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Manchester, England

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In the first of our series of ‘Day Out’ articles we look at Manchester. Our walk lasts about three hours and will give you an efficient route to the maximum number of tourist attractions.

John Rylands library, Manchester Deansgate

What better a place is there to visit than Manchester? It has a long history and a legacy of fine architecture.

We show the walk beginning at Quay Street but this is arbitrary. We just happened to park there! Pick up the route wherever you enter the city.

“A Lancashire village has expanded to become one of the most prosperous trading and manufacturing centres in the World” – Disreali

From humble beginnings in the 1300’s Manchester and textiles became synonymous. It has given the world philanthropic businessmen, scientists, engineers, Trade Unions, and Women’s suffrage.

We started outside Granada TV studios, the home of ‘Coronation Street’ the UK’s most popular and longest running soap opera. Ignore the signs saying studio tours, they finished in 1999! Walk up past the Opera house to Deansgate, one of Manchester’s most famous shopping streets.

Turn left up Deansgate where you will pass the imposing John Rylands Library. John Rylands was a philanthropic textile manufacturer and the city’s first millionaire. It is hard to imagine now but this area was once a slum where houses where shared by sometimes 30 people in damp, crowded conditions.

Turn right off Deansgate at any side street and then left continuing north. You will find much more of interest in the back streets parallel to Deansgate. Several churches are tucked away including St Ann’s which leads onto a square of the same name.

Reflections in the side of Urbis, Manchester

Further on you will come across the Triangle, another shopping square where you can’t miss the two oldest buildings in Manchester, The Old Wellington Inn and Sinclairs. They survived the Blitz and the IRA bombing! Behind them you will find Manchester Cathedral.

Turn back on yourself and walk to the gleaming glass pyramid style building with some optical illusions on the outside! This is Urbis an interactive experience exploring Manchester city life. You will also see the Printworks, an entertainment complex, and you will return to the Triangle.

Continue along Corporation Street and wander through the Arndale centre, target of the 1996 IRA bomb that devastated it, thankfully with no loss of life.

You will see Piccadilly Gardens in front of you, turn down Mosely Street and continue past the Town Hall and Albert Memorial.

Turn left into Mount Street and you will arrive at St Peter’s Square. It was in this area that the infamous Peterloo massacre of peaceful protestors occurred. An inexperienced Cavalry Militia killed 11 and injured 600.

Walk past the G-Mex exhibition centre and down to Castlefield, a beautiful area of redeveloped warehouses.

That’s the end of our city centre walk but a side trip not to be missed is Salford, a town that is part of the great Manchester conurbation. Here you will find, amongst other things, the Mecca for soccer fans – the home of Manchester United FC. They say that Man U (as it is affectionately known) has more fans than any other football club in the world, and 90% of those have never been to Old Trafford, the club’s ground!

Salford also has a pretty leisure area, the Salford Quays which are docks, once part of the Manchester ship canal, that have been redeveloped. Here you will find a museum dedicated to one of the areas most famous sons, Lowry. His ‘pictures of matchstick men’ were simple but powerful depictions of the area in the industrial revolution.