A German news agency, Wissenschaft Aktuell, has covered the scuttlers here. The first reports of “scuttling” in the Manchester press surfaced during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, when rival armies were formed in the Rochdale Road district of Manchester to re-enact continental battles. The “Prussians” were the Protestant boys of the slums of Angel Meadow and New Cross. Their opponents – young Catholic lads from the same neighbourhoods – formed a rival army, and marched into combat behind a flag bearing a single word: “FRENCH”. As “scuttling” spread across the Manchester conubation, this religious dimension was rapidly eclipsed by neighbourhood loyalties and by the mid-1870s, most “scuttling” gangs contained both Catholics and Protestants.
Amazon Crime Feed- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- Amazon Gangs Feed
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
Gangs of Manchester in the Guardian
Martin Wainwright, the Guardian‘s Northern correspondent, discusses The Gangs of Manchester here. Many of the stories in the book were first reported in the same newspaper in its original incarnation as the Manchester Guardian.
BBC Manchester Online: feature on The Gangs of Manchester
To read a feature on The Gangs of Manchester, plus an interview with Andrew Davies by Richard Turner of BBC Manchester, click here.
Gangs of Manchester launched
Andrew Davies launched his book The Gangs of Manchester at Manchester Central Library on Thursday 2nd October. 75 people turned out for the ticket-only event. Andrew will be following up this launch with a public talk about and reading from the book at the Central Library on Wednesday 22 October at 6pm. The event is free but ticket only – book your tickets at the Library (see links on lefthand column to Manchester Local Studies and Archives).
You can see more photos of the launch here
Cover Mug Shots
The book’s cover features three Salford scuttlers of the 1890s: William Henry Brooks (centre); James Brown (left) and John Wallace, alias McInerney (right). They were photographed by police in Rochdale in 1894, after they were caught stealing a shawl from a washing line. The mug-shots were discovered in the collection of the Greater Manchester Police Museum.
Gangs of Manchester – out now!
On 2 October 2008, Andrew Davies’s book The Gangs of Manchester is published by Milo Books and launched at Manchester Central Library. The book will be available in all good bookshops.
Gangs of Manchester
New edition of The Gangs of Manchester
A new edition of Andrew Davies’s history of the gangs of Victorian Manchester and Salford has been published by Milo Books. It’s also available for in a Kindle edition.
Use the links to the left discover more about the book, its author, the history of the gangs, and upcoming events.
Gangs of Manchester: on sale now
Available from the 'Buy Gangs of Manchester' webpage (see links on left), Amazon, Milo Books and all good bookshops
Gangs of Manchester 