Everything But A Beach

Everything But A Beach The podcast exploring hidden stories from Manchester's history, music and culture.

Possibly we're going overboard but John Glover may have been Elizabethan Manchester's answer to Morrissey, Harry Styles,...
26/07/2026

Possibly we're going overboard but John Glover may have been Elizabethan Manchester's answer to Morrissey, Harry Styles, Mick Hucknall even.

Glover was a 'singing man' - one of the professional singers at the church and college buildings that will become Manchester Cathedral, where John Dee is warden.

He seemed to have been a bachelor but had a comfortable home with pictures, books, stools and had a small fortune of £104 when he died.

According to his death inventory, he had an extraordinary wardrobe, including 'a doublet of ash cooler with the silver buttons and one payre of breeches quilted and stitched with red silke.

This look was complemented by his three gold rings and two pearls and two stones.

He left this money to two of his brothers, but not the third who he'd had 'a falling out with in a row about a horse'.

Listen to our latest episode to learn more about Glover and the other character who inhabited John Dee's Manchester - a town whose bustling streets, thriving markets and taverns have an uncanny echo to today's city.

Want to learn about real life magic?Our latest episode is all about the strange life of John Dee and the mysterious powe...
09/07/2026

Want to learn about real life magic?

Our latest episode is all about the strange life of John Dee and the mysterious powers he claimed could solve crimes and locate buried treasure.

Learn about the ten years he spent living in Manchester. Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and all the usual places.

Big news: our Dean's got another book coming out.We've done an episode talking about the lives of the Scuttler gangs tha...
09/07/2026

Big news: our Dean's got another book coming out.

We've done an episode talking about the lives of the Scuttler gangs that prowled Manchester.

His new book 'The Scuttlers: The True Story of Manchester’s Most Feared Gangs' will be published by HarperNorth, on 6 May 2027.

It will tell the story of the incredibly-tough lads and girls who ruled the streets of Victorian Manchester and Salford in the late nineteenth century.

Link in bio for more info and how you can pre-order.

27/06/2026

Tudor magician John Dee spent his life in obsessed pursuit of the occult. Our new podcast episode tells the the story of his life in Manchester.

John Dee was the strangest man in England.The Tudor magician, mathematician and advisor to Queen Elizabeth had an unquen...
27/06/2026

John Dee was the strangest man in England.

The Tudor magician, mathematician and advisor to Queen Elizabeth had an unquenchable thirst for the occult.

In our new episode, we look at his attempts to speak to angels using a magic black mirror, his supernatural quests through Europe, how he used magic to solve crimes and the decade he spent in Manchester.

It's a story of ruinous obsession at a time when there was nothing to separate magic and science.

Listen now on your favourite podcast platform.

25/05/2026

"... the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the Blitz," according to a senior Manchester judge.

An estimated 200,000 Rangers fans filled the streets of Manchester as the city hosted the Uefa Cup Final on May 14, 2008.

We were there as the big screen erected to show the match broke down and, as journalists, watched first-hand as frustration boiled over into violence.

We tell the story of what led up to the night of carnage that nearly overwhelmed the city's police force and hospitals - and we hear the words of one Rangers fan reflecting on the night.

Listen now to our latest episode>>






23/05/2026

In our new podcast episode we talk about the Uefa cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg - which saw Manchester city centre transformed into a battleground.

"The largest travelling support in the history of football."

"The worst night of violence since the Blitz."

We were there - reporting from the scene in May 2008 - and in our new episode we discuss our memories of the night, the legacy of the riots on British football and the views of one fan who attended the match.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple and other major podcast platforms.


May 14, 2008. Manchester was proud to host the Uefa Cup Final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.Estimates for the ...
23/05/2026

May 14, 2008.

Manchester was proud to host the Uefa Cup Final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.

Estimates for the number of Rangers fans who traveled to the city range from 150,000 to 200,000.

It’s been described as the largest travelling support in the history of club football.

A day that promised a carnival atmosphere and a showcase for international football, instead saw the city centre transformed into a battleground.

Violent skirmishes. Shops and businesses damaged. Dozens injured.

Judge Andrew Blake of Manchester Crown Court, later sentencing twelve people in connection to the disorder, described the event as "the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the Blitz".

We were there, reporting from the scene.

In our new episode, we discuss the aftermath of this riot, its legacy on British football, our own personal reflections of the day and night and share the views of one fan who attended the match.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple and other major podcast platforms.







In our latest episode, we talk about death and the cotton mills' well-deserved reputation for danger. Long clothing was ...
25/04/2026

In our latest episode, we talk about death and the cotton mills' well-deserved reputation for danger.

Long clothing was more likely to get caught in machinery, causing some workers to get ‘snatched up’ in the machinery and killed or injured. Losing fingers, hair and scalps were not uncommon. Long hours of work and exposure to dangerous chemicals could lead to deformities. Workers were considered to have reached ‘old age’ if they lived to forty.

We also talk about the Victorian traditions around death, the way that loved ones were remembered and the now-forgotten graves around the city, including sites (some now in city parks) where the dead were buried eighteen-deep.

Listen on now Spotify, Apple, Amazon for stories about Manchester's hidden history that you won't hear anywhere else.

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