All-Day 2025 – Day 2 – Manchester Sacred Harp

A group of singers sitting in a square with a leader in the centre, his hand raised and a book resting on his other arm. The image is taken from a distance, so the foreground is a long expanse of wooden floor. The image is taken in the Grand Hall at The Whitworth. It is beautiful - soft light, soft green walls and darker green arched wooden supports fitted into the high ceiling.

Sunday 12 October

11.00am start
2.30pm close

Book The Christian Harmony
Venue: The Whitworth

Free to attend – donations towards costs appreciated
All voices welcome – no experience needed
Loaner books available
Bring your own refreshments

The impressive front entrance to The Whitworth art gallery. A red brick and terracotta building. It is two-storeys high with rows of windows and a raised semi-circular entrance with grey pillars which looks very grand. — Image credit: Leo Green

The venue

The Whitworth Art Gallery Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6ER [map]

Founded in 1889 as the first English gallery in a park, The Whitworth today has a collection of around 60,000 works of art and a mission to ‘use art for positive social change’. They have generously hosted Manchester Sacred Harp once a month since we first sang there for the launch of Suzanne Lacy’s exhibition The Circle and The Square in 2021.

Shaped by several architects and fashions of the times, the original terracotta and red brick facade is in the neo-Jacobean style that was popular in the late 1800s. A Scandi-inspired renovation in the 60’s was followed by an industrial 90’s remodelling and eventually a 2015 extension which doubled the overall size of The Whitworth and re-engaged the gallery with its garden setting.

If you climb the grand staircase up to the Grand Hall, look out for period details including the 1940s hanging moon chandeliers in the stairwell, the copper Arts & Crafts ceiling chandeliers and the mosaic windowsill.

The Grand Hall at The Whitworth. Black fold-out chairs are arranged in a hollow square in the centre of the room. There are no people in the image. There is a wooden floor in a beautiful herringbone pattern, soft green walls and darker green arched wooden supports fitted into the high ceiling. — Image credit: Susanna Cox

Access information

There are 5 parking spaces on Denmark Road for Blue Badge holders, with step-free access via the Parkside entrance. The gallery has 3 wheelchairs and 2 walkers that can be requested from either entrance desk.

There is a Quiet Room available for personal use if you ask a staff member at the front desk.

We will be singing in the Grand Hall on the first floor -a large open space with a smooth wooden floor and plenty of natural light and windows which we can open to ventilate the space. It is accessible by lift, which opens right opposite the double entrance doors to the room.

Toilets are downstairs. There are accessible toilets, gendered toilets and gender neutral toilets available.

The Grand Hall has hearing loops fitted.

If you require further detail to facilitate your attendance, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

A promotional image from Transport for Greater Manchester showing elements of the Bee Network. A new yellow electric bus and two yellow hire bikes in the foreground. Behind is the circular Central Library. — Image credit: TfGM

Public transport

The Whitworth is about a 40 minute walk from the city centre so it is worth getting a bus. The gallery is on Oxford Road which is a very busy bus route! There are bus gates on Oxford Road restricting other traffic. Black cabs and cycles are also permitted.

Tram: Nearest tram stop is St Peter’s Square (plus 10 minutes on the bus or approximately 30 minutes on foot).

Train: Nearest train station is Oxford Road (plus 10 minutes on the bus or around 25 minutes on foot)

Bus: 15, 41, 42, 43, 140 – 143, 147.
Ask for the bus stop nearest MRI (Manchester Royal Infirmary) on Oxford Road.

Please be aware that routes can be subject to change so check beforehand that our information is up to date. You can use the journey planner here: tfgm.com/plan a-journey

A generic image of a large motorway taken from a bridge. There are 8 lanes of traffic and vehicles travelling in both directions. — Image credit: Mike Bird

Driving & Parking

The Whitworth is just outside the city centre, near the University on busy Oxford Road.

Due to the ‘bus gates’, general traffic is prohibited on Oxford Road between Hathersage Road and Portland Street, between 6am and 9pm, 7 days a-week.

Black cabs are allowed down this road with no restrictions.

Visitors coming from South Manchester via Wilmslow Road are advised to turn left at Moss Lane East, right at Lloyd Street North and then right onto Denmark Road.

Visitors coming from the city centre are advised to come off the Mancunian Way at Cambridge Street, follow the road down, then turn left at Denmark Road.

There’s on street parking on Denmark Road (usually busy) including 5 spaces for Blue Badge holders. A paid-for Q-Park car park is about 6 mins walk away on Hathersage Road.

An image of The Living Room. There are two large wooden tables with yellow inlaid tops. Wooden dining chairs are pushed up to the tables. There are large windows, a wooden floor and soft lighting. A water bottle and some papers on the table nearest. The room looks calm and inviting. — Image credit: Susanna Cox

BYO Food & drinks

We’ll have a break for about half an hour to give people time to eat a little something. However, we will not provide food or refreshments as part of this afternoon singing.

Please bring your own drinks and lunch / snacks.

There isn’t a sandwich shop or supermarket close enough to pop there and back in the break, so we’d recommend you buy/prepare something in advance. There is a café at The Whitworth but this very busy at the weekend, so anticipate a long wait.

Please note that no food or drink is allowed to be consumed in the main galleries. Only lidded bottles of water are permitted in the space where we sing.

You can picnic outdoors in the Art Garden or indoors in the Living Room (pictured above) which is a shared space to eat, study and meet on the ground floor.

The place we’ll go for a social after the singing serves food.

A black and white image of two singers sitting together but twisting away from each other.. The two women's heads are close, yet looking in opposite directions. One looks to the ceiling with a faint smile. The other, with her hand to her chin, is frowning and looks pensive, almost stern. — Image credit: Joyce Smith

Protect and respect

Singing loudly together in close proximity is excellent for wellbeing. But it’s also a quick way to spread germs. So if you’re snotty or coughing, please just stay at home.

Testing is not mandatory, but we do expect all singers to take very seriously their personal responsibility for not bringing ANY transmissable illness to the singing. Please DO NOT attend if you are experiencing any symptoms of cough, common cold, COVID, Flu, or other infectious illness.

We are an inclusive community. We can enjoy singing together without believing the same things or living the same way. The unwritten rule of singing is to avoid contentious issues and focus on what unites us.

We won’t tolerate bullying, harassment or disruption. Our rules are simple: treat each other with kindness, respect the conventions of the tradition and strive for harmony.

Read our FAQs, Access & Attitudes page and What is Sacred Harp to help you anticipate what to expect.

The front windows of Kro Bar. It has two levels, with large windows on both floors. It's an old building but is painted cream and grey so looks contemporary and minimalist. There are some long wooden tables and benches in the paved area at the front of the bar, a few plants to green the space and some stone steps leading up to the entrance. — Image credit: Kro Bar

Post-event social

Kro Bar, 325 Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PG [map]

2:45pm onwards

We have some tables in the conservatory booked for after the Sunday singing.

Kro bar serves food and drinks, and is a 7 minute walk from the gallery. It is just opposite the University of Manchester’s Student Union on Oxford Road. There are traffic restrictions from 6am – 9pm 7 days a week on Oxford Road. Only buses/taxis/bikes may use the section of road that leads from The Whitworth to Kro bar. Getting there by car is convoluted, so if possible, leave your car where it is and go on foot.

There is wheelchair access to the outdoors area / downstairs via the back entrance to the venue. To get there, continue past the front of Kro Bar to Dover St, turn right and then right again onto Brighton Place. The gates are on the right.

There is a disabled toilet downstairs at Kro Bar.

Video credit: Jo Kay

First time at an All-Day?

The second day of an All-Day singing is often shorter, more relaxed and less intense.

At the second day of our Manchester All-Day events we sing from a different shapenote tune book called The Christian Harmony. It’s also referred to as ‘the black book’. You can find out more about it here: sevenshapes.sacredharpbremen.org

We sing in our regular home venue at The Whitworth, which, as a public art gallery, means the event is freely accessible to any visitors who’d like to come into the Grand Hall to listen.

If it’s your first time and you don’t know what to expect, the explanation of an All-Day singing on our FAQs page might help. Day 2 is more informal than an All-Day though – it’s shorter, and it’s not minuted or arranged. There’s no dinner on the grounds, no memorial and no lessons.

It’s usually attended by local and visiting singers and although not a large singing the sound can still be mighty.