Louise Robbins recently joined the inaugural Heritage in Action walking tour, which marked a significant milestone for GM Moving. Here, she shares her reflections from the walk and wider programme.
This tour has been born from our ongoing partnership with the Guardian Legacies of Enslavement programme, where we have been helping to build and launch inclusive walking tours. Much of this work for GM Moving has involved selecting the tour planners, and helping them to connect with wider networks, including building them into the GM Walking Festival earlier this year. Now, in the run up to World Cotton Day, the walks are being repeated for more people to benefit from the partnership.
Read the Guardian’s piece about this walking tour
Chris Osuh: ‘Giving voice to a lost history: retracing the steps of the Black lives that shaped Manchester’
This wasn’t a normal walking tour around Manchester. As we walked, I heard the stories of enslaved people, and the marginalised communities behind the civic fabric of our neighbourhoods and buildings. I saw how our city-region has grown, and the legacy of the streets that we walk, wheel and cycle along. Much of my role at GM Moving is working to improve physical activity participation, so understanding the complex legacy of our places and spaces is vital.
The tour was incredibly valuable for me, and I encourage our partners to sign up to the walks happening to mark World Cotton Day on 7 October 2026.
The partnership between GM Moving and the Guardian Legacies of Enslavement continues, and we are excited to be part of it.
