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England > North West England > Greater Manchester

The city of Manchester isn't in Lancashire technically. It's administered separately, but it's located close at hand. In the days of beauty contests when someone announced "Miss Manchester" it was also a travel tip. It was a dreary, industrial city worth avoiding for the tourist.

Not so today..! - Manchester rocks! - It's now a thriving, rich and booming city - with real estate prices holding their own even with the recession. The city was the world's biggest cotton milling centre in the mid 19th century, having risen from a little rural town a century earlier. Manchester industrialised heavily and then went into rapid decline after World War II. Today, it has now totally reinvented itself and is a thriving, exciting city with a vibrant nightlife, high employment and a powerhouse of new industry.


Manchester boasts a collection of superb 19th century public buildings and plenty of places to drink and dine. While Manchester Museum is less known than London's British Museum, it is one of the world's top museums for Egyptology. Mummies sailed here in the 19th century, cruising out of Egypt and up the Manchester Ship Canal, under close wraps.

Apart from massive renovation in the city to host the extremely successful (if a little wet!) 2002 Commonwealth Games, the city fathers have invested millions in regenerating the city centre along with over £370 million of private investment.


Globally and in the UK and Europe, the Manchester "brand" is probably best known through publicity for its awesome football team - Manchester United, and of course its prodigal son - (now moved on to Los Angeles Galaxy for a cool £100 million plus and on loan to A.C Milan (confused? - so are we mere mortals!) - the cool, good looking, now even more stupendously wealthy ex-figurehead of Manchester United, David Beckham, who along with his ex Spice Girls wife, Posh, are Britain's best known and richest celebrities worldwide. Now with modelling contracts for both and a new fashion brand for Posh, there seems no stopping the uber " Brand Beckham" from global domination.


In the regenerated docklands of Salford Quays, an edifice of shimmering glass and stainless steel called "The Lowry" has arisen. The gallery, housing Britain's largest collection of L.S. Lowry paintings, has been called "Salford's Guggenheim", overlooks the Manchester Ship Canal, a huge project completed over 100 years ago to entice ocean-going ships to Manchester rather than to coastal Liverpool. Paintings by Lowry, known for his images of matchstick people against an industrial backdrop, have sold for up to £1.9 million.


Part of the £42 million Manchester Millennium Quarter is the recently opened Urbis - an interactive, fun archive of videotape and imagery that traces the history and experiences of people who live in the world's cities. Adult admission is a very reasonable £5 with school parties and children under 8 free. It's free admission for all at the Imperial War Museum, which has exhibits from a teddy bear to a T34 tank. The Museum of Science & Industry is partly based in the world's oldest passenger railway station. The 7.5 acre site has five historic buildings with special exhibitions and historic working machinery. The Manchester Museum has four floors and fifteen galleries including the famous Egyptology Gallery.


The Cornerhouse is a lively centre for contemporary art, sculpture and photography and has three cinema screens featuring independent films. There's also a bar, cafes and a bookshop. The Chinese Arts Centre also has changing contemporary exhibitions and the Whitworth Art Gallery is home to an internationally famous collection of watercolours, textiles and wallpapers.


Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian Gothic building and home to the Ford Maddox Brown Murals (monument to Victorian Manchester). Manchester Cathedral has some beautiful carvings and the widest medieval nave in Britain.
And, of course, there's Sportcity, the superb sports complex that hosted the Commonwealth Games. The public can now enjoy the facilities and the City of Manchester Stadium will become home to Manchester City Football Club in August 2003.


Being a modern city, Manchester has heaps of excellent eateries and a raging nightlife for those who want it. The Old Wellington Inn & Restaurant is the oldest pub in Manchester, dating back to 1552. It has a ground floor bar and an all day restaurant (first floor non-smoking, second floor smoking - make the less fit ones climb the stairs!)


The Printworks is also new and it's a futuristic entertainment complex with 24 hour licence and the city's Hard Rock Café. Of course, as with many fine cities, a walk will uncover many architectural gems and surprises.


If you make Manchester your base, it's only a few hours driving to places like Chester, the Lakes, Peak District, Blackpool and Alton Towers Theme Park.
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