This Is The Place: Cottonopolis to Madchester.
As part of Forever Manchester’s 10th anniversary celebrations, we were asked to design a special edition set of 4 tiles in our signature pen and ink style based on Tony Walsh’s poem This Is The Place.
Forever Manchester is the only charity that raises money to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester, and in 2012 they asked Tony to write something that would encapsulate the city and its achievements, as well as the importance of its communities and the work that Forever Manchester does within them.
A towering performer – he’s two metres tall – Tony was well known on the UK poetry circuit for his Mancunian brand of lyricism, and his creative response was incredible, delivering on their brief and then some. It was an achievement that shone even brighter in the dark days of May 2017 following the Manchester Arena bomb attack. Tony’s reading of This is The Place to crowds in Albert Square, and again at the Old Trafford concert, drew widespread coverage and made him – in The Guardian’s words – a ‘national hero’.
But This is The Place’s meaning predated that tragedy and was inspired not by terror but by the special power of Manchester’s communities, and all that they have achieved over the centuries. This was at the forefront of our minds in creating our own companion artwork. And we’re very proud of the results.
Split across four tiles, each holding a word from the title of the poem, This is The Place profiles a city overflowing with talent. In the introduction to our book Manchester we described it as two cities, Cottonopolis and Madchester, though here we’ve expanded that slightly to four. The city’s rich heritage and rapid evolution are packed together with a mix of existing and new illustrations, rewarding the eagle-eyed viewer with cultural and historical nuggets aplenty.
The first tile – THIS – captures our industrial past, with cotton, smog, terraces and factories interwoven with the progressive social and technological advances that came out of that time – namely Stephenson’s Rocket, the Suffragette movement and The Co-operative.
The second IS tile portrays achievements in science and technology, and the arts, with Ryland’s atomic theory alongside Turing and the first computer, Rolls Royce and sporting innovators Reebok and Umbro. There are artistic nods too, in the form of some distinctive Lowry figures and the Hallé Orchestra.
The central space is smattered with cobbles. Here, from the rubble of the old city, new towers are emerging, leading us into the THE tile, were the foundations are being laid for Manchester’s musical story. 10cc rub shoulders with The Fall, Electric Circus, The Smiths, Stone Roses and Manchester’s emerging Hip Hop stars the Ruthless Rap Assassins – with Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures artwork providing a rippling skyscape above.
There are nods to the importance of Manchester’s migrant communities with the carnival and China Town, as well as the travel infrastructure that keeps the city moving, which sets us up nicely for tile four – PLACE. The final tile showcases the rise of Madchester through Granada TV, The Haçienda, Factory Records, Peter Saville’s coding wheel, New Order and Oasis among other iconic emblems such as the city’s great football stadiums and Gio-Goi. It all ends with the melting of Acid House and the downfall of Factory Records. There’s a lot we’ve not mentioned here, but the finished set will be auctioned at Forever Manchester’s birthday celebrations at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel. If you get stuck in to the bidding you may get to spot them on the real thing at your leisure.
