The Scuttlers

Dean Kirby is a multi-award-winning former national newspaper journalist, shortlisted in 2023 for an Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain's Social Evils. After completing a PhD in urban history in 2023, he left journalism to follow his passion for writing about the street-level, working-class history of Manchester - his home city. Dean has won or has been shortlisted for more than 20 awards including nominations for Scoop of the Year at the British Journalism Awards and the Paul Foot Award, and in 2018 he was shortlisted for Northern Writer of the Year at the Northern Soul Awards. His first book, Angel Meadow: Victorian Britain's Most Savage Slum was published in 2016 and Dean now writes the popular Manchester History Club Substack. He also leads historic walking tours Manchester.