Jonathan Schofield

The big question vexing Stockport today is who put the veiny phallus in Richard Cobden’s hand?

My latest article: Nancy Bird, the whistling drinker from North Manchester linkedin.com/pulse/nancy-bi… via @LinkedIn

Secrets of Knutsford tour, 11am Sunday 22 March. "Let every dawn be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close." John Ruskin, his words carved on a wall in Knutsford.  This town in north Cheshire is a gem. It is the embodiment of the lowland English market town with the added bonus of containing some of the most eccentric buildings in Britain. The town is grouped around King Street and Princess Street. On one side is the mere (lake), on the other is Knutsford Heath, a large semi-natural common. ​ King Street is a thoroughfare that has one of those splendid English haphazard harmonies of buildings from throughout the last 250 years. The northern end of the street leads into the vast rolling estate of Tatton Park and is a popular walk. Halfway along King Street is the swanky former Belle Epoque restaurant under the Gaskell Memorial Tower and King's Coffee House. This building introduces the visitor to Richard Harding Watt’s weird and wonderful buildings that almost make a Barcelona of Knutsford. We'll encounter more of them. One of which is the Ruskin's Rooms from which the quote at the head of this description derives from in inscription on the side of the building.  In short Knutsford is full of surprises from its crazy architecture, through its green spaces and its eccentric characters, very eccentric characters. There are dark deeds, tales of execution, sunny stories full of love and life and lots of laughs on this tour.  Meet: Knutsford Parish Church, Church Hill, Knutsford, WA16 6DH. Public transport: From Manchester city centre you can take the train to Knutsford from Manchester Piccadilly, or usually better, get the Metrolink tram to Altrincham and then the train.  Tickets: £20 adults, Under 12s free The penny farthing race shown below might not be taking place this weekend but it shows how eccentric this wonderful Cheshire town can be. @KnutsfordNews @Knutsforddirect @knutsford @KnutsfordTown @GaskellSociety @creativetourist Book here: tickets.jonathanschofieldtours.com/productDetail/…

Looking forward to taking tours up there

Had a look in Asia House, Princess Street, the other day. This is from 1908 and is one of Isaiah Robert Edmundson Birkett's buildings in Manchester. The exterior is elaborate but almost fortress-like in different shades of brownish red sandstone and pink bricks. The style is Baroque but in name only, in truth it can’t be anything else but a Mancunian Edwardian warehouse. The Art Nouveau tilework and stained glass is stunning inside the building. Birkett did several buildings in the city including Prince's Buildings at 18-28 Oxford Street with more Art Nouveau details and those very entertaining chimneys.

Totally deflating scene at the National Football Museum. @FootballMuseum

The Secrets of Whalley Range & Alexandra Park: crazy suburban tales 10.30am Saturday 14 March 2026 ​£20​ This is part of the Surprising Manchester series. ​ The fascinating and stirring story of the creation of a planned posh suburb, the changes over time, its relationship with Alexandra Park, it mighty buildings, its churches and its people.  There are tales of bravery and of farce, there are laughs and there is drama. There is music of course, and stories of lost aquariums, pleasure gardens and mighty mansions.  If you live in the area or are looking for a tour that's a bit different and focuses on an area outside the city centre, then this tour will not disappoint.  Meet: the north-eastern gates of Alexandra Park at the junction of Claremont Road and Smalldale Avenue. Finish: close to the Hillary Step bar on Upper Chorlton Road. Tickets: £20 adults Under 12s free Duration: most tours last between ninety minutes and two hours Fully accessible Totally fascinating @WhalleyRangeorg @WhalleyRangeTen @thehillarystep1 @muslinheritagecentre @thebhmc @AlexParkMCR @WilliamHulmes jonathanschofieldtours.com/whalley-range-…

This morning the moon was a peach peeping round a curtain while hanging off a bamboo in Hulme

Opalescence in Manchester

One year ago! Where does time go?! Great weekend in Manchester thanks to @JonathSchofield and @Tim_Burgess

March tours - more variety than any other Manchester operator. Book here: jonathanschofieldtours.com Saturday 7 March 10.30am The Tour of Uninteresting Objects We miss so much strolling the city centre because they aren't obvious yet often they provide delight and real insights into the story of Manchester and the country. Come on this tour to find out about some of the secrets of the city.  The Saturday Walkabout Series The Manchester Music Walkabout 1pm every Saturday Saturday 14 March 10am Alexandra Park and Whalley Range A fine park and a fascinating suburb with loads of stories to tell, there'll be music too.  Wednesday 18 March 6.30pm The Manchester Talks: Architecture part one Gothic architecture. Read the description through the link. Saturday 21 March 10am Secrets of Stockport We go up and down and all around exploring the great stories of this sandstone town. Fine buildings to see, music to listen to, tragedies to weep over and how to count your life by moons.  Sunday 22 March 11am Secrets of Knutsford An amazing town with amazing architecture and great stories. This is a really fun tour with some darker moments to add definition, some crazy sports, a mad Irishman, Elizabeth Gaskell, Richard Harding Watt and the tragedy of Alan Turing. Thursday 26 March 3pm EXCLUSIVE: Jewels in the Crown - the Oxford Road tour  Interior visits to superb old buildings and some so new the polish still shows through. Some of these places will make your jaw drop. There are wonderful stories of truly world-changing importance. Saturday 28 March 10.30am Suffragettes, Women & the City On 13 October 1905 the Suffragettes raised their first ‘Votes for Women’ banner. This was an epic moment in the fight for equal rights, this tour marks that and so many other heroic moments. Sunday 29 March 11am The Secrets of Cheadle Cheadle has a wonderful story to tell and this tour takes in the village and Abney Hall. Famous families such as the Watt's will be discussed along with folklore and more. Book here: jonathanschofieldtours.com @visit_mcr @VisitStockport @CheadleCivic @thepankhurst @KnutsfordNews @WsKnutsford @AlexParkMCR @WhalleyRangeRT

Manchester's first underground railway network proposal - 1902. Grubbing around in Chetham's Library some years ago I found this scheme. While many people have heard of the Picc-Vic proposed line from the 1970s few have heard of a far better idea: the Manchester City Circle Railway. This would have cost £1.2m, taken a maximum of seven years to complete and run for two miles, three furlongs and 4.25 chains around the city centre. linkedin.com/posts/jonathan… @MayorofGM @ManCityCouncil

@45bocaDPA Yep Kimpton Clock Tower

@JonathSchofield is that oxford rd hotel?

Packed too much again. My horse is going to struggle

@MapofBones Just took the hair straighteners

@JonathSchofield Just how many toiletries have you pinched????

The Sunday Telegraph rang me about this yesterday and quoted me. The comments under the article are…well…what you’d expect. ‘Engels museum will attract the loony Left, residents fear’ telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/2…

I love an obvious sign. I collect them. This is a photograph of a lift to show people what the lifts look like and also of a hand sanitiser telling people not to drink hand sanitiser. They are from a building I visited today.

This Sunday at 11am: The Secrets of Chorlton tour, 15 February. A magnificent beast of a tour facing the fascinating stories and facts about this fine suburb. There'll splendid tales concerning dismembered saints, abolistionists, aeronauts and tight 1970s trousers and vegetables. There will be music. Oh there will. Book here: jonathanschofieldtours.com/8203chorlton-t… @WD_CFC @ChorltonBkshop @ChorltonBrew @MancLibraries @UnicornGrocery @HorseJockey

This is the tallest monolith in Northern Europe - more than 7m (25ft). It’s been lazing around Rudston in East Yorkshire for more than 5,000 years. The parish church was put there to co-opt the sacred nature of the site. The type of stone used is not local and so the idea is it might be a glacial erratic that was shaped and then raised in situ. Nobody has any idea of its purpose, as is the way with these monoliths and stone circles. On our visit we were joking that maybe the ancients erected such things just to puzzle future generations - as an ancient practical joke.

@dustinashes1593 @Irby_et_orbi You make being condescending easy. My name is Jonathan Schofield and I live in Manchester. You hide behind a pseudonym and praise murderers. I am not a Zionist and I don’t think you even know what that means, but the fact remains you are a coward with no name.

@JonathSchofield @Irby_et_orbi you know what helps your argument is being really condescending.

I am fond of the fact that three of the people who wrote books doubting William Shakespeare's authorship of his plays were called J Thomas Looney, Sherwood E SIlliman and George M Battey. Thanks to Bill Bryson's book on Shakespeare for that. And also, also, also, for the fact the Bard only used the word 'also' thirty-six times.