About A to Zedding

The Manchester Zedders are Liam Purcell and Marie Pattison. However, the fair art of A to Zedding was, as far we know, invented by our friend Rosie and her boyfriend Doug in a café in Kings Heath, Birmingham. They had their A to Z with them and ‘read’ it as they waited for their order. As they were inspired to visit places purely from seeing them on the map, A to Zedding was born.

They say
“A-to-Zedding is much more than just a hobby. It’s an intellectual, spiritual and deeply personal pastime. The A-to-Zedder’s dream is to visit and gain a deep understanding of every ‘square’ in their chosen A-to-Z map.”

Essentially A to Zedding is simple.
1) Find a place on your map that appeals to you.
2) Go see it.
3) Record the experience in some way.
4) Share it.

When Liam moved to Manchester and Marie realised she didn’t really know Manchester, they were inspired to follow Rosie and Doug’s most excellent example and venture forth. A few zeddings and a new A to Z for Liam later, they started this blog to chronicle their adventures on Manchester’s rainswept streets. They are a bit geeky (in a good way) so they freely admit it’s just as much about the blogging and photography for them as the wandering.

You can see Rosie and Doug’s hints and tips on zedding here.

12 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Roy Bayfield  |  July 25, 2008 at 7:13 am

    Great site and I love the Zedding concept.
    Might give it a try next time I’m going somewhere.
    I’m currently doing a psychogeography-lite walk between Southport and Brighton: http://walkinghometo50.wordpress.com – an excuse for some ‘blogging and photography’!

    As part of this, I’ve been working with the A-Zs of both places, painstakingly finding streetnames that occur in both places. The idea, once I’ve got them all, is to plot them on the maps and do walks that include them all – the idea being to explore a notional secret town coextensive with both places.

    All the best,

    -Roy

    Reply

  • 2. Laura  |  October 5, 2009 at 11:32 am

    Hi Rosie and Doug,

    I’d like to invite you to a bloggers meeting. Really informal, drinks, food, goodies…

    Held by Havana Rum to get some feedback on a twitter campaign they are launching.

    Date is October 8th – all welcome.

    Please e-mail me if of interest.

    Kind regards,

    Laura

    Reply

    • 3. themanchesterzedders  |  October 6, 2009 at 5:20 pm

      Hiya. I’m afraid we’re Liam and Marie – Rosie and Doug were the inventors of zedding, in Birmingham.

      We’re planning a zedding expedition on Thursday so we won’t be able to come, but I hope it goes well.

      Liam

      Reply

      • 4. Laura  |  October 7, 2009 at 12:24 pm

        My apologies Liam and Marie,

        Good luck with your zedding expedition on Thursday.

        Laura

  • 5. anne Tucker  |  November 5, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    hi – loved your blog about Platt Fields – complete in inimitable (is it the hobbit?) style and your take on the park and its ups and downs … we are the friends group – and I am also a bit of an adventurer, especially round Manchester . Did you know there is a long dark tunnel that leads from Platt Fields right under Wilmslow Road its used by kids (dead scared!) as a feat of daring .. you really need a torch, and be careful as there are lots of batroosts there
    come back to Platt !

    Reply

    • 6. themanchesterzedders  |  November 5, 2009 at 10:49 pm

      Thanks Anne, that’s very kind. First time we’ve been compared to either JRR Tolkien or hobbits, but we shall take both as a compliment. 🙂

      We’re not usually hardcore tunnel-exploring urban wanderers, but that sounds cool. I may check it out. How do you get into the tunnel?

      Liam

      Reply

  • 7. michael kellY  |  December 13, 2009 at 7:48 pm

    I am trying to put together a book of my fathers poems about old Manchester. They were published,mainly in the Manchester Free Gazette. The era he wrote about was the late 1930s to 1977,when he passed away.
    His name was John Kelly.He was born in Cork City in Ireland but was brought up from his very early years in Manchester.
    He lived in Halstead Street and Marie street off Great Cheetham street.
    What I am after are early photos of Cheetham Hill,Waterloo Road
    and surrounding areas,oh sorry and Crumpsall.
    I hope someone can help me,
    Michael Kelly

    Reply

  • 9. phil smith  |  January 7, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    Dear Marie Pattison and Liam Purcell,

    Just in case this is of interest I am emailing to let you know that ‘Mythogeography’ (the book) is just emerging from the printers. All the details are here –

    http://www.triarchypress.com/pages/Mythogeography_Guide_to_Walking_Sideways.htm

    And there’s a website too, which pushes it all a little bit further and that’s here – http://www.mythogeography.com

    The book takes the form of a documentary-fictional collection of the internal documents, diary fragments, letters, emails, narratives, notebooks and handbooks of a loose coalition of artists, performers, ‘alternative’ walkers and pedestrian geographers. All Illustrated in full colour by Tony Weaver, who designed the Wrights & Sites’ Mis-Guide books.

    The fragmentary and slippery format recognises the disparate, loosely interwoven and rapidly evolving uses of walking today: as performance, as exploration, as urban resistance, as activism, as an ambulatory practice of geography, as meditation, as post-tourism, as dissident mapping, as subversion of and rejoicing in the everyday. ‘Mythogeography’ celebrates that interweaving, its contradictions and complementarities, and is an attempt at a handbook for those who want to be part of it.

    I hope you enjoy it and find it of some use.

    Best wishes,

    Phil Smith

    Reply

    • 10. themanchesterzedders  |  January 14, 2010 at 8:33 pm

      Thanks Phil. Sounds like I should definitely get a copy!

      Liam

      Reply

  • 11. Cal Desmond-Pearson  |  January 18, 2010 at 12:59 pm

    Hi!
    Like the site and the idea of Zedding – will transfer teh idea to up here in Geordie Land – if anyone from Newcastle area reads this get in touch
    Cheers,
    Cal the ArchiveGeek

    Reply

  • 12. themanchesterzedders  |  January 25, 2010 at 7:10 pm

    Thanks Cal. Let us know how zedding develops in Newcastle!

    Liam

    Reply

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