Guests at this month's meeting of Over Hulton Heritage Group will be taken on a trip to the Victorian underworld tomorrow evening (Wednesday March 13th).

Taking place in the OH Conny Club on St Helens Road, the talk will be entitled "Crime City - the History of Manchester's Victorian Underworld."

It will be presented by author and freelance journalist, Joseph O'Neill.

The talk covers all facets of Manchester's Victorian criminal underworld and the reasons why it was the most crime-ridden city of the era.

It deals with Manchester's unique development and how that fostered an environment in which crime flourished.

It covers the devastating effects of the city's drinking culture and the violent crime it spawned.

The first British youth cult, the Scuttlers, dominated the media for many decades and terrorised the population, while forgers and fraudsters preyed on the sick and gullible.

Political crime also marked the life of the city which was the victim of terrorist attacks and saw Britain's last multiple public execution.

Appropriately, it was Manchester that produced the greatest detective of his day, the real Sherlock Holmes and the 'scourge of the wrongdoer'.

The OH Conny Club is next to the M61 BL5 1AA. Admission is £5 - under 14s free and is pay on the door.

The talk starts at 7pm.