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How has my local area changed? - Summary
Places can change a lot over time. In this KS1 video from The Regenerators, Change Champs Gabrielle and Josiah explore the history of Ancoats in Manchester with historian Katie. By comparing buildings, photographs and drawings from the past and present, they discover how the area has evolved and what clues history can leave behind.
In this video, students will learn:
- How local areas can change over time.
- What Ancoats was used for during Manchester's industrial past.
- How historians use photographs, drawings and buildings as evidence.
- How to compare similarities and differences between the past and present.
- Why some historical features remain while others change.
Classroom video - Local history
How has my local area changed?
The Change Champs are a team of children who like to learn about the world around them. In each video, the Change Champs meet an expert who sets them an exciting challenge.
Join Gabrielle and Josiah as they explore the history of Ancoats in Manchester.
Gabrielle: Hello, I'm Gabrielle.
Josiah: And I'm Josiah. We are visiting the area of Ancoats in Manchester.
Gabrielle: We have been told this area has been changed a lot over time and we want to find out more.
Josiah: So we have invited Katie, a historian, to tell us all about it.
Katie: I love learning about history and finding out about people and places. Today, where we stand right here, there's lots of history. So let's go and find out more about it.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS)
Gabrielle: There are so many big buildings all around but we can't imagine what they were used for.
Katie: So Manchester was one of the most famous places in the world for making fabrics and in lots of the buildings around us the fabrics are made, and those buildings were called mills or factories. And even the canal here was useful. Boats brought different materials into Ancoats to build even more mills. Yeah.
Josiah: We could see a big red building. Maybe this has something to do with the fabric industry too?
Gabrielle: It's got lots of windows and lots of floors and a chimney.
Katie: This building over here is called ROYAL MILL and it was one of the last cotton-spinning mills in Manchester. A long time ago, George VI and Queen Elizabeth came to visit the mill and they changed the name of it from New Old Mill to ROYAL MILL. Come on, let's go and get closer.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS)
Would you like to see a drawing of how it used to look?
Josiah: Yeah!
Gabrielle: Yeah.
Katie: Here we are. So this is the mill here, ROYAL MILL. And what things can you spot?
Josiah: There's another bridge.
Katie: There is. That bridge is the same as it was a hundred years ago. It's still there.
Gabrielle: There's a tree over there.
Katie: Yeah.
Gabrielle: But there isn't a tree here.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
Josiah: There are flats. Absolutely all over.
Katie: Wow, there are so many flats everywhere. Aren't there?
Gabrielle: There is a lot of differences but I think it looks the same. Yeah.
Katie: Back in time, about a hundred years ago, this would have been a really dark smokey place. It would've been noisy with horses and carts clattering along the cobble and the sounds of the cotton looms spinning in the factories and mills. So it would have been very different to how it is today. What do you think the building is used for now?
Josiah: Maybe making…
Gabrielle: Working in?
Josiah: Jumpers and stuff.
Katie: Making jumpers or working.
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES)
Now Ancoats is a place where people live and come and have fun.
Gabrielle: We have decided to take our photo in the same place as the painting we have seen.
Katie: Okay guys. Do you think we've found it? Do you think this is where the drawing was made from?
Gabrielle: Maybe one day in the future someone will think how old this picture looks too.
Katie: Shall we go and see some more old factories?
Kids: Yeah.
Katie: Let's go.
Josiah: We have learned so much about the history of our city.
Gabrielle: And we now know even the coolest places may have once told a different story.
(UPBEAT WHISTLE MUSIC PLAYS)
Quick facts about Ancoats and local history
- Ancoats was once one of the world's most important centres for textile manufacturing.
- Mills and factories were used to produce fabrics and cotton products.
- Canals helped transport materials needed by local industries.
- Historians can learn about the past by studying buildings, drawings and photographs.
Let's discuss: What clues can you find in your local area that tell you about its history?
More resources for this video can be found in the Green Classroom: How has my local area changed over time? lesson page.
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