Manchester
Introduction
Manchester is a vibrant, modern city with a proud industrial past, which reached its peak in the Victorian period when enormous brick-built cotton mills and factories dominated the landscape. Despite post-industrial decline from the mid 20th century onwards, and the devastation of the IRA bombing of the Arndale Centre in 1996, the city has seen a great deal of urban renewal and it continues to thrive as one of the biggest cultural and social centres in the UK. Old buildings have been renovated, new buildings have been built, the canals have been cleaned up and public spaces have been redesigned. With the largest student population in England, a thriving gay community and an entertainment scene unrivalled outside London, Manchester is very much alive and kicking makes and a great city break destination.
Sightseeing
Town Hall and south city centre
One of Manchester’s most impressive buildings is its neo-gothic Town Hall on Albert Square, built in 1877. the interior is as grand as the exterior and there’s a Great Hall with stained glass windows, beamed ceilings and wrought iron candelabras. The best way to visit is by going on a guided tour, where you’ll also find out a great deal about the history of the city.
Opposite the Town Hall facing St Peter’s Square is the circular Central Library. Influenced by the Pantheon in Rome, it’s Classical in style and many people are surprised to discover that it was only built in 1934. The Shakespeare Hall and Great Hall (which houses the reading room) are adorned with sculptures, paintings and stained glass.
The Manchester Art Gallery on Mosley Street, round the corner from St Peter’s Square, recently benefited from a £35 million redevelopment and houses one of the best collections of art in the UK.
For an impression of Manchester in its late-Victorian heyday, visit the Midland Hotel on Peter Street, an extravagant building constructed in 1903 as a symbol of the importance of Manchester as England’s northern centre of trade and manufacture.
The nearby Free Trade Hall played a key role in Manchester’s history. It was a symbol of free trade and opposition to the restrictive Corn Laws of 1815 and the focal point of public debate in the city. The current building was built in the mid 19th century to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws, but two previous halls existed on the site from the early 19th century. It was also used as a concert hall and the famous Hallé Symphony Orchestra played here for over a century.
The new home of the Hallé is the stunning Bridgewater Hall on Lower Mosley Street, completed in 1996. It’s a renowned international concert venue with amazing acoustics. Opposite is the G-Mex Centre, an enormous convention and exhibition centre. The area around these two buildings has become known as the Convention Quarter as it’s the hub of the city’s entertainment scene.
Castlefield and west city centre
The Castlefield area has seen a great deal of regeneration over the past few decades and was designated the UK’s first Urban Heritage Park. Reminders of Manchester’s industrial past have been renovated and preserved – there are canals, railway viaducts, warehouses and mill buildings, along with many facilities for visitors, making it an exciting attraction to visit. There are bars, restaurants, hotels, museums and an outdoor events arena.
Castlefield is named after a Roman fort that once stood in the fields here. A reconstructed gate and the remains of the foundations can still be seen today.
Housed in one of the oldest passenger railway buildings in the world, the Museum of Science and Industry provides a fascinating insight into Manchester’s industrial period, social history and key scientific discoveries made in the city which helped to shape the modern world.
Nearby Granada Studios also attracts a large number of visitors. The sets, simulators and special effects are spectacular but the key feature is the set of the UK’s most popular soap opera, Coronation Street, complete with cobbled streets and the famous Rovers Return pub.
Deansgate
Deansgate runs through the city centre from south to north and has the highest concentration of Manchester’s pubs, restaurants and shops. Just off Deansgate on Bridge Street is an interesting museum that portrays the history of the working class movement in Manchester. The People’s History Museum is housed in an old pump house and has sections on politics, trade unionism, protest, radicalism, reform, suffrage, political posters and banners and social pastimes such as football.
Arndale Centre and north city centre
Manchester’s small cathedral stands at the north end of Deansgate. Originally built in the 14th century, it has been adapted several times over the centuries and suffered a great deal of damage in both the Second World War and the Arndale bombing in 1996.
One of the most impressive buildings in the north of the city centre is the Royal Exchange on St Ann’s Square. It was used for cotton trading until 1968 and was subsequently converted into the Royal Exchange Theatre. It’s the largest round theatre in the country and has an enormous glass domed ceiling. Look out for the trading board, which displays the prices of American and Egyptian cotton on the last day of trading.
North of St Ann’s Square is Exchange Square, which was very well redesigned after the Arndale bomb as a public and community space. Sweeping sandstone benches create an effective public seating area around a giant television screen suspended from an adjacent building, which broadcasts BBC programmes as well as shows and entertainment. It’s a popular meeting and gathering place and is always crowded on a sunny afternoon.
The Arndale Shopping Centre to the east of Exchange Square was the site of the 1996 bombing. It has had an extensive facelift since then and the 1960s tile cladding has been replaced by a much more aesthetically pleasing glass and steel façade.
East city centre
The area between York Street and Oxford Street to the east of the Town Hall is home to the UK’s largest Chinatown, the entrance to which is marked by a large dragon arch. As well as great Asian restaurants, it also has shops, bakeries and supermarkets.
Further south east, alongside the Rochdale Canal is another modern and vibrant district which has become known as the Gay Village. Over the past decade or so, the growing gay community has injected new life into this previously run-down inner city area. The streets are now lined with trendy bars and pavement cafes and there’s a real continental feel.
Eating Out
Manchester is home to many large ethnic populations so there’s no shortage of exciting restaurants. Chinatown has a wide variety of Chinese, Malaysian, Thai, Korean and Singaporean restaurants.
A short distance from the city centre, although easily accessible by bus from the bottom of Oxford Street, is the famed Rusholme curry district, which has the largest concentration of curry restaurants in the North of England. The Sanam on Wilmslow Road is one of the longest established curry houses and has become somewhat of a Manchester institution.
The city centre has some excellent ultra-chic and modern restaurants serving high-quality dishes. Simply Heathcotes on Jackson Row is run by award-winning chef Paul Heathcote and the menu is distinctly Mediterranean. Nico Central on Mount Street serves modern French cuisine in sophisticated surroundings.
Nightlife
Manchester has the biggest entertainment scene in the UK outside London. There are several theatres, concert halls and event arenas and there’s always something on to suit everyone’s tastes. Buy the City Life magazine for listings and reviews of what’s on in the city.
Modern redevelopments of old urban spaces have also brought to Manchester some excellent entertainment complexes such as The Printworks, which has a cinema, IMAX screen, shops, bars and restaurants.
Manchester’s large student population and thriving gay scene make it a great place for a night out. The bars and cafes in the Gay Village always have a lively and friendly atmosphere. Take a walk along Canal Street and pop into any of the bars there for drinks, dancing and thumping DJ beats.
For something more traditional, check out the Old Wellington Inn and Sinclair’s Oyster Bar just off Exchange Square. As part of the redevelopment of the city after the Arndale bomb in the late 1990s, these two bars, which are among the oldest in the city, were moved brick-by-brick to Exchange Square from their former location on Shambles Square.
