The Civic Reception will be held at Manchester Town Hall, and will be attended by the Lord Mayor of Manchester.

Completed in 1877, Manchester Town Hall is a fine example of the Victorian Gothic style adopted for many of the civic showpiece buildings of the industrial north. Designed by Alfred Waterhouse, also responsible for the University of Manchester’s Oxford Road frontage, the layout makes ingenious use of an unpromising triangular plot to achieve a grand frontage and impressive vaulted interiors.

The main reception venue is the Great Hall, home to the famous sequence of twelve murals to which the pre-Raphaelite artist Ford Madox Brown devoted the last six years of his life. The murals depict a somewhat legendary version of the history of Manchester which strongly emphasises science and technology, with depictions of the astronomer William Crabtree observing the transit of Venus, John Kay, inventor of the flying shuttle, and the atomic theorist John Dalton collecting marsh gas. Dalton also appears in statue form at the Town Hall’s main entrance: facing him across the entranceway is his pupil, James Prescott Joule of Salford, pioneer of thermodynamics.

The reception also has use of the Lord Mayor’s Parlour, a lofty room hung with portraits of public figures and paintings presented to the city; and the foyer outside the Great Hall, known as ‘The Bees’ on account of the bee motif on its mosaic floor. As a highly organised creature which makes a useful product, the bee appealed as a symbol to the industrial interests of Manchester, and appears in the city’s coat of arms.

Drinks will be provided at this event.

To find out more about Manchester Town Hall, visit the website: www.manchester.gov.uk/townhall/