Blog

1. Shelf Life

   In 1655 when the first books started to arrive at Chetham’s Library they were shelved according to size, with little books on the top and the biggest books on the...

   11th November 2015 • Read more

2. An early selfie of Chetham’s

   Like many a star who’s had a long and varied career, Chetham’s as an institution has hoarded many a picture of itself, produced over years of more or less artistic...

   9th November 2015 • Read more

3. Baroque and Roll – Can you Handel it?

   More concert excitement follows thick and fast on the blog this week, as we encourage you to come down on Wednesday evening and enjoy a performance of Baroque music, some...

   6th November 2015 • Read more

4. Winter Journeys – St Cecilia Day concerts by the Hepton Singers

   You are warmly invited to an afternoon of Russian music by the Hepton Singers, directed by Alison West, on Sunday 22 November here at Chetham’s Baronial Hall. The concerts will...

   30th October 2015 • Read more

5. How are things in London, Old Man?

   Can you be an old man the moment you’re born? You can if you’re this week’s blog-hero, John Senex (1678-1740), whose name is Latin for ‘old man’. The hand of the...

   29th October 2015 • Read more

6. Eliza Carthy at Chetham’s

   One of the things we’ve been doing over the last few weeks is helping to make a Radio 4 programme about nineteenth-century broadside ballads with Eliza Carthy, and this will...

   30th September 2015 • Read more

7. Medieval Manchester

   This Saturday afternoon, tour guide Anne Beswick is taking a look at medieval Manchester, starting at the Cathedral and taking in our beautiful Baronial Hall and medieval buildings. Find out...

   24th September 2015 • Read more

8. Madame Malibran

   On this day in 1836 Madame Maria Felicita Garcia Malibran de Beriot died aged 28 in Manchester. Malibran was a mezzo-soprano who commonly sang both contralto and soprano parts and was regarded as the greatest...

   23rd September 2015 • Read more

9. ‘Owls, apes… monsters and sprigg’d letters’

   These beautiful flourishes and embellishments are examples of fine penmanship from a copybook published by George Shelley in 1714, The second part of Natural writing: containing the breakes of letters...

   21st September 2015 • Read more

10. Dosvidaniya, Bolton…

    Ever fancied laying waste to Bolton? And who among us can put hand on heart and say that the thought has never crossed our mind. Now, thanks to a new...

    18th September 2015 • Read more