   #copyright

Manchester

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

   Manchester is a major city within Greater Manchester in North West
   England, historically notable for being the world's first
   industrialised city, and its subsequent central role in the Industrial
   Revolution. The city, heralded as the " Capital of the North", is a
   centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce, and is
   considered by many of its citizens to be England's second city.

   The City of Manchester is a metropolitan borough with City status. The
   metropolitan borough has a population of 441,200, while the Greater
   Manchester Urban Area is home to 2,240,230 people, making it England's
   third largest conurbation after those of Greater London and the West
   Midlands.

   Manchester is well known for its sporting connections being associated
   with two major Premiership League football teams, Manchester City and
   Manchester United and for having hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games in
   2002.

   Manchester city centre is on a "tentative list" of UNESCO World
   Heritage Sites—mainly based around its network of canals and mills,
   which facilitated its development during the Industrial Revolution of
   the 19th century.

   Manchester has been occasionally called Cottonopolis, as during the
   Industrial Revolution, it was a leading international centre of cotton
   spinning. More recently the city has been referred to as ' Madchester'
   due to the city's prominent music scene of the same name.

   The Greater Manchester county consists of the City of Manchester and
   the other metropolitan boroughs which surround it: Trafford, Tameside,
   Salford, Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport. The
   Manchester postal area contains parts of all ten boroughs except
   Stockport - Salford and Sale form separate post towns within the area.

   CAPTION: City of Manchester

   Image:EnglandManchester.png
   Shown within England
   Geography
         Status        Metropolitan borough, City (1853)
    Ceremonial county  Greater Manchester
     Historic county   Lancashire
                       (some parts from Cheshire)
         Region        North West England
   Constituent country England
     Sovereign state   United Kingdom
          Area
   - Total             Ranked 228th
                       115.65 km²
        Admin HQ       Manchester ( Manchester Town Hall)
       ISO 3166-2      GB-MAN
        ONS code       00BN
    OS grid reference  SJ843983
       Coordinates     53°29N 2°15W
         NUTS 3        UKD31
   Demographics
       Population:
   Total (2005 est.)
   Density             Ranked 6th
                       441,200
                       3,815 / km²
        Ethnicity
   ( 2001 census)      81.0% White
                       9.1% S. Asian
                       4.5% Afro-Carib.
                       1.3% Chinese
   Politics
          Arms of the City of Manchester Council
   Manchester City Council
   http://www.Manchester.gov.uk/
       Leadership      Leader & Cabinet
         Control       Labour

Etymology

   The name "Manchester" came from the Roman name Mamucium, thought to be
   a Latinisation of an original Celtic name (possibly meaning
   "breast-like hill" from mamm- = " breast"), plus Anglo-Saxon ceaster =
   " town", which is derived from Latin castra = "camp".

History

Early history

   The Peterloo massacre.
   Enlarge
   The Peterloo massacre.

   The Manchester area was settled in or before Roman times. The original
   fort was constructed by General Gnaeus Julius Agricola as a staging
   post between Chester (Deva) and York (Eboracum). This Roman settlement
   was named Mamucium ( Celtic for " breast-shaped hill") after the hill
   that it was sited on to be better defensible. The original location of
   the fort is now in the City of Salford.

   The fort was abandoned in the Dark Ages, and at some point in time the
   focus of settlement shifted from this spot to the confluence of the
   rivers Irwell and Irk.

   In medieval times, this area included a fortified manor house. Thomas
   De La Warre, a manorial lord who also happened to be a priest, gave the
   site to the church for use as a College of Priests around 1422, and
   commenced the construction of the Collegiate Church. The former is now
   Chetham's School of Music, and the latter Manchester Cathedral.

   Manchester became a market town in 1301 when it received its Charter.
   In this period Manchester grew heavily due to a influx of Flemish
   settlers who founded Manchester's new cotton industry and sparked the
   growth of the city to become Lancashire's major industrial centre. The
   ancient parish of Manchester covered a wider area than today's
   metropolitan borough (although not including its full extent), with the
   various townships and chapelries becoming recognised as separate civil
   parishes in 1866.

   During the 19th Century Manchester grew to become to the centre of
   Lancashire's cotton industry and was dubbed " Cottonopolis". During
   this period Manchester had its world famous canal system built as well
   as the famous Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Manchester quickly grew
   into the most important industrial centre in the world, and,
   significantly, the first industrial society. The pace of change was
   fast and frightening. At that time, it seemed a place in which anything
   could happen — new industrial processes, new ways of thinking (the so
   called 'Manchester School', promoting free trade and laissez-faire),
   new classes or groups in society, new religious sects, and new forms of
   labour organisation. It attracted educated visitors from all parts of
   Britain and Europe. "What Manchester does today," it was said, "the
   rest of the world does tomorrow." Also during this period Manchester
   saw a rise in its population as Lancastarians, the Irish, Jews and many
   other people immigrated to the city.

   As well as being a centre of capitalism the city saw its fair share of
   rebellion by the working and non-titled classes, with the most famous
   being the events on St Peter’s Field on 16 August 1819 which have
   become known as ' Peterloo'. The first Trades Union Congress was held
   in Manchester (at the Mechanics' Institute, David Street), from 2 to 6
   June 1868. Manchester was the subject of Freidrich Engels' The
   Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844, Engels himself
   spending much of his life in and around Manchester. Manchester was also
   an important cradle of the Labour Party and the Suffragette Movement.

   Manchester's golden age was perhaps the last quarter of the nineteenth
   century. Many of the great public buildings (including the Town Hall)
   date from then. The city's cosmopolitan atmosphere contributed to a
   vibrant culture, which included the Hallé Orchestra. In 1889, when
   county councils were created in England, the municipal borough became a
   county borough with even greater autonomy. During this period, the
   Manchester Ship Canal was created by the canalisation of the Rivers
   Irwell and Mersey for 36 miles from Salford to the Mersey estuary at
   the port of Liverpool. This enabled ocean going ships to sail right
   into the Port of Manchester Docks (technically in Salford). The docks
   functioned up until the 1970s, with their closure leading to a large
   increase in unemployment in the area.
   Albert Square
   Enlarge
   Albert Square

   Trafford Park in Stretford was the world's first industrial estate and
   still exists today, though with a significant tourist and recreational
   presence. Manchester suffered greatly from the inter-war depression and
   the underlying structural changes that began to supplant the old
   industries, including textile manufacture.

   During the World War II, Manchester was involved in heavy industrial
   construction — it was home to Avro (now BAE Systems) which built
   countless aircraft for the RAF, the most famous being the Avro
   Lancaster bomber. The city was attacked a number of times by the
   Luftwaffe, particularly in the "Christmas Blitz" of 1941, which
   destroyed a large part of the historic city centre and seriously
   damaged the Cathedral.

   In 1974, Manchester was split from the county of Lancashire, and the
   Metropolitan Borough of Manchester was created.

Recent history

   Manchester's Exchange Square undergoing extensive regeneration.
   Enlarge
   Manchester's Exchange Square undergoing extensive regeneration.

   At 11.20 am on Saturday 15 June 1996, the IRA detonated a large bomb in
   the city centre, the largest to be detonated on British soil. Whilst
   this bomb caused over 200 injuries, it caused no deaths, and the
   principal damage was to the physical infrastructure of nearby
   buildings. The consequent reconstruction spurred a massive regeneration
   of the city centre, with complexes such as The Printworks and the
   Triangle creating new city focal points for both shopping and
   entertainment. The regeneration took over a decade to complete. The
   latest and final part of the renovated Manchester Arndale opened in
   September 2006, allowing the centre to hold the title of Europe's
   largest city centre shopping mall. In 2002, the city successfully
   hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games, earning praise from many sources.
   Manchester has twice failed in its bid to host the Olympic Games,
   losing to Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

   Rapidly developing institutions attract crime and disorder; see main
   article crime and policing in Manchester.

   Since the regeneration after the 1996 IRA bomb, and aided by the XVII
   Commonwealth Games, Manchester's city centre has changed significantly.
   Large sections of the city dating from the 1960s have been either
   demolished and re-developed or modernised with the use of glass and
   steel; a good example of this transformation is the Manchester Arndale.
   Many old mills have been converted into apartments, helping to give the
   city a much more modern, upmarket look and feel. Some areas, like
   Hulme, have undergone extensive regeneration programmes and many
   million-pound lofthouse apartments have since been developed to cater
   for its growing business community. The 168 metre tall, 47-storey
   Beetham Tower, completed in 2006, provides the highest residential
   accommodation in the United Kingdom - the lower 23 floors form the
   Hilton Hotel, while the upper 24 floors are apartments. The Beetham
   Tower was originally planned to stand 171 metres in height, but this
   had to be changed due to local wind conditions.

Physical geography

   Manchester lies in a bowl-shaped land area bordered to the north and
   east by the Pennine hills and to the south by the Cheshire Plain. The
   city centre is on the east bank of the River Irwell, near the
   confluence of the River Medlock and the River Irk and is relatively
   low-lying, being between 35 and 42 metres (115 to 138 ft) above sea
   level. The River Mersey flows through the south of Manchester. Much of
   the inner city, especially in the south, is flat, offering extensive
   views of the moors from the top floors of many high buildings.
   Manchester's geographic features were highly influential in its early
   development as the world's first industrial city. These features are
   its climate, its proximity to a seaport at Liverpool, the availability
   of water power from its rivers, and its nearby coal reserves.

Climate

   Manchester has a relatively damp climate and a reputation as a rainy
   city. The average annual rainfall is 809 mm, (902 mm from some
   sources)meaning that its reputation is relatively undeserved. For
   example, this total is less than that of Plymouth, Cardiff or Glasgow.
   In international terms, Manchester receives substantially less rain
   than New York City, which receives 1200 mm of rain in an average year,
   and its average annual rainfall total is comparable with that of Rome.
   The precipitation is regularly light and prolonged, however, so a small
   volume of rain may take an hour to fall in Manchester, compared to
   several minutes of heavy rain experienced in Rome. Manchester also has
   a relatively high humidity level, which lent itself to the optimised
   and breakage-free textile manufacturing which took place in the city.
   Snowfall is rare in the city itself, being low-lying, towards the west
   coast and an urban landscape.
   Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
                          Average max. temperature
                                ° C (° F) 6
                                   (44) 6
                                   (44) 8
                                   (48) 11
                                   (52) 15
                                   (59) 17
                                   (64) 19
                                   (67) 19
                                   (67) 16
                                   (62) 13
                                   (55) 8
                                   (48) 7
                                   (45) 12
                                    (55)
                          Average min. temperature
                                 °C (°F) 1
                                   (35) 1
                                   (35) 2
                                   (37) 4
                                   (40) 7
                                   (45) 10
                                   (50) 12
                                   (54) 12
                                   (54) 10
                                   (50) 7
                                   (45) 4
                                   (40) 2
                                   (37) 6
                                    (44)
                                  Rainfall
                               mm ( inches) 71
                                  (2.8) 58
                                  (2.3) 58
                                  (2.3) 51
                                  (2.0) 64
                                  (2.5) 71
                                  (2.8) 86
                                  (3.4) 94
                                  (3.7) 81
                                  (3.2) 94
                                  (3.7) 84
                                  (3.3) 86
                                  (3.4) 902
                                   (35.5)
   Source: Weatherbase

Politics and administration

   See Politics in Manchester

Economics

   The CIS Tower is one of the many company Headquarters in the city
   Enlarge
   The CIS Tower is one of the many company Headquarters in the city

   Manchester has many office buildings, and its Central Business District
   is currently in the centre of the city, adjacent to Piccadilly, focused
   on Mosley Street, Deansgate, King Street and Piccadilly. However, new
   office space is appearing rapidly throughout the city, as its
   reputation as a high quality European Business Centre increases.
   Spinningfields is a large new development west of Deansgate; it will be
   a large, modern business centre, and home to several headquarters,
   squares, and cafes. The first building on the site was the Royal Bank
   of Scotland's new headquarters on Deansgate. The project is being
   spear-headed by Sir Norman Foster. Other buildings include a 110 metre
   tall office building, a new justice centre and new Crown Court, to be
   built over the next few years.

   Just outside the city centre, a new business district is appearing in
   Salford Quays, regenerated ex-shipping docks similar to London's
   Docklands, and is home to headquarters and call centres for many major
   companies. The announcement in June 2006 that the BBC hopes to relocate
   several departments to the Quays from London is sure to further expand
   the area as Greater Manchester's second major Business District.

Shopping

   Manchester is the main retail centre of the North. There are two large
   shopping malls; the Manchester Arndale in the middle of the city and
   the out-of-town Trafford Centre. The city centre has a number of
   smaller shopping centres, including The Triangle, which caters for a
   more youthful and upmarket clientele and the Royal Exchange Centre.
   Manchester also has one of the largest ASDA-WalMart supercentres in the
   UK, close to the City of Manchester Stadium in Eastlands.
   Manchester's Main Shopping District; Market Street
   Enlarge
   Manchester's Main Shopping District; Market Street

   In the central shopping area of the city centre, road access is all but
   impossible, making journeys around the city on foot quicker, safer and
   more convenient. The pedestrianised Market Street forms the core of the
   city centre's retail area. It is dominated on the north side by the
   Manchester Arndale and a branch of Debenhams.

   The Shambles contains a branch of Harvey Nichols, a Marks and Spencer
   store, and a branch of Selfridges, as well as a variety of upmarket
   designer boutiques.

   Deansgate also has many shops, including the department store House of
   Fraser (formerly Kendals), along with pubs and bars. King Street is an
   affluent shopping area where many exclusive fashion brands have stores.
   King Street also has many notable buildings preserved in a conservation
   area. Other hubs in the centre include St Ann's Square, and Exchange
   Square.

   Former stores, since gone, include Lewis's, Henry's, and Affleck and
   Brown. The building that housed Affleck and Brown is now known as
   Affleck's Palace. It consists of low-cost stalls for independent
   traders and creatives. Affleck's is on Oldham Street, in the Northern
   Quarter, along with a range of independent music, clothing, and other
   shops.

Food and drink

   Manchester has a range of restaurants, bars, and clubs, spanning the
   famous "curry mile" in Rusholme to traditional ‘grub’, Chinatown,
   modern bars and bistros at Deansgate Locks in the city centre. There
   are now many top class restaurants.

   There is a Hard Rock Cafe, chain restaurants such as Wagamama and bars
   that include Waxy O’Connors and The Living Room. The coffee chain
   Starbucks has 12 outlets in a 2 mile radius. Other, independent
   restaurants, bars and clubs can be found in the Northern Quarter area
   of the city centre.

   Manchester is also famous for its beer, despite the closure of the
   Boddingtons brewery in 2005. Keg 'Boddies' is brewed by Interbrew in
   Luton but cask Boddington's continues to be brewed in the city by Hydes
   brewery in Moss Side. Hydes is a long established independent brewery.
   Another Manchester brewer is Joseph Holt, whose Derby Brewery in
   Cheetham is just round the corner from the defunct Boddingtons
   Strangeways brewery. The Royal Brewery in Moss Side — not far from
   Hyde's — brews McEwans lager. J W Lees brewery is in Middleton
   Junction, a few miles north of the city. There are also a notable
   number of microbreweries producing smaller quantities of high quality
   beer, cider and perry.

   Breweries in Manchester and Salford which closed within the last twenty
   years include Wilson's, whose Newton Heath brewery closed in the late
   1980s, and Whitbread/Chester's in Salford.

Demographics

   The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed a total population for Manchester
   of 392,819, a 9.2% decline on the figure from the previous census, ten
   years before. Of the 2001 total, 191,570 Mancuians were male and
   201,249 female. 82,788 were aged under 16, 284,994 16 to 74, and 25,037
   aged 75 and over.

Ethnicity

   81% of people identified themselves as "White", 5.9% as "Pakistani",
   2.3% as "Black Caribbean" and 1.4% as "Black African".

Religion

   Stated religions in order of prevalence:
    1. Christian 62.4%
    2. No religion 16.0%
    3. Religion not stated 9.7%
    4. Muslim 9.1%
    5. Jewish 0.8%
    6. Hindu 0.7%
    7. Buddhist 0.5%
    8. Sikh 0.4%
    9. Other 0.3%

Economic activity

   Manchester reported the second-lowest proportion of the population in
   employment of any area in the United Kingdom. Although unemployment in
   Manchester is higher than average, the primary reason for Manchester's
   low level of employed people is the very high proportion of the
   population who are students.

Education

Universities

   Manchester is home to two major universities: the University of
   Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University are to the south of
   the city. The University of Manchester is the largest full-time
   non-collegiate university in Britain, and was created in autumn 2004 by
   the merger of Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST. Manchester
   Metropolitan University was formed out of the old polytechnic college
   in the city.

   The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and
   the Royal Northern College of Music are all grouped together on the
   southern side of the city centre, and effectively form one large campus
   around Oxford Road.

Schools

   Manchester's most notable secondary school is the Manchester Grammar
   School, an independent (what would be termed "private" in other
   English-speaking countries) boys' school, for pupils aged 11–18, in
   Fallowfield, South Manchester. In the post-war period, it was a
   direct-grant grammar school, which charged no fees, but it became an
   independent school in 1976 after the Labour government removed funding
   from direct-grant grammar schools. Originally situated in the centre of
   the city, in a prominent position close to the Cathedral, it has since
   relocated to Old Hall Lane in Fallowfield, to accommodate the growing
   student body. Its previous premises are now used by Chetham's School of
   Music.

Religion

   St Ann's Church, St Ann's Square
   Enlarge
   St Ann's Church, St Ann's Square

   The Anglican Diocese of Manchester was established in 1847. Manchester
   has also has an Anglican cathedral, St Mary, St George's and St Denys'
   Cathedral. It was built over a period of 600 years and is built in the
   Gothic Style.

   Manchester lies within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford. The
   oldest surviving Catholic church is St Mary's The Hidden Gem, on
   Mulberry Street in the city centre. Manchester is in the Central North
   Division of the Salvation Army.

   Manchester has a large Muslim population, and the UK's largest Jewish
   community outside London.
     * See also: The Salvation Army in Manchester

Places of interest

Architecture

   Manchester has a wide variety of buildings mainly from Victorian
   architecture through to modern. Much of the architecture in the city
   harks back to its former days as a global centre for the cotton trade.
   Many warehouses have now been converted for other uses but the external
   appearance remains mostly unchanged so the city keeps much of its
   original character. An interesting facet of the architecture of
   Manchester and several other cities which underwent a construction boom
   during the industrial revolution is that inspiration was taken from
   Venice. Examples of this architecture can be easily found to the south
   and east of Albert Square and near the 92nd lock of the Bridgewater
   Canal, near Beetham Tower.

   Manchester also has a number of skyscrapers. Most were built during the
   sixties and seventies. However, in the last few years there has been a
   renewed interest in building skyscrapers in Manchester. Numerous
   residential and office blocks are being built or have recently been
   built in the city centre. Beetham Tower was completed in the Autumn of
   2006 and houses a Hilton hotel along with a restaurant and residential
   properties. It is currently the tallest building in the UK outside
   London. However, this status may be short lived, an even taller
   building is proposed behind Manchester Piccadilly station.

   Other structures of interest in Manchester include:
   Key
   National Trust        National Trust
   English Heritage      English Heritage
   Forestry Commission   Forestry Commission
   Country Park          Country Park
   Accessible open space Accessible open space
   Museum (free)
   Museum                Museums (free/not free)
   Heritage railway      Heritage railway
   Historic house        Historic House
     * The Bridgewater Hall, home of the Hallé Orchestra
     * The Beetham Tower, Manchester, the tallest building in Manchester
     * The Corn Exchange (now the Triangle shopping centre)
     * The G-Mex Centre
     * John Rylands Library, Deansgate
     * London Road Fire Station
     * Manchester Art Gallery Museum (free)
     * Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, by E. Vincent Harris
     * Manchester Town Hall by Alfred Waterhouse, extended by
       E. Vincent Harris
     * Midland Bank building (now HSBC Bank plc), King Street by Sir Edwin
       Lutyens
     * The Midland Hotel
     * Piccadilly Gardens by Tadao Ando
     * Palace Hotel
     * The Portico Library
     * The Royal Exchange
     * South Manchester Synagogue
     * Strangeways Prison by Waterhouse
     * Sunlight House
     * Trinity Bridge over River Irwell by Santiago Calatrava
     * Victoria station
     * The Victoria Baths
     * Urbis Museum designed by Ian Simpson
     * Old Trafford, Manchester United Football Club
     * The City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester City Football Club and
       2002 Commonwealth Games venue

     * Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Lancashire County Cricket Club

Public monuments

   Within Manchester there are monuments to numerous people and events
   that have helped to shape the city and influence the wider community.
   Two large squares, Albert Square, in front of Manchester Town Hall, and
   Piccadilly Gardens hold many of Manchester’s public monuments.

   Notable monuments elsewhere in the city include the Alan Turing
   Memorial situated in Sackville Park close to Canal street remembers the
   father of modern computing. A monument to Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln
   Square marks the cotton famine of 1861–1865. Finally, the success of
   the 2002 Commonwealth Games is commemorated by B of the Bang, Britain’s
   tallest sculpture, located near the City of Manchester Stadium.
   Piccadilly Gardens
   Enlarge
   Piccadilly Gardens

Streets and plazas

   Manchester has a number of busy squares, plazas and shopping streets.
   Many of Manchester city centre's streets are now pedestrianised with
   numerous other streets having Metrolink or Bus priority, this makes
   driving around Manchester City Centre complicated.

   One of the oldest thoroughfares is Market Street. This was originally
   called Market Stede Lane. Much of the medieval street pattern, around
   the original Market Place was cleared as part of 1970s developments.
   Ancient streets such as Smithy Door were lost forever. One ancient
   street to survive is Long Millgate, which led north from the old Market
   Place. This winding lane, crossing Fennel Street and leading on to Todd
   Street (formerly Toad Lane - thought to be a corruption of T'owd Lane -
   The Old Lane) is now an attractive and peaceful thoroughfare, bounded
   by gardens.

   Whitworth Street is a broad 19th century route, stretching from
   Deansgate to London Road, running parallel to the Rochdale Canal for
   much of its route, and intersecting with Princess Street, Chepstow
   Street and Albion Street along the way. The street is bounded by
   impressive brick buildings, formerly warehouses, but now mostly
   residential developments.

   Mosley Street runs roughly parallel to Portland Street, Whitworth
   Street and Deansgate, leading from Piccadilly Gardens to St Peter's
   Square. The street is closed to general traffic, with the Metrolink
   running trams along its route.

   Another Victorian addition to the city's street pattern was Corporation
   Street, which cut through slums to the north of Market Street and
   provided a direct link from Cross Street (and the newly constructed
   Albert Square) to the routes north of the city.

   To the south of the city centre, Wilmslow Road is the hub of much
   student life and is home to Manchester’s curry mile.

   Other notable places in Manchester include:
     * Great Northern Square
     * Spring Gardens
     * Cathedral Gardens
     * New Cathedral Street
     * The Gay Village
     * Chinatown — the largest Chinatown in the UK and the second largest
       in Europe

Transport and infrastructure

   Manchester is very well served in terms of transport and
   infrastructure. The roads of Manchester are some of the most extensive
   in the UK and statistically Greater Manchester has a higher percentage
   of the motorway network than any other county in the country. According
   to The Guinness Book of World Records, it has the most traffic lanes
   side by side (17), spread across several parallel carriageways. ( M61
   at Linnyshaw Moss, Greater Manchester, close to the M60 interchange).

   Mancunians are often adventurous, with high sales of air tickets to
   international and national destinations with most travelling from
   Manchester Airport. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first
   passenger railway in the world. Today, Greater Manchester still has an
   extensive citywide railway network, and two mainline stations.

   Other forms of transport in Manchester are the famous Black Cabs which
   are reasonably priced compared to other cities and there are plenty of
   taxi stands. You can also call for a minicab direct to your location,
   with many firms providing this service. The biggest in Manchester is
   Street Cars, which is also the name of the taxicab firm in Coronation
   Street.

Air

   Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport
   Enlarge
   Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport

   Manchester Airport, formerly Manchester Ringway Airport, is the third
   busiest airport in the UK in terms of passengers per year. The busier
   airports are London's Heathrow and Gatwick. It is served by a dedicated
   railway station. In 2005 the airport handled 22.1 million passengers
   and provided direct flights to over 180 destinations worldwide by over
   90 airlines. Long haul scheduled destinations served directly from
   Manchester include New York ( JFK and Newark), Chicago, Boston,
   Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Toronto,
   Port of Spain, Antigua, Barbados, Damascus, Dubai, Abu Dhabi (starting
   Spring 2006), Doha, Tehran, Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Singapore.
   There are also firm plans for direct services to Beijing and Bangkok.
   Many European and domestic destinations are served. Manchester to
   London is one of the high density airline routes within the UK and is
   one of the busiest domestic sectors in Europe, but is now experiencing
   serious competition from the improved railway links.

   The airport has been voted the best airport in the UK by Which Consumer
   Magazine, Travel Weekly Globe, Business Magazines International for the
   second year running and in the Airport World’s Service Excellence
   Awards (European runner up, second only to Copenhagen).

   Barton Aerodrome, one of the world's oldest airports, opened in 1930
   and still in operation. It is a very busy light aviation airfield with
   small grass runways which deal with small aircraft. It also has the
   world's oldest operating aircraft control tower, completed in 1933.

Road

   Manchester, like London, has an outer ring road: the M60. Unlike
   London's M25 the M60 actually runs within the Greater Manchester
   conurbation providing good links, rather than around the conurbation as
   the M25 does. It has 27 junctions, numbered consecutively clockwise,
   starting with Junction 1 at Stockport in the south-east of the
   conurbation. The second busiest section of road in the UK after a
   section of the M25 (Junctions 13 & 14 Heathrow) is the M60 north of
   Manchester between junctions 16 and 17.

   The city also has an inner ring road. Part of this is the A57/ A57(M)
   (also known as Mancunian Way), which runs south of the city centre,
   linking the western M602 (which spurs from the M60) to the eastern M60
   and M67.

   The other main motorways serving Manchester are the M56 (to the
   airport, Chester and the M6 southbound to Birmingham), the M61 (to
   Bolton, Preston and the M6 northbound to Lancaster), the M62 (to
   Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston upon Hull), the M66 (to Bury) and the
   M67, which was originally built as a route to Sheffield but was
   cancelled long before completion. All of these motorways connect onto
   the M60.
   A view from inside Manchester's busiest railway station, Piccadilly.
   Enlarge
   A view from inside Manchester's busiest railway station, Piccadilly.

Rail

   Manchester holds a pivotal position in railway history as a birthplace
   of passenger rail travel on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which
   opened in 1830 after the famous Rainhill Trials chose Stephenson's
   Rocket to pull the trains. In just 50 years the city centre was
   encircled by stations and termini, including Manchester London Road
   Station, (now Manchester Piccadilly), Manchester Victoria, Manchester
   Central Railway Station, Manchester Mayfield Station and Manchester
   Exchange Station. Following the Beeching Report in the 1960s, cutbacks
   followed, with Manchester Central, Manchester Mayfield and Manchester
   Exchange closing to passengers. All rail services were then directed to
   Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly. High speed trains to
   London are run from Manchester Piccadilly by Virgin Trains, journeys
   typically taking around 2 hr 15 min. There are also several smaller
   stations remaining around the City Centre, including Manchester Oxford
   Road station, Deansgate railway station and Salford Central railway
   station.

   Although there is no Underground Railway system similar to Glasgow's or
   London's, the city has had several failed attempts to create one
   including the infamous " Picc-Vic tunnel", a heavy rail tunnel linking
   the main stations. Excavation work under the Manchester Arndale for
   this project began in the 1970s, but was soon abandoned due to costs
   and rumours of 'subterranean obstacles'. This may well have referred to
   the ' Guardian' underground nuclear bunker network, originally
   constructed by as a means of protecting communications in the city in
   the event of an atom bomb being deployed and now used by BT. Piccadilly
   and Victoria are now linked by the city's Metrolink tram system.

   The urban and suburban areas are covered by a sizeable network of rail
   lines, including lines to Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Oldham, Stockport
   and Wilmslow.

Metrolink

   A Metrolink tram in Manchester city centre.
   Enlarge
   A Metrolink tram in Manchester city centre.

   Manchester has a tram system called Metrolink. Operated by Serco (which
   also runs London's " Docklands Light Railway"), the Metrolink links the
   city centre to Altrincham, Eccles and Bury. It is a high-frequency
   service, with trams running every 6–12 minutes. It carries nearly 20
   million passengers each year.

   Proposals for a light-rail system in the city grew from a 1970's
   proposal by SELNEC to build three urban rapid transit lines in the
   conurbation.

   Plans to extend Manchester Metrolink were reinstated after an
   election-time u-turn by the Labour Government which had previously
   rejected the plans months earlier, despite years of support. The
   Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive ( GMPTE), responsible
   for public transport in the area, led the fight to ensure that the
   extensions are to be built, with significant support from Local
   Councils and Communities, as well as the main Manchester City Council.
   In July 2006 the government announced a major extension to the
   Metrolink system which is intended to form the first phase of the
   eventual so-called 'big bang' expansion. If the eventual desired system
   is completed, passenger numbers are predicted to more than double to an
   estimated 50 million per year.

   A widely held view of many in Manchester of one of the major failings
   of the Metrolink is that it has never been extended to reach the
   Trafford Centre (approx. 5 miles away in Trafford Park), with a wide
   possibility of routes for this task. The line from Manchester City
   Centre to Eccles Town Centre is also judged by many to be a failure as
   it takes longer than an equivalent bus journey following a similar
   route, but achieves this without the Metrolink's advantage of using
   'Metrolink-only' specially dedicated / constructed routes.

   Since Metrolink's inception and the initial euphoria at the huge
   success, by the public / local & national government / environmental
   groups it has become something of a victim of its own popularity. Many
   routes are extremely busy, especially at peak times, and prices have
   risen at a rate far above that of inflation.

Buses

   Manchester and the surrounding area have an extensive bus network, with
   regular services in and out of the city connecting to all the satellite
   towns and villages. Maps of bus routes and a public transport journey
   planner for the Greater Manchester can be found on the GMPTE website.

   Bus service in Manchester is very cheap. The cheapest bus fare for a
   First bus is £0.40p, compared to London's 80p with an Oyster card. The
   city’s buses are operated by a range of companies including First,
   Stagecoach (incorporating the lower-cost Magicbus), Finglands, UK North
   (also trading as GM Buses), Arriva and R. Bullock. The major routes,
   with high passenger volumes, are well provided-for. These include
   Oxford Road/ Wilmslow Road, one of the busiest bus routes in Europe,
   bringing large numbers of students & commuters from Fallowfield /
   Withington / Didsbury to the university buildings that have campuses
   scattered around the city centre, and the various office buildings,
   including the BBC. Other routes that are not as commercially
   attractive, with smaller passenger volumes, are less well provided for,
   and the cost of a single journey can be similar to that of a Week Pass
   for the "South Manchester" journey.

   First Manchester also operates free Metroshuttle services which link
   important areas of the city, such as Manchester Victoria, Piccadilly
   and Oxford Road stations with Chinatown, Deansgate, Salford Central,
   and Albert Square. These services are very successful and therefore
   often busy. At present, there are three routes, numbered 1, 2 and 3,
   and coloured orange, green and purple respectively. They run every 5-10
   minutes and complement the Metrolink and National Rail services,
   linking them with the city’s car parks, tourist attractions and bus
   termini.

   Those arriving at Manchester Piccadilly Bus Station, and needing to
   take a train from Manchester Piccadilly, can choose either a Metrolink
   or the free Metroshuttle. It should be noted, however, that if one sits
   waiting on the Metroshuttle for 10 minutes one could have easily walked
   the distance to the Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station, less than
   half a mile away.

   High frequency bendy bus routes include the Bury-Manchester 135 service
   and the Bolton-Manchester 8 service, which operate every ten minutes.

   Manchester's principal bus station mainly for services on the south
   side of the city is at Piccadilly Gardens, which is also served by
   Metrolink and a short walk from the city's main railway station,
   Piccadilly. Shudehill Bus/Metrolink Interchange caters for routes
   mainly on the north side of the city and is within walking distance of
   the Victoria station. Long-distance coaches, operated mainly by
   National Express, serve the Manchester Central Coach Station at
   Chorlton Street. This smart, modern station opened in March 2002 and
   replaced the old Chorlton Street coach station, on exactly the same
   site. The old station was notorious for crime and prostitution.

Water

   The Bridgewater Canal.
   Enlarge
   The Bridgewater Canal.

   One legacy of the industrial revolution is an extensive network of
   canals: the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, Rochdale Canal, Manchester
   Ship Canal, which provides access to the sea, Bridgewater Canal, Ashton
   Canal, and the Leigh Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Today, most
   of these canals are used for recreation.

   The Manchester area is supplied with water by numerous artificial
   lakes, built on the former small rivers around the city. In some cases
   these lakes form long chains, as in Longdendale. In the past, the city
   also had a "pressurised water" power supply system, a predecessor of
   the modern electricity network. Manchester also had Britain's first
   sewer network, which still exists today. This network may be one of the
   factors that prevents Manchester from having an underground rail
   system.

Culture

Nightlife

   There has long been a thriving nightclub culture in Manchester. UK
   broadcaster Jimmy Savile is credited as becoming the first modern DJ by
   using twin turntables for continuous play after he obtained two
   domestic record decks welded together. He first used this device to
   play to the public in 1946, at a nightclub called The Ritz on Whitworth
   Street (which had opened in 1927). Tony Prince is credited as becoming
   the world's first full-time club DJ in 1964 when Savile, who was then a
   Mecca manager in Manchester, told him that Top Rank considered him to
   be the first person to be on their payroll as a pure DJ.

   Many teenagers of the 1960s developed a love for Northern Soul, which
   had as two of its epicentres the Wigan Casino and Manchester's Twisted
   Wheel Club, and is credited as being instrumental in the development of
   the Motown Sound.

   Rob Gretton, members of New Order (the band formed from the remaining
   members of Joy Division after singer Ian Curtis' suicide) and Factory
   Records boss Tony Wilson opened Fac 51 The Hacienda on Whitworth Street
   in 1982. It quickly became the focus of electronic music and the start
   of house music, the Madchester sound, and the Ibiza scene, which all
   came together in the Summer of Love in 1988. The Hacienda was also at
   the setting of the 2002 movie 24 Hour Party People.

   Other historical clubs and nights in Manchester include
     * "Naked under leather" — one of the UK birthplaces of Electronic
       Music.
     * "The Number One" — the first gay rave/house club.
     * "Bowlers" — home of happy hardcore.
     * "Paradise Factory" and "The Breakfast Club" at Manto.
     * " Rockworld".
     * "Home".
     * "Flesh".
     * "Homoelectric".
     * "Danceteria".
     * " The Hacienda"
     * "The Warehouse Project"
     * " Sankeys Soap

   One of the oldest and most diverse venues is the Band on the Wall, a
   live music venue in the Northern Quarter area of the city. This venue
   was built around 1862 as the flagship pub of a local brewery; it was
   originally called The George & Dragon. It got its nickname in the late
   1920s or early 1930s from the stage high on the back wall. In 1975 it
   was taken on by jazz musician Steve Morris and his business partner
   Frank Cusick, and renamed The Band on the Wall.

Art

   The B of the Bang, a sculpture commemorating the 2002 Commonwealth
   Games in Manchester.
   Enlarge
   The B of the Bang, a sculpture commemorating the 2002 Commonwealth
   Games in Manchester.

   There are several art galleries in Manchester, notably:
     * The Athenaeum
     * Manchester Art Gallery
     * The Whitworth Art Gallery
     * The Chinese Arts Centre
     * Cornerhouse
     * The Castlefield Gallery
     * Cube Gallery

Museums

   Imperial War Museum North.
   Enlarge
   Imperial War Museum North.

   Museums in Manchester include:
     * Greater Manchester Police Museum
     * Imperial War Museum North (Trafford Park)
     * Manchester Jewish Museum
     * Manchester Museum
     * Museum of Science and Industry
     * Pankhurst Centre
     * People’s History Museum
     * Urbis, a museum of city life
     * The Gallery of Costume

Classical music

   Manchester is home to two symphony orchestras, the Hallé Orchestra and
   the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. There is also a chamber orchestra, the
   Manchester Camerata.

   For many years the city’s main classical venue was the Free Trade Hall
   on Peter Street. Since 1996, however, Manchester has had a modern 2,500
   seat concert venue called the Bridgewater Hall, which is also home to
   the Hallé Orchestra. The hall is one of the country’s most technically
   advanced classical music and lecture venues, with an acoustically
   designed interior and suspended foundations for an optimum sound. Other
   venues for classical concerts include the RNCM, the Royal Exchange
   Theatre and Manchester Cathedral.

   Manchester is a centre for musical education, being home to the Royal
   Northern College of Music and Chetham’s School of Music.

   In the 1950s the city was home to the so-called ‘Manchester School’ of
   classical composers, which comprised Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell
   Davies and Alexander Goehr.

Popular music

   For Mancunians, the popular musical heritage of the city has been a
   source of great pride. The city’s eclectic mix of music has helped to
   create the sense among its inhabitants that Manchester is the most
   important city in world music.

   Local groups and bands have included:
     * The Bee Gees
     * The Hollies
     * The Mindbenders
     * 10cc
     * Buzzcocks
     * Slaughter and the Dogs
     * Magazine
     * A Certain Ratio
     * Joy Division
     * New Order
          + (the previous three on local label Factory Records)
     * The Smiths
     * The Fall
     * M People
     * Badly Drawn Boy
     * Doves
     * Oasis
     * Cleopatra
     * The Chameleons
     * Elbow
     * Simply Red
     * Nine Black Alps
     * Take That
     * Herman's Hermits
     * Freddie and the Dreamers
     * William Beaman
     * Mr. Scruff

   As well as " Madchester" scene bands:
     * the Happy Mondays
     * The Charlatans UK
     * The Inspiral Carpets
     * James
     * The Stone Roses

   The Chemical Brothers (from southern England) formed in Manchester.
   Also, ex- Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown has forged a successful solo
   career, as has ex-Smiths leadman Morrissey. Among the others born in
   the Greater Manchester area are Richard Ashcroft and Jay Kay-the singer
   and mastermind of the acid jazz band Jamiroquai.

   In 1965, on the U.S. Hot 100, a unique hat-trick of consecutive number
   1s took place in the spring, all from Mancunian pop groups. Freddie and
   the Dreamers spent two weeks at the top with "I'm Telling You Now"
   (between April 10–24), Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders one week with
   "Game of Love" ( April 24-May 1),and finally Herman's Hermits with "Mrs
   Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter", a further three weeks ( May
   1–22), a total of six weeks, an achievement never matched even in the
   UK Top 50.

   Manchester’s main popular music venue is the Manchester Evening News
   Arena, situated next to Manchester Victoria railway station, which
   seats over 21,000 and is the largest arena of its type in Europe, voted
   International Arena of the Year, beating New York’s Madison Square
   Garden. Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo and the
   Manchester Academy. The many smaller venues throughout the city, such
   as the Bierkeller, the Roadhouse and Night and Day Cafe, ensure that
   Manchester’s music scene is always vibrant and interesting.

   The famous American anti-war hippie musical from the late sixties,
   Hair, includes a song entitled "Manchester, England" though the mention
   of the city in the song's title is somewhat irrelevant and merely used
   as punctuation in the song's lyrics.

Literature

   In the 19th Century, Manchester figured in novels that discussed the
   changes that industrialisation had brought to Britain. These included
   works such as:-
     * Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life (1848) by Elizabeth Gaskell,
     * The Condition of the English Working Class in 1844 written by
       Friedrich Engels while living and working in Manchester.

   Charles Dickens is reputed to have set his novel Hard Times in the
   city, and while it is partly modelled on Preston, it shows the
   influence of his friend Elizabeth Gaskkell .

   Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange was born and educated
   in Manchester, and his memoirs Little Wilson and Big God provide an
   account of his early life in mid-century Manchester. Howard Jacobson,
   born in the Jewish area of Prestwich, has written about post-war
   Manchester in The Mighty Walzer (1999) and Kalooki Nights (2006).

   The Manchester novelist Maurice Procter was an early author of police
   procedural novels. Procter's Hell is a City (1954) is set in a
   fictionalised Manchester, later filmed in the city with lead roles for
   Donald Pleasence and Stanley Baker .

   The German writer W. G. Sebald lived in Manchester when he first
   settled in England, and the city features prominently in his novel The
   Emigrants.

   The Mancunian Jeff Noon set his early novels, including Vurt, in a
   future dystopian Manchester.

   Nicholas Blincoe set his first three novels in Manchester, including
   Acid Casuals (1995), based around the nightclub The Hacienda and
   Manchester Slingback (1998), focussing on the Gay Village of Canal
   Street.

   The crime novelist Val McDermid lived in the city for many years and
   set her Lindsay Gordon series in Manchester.

   Carcanet Press, founded as a poetry magazine, began publishing poetry
   collections and novels in the early 1970's under the editorship of
   Michael Schmidt . Schmidt was one of the first directors of the
   Manchester Metropolitan University Writers School, whose staff
   currently includes Simon Armitage and Carol Ann Duffy.

   In Manchester is the Manchester Metropolitan University Writers School,
   one of the top creative writing schools in the country.

   The Writer's Bureau — a private company set up to help new freelance
   writers through its home-study courses — runs its offices from
   Manchester.

   In Manchester from October 2006 is the Manchester Literature Festival.

Theatre

   Manchester is noted for its excellent theatres. Larger venues include
   the Manchester Opera House, a commercial theatre promoting large scale
   touring shows which regularly plays host to touring West End shows, the
   Palace Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre, a large producing
   theatre in Manchester’s former cotton exchange. The Library Theatre is
   a small producing theatre situated in the basement of the city’s
   central library, and the Lowry Centre is a large touring venue in
   Salford.

   Smaller sites include the Green Room, which focuses on fringe
   productions, the Contact Theatre, a theatre for young people with a
   bold contemporary design, and Studio Salford, the theatre and music
   venue at Bloom Street, Salford. The Dancehouse is a theatre dedicated
   to dance productions. The city is also home to two highly-regarded
   drama schools; The Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre
   and the Arden School of Theatre. In addition the Royal Northern College
   of Music (RNCM) has 4 theatre spaces especially noted for its opera and
   classical music productions.

Venues

   The MEN Arena.
   Enlarge
   The MEN Arena.

   As well as many sporting venues Manchester has many venues for
   performances and conventions:
     * G-Mex
     * Manchester International Conference Centre
     * Bridgewater Hall
     * Lowry
     * MEN Arena
     * Manchester Academy
     * Manchester Apollo

Sport

   Sport and especially football are an important part of Manchester
   culture.

   Many first class sporting facilities were built for the 2002
   Commonwealth Games, including the Manchester Velodrome, the City of
   Manchester Stadium, the National Squash Centre and the Manchester
   Aquatics Centre.

   Manchester is a successful sporting city with many famous sporting
   people heralding from the city as well as from the surrounding area of
   Greater Manchester. Manchester has competed twice to host the Olympic
   Games being beaten by Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

   It was announced in 2005 that various sporting arenas around the city
   will be used in the 2012 Olympics.

Football

   Two major football clubs, Manchester United and Manchester City, bear
   the city’s name. Manchester City's ground is at the City of Manchester
   Stadium, while Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground, the largest
   club football ground in England, is just outside the city in the
   borough of Trafford.

   It is commonly perceived that Manchester City have more local support
   than Manchester United. However, research by Manchester University a
   few years ago showed that United had 9,000 season ticket holders within
   the M postal area and City had 7,000. The Manchester postal district
   includes the (strongly United supporting) city of Salford but also
   Prestwich and Whitefield (with one of the largest City supporters
   clubs) and areas such as Denton, where United also have strong support.
   This research was done before City moved to the (larger, 48,000
   capacity) City of Manchester Stadium, and well before the expansion of
   United's Old Trafford stadium which will accommodate 76,000 by summer
   2006. The truth is that nobody knows for sure which team has the most
   local support and that the figures are probably too close to call. What
   is beyond doubt is that United's nationwide and international support
   far exceeds that of City, so City have larger local support as a
   proportion of their fan base.
   Manchester City's City of Manchester Stadium during the Commonwealth
   games
   Enlarge
   Manchester City's City of Manchester Stadium during the Commonwealth
   games

   City and United are just two examples of local football teams:
   according to the Urbis centre, Greater Manchester has the highest
   concentration of football clubs per capita of anywhere in the world.
   Other professional football teams in Greater Manchester include Oldham
   Athletic, Stockport County, Bury, Wigan Athletic, Rochdale and Bolton
   Wanderers.

Rugby football

   The Greater Manchester area is also represented in Rugby League by
   Wigan Warriors, who share the JJB Stadium with Wigan Athletic, Salford
   City Reds, who are currently in the process of constructing a new
   state-of-the-art stadium in Eccles, over the Manchester Ship Canal from
   the Trafford Centre, Oldham Roughyeds and Rochdale Hornets. Manchester
   is also home to Swinton Lions who play at Sedgley Park. They are
   represented in rugby union by Sale Sharks, who currently play their
   home games at Edgeley Park in Stockport and Manchester R.C. Greater
   Manchester is also represented by Orrell R.U.F.C from Wigan.

Cricket

   Old Trafford cricket ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club,
   hosts many first-class cricket and important international matches
   including Test Matches.

Other sports

   Belle Vue Stadium in Gorton is home to the Belle Vue Aces speedway team
   and also hosts regular greyhound races.

   Manchester also has an ice hockey team called the Manchester Phoenix
   who are in the process of building an arena called the Altrincham Ice
   Dome. The city was previously home to the Manchester Storm ice hockey
   club who in 1997 played in front of the largest audience ever to watch
   an ice hockey game in the United Kingdom when 17,245 people saw the
   Storm defeat the Sheffield Steelers 6-2 at the MEN Arena.

Gay and lesbian

   Manchester has the UK's largest gay population outside of London, and
   is renowned for its Gay Village. Centred around the Canal Street area
   the Gay Village is home to numerous gay shops, restaurants, bars and
   clubs. On the last weekend in August it hosts the Manchester Pride
   Festival (previously known as Mardi Gras and Gayfest).

   The 'Canal Street' sign, situated at the top of the walk has also been
   hightened further up the lamp post on which it is situated many times,
   due to the fact of prankers painting over the C and S to make it 'Anal
   Treet'.

   Manchester’s gay culture was brought to mainstream attention in 1999 by
   the acclaimed and controversial Channel 4 drama series Queer as Folk,
   which was set in the Village. It is also the birthplace of several gay
   rights organisations including the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and
   the Queer Youth Alliance. Manchester has its own gay sports teams,
   Village Manchester FC (soccer), Northern Wave ( swimming) and Village
   Spartans (Rugby) which take part in Manchester's annual Pride Games.

   The year round gay and lesbian heritage trail exhibits Manchester’s gay
   history. Manchester’s claim to status of "gay capital of the UK" was
   strengthened in 2003 when it played host city to the annual Europride
   festival. The Lesbian and Gay Foundation, Britain's biggest gay
   charity, is based on Princess Street in the city centre.

   Marketing Manchester, the tourist board for Manchester, has produced a
   site dedicated to informing LGBT visitors about what is happening in
   the city and offering a unique tourist guide. This may be found at
   visitgaymanchester.com

Foreign consulates and commissions

   Manchester and its conurbation are home to a number of foreign
   consulates and commissions:
     * Australia — Australian Consulate: Chatsworth House, Lever Street,
       Manchester M1 2QL Tel: 0161 228 1344 Fax: 0161 236 4074
     * Bangladesh — High Commission People's Republic of Bangladesh
     * Belgium — Consulate of Belgium : 76 Moss Lane Bramhall, Stockport,
       SK7 1EJ, Tel. 0161 439 5999
     * People's Republic of China — Consulate General of The People's
       Republic of China: Denison House, Denison Road, Rusholme,
       Manchester M14
     * Denmark — Trade Office of Denmark: 4th Floor, Arkwright House,
       Parsonage Gardens, Manchester M3
     * France — Trade Commission of France: 24th Floor, Sunley Tower,
       Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1
     * France — Consulate of France: Davis Blank Furniss, 90 Deansgate,
       Manchester M3 2QJ Tel. 0161 832 3304
     * Germany — Consulate General of Germany: Westminster House, 11
       Portland Street, Manchester, M60 1HY, Tel. 0161 237 5255 (no longer
       operational)
     * Republic of Ireland — Trade Board of Ireland: 56 Oxford Street,
       Manchester M1
     * Italy — Consulate of Italy: Rodwell Tower, 111 Piccadilly,
       Manchester M1
     * Monaco — Consulate of Monaco: Dene Manor, Dene Park, Manchester M20
     * Netherlands — The Royal Consulate of the Netherlands: 123
       Deansgate, Manchester M3
     * Pakistan — Vice-consulate of Pakistan: 4th Floor Hilton House,
       26/28 Hilton Street, Manchester M1.
     * Spain — Consulate General of Spain: 1a Brook House, 70 Spring
       Gardens, Manchester M2 2BQ
     * Switzerland — Consulate General of Switzerland: 24th Floor, Sunley
       Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1

   In addition, the British Council maintains a headquarters building in
   the city centre.

South Manchester Villages

   These town centres in south Manchester were formerly villages:-
     * Didsbury
     * Withington
     * Chorlton-cum-Hardy
     * Fallowfield
     * Burnage
     * Levenshulme
     * Longsight

Photo Gallery

   City of Manchester Stadium

   Exchange Square

   Piccadilly Station

   Piccadilly Gardens

   Royal Exchange

   Manchester Central Library

   Piccadilly Plaza

   Market Street

   CIS Tower

   Manchester Cathedral

   Manchester Town Hall

   Albert Square

   Urbis

   Museum of Science and Industry

   Imperial War Museum North

   Beetham Tower

   Historic Pubs near Exchange Square

   Canal Street

   Deansgate Locks

   Bridgewater Hall

   Manchester's famous Central Library in St Peter's Square

   HSBC Bank, on Spring Gardens

   The Urbis museum and garden

Twin Cities

     * Netherlands Amsterdam — Netherlands
     * Germany Chemnitz — Germany
     * Spain Córdoba — Spain
     * Pakistan Faisalabad — Pakistan
     * Nicaragua Managua — Nicaragua
     * Israel Rehovot — Israel
     * Russia St Petersburg — Russia
     * People's Republic of China Wuhan — China

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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