CityLife

Main event: People's History Museum

People's History Museum

‘Such is the old town of Manchester … I am forced to admit that instead of being exaggerated, it is far from black enough to convey a true impression of the filth, ruin and uninhabitableness…’

So wrote Friedrich Engels – the son of the well-to-do German merchant – on arriving in the industrial city in 1845 to learn his family trade.

Perhaps he would have thought better of the place if he visited the new People’s History Museum, which traces social changes since those tumultuous industrial days.

The most eye-catching aspect of the museum – under wraps since October 2007 – is the striking exterior of the extension.

The rapid-rusting cladding – the same material used in the Angel Of The North sculpture, as well as the ill-fated B Of The Bang – might not be to everyone’s tastes. But AustinSmith: Lord, the architect responsible, has also been behind some of the city’s most talked-about renovations of recent years, including Gorton Monastery and John Rylands Library.

The £13m extension – paid mostly from the Heritage Lottery Fund – has effectively doubled the size of the museum.

A wall-sized mural near the new, glass-fronted entrance charts the historic twists and turns from the English Civil War to universal suffrage, offering a statement of intent to the visitor.

The museum tells the story of British democracy. Starting as the brain-child of social history enthusiasts who banded together in the 1960s, the London-based group’s DIY efforts grew into a formal collection of artefacts and documents.

Their formal museum was established in Manchester in 1990, switching to the 19th century Pump House by the banks of the River Irwell four years later. One of the city’s smaller museums, with a relatively modest 25 staff, the collection now truly has the venue it deserves.

Visitors are met by a supersized depiction of the Peterloo massacre of 1819, which is accompanied by a sobering projection of abandoned shoes and bodies on the floor – disturbingly reminiscent of the dreadful footage of the Haiti earthquake. The grim history is made all the more real with a display of cutlasses purportedly used by soldiers who routed protestors.

Official archive

The tour through history – told through cartoons, newspaper reports, banners, letters and artefacts – charts the development of rights through the Chartists, Levellers, and Suffragettes. Trade unions, communists and even the British Union of Fascist movement of the 1930s also get a look in.

A purpose-built performance area offers a space for costumed actors to bring to life characters from historical periods.

And a series of audio-visual displays, hands-on exhibits and documents guide visitors across 300 years of democratic development – from the rotten boroughs of 18th century England to the anti-war movement of the early 21st century.

Children can get a sense of the sweatshop work of a century ago by performing the menial chores which were everyday reality for thousands of 19th century mill workers. Or they can sit in the kitchen of local Suffragette Hannah Mitchell, who – unlike the famous Pankhurst sisters – lived a solidly-working class existence, juggling family life with her political activities.

Later parts of the museum explain the struggle for union recognition in the workplace, the growth of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and other social movements.

A couple of Spitting Image of puppets – caricatures of Michael Foot and Harold Wilson – demonstrate the important role satire had to play in the democratic process.

But the museum is not simply a pictorial display. It is also the repository for thousands of important historical documents.

The museum is the official archive for the Labour Party, with records from the party’s foundation to the latest meeting of its ruling National Executive Committee held in its archives.

More than 2,000 historians and students come each year to consult the stacks of letters, minutes and photographs on store, including the personal papers of former Labour leader Michael Foot.

Trawling through boxes of ancient documents won’t be to everyone’s tastes so, thankfully, curators have handpicked some of their most interesting exhibits for the permanent exhibition. Highlights include writings by feminist pioneer Mary Woolstonecraft, the desk used by philosopher Tom Paine to write The Rights Of Man and the founding minutes of the Labour Party signed by Kier Hardy.

Conservation

While many of the movements on display are linked to Manchester, deputy director Andy Pearce, who shows me around, is at pains to stress that the museum is national in scope.

“No other museum in the country is dedicated to looking at the issue of democracy and how we got the vote.

“We could be located in London. But so many of the issues we discuss have had their roots in the north that we believe it is more appropriate we are located here.

“Things like the Suffragette movement, the massacre at Peterloo, the foundation of the Trade Union Council, the growth of the Co-op movement are all rooted in this area. They are of local origin but of huge national and international importance.”

The upper floor of the new building also houses a conservation gallery. Through a glass window, visitors can watch experts lovingly restore smoke-stained and threadbare banners under brilliant white light. Such is their expertise in this field that galleries from across Europe send materials for conservation.

The former pumphouse by the banks of the Irwell was used to send pressurised water around the city as part of an ingenious hydraulic system which powered a number of landmarks, from the town hall clock to the safety curtains at the Opera House.

While the huge machinery has now been taken out of the engine hall, the restored space will now host one-off events, exhibitions and functions.

An inaugural exhibition depicts a series of pictures of protestors through the ages being dragged off by police.

Previously the museum operated from two sites, with many of its artefacts kept in storage in buildings on Princess Street.

But with the new and larger building, museum directors are hopeful they will be will soon become a single-site venue.

Curators modestly expect some 80,000 visitors in their first year. But the eclectic range of items are sure to attract more, with families and schools already queuing up to visit the new and improved venue.

The ground floor will host a cafe-restaurant, which will remain open during evenings and weekends, and will pay its own homage to the past with old-fashioned ‘working men’s dishes’ (anyone remember Bacon Fidget Pie or Pan Haggerty?).

Although the building is more specialised than the nearby Museum of Science and Industry – providing half a day of entertainment compared to the larger venue’s whole day out – it is a unique venue which provides a powerful reminder of our long journey to democracy and what we stand to lose if we fail to exercise our freedoms. A full programme of family events is already being lined up.

Along with Mosi and the recently refurbished John Rylands Library, the venue also completes an important cultural triangle in the new Spinningfields district.

The museum re-opens on February 13, 2010, at 10am. For more information go to phm.org.uk.