A walking tour of the Castlefield and St John's neighbourhoods with award winning architect and local historian, Ric Frankland.

Join Ric for a 2 hour deep dive into the history and mysteries of the local area spanning nearly 2000 years of stories and landmarks. Taking in everything from the Roman camp that changed this area forever, right up to the present day! This is an unmissable adventure through time which begins right here at Campfield Market!

From Lower Campfield Market, our first stop is the Roman fort in Castlefield Roman Fort, where Manchester first took shape as a frontier settlement at the edge of an empire. From here we trace how this earliest landscape still influences the area today, before moving into the canal basin, where water, warehouses and trade helped transform a small town into an industrial city.

As we follow the route forward, we also explore the moments when Castlefield was repeatedly remade. The arrival of the railways carved new lines through the city, reshaping the edge of Manchester into a new kind of gateway. In the 20th century, the story pivots again as Granada Studios brought a different form of industry to the area… broadcasting, sets and stories, including Coronation Street, giving Castlefield a new cultural identity.

We finish back at the market, reflecting on how warfare, industry, transport and television have continually reshaped Castlefield, and how layers of Roman Manchester, canal city, railway age and screen history still sit side by side in the streets you walk through today.