THE PORTICO QUARTERLY Opening Times VOLUME 12 – ISSUE 2: APRIL 2008

Monday to Friday 9.30 am – 4.30 pm Parents at the Portico!

Admission Free The Success of Adopt-a-Book On Thursday 7th February, we welcomed many of you to our Adopt-a-Book Evening where you were invited to become surrogate parents to a volume or volumes from our Entrance in Charlotte Street stock. Two centuries of industrial pollution and many years’ usage of gasoliers for (please press the intercom) heating and lighting in the Portico have left many of our books looking neglected and forlorn. A number of grant-giving bodies and supportive individuals have already How to find us helped us to conserve and preserve approximately a quarter of the Collection. But we The Portico Library and felt it was more than time to offer the remaining volumes a little tender love and care. Gallery is in the heart of The Library staff had prepared a City Centre. varied display of needy orphans to tempt would-be sponsors. The By Tram: Librarian said ‘I’d been thinking that To station. dusty, rotting books mean little to people if they are simply introduced By Bus: through a conversation about Bus stops in Piccadilly rebinding and conservation. It is Gardens. difficult to get the concept to appeal. I The Nineveh Portfolios, both now adopted! Free Metroshuttle service felt that an event which showed a (No 1) stops in York Street selection of books in various states of preservation would bring to people what and Charlotte Street. actually would be involved and that the difference that their individual attention could bring would be more apparent.’ By Train: The presentation of volumes did just that. Each book contained a description card To Manchester Piccadilly. giving the author, title, subject and probable conservation work required. The card also

carried a line or more about the importance of the book in its field and in a wider By car: The Portico Library and Gallery context. Such careful preparation evidently did the trick, persuading many of you to Follow signs to the city 57 Mosley Street become the adoptive parents of a large number of volumes. Indeed, some proprietors centre. Car parking is Manchester M2 3HY saw the Librarians getting the books out for display before the launch and several available at the NCPs Tel. 0161 236 6785 adoptions were completed on the spot. Arndale, Church Street or Fax. 0161 236 6803 One such case was Dr Manolis Pantos who visited the Library with Daresbury Chorlton Street, all 5 Laboratory Colleague and Portico Proprietor Ian Munro. Through Dr Pantos’ efforts minutes’ walk from the [email protected] Library. since then, the Archaeometry Unit at Daresbury have adopted Layard’s wonderful [email protected] elephant folio companion volume to the Monuments of Nineveh. The first volume of this had previously been successfully and beautifully restored through the sponsorship of www.theportico.org.uk Keep up-to-date with the events & exhibitions - ’What’s On’ starts on page 15 20

Library Chairman Edward Thorp and his wife, Pauline Randall. Dr Pantos is also responsible for an initial donation of £250 from staff and users of the Laboratory that EVENTS BOOKING FORM will ensure the conservation of around seven to eight more Library volumes. A further corporate donation of £250 from STFC Daresbury Laboratory brings the total PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN BY DATE INDICATED donation effected by Dr Pantos to £750. There were many donors – and thanks to you all – but another who deserves special mention is Geoffrey Hubbard whose pledge of £1000 has enabled us to sponsor the I wish to attend The Wolf on the Fold a talk by Dr Kevin Harrison on repair of three scrapbooks of architectural engravings plus a scarce copy of Elizabeth Thursday 17th April 2008 and I enclose £………….. for ………… tickets Gaskell’s Cranford. @ £16.50 (inc. buffet) or £5.00 (talk only) each. The total amount of money collected so far is around £3,000. We have also obtained estimates Signed: ………………………………………………………………………………... (amounting to approximately £1000) for people Telephone: …………………………… Email: ………………………….……….… who were interested in sponsoring a book but wished for figures before making a commitment. And the story doesn’t end here. We Please return by Monday 14th April 2008 are hoping that Manchester’s Channel M will be able to do a small feature on Adopt-a-Book, thus Another volume successfully adopted! spreading the word further. And other libraries are taking note: Librarian of The Leeds Library, Geoffrey Forster, was so impressed by the .. …………………………………………………………………………..……… initial results of this project that he is now planning a similar event in his Library. It isn’t too late to join in. If you would like to adopt a book at the Portico, you can I wish to attend Letters from America an afternoon tea and talk with obtain an application form from the Librarian. You can choose between two schemes: Dr Irene Wiltshire on Thursday 15th May and I enclose £………….. for either select the author, title or subject of the book you wish to adopt; or make a ………… tickets @ £6.50 each. donation that will help towards the preservation of other high priority volumes. In Signed: ………………………………………………………………………………... return, a permanent bookplate will be placed in the volume/s recording your name, date and a dedication of your choice. Telephone: …………………………… Email: ………………………………….… We look forward to the ongoing success of this scheme. Please return by Monday 12th May 2008 Ruth A. Symes

Suggestions for The Quarterly ……………………………………………………………………...……..……… Please send in your letters with your thoughts, rants and suggestions to Charlotte Wand or Emma Marigliano at [email protected] (telephone 0161 236 6785). I wish to attend the Church Crawling a talk by Mike Harding on Thursday If you have any ideas for articles for forthcoming editions of the Portico Quarterly, 22nd May 2008 and I enclose £………….. for ………… tickets @ £16.50 then please contact the Library or Mairead Mahon at [email protected]. We are (inc. buffet) or £5.00 (talk only) each. happy to write the ideas up for you. Signed: ………………………………………………………………………………... Telephone: …………………………… Email: ………………………………….…

Please return by Monday 19th May 2008

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Counterview BOOKING FOR EVENTS Much of what I’ve been really pleased about, and ready to share, has been dealt with elsewhere in this Quarterly - the successful Adopt-a-Book initiative, for example, and the To make a booking for all events or for further information please contact progress, albeit slowly, of computerisation of the Catalogue. This is probably a reflection the Library on 0161 236 6785 on how the Quarterly itself has progressed and improved over the past year or so. There is Email: [email protected] more diversity than ever in the contributions. As well as book and event reviews we can [email protected] enjoy learning about people and buildings connected with and outside of the Portico. This Or simply fill in and return the booking slip/s on the opposite page! all helps to raise awareness of the existence of the Library, as well as what’s going on inside it.

Perhaps this is the year when the Portico becomes an exciting talking point. Yours truly Please Note certainly keeps taking up all opportunities to promote this wonderful institution. In December of last year, I spoke to the Altrincham Rotary Club about our famous • We do NOT send out tickets for events. If you would like proprietors. In January, at the end of the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition, Radio confirmation that your place has been reserved please send a SAE Manchester invited Manchester people to talk for a few minutes about their organisation with your booking slip. or field of expertise. Chris Makepeace demonstrated his vast knowledge of Manchester as • As the staff are very busy setting up for the events it would be most it was, and I followed with a good plug for the Adopt-a-Book event. Also in January I was asked to talk to the members of the Marple Arts Centre about one of my favourite appreciated if attendees arrive no earlier than 6.15pm. The event research projects – Twentieth-century Illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Both is then expected to end at approximately 9 pm. “Talk only” guests invitations to speak came from Portico members. These occasions give me the should not arrive earlier than 7.15 pm. opportunity to represent the Library by speaking about some aspect of its history or by demonstrating a good knowledge of a particular field in the Arts. • Proprietors are advised to book as early as possible for the events to avoid disappointment. In February, I was interviewed at length by Nicola Mostyn writing for Manchester Confidential (the web-based version of the once very popular City Life). I rabbited on for at • To book for any of the events, please complete the booking form least an hour. A very condensed history of the Portico came out along with snippets about and return it to the Library with your payment, or telephone or its famous proprietors, a resume of the Adopt-a-Book scheme, the upcoming, very email your bookings. It is always worth telephoning after the ‘return excitingly revised Portico Prize and, last but not least, the huge benefit in supporting the by’ date to check on seat availability. Library – either by becoming a member (where else on earth could you go to freely borrow volumes from the nineteenth century and earlier?) or by coming to events • As we often keep a reserve list for over-subscribed events, we (exhibitions, talks, lunches). would appreciate being informed of cancellations ASAP, so that There is obviously a need to make people aware of just what’s on offer, culturally, in places may be re-allocated. Manchester. The setting up of Manchester Societies (see the article within these pages) is evidence of the myriad small and large institutions and organisations within the • The events can often be extremely busy for the staff on duty. We Manchester area, some of which have been around even longer than we have, but are little would, therefore, be grateful if Proprietors would not bring books known to a wider public. We were once known as The Portico Library and Newsroom and for exchange on these occasions. are now known as The Portico Library & Gallery. This is most certainly a reflection of how we have adapted to survive – and survive we have, where many other independent cultural institutions have not. The determination and enthusiasm of Committees, GALLERY SHOP members, staff and other supporters have ensured that the Portico has remained a significant part of the cultural life of Manchester and long may it continue! The Gallery stocks a range of books, prints, cards, gifts and crafts and is open Emma Marigliano during Library hours. Librarian

Acknowledgements: The Events & Exhibitions Editing - Ruth A. Symes programme starts on page 15 in Design and Layout - Charlotte Wand our ‘What’s On’ guide 18 Cover Illustration of the Portico - Tony Pass 3

Profile: Muriel Bostock Thursday 22nd May at 6.30pm When Muriel Bostock and I chatted about her recent Church Crawling eightieth birthday and her time at the Portico, it was A talk by Mike Harding fifty years to the early February day since the Munich aircrash. She and her late husband, Jack, were devout Mike is a broadcaster, poet, playwright, comedian, followers of the Reds for many a long year. But what is photographer and traveller. In a previous life he spent many very little known is that her connection with the years touring Britain and her diminishing cluster of colonies football club was a closer one than that of spectator: as a stand-up comic. He now hosts a very popular weekly for in a life crammed with interesting jobs, half a folk music show on BBC 2, and the annual British Folk century ago she had been personal secretary to Louis Awards. Edwards – head of the Miles Platting based butchery It was whilst he was on his rounds of one-night stands in the chain and owner of MUFC. cities and towns of these islands that he spent the day in She recalled the day as the news filtered through and churches and cathedrals, instead of in the pub. This harmless the phone rang off the hook and the raw emotion but infinitely rewarding pastime of church-crawling spread through the streets of Manchester. There is a developed his interest in the stained glass, the misericords, the carvings and the shake of the head and that lovely sweet smile of hers and life goes on again as it did in monuments in our sacred buildings, and led him to see the parish churches and the late winter of 1958. cathedrals of Britain as ‘a sprawling web of rooms in a great, countrywide art gallery where almost every one of the rooms contains a treasure’. She was delighted with her birthday flowers from the Committee and champagne from her colleagues and, in a way, it was also a celebration of twenty-one years with us, Talk & buffet: £16.50 (talk only £5) preparing lunches and catering for numerous functions. She is as much an institution as the Portico itself and her busy and efficient presence adds a touch of real Mancunian charm to the affairs of the Proprietors. Muriel is a Harpurhey lass born and bred. After schooling there she attended Gregg's June Secretarial College in town. She had, perforce, left the area once, at the outbreak of war Preview Tuesday 3rd June when her mother and younger brother Derek and herself were evacuated to the wilds Continues until Friday 27th June 2008 of Penwortham near Preston. But after six months with not much doing they came back home for the duration. In 1948 she married her sailor whom she had first met six Small Things years before and, apart from her two pregnancies, she carried on working as a secretary Anthony & Nathan Pendlebury at a Derby Street raincoat manufacturers or the area office of Dewhurst the Butchers. An exhibition of works by the father and son artists, Her career in the meat industry carried on for a further nineteen years with the Anthony Pendlebury and Nathan Pendlebury. The work in Edwards family ( ‘I occasionally gave young Martin a clip round the earhole!’) and she the exhibition is mainly abstract, and is, as the title remembers that that awful February 6th had begun badly with Derek heading off for suggests, a selection of smaller-sized works from the artists’ National Service and her mother trying not to cry. portfolios. The work ranges from the textured abstract In the early seventies she and Jack met a Bolton couple on holiday and, as things paintings inspired by nature (by Anthony), to bold graphic looked gloomy in the engineering trade where Jack worked, they were persuaded to abstract drawings and photography with a very urban edge take on the stewardship of Walker's Tannery Sports Club in Bolton. She loved it there, (by Nathan). Anthony and Nathan have only just begun to leaving only after thirteen years and a brewery takeover. By now this was 1987 and exhibit their work together, and this exhibition signifies the back in Harpurhey the then catering lady at the Portico was also doubling up as a part- Anthony Pendlebury early stages of something they hope will continue. Their time barmaid in the local pub. She mentioned that she might be leaving and invited inspiration is different, but there is a lot of similarities, and Muriel in to meet the then Librarian Janet Allan. The rest is history. the work seems to meet each other in the middle, revealing what is obviously a long Immediately the bought-in, heated up pies were done away with and a programme of creative dialogue between the two. Admission free 4 17

May baking and in-house ‘home’ cooking begun which persists to this day. Sadly, Muriel won't divulge any of the scandals upstairs or downstairs at the Portico anymore than Preview Thursday 1st May those of Man. Utd., although she does bemoan the endemically high staff turnover in Continues until Thursday 29th May 2008 the catering trade which makes her life a little harder than it might otherwise be. Rhapsody in Red Brick But bemoaning is emphatically not her style. Pleasure and delight is - and nowhere more than in the success of her daughter Susan who, with a staff of twenty or more, Michael Gutteridge runs the kitchens at Sale Grammar School.. There are two grandchildren: Stephen who A collection of new works by Manchester based is in computers, and Karen who not so long ago produced Muriel's pride and joy, great artist Michael Gutteridge capturing the cultural grandson Alexander Jack. soul, vibrancy and buzz of the city in his own unusual (or eccentric?), innovative and highly But she herself is not for the soft Southern suburbs, having moved to Blackley, which distinctive way. Michael Gutteridge's paintings doesn't prevent her from holidaying in Italy and theatre going. She is also an avid often begin with an almost Lowry-esque naivety reader which is scarcely surprising given the workplace environment! She is an but then move in more bizarre directions Honorary member of the Coastal Forces Veterans Association which meets half a eclectically pooling influences as diverse as dozen times a year in Bury. Soutine, Munch, Derain, and, lately, even elements All in all, the Portico suits Muriel and Muriel suits the Portico. Synergy? Symbiosis? Bars on Deansgate No. 2 of abstract expressionism (marshalling useful Something like that, but whichever anniversary we may be celebrating, do raise a glass emotional and sensual qualities in an otherwise or have a word next time you are in the Library with a wonderful Mancunian woman. figurative landscape). Described by Mike Sadler of the BBC as 'like looking through Tim Yates one of Salvador Dali's melting clocks,' each scene is at once both recognisable and bizarrely surreal. Admission free Update on Cataloguing

Thursday 15th May at 2.30pm We’ve finally taken delivery of the Heritage Library Management System and Emma and Charlotte Letters to America: attended a day of basic training in Oxford last Mrs Gaskell’s Daughters and the Harvard Professor month. A talk by Dr Irene Wiltshire The data we currently have on computer has been trial-converted to the new Heritage system and fields Dr Wiltshire has lectured in English in further and adult education and categories are being tweaked before final and since retirement has become a Gaskell scholar with research conversion. Valuable advice has been given by interests in Romanticism and Victorian Letters and Diaries. current AIL users of Heritage, such as: The Leeds Gaskell scholars are familiar with the correspondence between Mrs Library, Highgate Literary Institute, The Liverpool Athenaeum, and - not least - The Gaskell and Charles Eliot Norton, as this material was first published Library School at Manchester Metropolitan University (from where we hope to get a in 1932. Less widely read are letters from Mrs Gaskell's two older team of volunteers to help out). daughters to Norton, as this material has yet to be published. Norton, who became a distinguished professor of Art History at Like the other libraries in the Association who have embarked on retrospective Professor Norton Harvard University, maintained a friendship with the Gaskell family cataloguing, much of our work will have to be done through the efforts of the until the end of his life in 1908. The correspondence between Norton and the Gaskell available staff and the generosity of volunteers. This, from what we understand, is daughters is of value to anyone interested in Manchester Regional History and the not a speedy process but the timescale will become increasingly apparent with relationship between Manchester and North America during the second half of the practice. We are, however, delighted to have reached this stage at last. nineteenth century. Edward Thorp Talk & afternoon tea: £6.50

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Minerva in Manchester This article first appeared in The Author (the journal of the Society of Authors) What’s On In the latter part of the eighteenth century two friends, Michael Ward and Robert A guide to events & exhibitions Robinson, were lamenting the fact that Manchester did not have a combined newsroom, circulating library and reading room, so they raised subscriptions from 400 April ~ June 2008 leading citizens to build a library on Mosley Street. The Portico Library and Newsroom was opened in 1806 and each subscriber or member became a `Proprietor' or part- owner. April The front elevation on Mosley Street is probably one Opens Wednesday 2nd April of the earliest neo-classical buildings in the UK, based Continues until Friday 25th April 2008 on the north elevation of the Temple of Minerva in Athens. Sadly, if you now climb the steps and go Before the Barbarians through the Ionic columns you enter a bar whose ‘Can we ever sufficiently lament the circumstances of the country being in the owner rents this part of the property from the hands of barbarians’ ~ Mignan, 1850 Library. So proprietors now have to enter the Library The land of Mesopotamia has been fought over since biblical through a small door around the corner in Charlotte times. Its ancient and bloody history only started to be revealed Street and climb a long flight of stairs. However the Temple of Minerva, Athens in the nineteenth century. climb is well worthwhile, for at the top are the From the Portico’s collection we have put together the story of magnificent gallery and the Georgian glass-and-plaster dome. the discovery of Babylon and Nineveh before subsequent The Portico Library contains a unique collection of nineteenth-century literary and barbarian invasions. intellectual books, and they can be accessed both by members and by researchers. Admission free Between 1806 and 1850 over 10,000 titles were purchased, mainly on the recommendations of the committee. Around the walls, most of these books sit on high shelves divided into four sections: Biography, Fine Arts, Voyages &Travels, and Polite Literature. Thursday 17th April at 6.30pm Most of the early library proprietors were businessmen - newspapers the library The Wolf on the Fold: subscribed to at that time included, tellingly, The Weekly Recorder & General Commercial Intelligencer, The Mercantile Gazette, and The Liverpool & Manchester Daily Advertiser. Yet Images of the Assyrian Empire among the early proprietors were also gentlemen of literary bent, including Peter Mark A talk by Dr. Kevin Harrison Roget - father of the eponymous thesaurus. As a young man, he came to Manchester in Kevin Harrison teaches a range of courses in Ancient 1804 to work as a physician at the Infirmary which occupied what is now Piccadilly History, amongst other things, at Manchester College Gardens. It was in 1805 while in Manchester that he completed a classed catalogue of of Arts & Technology (MANCAT). He is a peddler of words on a small scale, subsequently developed into the Thesaurus of English Words and other people’s thoughts and ideas. Phrases, which has been in print since 1852. This illustrated talk will aim to give an impression of Roget was the first secretary of the Portico Library, but was not the only famous the mid-19th century discoveries of the ancient and proprietor. Others included Richard Cobden, founder of the Anti-Corn-Law League, long lost civilization of Assyria – looking especially at and Sir Robert Peel. the work of Layard and Rawlinson. The talk will also The Library has many female proprietors, but to begin with, women were considered seek to whet your appetite for the art and culture of by the all-male Portico proprietors to be second-class citizens, and were not allowed to the new Assyrian Empire which, in its day, controlled all of the lands from Syria to the enjoy the Library facilities. Perhaps the most famous woman non-member was Persian Gulf and from Egypt to Iran. Elizabeth Gaskell, whose husband William was chairman of the Library. In other Talk & buffet: £16.50 (talk only £5) 6 15

respects, however, the Portico was, and remains, ecumenical and non-discriminatory. Obituary: Dr Charles Sinclair Quakers, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Independents, Jews, and Dr Charles Sinclair, who died in early February, had Unitarians were (and are) members. William Gaskell was minister of Cross Street been a stalwart member of the Portico for many a Chapel, and novelist Harrison Ainsworth - whose books included Lancashire Witches and long year and introduced me to it. I knew him for The Manchester Rebels - frequently took Charles Dickens there to worship on Sundays. over thirty years and the word ‘polymath’ will One Sunday Dickens noticed a crippled but cheerful boy amongst the congregation. probably do to describe him in brief but scarcely The boy became his inspiration for Tiny Tim. puts flesh on a character of restless questing, wide- Similarly noteworthy was the membership of a young man and teacher at the ranging interests and unfeigned curiosity about Nonconformist Academy who would climb the Portico's damp staircase every day and everything and anything. Posterity is bound to make his way to a small room where he wound the library clock. This young man, a remember him for his stunningly comprehensive Quaker from Kendal, was , now famous around the world for his atomic Cook's Dictionary which he compiled some three theory that led to the production of the Periodic Table. He became a fellow of the years ago and which is in almost daily use chez nous. Royal Society as well as the first honorary member of the Portico Library. Charles had a wry, mocking but never unkind laugh, Nowadays proprietors include lawyers, architects, which he reserved for the many idiocies of this university tutors and lecturers, teachers, booksellers, authors, publishers, and librarians. There are two world and its ironies. He was a keen and lithe rooms in the Library: the main library with the public- walker, a fine chemical engineer, a proponent of access gallery, and the reading room which is for hydroponics and the use of one's own urine in the members and their guests. Among the thousands of garden! He was an active Liberal politically, a printer, and an importer of Chilean books in the reading room members can relax with a wine before we knew there was Chilean wine, a cautiously proud father, a truly cup of coffee or sit down to an excellent lunch cooked generous man and a good friend. As someone said to me on hearing the bad news, on the premises by the resident chef Muriel. A two- ‘He was a lovely man was Charles.’ course meal with a glass of wine costs around £15. Portico Library, Manchester I am sad that I shall never sit with him again at an AGM listening for sotto voce Because they are proprietors, members can borrow comments out of his beard, or hearing of his travels and academic adventures. My books without reservation fees or fines, and bring guests to the regular exhibitions and sympathies and those, I am sure, of anyone who knew him at the Portico go to his evening events, which are often accompanied by an excellent buffet. In December family and his wonderfully supportive partner Pam Davis. there is the Christmas Soiree as well as the members' Christmas Lunch. Every two Tim Yates years the Portico Prize is awarded to the best book set wholly or mainly in the North West of England. The Portico Library, like the London Library, is a member of the Association of Independent Libraries, though while the London Library has some one million books, Farewell from the Editor the Portico has only 25,000. Roy Westall This will be the last Quarterly I edit as I will be leaving the Portico to have a baby in May. I have very much enjoyed working with Charlotte, Emma and Edward. The improved design of the newsletter (courtesy of Charlotte) has Advertise in the Quarterly been an inspiration. Many thanks to all the contributors who have sent in such interesting articles, book reviews and images – and especially to Tim Yates for Please note that we are keen to attract your advertisements in forthcoming his regular profiles of members. Please keep your ideas and submissions editions of The Quarterly. The fees are £25 for a quarter page and £50 for a half coming in! page. If you are interested please contact the Assistant Librarian on 0161 236 6785 or email [email protected] Ruth A. Symes

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Meet the Committee Portico Prize 2008 The Main Committee consists of the Officers of the Library (the Chair, The Hon. Secretary and the Hon. Treasurer) and up to 12 ordinary members (including the chairs of the three subcom- Preparations for The Portico Prize 2008 are well underway and it is now possible to tell mittees: House, Gallery and Book). During the course of the year a further three members may proprietors about some exciting developments that should guarantee it to be the best ever! be co-opted to the committee. These co-opted members may then formally be elected at the The Book Committee, in consultation with Emma and Charlotte, have been considering AGM. The Committee meets once a month on a week day evening. It discusses the business of various plans to raise the profile of The Portico Prize so that it can achieve more the three subcommittees, hears reports from the Hon. Treasurer, The Hon. Secretary and recognition in the literary world and in the public consciousness. In January, Downing the Librarian and deals with any other current business. Street designated 2008 as ‘The National Year of Reading’ and various figures in the literary world including Richard and Judy were at the launch of the initiative. As our Writer in 1 2 3 4 Residence, Livi Michael pointed out in the last Portico Quarterly our library is ideally placed to take a more active role in the cultural life of Manchester. In the run-up to this year’s Prize we aim to offer several events to highlight both the Prize and the year of reading. We would like to take up an idea mentioned in Livi’s article of having a reading group to shadow judge the Prize. If any proprietors are interested in being part of this group could they please let Emma or Charlotte know. 5 6 7 8 From this year the geographical boundaries of the competition have been extended. The book must be of general interest, literary merit and set wholly or mainly in the North of England, rather than just the North West. We are hoping that this may attract more publicity for the Prize and possibly a stronger field. The Portico Prize aims to celebrate the unique regional identity of the North and to raise awareness of the diversity of its cultural, literary and historical heritage. It hopes to promote quality writing of all kinds. In 2006, the 9 10 11 12 judges had encouraged another departure from the norm by choosing two shortlists, one for fiction and one for non-fiction. On the award evening, the judges chose a winner from each category, from which they then chose an overall winner. In 2006, the overall winner was the only award recipient (£3,000) but both winners received a specially bound copy of their book (Andrew Biswell for The Real Life of Anthony Burgess, and Val McDermid for The Grave Tattoo). 13 14 This year, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we will be able to confer awards in both categories. From shortlists of both categories an overall winner will be selected to receive the main prize of £5,000 and the ‘runner-up’ from the other category will receive a prize of £3,000. The Portico Prize this year is being sponsored by The Zochonis Charitable Trust and by Lane-Smith & Shindler (Trust and Estate Practitioners). Sir John and Lady Zochonis have been supporters of The Portico Library for many years and Geoffrey Shindler OBE is a valued proprietor of the Library. 1. Edward Thorp, Chairman of the Portico Library; Partner, Randall Thorp Landscape Architects 2. Steven Jennings, Hon. Secretary of the Portico Library; Partner, DLA Piper UK LLP We are also intending to link in with Manchester Literature Festival by having the short- 3. David Barnes, Hon. Treasurer of the Portico Library; Partner, Grant Thornton UK LLP listed fiction authors do readings during the Festival and the non-fiction short-listed 4. Walter Nicholls, Chairman of the Gallery Subcommittee; Consultant Solicitor, George Davies authors follow shortly afterwards with their readings, at the end of October and the Solicitors LLP beginning of November. We are delighted to be able to tell you that Tristram Hunt, (the 5. Lynne Allan, Chairman of the Book Subcommittee; Lecturer in English Language & Literature author of the critically acclaimed Building Jerusalem: The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City) has 6. Brian Rarity, Chairman of the Portico Charitable Trust; Managing Director of Corpfin Ltd agreed to be our speaker at the dinner in November. A regular history broadcaster, he has 7. John Walker, Smallholder written numerous radio and television series for the BBC and Channel 4. He is currently 8. Ian Munro, Emeritus Professor, University of Manchester (UMIST) 9. Tim Yates, Formerly Director of Communications at UMIST and freelance journalist working on a biography of Friedrich Engels. He is a wonderful speaker so make sure you 10. John Moscrop, Barrister at Law, CPS book your dinner tickets in good time. 11. Ruth Symes, Writer, editor and freelance historian The Portico Prize has always been very special and all the developments outlined above 12. Stephen Podbery, Law student promise to make this year’s event better than ever! 13. Mark Watson, Photographer Lynne Allan 14. Bill Docherty, Management Consultant 8 13

Manchester’s Manchester Societies The list of societies that traces the evolution of intellectual endeavour inherited by Tucked away, nestled between the buildings of the Royal Infirmary and The Eye twenty-first century Manchester stretches back to Jacobean times – there are at least Hospital, lies a building which can stake a genuine claim to being one of sixteen founded before 1900 and the list of those founded in the 1900s is simply too Manchester’s most important hidden gems. 60-62 Nelson Street is a redbrick long to reproduce. Georgian building and it is here that one of the most important political movements of the twentieth century was born. Some of these organisations are known well beyond Manchester; the activities of some are largely confined to their local members. All reflect areas of intellectual excitement Emmeline Pankhurst was born and married in Manchester and, with her barrister at the time of their birth, an excitement that has evolved over the years but remains husband Richard, lived at a variety of addresses in the city. However, in 1896, perpetually at the front of enquiring minds. Richard died and naturally, his income died with him. Emmeline was forced to, what we would call today, ‘downsize’ and Nelson Street provided more suitable Collectively they span a space that covers all of contemplative Manchester. Few topics accommodation for herself and her family. They lived here from 1896 until 1906, – no matter how contentious in ethical, scientific or non-party-political terms – would when a move to London was made. However, it was in this house, in 1903, that the fail to find in one of them a natural forum in which to discuss latest developments or Women’s Social and Political Union was formed. strip out of the intellectual undergrowth misconceptions and ill-definitions, to lay bare the underlying propositions that are the proper basis for disagreement. For many years, the house was left gently to disintegrate and in 1979, plans were announced to demolish it in order to extend hospital car parking. Almost at once, a These Societies are fiercely independent – and so they should be; it is this group was formed to save the building and the Pankhurst Trust was formed. Their independence that has ensured their survival. Only to a minor degree do their first task was to ensure that it be given Listed Building Status. This was achieved memberships overlap. and the building was thus protected from the bulldozer. It seemed to some of us it was time to make the exhortation – ‘Can we please work However, thought now had to be given as to together and lay out for the world at large the stall on which is displayed the intellectual how it could be utilized. Eventually, it was strengths of this City and its Region?’ That ‘us’ comprised Arthur Burden, Eddie Cass, felt that it should be preserved as a heritage Paul Goddard, Michael Evans, Edward Thorp and myself. centre and, in addition, as a place where The thought has long been current that there is a women could go to for help and support. In need for an umbrella organisation whose sole order to make this happen, a great deal of function is to act, as it were, as a multi-faceted lens, money had to be raised and people from all each face beaming its own representation of over the world contributed, raising more intellectual Manchester to the world outside. The than £500,000. In 1987 work was completed senior officers of some of the Societies felt that the time had come and have joined to The Pankhurst Centre at 60-62 Nelson Street, Manchester and the Pankhurst Centre was proudly set up a new organisation – Manchester Societies - a not-for-profit company limited opened by Barbara Castle. by guarantee, with the intention that this will be that umbrella. The membership would, in general, be restricted to the Societies themselves, as distinct from their individual Today, the parlour of Nelson Street has been meticulously decorated in the members but admitting into membership individuals likely to be of signal benefit. appropriate style of the time and houses Christabel’s piano and Sylvia’s typewriter. There is a great deal of Suffragette memorabilia exhibited and a very interesting The guardians of the assets of the Societies involved have been prudent; none are in video is available for those who would like a general introduction to the Movement. financial distress but more than one has at one time or other stood on the brink of In addition, there is also a wealth of books and pamphlets on the subject, which can extinction. It would be wise to accept that were one to fall on hard times little succour be studied on the premises. would be forthcoming from central or local government. Catastrophe is usually the consequence of the conjunction of two unwelcome events, both of which are equally 60-62 Nelson Street is a site of great importance in our own city and a place which unlikely but whose coincidence can overwhelm. many proprietors would find of immense interest. The fact that there is no urgent need to collaborate establishes in my mind the urgent For details of opening times telephone: 0161 273 5673 need to collaborate. When the real need to collaborate makes itself clear it will be too Mairead Mahon late, for catastrophes are sudden. Some of the Societies operate on a sufficiently large scale as to have full-time employees; others are much smaller and rely totally on the

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voluntary efforts of their officers. Their addresses change with every change of The Longest Surviving Secretary; their archives move from spare bedroom to spare bedroom; they are incommunicado when officers take holidays. MANCHESTER SOCIETIES & INSTITUTIONS Our age is becoming more litigious on the one hand and more regimented by • Chetham’s Library – 1653 government on the other; how often has the form arrived, requiring information which • Manchester Agricultural Society Manchester & Liverpool Agricultural may or may not be readily to hand, with the footnote – ‘you are required to provide Society Royal Manchester, Liverpool & N. Lancashire Agricultural this information – failure may render you liable to a fine’. The administrators of the Society Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society - 1767 larger societies take this in their stride; the voluntary officer can struggle. There is a growing need to help the small groups deal with ‘officialdom’. The needs are diverse – • Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society – 1781 some can be foreseen – some cannot. All need the benefits that good governance • Portico Library & Gallery – 1806 confers but not all have access to the corresponding resource. • Royal Manchester Institution - 1823 In selling Manchester – in selling Greater Manchester – the factors that influence the • University of Manchester UMIST - 1824 outside world are not simply the economic attractors; equally important is the quality of life. The diversity of these long established societies is ample evidence that we have • Manchester Statistical Society – 1833 long enjoyed this high quality - but we do need to lay out our stall. • Manchester Medical Society – 1834 It is very much in the interests of local government to be able to point to Manchester • Manchester Photographic Society – 1855 Societies as the visible manifestation of the cultural life of the Manchester region – its constituent members well formed, made up of time-weathered components, case- • Hallé Orchestra - 1858 hardened in the fierce flame of long experience – no collection of Johnnies-come- • of Fine Arts – 1859 lately-dreamed-up-in-Whitehall-specially-for-the-purpose. • Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society – 1883 We were, therefore, comforted in the extreme that Manchester City Council has viewed • John Rylands Library - 1890 our endeavours sufficiently favourably as to host the launch of Manchester Societies in the Town Hall in November 2006; we are also heartened by the expressions of • Manchester Astronomical Society – 1892 encouragement from the large educational and cultural institutions, none of which • Manchester Microscopical & Natural History Society – 1894 stand in much need of support - and those commercial interests that are perhaps best • Manchester College of Music Royal Manchester College of Music described as the very embodiment of ‘Manchester – the Centre of Trade’. Royal Northern College of Music - 1896 Manchester Knowledge Capital and Manchester Enterprises gave sufficient funds to establish a website that would enable nominees of constituent societies to advertise B.S.H. Rarity their events and in such a way as each nominee could do this remotely and in person. The website’s address is www.manchestersocieties.org - you might like to pay it a call. How We Were Lit The Lit. & Phil. with the Portico are joining Manchester Societies in the mounting of the 2008 Manchester Lecture – a Lecture held from time to time with the aim of Lighting at first was by fifteen pairs of candles supplemented later by Grecian-style building bridges from the Societies to the business community; after all, people don’t cut glass lamps, at a cost of £200 (with a discount for cash). Two Portico join societies they don’t know about. The Manchester Lecture is a magnificent proprietors, G. W. Wood and Thomas Fleming, set up the Manchester Gas Works in opportunity for constituent societies to sell themselves to a financially powerful group 1817, and four years later, gas was brought to the Portico to light the outside lamps. of people. Money is not the be-all and end-all and to have plenty is no guarantee of Gas piping was laid into the building in 1827 to light the newsroom but not until long-life or happiness – but a serious lack of it can be extremely distressing. Almost all 1844 was its use approved for the committee room. The use of gas caused problems of the societies that Manchester Societies would welcome into the fold have been to and the committee reported in 1850 that the gas fumes were ‘highly injurious to the the financial brink within living memory and prudent officers know the value of new books,’ and sought to improve ventilation. members. From Ann Brooks and Bryan Haworth, Boomtown Manchester 1800-1850, (1993), pp B.S.H. Rarity 20-21.

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