Steven Dickens: 11 books

Manchester’s proud past can be well summed up in its headlines. Steven Dickens delves into the archives of the Evening News to discover the events and personalities that have made the city what it is today. From the dramatic effects of the First and Second World Wars on the city and its residents...

The Manchester Ship Canal was a huge engineering achievement. It included seven swing bridges and the aqueduct at Barton, and helped turn the cotton-producing capital of Great Britain into an inland seaport. This was a feat many at the time believed could not be achieved. One of the wonders of the...

Caernarfon, situated on the southern bank of the Menai Strait facing the Isle of Anglesey, is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. In the thirteenth century Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, ruler of Gwynedd, refused to pay homage to Edward I of England, prompting the English conquest of Gwynedd....

The market town of Altrincham, historically a part of Cheshire but now part of the metropolitan borough of Trafford, has a rich history. The name Altrincham is derived from Old English, meaning the homestead of Aldhere’s people. The Roman road to Chester ran through Altrincham, but there is no evidence...

The establishment of the Roman fort of Mamucium in AD79 is the first known record of any military construction, or presence, in the area that is now the Castlefield district of the city. The Roman auxiliary units posted here used the fort as a garrison, located at Mamucium for the purpose of protecting...

Eccles is a town in the City of Salford, whose development is closely related to the establishment of the parish church of St Mary, c. 1100, and from which it takes its name. The town’s economy shifted away from agriculture with the industrial revolution and the construction of textile mills, of...

The districts of Stretford and Old Trafford are today best known for their sporting links to the football ground of Manchester United and the Lancashire county cricket ground. However, their histories are much more extensive than these (admittedly more famous) connections. With its foundation beginning...

Flixton, Urmston and Davyhulme, in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, form a fascinating and historically diverse district. Flixton is home to the ancient church of St Michael, established around 1190, and Flixton House, built in 1806 and the former home of the Worthington-Wright family. Western...

Bangor, in the county of Gwynedd and historically a part of Caernarfonshire, has a rich and ancient past, recorded in the pages of this book. Bangor means ‘a wattled enclosure’ in old Welsh and the city is one of the smallest in Britain, with almost half its population Welsh-speaking. Bangor has...

Manchester’s unique Victorian red-brick and sandstone architecture still dominates the twenty-first century skyline, despite modern developments. Manchester’s Victorian history consists of much more than cotton mills and canals. Scientists like John Dalton enhanced the city’s reputation. The...

The fascinating town of Sale in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, historically a part of Cheshire, has a rich and diverse history, which is extensively illustrated in the pages of this book. Old buildings, long forgotten, are recalled, such as the Brooklands Hotel, where famous comedians Laurel...