Part One of two different walks on the same day, Saturday 3 August, led by Peterloo and political history expert Ed Glinert, who has worked with Mike Leigh (director of the Peterloo film) and Paul Foot, author of the definitive Peterloo-era history, Red Shelley.

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Peterloo, 16 August, 1819: the most violent and dramatic day in English political history. Carnage on the streets of Manchester.

How did it happen?

1819. It was the time of the Regency, gorgeously costumed dandies, exotic architecture and society balls – but not in Manchester where the workers starved in abject poverty and all political protest was stamped out.

In January of that year, Henry "Orator" Hunt, the most exciting speaker in the country, journeyed to Manchester for a meeting about political reform; might the people of Manchester have some say in how their town was run? Eight thousand turned out in the cold to hear him. When he began planning a return in August, the authorities panicked and decided the meeting must not take place, that it must be broken up even if it meant using considerable violence.

We explain and explore the state of Manchester in the year of Peterloo.