Alright our kid?
Hello — I’m Dean Kirby, an author and urban historian exploring and writing about the history of Manchester, my home city.
What is the Manchester History Club?
Manchester History Club is a newsletter and a community of subscribers where we’ll discuss the Manchester’s history and the people who built the world’s first industrial city.
Why I started this newsletter
I’ve been fascinated by the history of Manchester after growing up listening to my dad’s stories about a city which has been our family’s home for generations.
A few years ago archaeologists dug up our ancestor’s old house in Angel Meadow, one of Victorian Manchester’s most notorious districts. It sparked a deepening interest in me that has led me to write a bestselling book and research a PhD on the history of the area.
In 2023, approaching 50, I left behind a 25 year career in journalism to focus full-time on follow my passion for writing about and sharing the history of Manchester to help keep alive the stories of ordinary Mancunians.
I now lead historic walking tours in Manchester and I’ve also set up a family history research service to help other people research their roots in the city, as well as writing this newsletter.
Why subscribe for free?
If you sign up, you’ll never miss an update as my newsletter will drop straight into your email inbox each time I publish it. You’ll be joining more than 2,000 readers in Manchester and around the world who have already joined. 🚶🏻♂️🚶🏻♀️🚶🏽
You can sign up for free using this link and you can unsubscribe at any time. In April 2025, I was really thrilled to be told by the good people at Substack, which hosts my newsletter, that I was in the top 20 rising history newsletters on the global platform.
In each newsletter, you’ll hear a story about Manchester’s history that I’ve researched and written. It could be about a person, an incident or a broader aspect of life for working people.
Below, you’ll find links to some of my most popular stories, including a video of me cooking my nan’s ‘tatter ash’.
Cooking my Nan's dinners: chicken soup
Cooking is one of the nicest ways to cherish and share your family history.
The Northern Quarter's gambling hells
The Northern Quarter is one of Manchester’s trendiest districts today but in the Victorian era it was awash with secret gambling clubs.
Why are some some of my stories paywalled?
I know that nobody likes to get half way through a story and find they can’t read further to finish it, so the vast majority of my writing is free to read when it lands in your email inbox. After a short-time, the story goes behind a paywall on my website. Other stories are for paid subscribers only.
I do this because paid subscriptions are part of my income as an author and freelance historian. If I can’t find away to make this way of working sustainable, I will have to do something else and will have to stop writing the newsletter.
So if like my writing and decide to support me by becoming a paid subscriber, you will genuinely be helping me to carry on the work I love and also helping to nurture this newletter by keeping it alive and helping it to grow. 🪴
What if you pay to subscribe?
Becoming a fully fledged member of the Manchester History Club for less than the price of a coffee each month gives you:
🔑 Bonus access to my full archive of stories and occasional, exclusive paid-for posts.
📕 I am currently writing my second book, The Scuttlers, which will be published by HarperNorth in May 2027. Paid subscribers will get early access to updates about the book and exclusive content.
🙏🏼 Most importantly, as a paid subscriber, you will be helping to support me as a freelance writer and ensure that I can keep this newsletter going.
☕ If you don’t feel able to pay to subscribe, then please consider buying me a coffee or two through my Buy Me A Coffee page.
My passion for Manchester history has led me to try to make a career of writing about it and and your support really will help me to keep the newsletter alive.
What’s next?
All you need to do is subscribe and start reading. As a subscriber you will receive the newsletter in your email inbox and, if you want to, you can also read it on the Substack website or in the Substack app. If all that sounds interesting, then please take a look at the various subscription options by clicking this button.
I’m looking forward to saying hello and sharing the story of my home city with you.
'People think it always rains in Manchester. Not true, though I admit it's the only town in the country with a lifeboat drill on the bus routes.' - Les Dawson
