So 200 years to the day later, thousands of people gathered in Manchester to commemorate the event, and also acknowledge that even though much has changed, and all adults now have the vote, there is still much to do in the cause of equality, even today. Adrian’s video explains a bit more:
There were groups of marchers from many local towns converged on Manchester. One of the significant groups, who had practised peaceful and orderly marching on the Pennine Hills for weeks, set off from Oldham. So John Hewitt @Johnbhewitt and I visited the excellent gallery in Oldham where a local historian gave as an insightful tour of the exhibition of the social background of the march, the actual march itself, and the aftermath - including the inquest notes of one Oldhamer (also a Waterloo veteran) who died as a result, and from which much of the historical information has been gathered.
On 16th August 2019, the first event of the MeetUp was a walk-talk through John Rylands Library, where a potted history of the event was repeated, and it was embedded into an understanding of the social history of the time - many documents and articles from the time were available for perusal, and the guide outlined how the nascent national media responded, including The Times, largely a London based paper who reported from an authority perspective (despite certain journalists wanting to report from other angles) and the Manchester Guardian (later The Guardian) born of the frustration of being unable to report from an alternative angle.
After a very wet afternoon, the group reassembled for a meal together at The Smokehouse, for some well deserved and well needed food, drink and rest.
After our break, we then joined hundreds of others at Manchester Central, as the sun set, to commemorate the event; an artistic interpretation of the 1819 event was intermingled with various performers outlining the continuing need to strive for equality and sustainability in our 2019 world, making the whole event poignant and relevant to every Local Guide who attended, and indeed to the whole Manchester public. At the end of the event the names of the 18 dead (men and women, ranging from an unborn child and a two year old, to a man in his 60s) were shown on screen as the crowd remained respectfully silent.
Finally, to finish off the evening, we took a moment or two to visit the newly commissioned monument (opened earlier in the day) which will stand as a lasting memorial to those who unexpectedly gave their lives in this move towards universal suffrage.
Thank you @AdrianLunsong and @Johnbhewitt for your photos, and Iain Goodall for your company.
You can see the full range of photos in better proportions and definitions here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7fjTDyeqc7vUpLSG7