The Oxford Road Tour
Demi Sheridan, Editorial AssistantBook now
The Oxford Road Tour
Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.
Jonathan Schofield’s new walking tour exploring the treasures and famous landmarks of Manchester’s Oxford road begins this April. One of Manchester’s most characterful stretches, where architectural ambition and radical thinking sit side by side.
Your tour begins at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, previously known as Refuge. The grand terracotta facade and detailed interior have made it one of the most well known buildings in the city, historically fuelled by industry and civic pride, Kimpton Clocktower is a brick built monument for Manchester locals.
Oxford road is filled with new and old, as different as night and day in some areas but captivating all the same. Almost like a corridor that acts as a meeting point for ideas. You will see glimpses of the institutions that helped define Manchester as a centre for education and innovation, sitting parallel to reminders of its fighter-esque reputation for dissent and reform.
A big role in Manchester’s ever-evolving cultural music scene
This extended section of the city has also played a big role in Manchester’s ever-evolving cultural music scene, with venues and university spaces raising generations of artists and audiences. From the new club scenes making their mark like Ambers to the decades old Deaf Institute, showcasing underground musicians and bands since the 19th Century.
Your tour will finish at Manchester Museum, a long standing building that has recently undergone a major transformation. Sat within the University of Manchester grounds, its collections reflect a contemporary Manchester as well as the routes on which it was built.
These two significant landmarks form fitting bookends to a walk that captures Manchester at its most ambitions, ever-evolving and thriving self.
