Uncovering Manchester's Victorian Industrial History 

In the olden days, Sunday nights were reserved for the Onedin Line and Lovejoy. These days Martin Zero is the best thing on Sunday night TV. Thanks Martin, you're brilliant.

Born and bred on the east Coast of the U.S. I have no idea why I find your work so fascinating, but there it is.

Born and bred in that area spent 21 years of my life there I’ve explored every inch of that place as a child brilliant 👌

Perfect sunday viewing, why pay a TV license when you've got indie documentary makers creating better content.

Dont you just love the fact that some people think Manchester's industrial heritage is so important that they feel the need to record it before its lost again? And it's not only the professionals , but the amateurs like Martin that deserve the praise documenting these little snippets of the past.

The quality of your presenting is better than many on mainstream tele. Looking forward to you having your own history programme one day on C4 ;)

Last week I caught the 163 bus from Middleton into Manchester. I must have looked like someone who had never been to Manchester before. From Moston Lane to Shudehill I found myself looking at every building, street and road. Thanks for opening my eyes, Martin .

Collyhurst, not quite the most desirable area of Manchester but definitely a treasure trove of industrial history. Another good bit of detective work Martin. ,

When coal wuz cheap, just paid for in miners lives. My old man was a miner, face worker all his working life apart from his military service, mother worked a capstan lathe until she was taken down by TB. I learned socialism on the shop floor unlike the modern leaders of the Labour party who learned it in University. Lancashire built on the lives of working men. Oysters, my old lad used to go on about Dublin bay prawns, my generation called them Scampi, dirt cheap for the poor in years gone by and an expensive treat when I was a young man. My Dad said that in his young days they where paid out at the end of the week in the mine owners Pub, a practice that had been illegal since the 1800’s. Thanks Martin for your insights in to times gone by, I get quite sentimental in my old age. John

Old maps, old pictures, some bricks and the interesting stories by Martin. Together with the music, I want just to go back in time and see it as it was.

No way! Is that THE Beesley st?!! John Cooper Clarke fame! 🤔🤣 great video Martin 👍😁👊

Martin it’s hard to imagine how many bricks were made and laid in Manchester they are everywhere Keep well excellent vlog once again

Martin, the first map had my street on it...Wow ,Leek Street. There used to be a flight of steps from Collyhurst Road down to Smedley Road and I always used to be running up and down them in the 1950s and 60s as my friend lived off Smedley Road. I remember all the houses being there not specifically Alma Terrace but I don't really remember the printing works. As for all the vegetation now ,it's incredible as when I was growing up I don't recall many trees if any at all. You bring back so many memories so thank you for that. The glass works dig, brilliant, so interesting. I can even watch on my brand new tv now ,fantastic , I'll have to rewatch all your videos on the big screen😂 as far as I know the t in Dantzic is silent ,we never used to sound the t.

Hi Martin, when you showed that picture of the children it made me think - if I had been born in the 19th Century that could have been my fate. As ever, thanks Martin, Mike

these are not just videos Martin ... they are works of art and keep me amazed till the end, thank you very much

Wonderful Mart thank you, I love cross referencing the maps and the old photos, really really interesting and thankyou👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Perfect timing - the kettle has just boiled! Absolute treat these Sunday videos Martin, thank you as always 👍

Superb Martin! Dantzic I am pretty sure is pronounced danzig. I used to go bottle digging at a Victorian tip and there were zillions of oyster shells. I researched and found that Lancashire hotpot had oysters in. Those black and white photos are a stunning reminder of how lucky we are today, gas works used to give off an awful smell like rotten egg when you were near as they used coal to make the gas. Grim times and the picture of those little lads is heartbreaking. Thanks for a superb story.

Thanks Martin, fascinating & well revealed and spoken by yourself.

Wonderful. Thank you. My aunt's husband told me his first job was part time in a foundry at age 11 (this would be the 1920s). He got hot metal on his leg - "Then I got my first pair of long pants". He said he used to fall asleep at school and the teacher would leave him be.

Martin another fascinating insight into Manchester Victorian industrial history. Superb.

This is what made time team so good, no nonsense approach to archeology at its finest. Rip Mick Aston you are sorly missed

Fantastic episode Martin, I recently visited family in Sheffield for the first time in 48 years (Australian born) and I was amazed at the history over there that most don't even knows exists. I'm a Bricklayer by trade and study Engineering and I was in ore at the brick structures across the country and how much brick was used, the Engineering as well is just mind blowing. From London to York and out to Liverpool I took photo's of the most untouristy things because we just don't have that stuff in Australia. Would love to join you on an Episode when I'm over there again next year. Cheers Cory

Fascinating as always Martin. I’m always amazed at how many derelict sites there are still within a stones throw of the city centre. So rich is history & the road you were on at the beginning looked remarkably quiet! Brilliant! 😄

Although I was born in Margate , Kent , almost as far away from Manchester as you can get , my grandmother was born and bred in Heights o' Erlam and my mother in Prestwich ! Her family came from places like Salford , Eccles , Stockport and Pendleton so I do feel some affinity for the area . I now live over " t'other side of t' hill " in West Yorkshire having moved upcountry over the years . I too am in to Canals and rivers and like to walk miles along them with my camera looking at the old buildings , factories and warehouses along the way ! Thank you for your great Sunday evening vlogs , I don't have a TV any more as it just isn't worth watching nowadays so I look forward to you putting up another of your truly interesting and innovative offerings for our entertainment most weeks . Thanks again Martin .

It really is amazing what you can find when you peer through hedges and around corners, that's whats great about urban exploration, finding the unexpected as we've seen in your other forays along the River Irk, keep up the good work Martin

The thing about glass is that the heat of the process tends to destroy the machinery. The crucibles in which the glass is melted are continually being corroded by the hot glass, the tools used to form and shape the glass are always being burnt away, and even the chimney will be attacked by the heat and hot gases. Modern refractory materials are more resistant, but the 2000+ degree heat will still destroy them, eventually. Must have been hell, feeding that furnace...

With your love of industrial Victorian Manchester just think of the possibilities of content had Fred Dibnah still been alive, I'm sure a collaboration would have come about eventually. Another great video Martin, you obviously put a lot of work into the research, I love the eclectic music you put to the old photo's. A shout out to the archaeology team for their help too.

Martin, Ex Manchester Bobbie who walked this area in the 70's. Now in NZ. Really enjoy your in depth objective reporting of Manchester’s history. Great job thanks Pete

Looks like lower part of chimney used to support roof around chimney. Used oyster shells provided a road base along with clinkers from burning coal in alleyways and commercial yards. Extra nice content !

Several species of oyster is found on our coast Martin I live on the south west coast. If you go out foraging you get loads of oysters, cockles, crabs and lobsters. You can eat like a king 😂 with a bit of time and effort. It doesn't surprise me those workers in Manchester were eating oysters. I found out recently poorer people ate brown bread, the richer and wealthier people thought white bread was purer.

Brilliant vid! So expertly done.👍 I'm from Liverpool so i'm not familiar with the area in the film but absolutely fascinating anyway! I love finding out things about our industrial past. The oysters the poor used to eat were what we put in steak and kidney pies before the kidneys.😋

Thanks Martin for my short holiday. Good to see. Esp the printing works I love the patterns on the material that used to come from there nothing like a piece of cotton material very comfortable to wear day or night. Sorry it was overgrown, if it was here it would be full of folk with no homes, here theyd carry the brick etc off to build homes😂. Also glad to see the Irk so unpolluted here in Pretoria people are banding together to clean up the streams and rivers in the metro areas. Your buddys pictures are very nice you can show more of them (please). Love to you all keep warm here its 35°C plus sending some heat via wishing, God bless.

How our anchestors survived those horrible working conditions is something we must never forget! Over the entire European continent the industrial sites where simulair hellholes to work.

was gutted when this ended so fast, love the vids, and love learning more about the best city in the world.

Hello Martin, Really enjoy your videos. I am a history buff as well. My ancestors came from the peasant parts of London though. Love the photo that someone had taken of the old kiln. What a shame others weren't taken. Old photos like that are like gold. My mother used to work in a positive Dickensian hat factory (right down to belt driven sewing machines) when I was a kid but sadly I didnt take any photos of the place when I visited and I kick myself for it now. Keep up the good work. Regards, Peter (Fairlight, NSW, Australia)

Wonderful as usual Martin - loved he converging viaducts at the end - Imagine being the first brickie on site and laying the first brick of what must be millions!

I live just up the road from this site, amazing it will soon be covered in flats undergoing yet another faze in it's history. The gas works is now the travelers site so has most likely been in council ownership for a long time.

Those kids working at a Glassworks with no shoes makes me shudder. The soles of their feet must have been like a thick leather. The green in the glass is the Iron content and the whiter type would have been a purer sand, less iron particles, along with other ingredients such as Soda Ash, Limestone and Dolomite. Another great vlog Martin, keep them coming.

Another great video Martin. Been away on holiday and not seen your recent posts until tonight...great viewing! Love the music on this one, your choice of soundtrack catapults your videos beyond the average seen out there. As interesting as Manchester's past is to us now, it's sad that when 'Great Britain" was at it's 'Greatest' it was so because it rode on the back of young children's sweat and blood, and the utter misery of those forced to labour in hell hole industries and factories like this. Already looking forward to your next film.... Thanks again!

Thanks again Martin for taking me on this incredible journey. For taking me out of my everyday (nightmare) and bringing me down through history to touch and to see the glory of the works of men and women of yesteryear. You make history REAL! You make it come alive! You are a national treasure sir!

My favourite sort of exploration old industrial sites and maps

I never thought that I would care for content like this and yet, here I am, coming back for another hit of that sweet sweet history.

I always love your music Martin! elevates your documentaries on new heights

Another belter, Martin. As usual, I am fascinated by the pics from the past of the areas you explore, particularly those showing where and how folk lived. I know someone who grew up around Collyhurst before and during the war. At the risk of repeating myself (and no I am not on commission), I would recommend the Billy Hopkins books to anyone who has an interest in life around there back when the places you explore were in their element.

Another excellent video Martin. I used to walk down Smedley Rd everyday going to school ( The Tinnie) And we used to play all over those hills near the irk and remember the factory and some of the houses. Where the two Viaducts meet one was always known as the Devils arch. Keep up the excellent work.

I think that the oyster shell was probably used in the production of soda glass. Maybe they eat them first but oyster shell has been found in sand samples from soda glass sites. Just a thought... Great video . Thank you.

Spent all day watching your videos that I’d not already seen. Brilliant! These hidden gem videos are fantastic.

I love the old pictures. Thanks for all of your efforts inform and entertain us.

Many thanks Martin for showing us these lost Victorian worlds. The old photographs are wonderful. What a childhood those little lads must have had! Thanks again.

You've done it again Martin, bloody fantastic episode, so enjoyable .

What a fantastic vid. It's so good to see that archeologists are preserving industrial history. Those photos of the 60's is the Manchester that I grew up in.

Another great video! What this video shows is that changing technology and competition is not new to Manchester or any city anywhere. We sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that our times are unique, when in fact they are not. Imagine what it was like to work at that glass works and then lose your job when they closed down, would you get a job at the Tripe works only to lose it when it became a bolt works? The real challenge is for a community to stick together and find new technology to exploit and create jobs for the people in that city. Manchester will find a way as they have before, and it will come from areas they haven't thought of yet. Keep up the good work Martin, your loyalty to your hometown does you proud!

Would love to go on a little adventure with Martin very interesting the findings he lets us all in on . Keep these videos coming mate 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I so enjoy watching Martin's videos and the enthusiasm he brings to the commentary. It makes me feel weird when I look at derelict buildings with windows and imagine that faces once looked through them

Not living in the UK, but Martin really makes me want to visit these places myself. Not the usual stuff, very different, educational though entertaining. Enjoy watching each and every episode. Great 👍 work. This is how history is really coming to life.

This is absolutely brilliant, thank you for putting so much time and effort into this and educating people on the local history of working class people.

Only found your channel recently. Top work and gets better. I love the old railway features. 👍

I have learned so much about Manchester, and in a manner the history of it's hard working people helps explain why it has pulled me into its embrace.

Really interesting video Martin, love the old photos, appreciate how hard they are to find nowadays, priceless bits of history, thanks for sharing with us all 👍🙂

Absolutely brilliant , I knew i would be entertained watching. Thanks martin

Excellent narrative description Martin. Great volg Big hug to Manchester.

Epic video dude, 28 minutes of interesting industrial history.

Thanks for this most interesting insight to a part of Manchester. Those 'pipe-makers' at No.10 Flag Row - so small a property the 'pipes' must have been clay pipes for smoking? You already found a part of a stem. Keep digging Martin.

Martin, You wanna get yourself to the Carnegie Library on Green Lane/Lister Drive, Liverpool. Theres loads of works going on to save it. It's got an amazing history.

Great video again Martin, brings back memories of walking to school in the early 70s

Great videos, as a gas engineer I work on mains all the time in Manchester (1877 is the earliest so far) local history is very important in the job as knowing where things used to be helps us to locate escapes. Proud to say I’ve managed to salvage cobbles from Dantzic Street before now which will soon be going on my drive!

Great video Martin. I'm glad you were able to find a picture of the glass kiln, it was quite a fascinating structure. Industrial archeology is quite an interesting subject.

Excellent viewing... many thanks for an insight of days gone by before it’s gone forever 👍

I loved the photos at the end,and I always emphasize this is in no manner to romanticize the hard lives the residents had. Yet somehow they possess a richness derived from the hard working people of this amazing city.

Another wonderful video. I’m not from Manchester but love the way you bring the history to life.

Thank you Martin. Once again very informative video.Love the links to the past with the old photographs. Thank you

Another great and interesting video. Keep up the good work

Martin another quality production - well done . You have surpassed the stuff the put on TV - Just keep e'm comin .

Great work Martin..interesting topic,good coverage and comparisons and,hey,very professional narration.More please.

wonderful thank you martin for all the history you have taught us down here in the south we loved it cheers from trev and christine and all the very best to you

truly mesmerising viewing ,thanks once again martin.

Just keeps getting better Martin👍👍👍

Another belting video full of interest, well done Martin.

Found oyster shells in some old shraff (pottery waste) in school garden which was built over a dump used from about 1870 to 1920. Area close by is being used for scenes in a TV series based on Sherlock Holmes.

Well Martin as usual that was fantastic. Loved that brickwork. Of course what made it is that you got a train 🚂 in it too. Just fantastic. The via ducats are totally amazing

In 150 years archeologists will be digging through old industrial areas and finding bits of cells phones and computers. Remarking to themselves what a grim existence those poor souls led. ;-)

Thanks for this Martin, reminds me of visiting my aunt who passed away earlier this year, use to pass just past Collyhurst to visit her.

Fantastic well worth waiting for , I used to love the Time Team urban ones.

Another fantastic video. Thank you, Martin, for bringing us all this amazing info.👍❤

Really love the video Martin. Thanks for sharing. Also looking forward to seeing your friend Danny's work. I love it! ❤💛💚

Excellent production and delivery your behind the scenes research is impressive. Well done keep it up Martin.

you re just cool martin and the music too . all the very best from nick and tracy in wigan

Wow brilliant video thank you again Teresa 🤗

On river park road there’s a patch of land we’re all the trees have been cut down and when I was a kid around late 70s early 80s a mate and me went to that patch of land and found 100s of bottle that were 40 plus years ago and later a lot were still whole plus some had marbles as stoppers , I’m sure there will still be a lot remaining

What a cracking way to round off the weekend, got me right in the archaeologicals!!! Curved viaducts, industrial remains, forgotten half demolished buildings plus brilliant B & Ws and excellent research - you've done it again Martin!! 👍🐝❤

Fascinating glimpse into the last two hundred years. It's impossible to exaggerate how enjoyable these video's are. Thanks for posting.

Another fantastic video Martin! Your videos are a joy to watch. Love the fine detail and the fact we can almost see a image in our head of the people and conditions

Time to sit back and enjoy another visual, fact-filled feast from Martin Zero!

Watching this with a glass of wine 🍷🏚🏚🏚🏚🏚🎥

Brilliant Martin you deserve your own tv series are you seeing this man Granada x

Fantastic video Martin really enjoyed it a lot of fantastic history look forward to the next video

Another brilliant video Martin, you definitely should have your own TV series..

Loving your work mate. My father was born in Bradford road ancotes. His father and family were all involved with glass blowing and manufactured .

Another great video Martin it’s just great to see the old Manchester what is left of it. Keep it up it’s fantastic