Giving voice to a lost history: retracing the steps of the Black lives that shaped Manchester

A new walking heritage trail follows hidden histories and overlooked landmarks in a city built on the cotton trade

• All photographs by Ruby Ramelize

They are the stories that have survived decades, despite being largely ignored by official acts of commemoration, obscured, or erased from the landscape. Now, chapters from Manchester’s Black history are being brought to life by a series of walking tours in the city, led by local historians, including Linford Sweeney, the Moss Side-raised genealogist, and the urbanist Hayley Flynn.

The Heritage in Action trail – guided walks exploring the lives of people whose labour made the city what it is and the city’s direct relationship with transatlantic slavery – will run in the city on 7 October, World Cotton Day. The events have been produced by the Guardian’s Legacies of Enslavement programme and the charity Greater Manchester Moving, which works to improve the region’s wellbeing through physical activity.

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