter, looking at a timeline from roughly the 1960s to today to cover what I see as it's modern history and journey as a Creative Quarter.

It covers deindustrialisation, moral panics, the Arndale's impact on the city centre (with a little detour into the Cold War and it's cultural propaganda), the role of social housing, working classes and minority communities in keeping the city alive, a detailed account of plans for redevelopment, the unique arts-led regeneration in the 90s and a big focus on their ceramics, and how a creative quarter evolves.

Expect lots of critical thinking sort of stuff - looking at globalisation, airbnb, and the ethical pitfalls of urban art. So, yes, it's about the Northern Quarter but by way of all those things!

15/02/2024

I'm doing some research on the Northern Quarter, how it works or doesn't work for you.

There's a survey you can fill in which will inform a book about its modern history, and I'm particularly interested in hearing from and representing the voice of people who feel under-represented in the city's story or in its planning

You can access the survey here.

Thanks in advance

Thank you for contributing to my research. The results of which will inform a book looking at the modern history of the Northern Quarter through a sociopolitcal lens. If you'd like to chat more about the survey or have a story you'd like to expand on, please feel free to contact me: Hayley at thesky...

07/12/2023

Gift vouchers for walking tours (digital copies only) are available again. Thanks for bearing with me whilst the website was being tricky!

Gift vouchers for urban explorers and city lovers. Vouchers for walking tours of Manchester, including street art tours, and tours of the secret side of the city.

10/07/2023

ART IN THE DARK

Had great fun today, sending tour guests into the pitch-black to see a special temporary art commission by Qubek. If you didn't manage to get a ticket read on!

I've planned a few time slots over the next week (possibly beyond) when you can see the commission. Proceeds going to
MASH (Manchester Action on Street Health)

Tickets can be found here...

Buy gift vouchers for walking tours, and alternative city guides of Manchester

18/02/2023

'The implication behind this piece seems to be: domestic violence is historical and it’s the burden of the victim to end it... I see this image and I see victims being asked: ‘why aren’t you trying harder?’'

You can read my thoughts on the new Banksy over at Corridor8

Where is the victim of domestic abuse in the narrative and media coverage of Valentine’s Day Mascara, and shouldn't an artist with thirty years of

12/12/2022

"Dark and dank was the city, and over the face of the suburbs, a dismal desolation seemed to have crept" That's right - it's Christmas in Manchester! (in 1882) Time to share my Victorian xmas virtual tour again!

http://www.theskyliner.org/blog-1/victorian-christmas-manchester

Don't forget, you can buy digital gift vouchers for my tours if you're still gift buying, over on the store section of my site.

A free online tour of Manchester - Christmas in the Victorian city.

31/08/2022

I'll be talking as part of a panel for Women Talk Place and The Centre for Place Writing this Friday at 4pm. The theme is green space and ordinary folk and expect to chat about the absence of green space, being sold less green space by developers than already exists, and how the intent behind my tours has been to mobilise people to make change. Join us!

Online Day: an absorbing and thought-provoking mix of panel discussions, a creative writing workshop, and three opportunities to join an immersive ‘Memory of Darkness ‘ audio experience…