‘Knowledge is power’, said Sir Francis Bacon, and anyone sharing that sentiment should look to our Manchester Lit and Phil and its equivalents around the country.

Whereas our Victorian forebears had the massive Sunday School movement  which supported literacy for the poor and helped shape future MPs, women teachers and many of our current Premiership football clubs, we have to look harder to find the modern day versions. We have the Workers Educational Association (WEA), a handful of colleges like Fircroft in Birmingham,  Coleg Harlech  in North Wales, our own splendid Wilmslow Guild and the learned societies in Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds and Leicester.

The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (Manchester Lit. and Phil.) has been in existence since 1781 and is one of the oldest learned societies in the country. It has had many eminent past members but its admirable remit is to make knowledge accessible to all. Throughout the year there…