2022
Peter: “Eh up” from Manchester!! Greetings and welcome to our first More of Manchester post!
Adrian: “Eh up” from me as well! And I’m super excited to have you all on our joint post! As you may have noticed, it’s written in the style of a conversational post where you’ll see separate comments from myself and Peter..all thanks to the magic of Google Docs’ online collaboration tools!
Peter: Shh.. enough Google fanboy-ing! Going back to the topic, this #MoreOfManchester series is part of a wider marketing that we’re doing for the #EuroMeetup2024 which is taking place in Manchester from 6-9 June 2024 (read the announcement post here) to help promote Manchester and to entice you to come join the event!
Adrian: Indeed and to kick off this series, we’ll be covering our Top 10 places in Manchester that you should visit and discover! Peter will have his pick of 5 places and I’ll have my pick of another 5 places. And together, we hope that they will become 10 reasons why you should join the #EuroMeetup2024 event!
Peter’s Top 5 places:
1) Footballing Manchester
Manchester United Football Club
Whilst football isn’t really my thing, I know that for many people it is, and we have to recognise that Manchester is the cradle of football as we know it today. Starting as a leisure activity for the mill and factory workers in the industrial revolution, when it was about the only leisure they got, Manchester’s two main clubs have grown to be two of the world’s greatest clubs - and they both do stadium tours, although they are a little out of the city centre.
But bang in the middle of the city centre, right by the cathedral, is the National Football Museum - which covers the growth of football from village to village entertainment, through the industrial revolution, and to modern day £multimillion clubs or grass-roots Sunday morning soccer behind the pub. With a catalogue of famous people and famous moments, it is well worth an afternoon spent within - especially if Manchester is offering you one of its traditional rainy days.
Medieval Quarter
Before Manchester was the city it is today, it was nothing but a small village near to an ancient Roman settlement. The village sat on a hill between two rivers and a ditch. Not much of it remains visible, but there are surviving elements that are well worth seeing: Chetham’s Library, Manchester Cathedral, and barely visible beneath more modern buildings, Hanging Ditch Bridge. A visit to these places will give you a good grasp of Manchester’s overall history.
2) Medieval Quarter : Chetham’s Library
Chetham’s is the oldest public library in the English language world, and is still a public library - it’s a beautiful sandstone building built on the site of the ancient manor house, in about 1421 and was then a college to train priests in the adjacent cathedral. A trip inside it reveals an almost Hogwarts style ancient library experience with ancient corridors and old wooden bookshelves, a manorial hall, precious manuscripts and chained books. Guided tours take place morning and afternoon most days, and are very reasonably priced - and it’s worth booking in advance to ensure that all the places aren’t taken. It's the place where Karl Marx and Friedrich met and together wrote their manifesto.
3) Medieval Quarter : Manchester Cathedral & the Hanging Bridge
Adjacent to Chetham’s, and sharing a history, Manchester Cathedral stands on a site where Christian worship has taken place for at least 1300 years. The original church is long gone (although an ancient stone found from it is still on view), and it was replaced by the current building in 1421. At first it was simply a collegiate church, where priests were trained, but as Manchester grew in the industrial revolution, the need for a cathedral became evident and it was given cathedral status in 1841. Built of local red sandstone in the gothic style, it is still the centre of daily worship. It’s also used for events, markets, concerts and banquets.
The cathedral and Chetham’s are built on a promontory between two rivers and a ditch. The ditch was known as Hanging Ditch (as the street that follows its course still is) because it poured its waters from a height into the River Irwell. To cross this ditch a bridge was built in Medieval times - and after many centuries of use was covered over when the ditch was filled in because it had become an open sewer. It was built over and lay forgotten for another two centuries until it was uncovered during the construction of the buildings that now stand on its site. You can see parts of the bridge from street level - but better access is through the Cathedral Shop/cafe and downstairs.
4) Petersfield/St Peter’s Square and Suffrage
In close proximity to each other are two places that remind us that the universal vote so valued today wasn’t available until about 100 years ago. In 1819 (shortly after The Battle of Waterloo when everything was given a -loo suffix in much the same way as we give everything a -gate suffix) thousands of mill workers had gathered on Petersfield to demonstrate for a vote for all male workers whatever their status. Worried about the apparent uprising of the masses, the local magistrates sent in soldiers to control the crowds, but things got out of hand and a massacre of about 30 individuals, including children, took place. They became known as The Peterloo Martyrs. A monument to the event is here.
About 200 yards away in St Peter’s Square is a monument to a group of women - and one woman in particular - who worked and demonstrated for universal suffrage in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Emmeline Pankhurst organised the Suffragette Movement in the early 1900s and is listed as one of the top 100 influential women of the 20th Century. Locally born, she fought for the rights of women to vote - which was only fully granted in the year she died - 1928.
Visiting these two sites will give you a good grasp of Manchester’s importance in the UK’s political sphere over the ages.
5) Cottonopolis: two statues
Manchester was the premier cotton processing city in the world for almost two centuries and was so important that cotton was king (King Cotton) and Manchester got the nickname Cottonopolis. Despite its strong association with the southern US states because of the cotton they grew and sent here, Manchester’s cotton workers took the moral line in supporting Abraham Lincoln in the American Civil War and the fight for the abolition of slavery - at their own expense and often losing contracts and therefore losing jobs in this country. About 60% of the mills fell idle. The friendship between Lincoln and Manchester remained strong and there is a square and a statue dedicated to Abraham Lincoln here.
Not too far a walk from Lincoln Square is a second statue, that of Mahatma Gandhi, who came to Manchester in 1931 to explain the Indian perspective of the boycott of British cotton in his peaceful fight for Indian independence. Again, at significant cost and hardship to themselves, the cotton workers of Manchester supported him - sometimes at the cost of their own jobs. Visit these two statues and you will get a fair grasp of the importance of Manchester in world politics over the centuries.
Adrian’s Top 5 places:
1) Science and Industry Museum
This is a fantastic museum that explores Manchester’s pivotal role in the science and industry’s fields. It is housed in one of the world’s first public train stations! I was very impressed with the exhibits here and frankly, quite surprised by the achievements and advancements made by local scientists and engineers! As an engineer myself, I enjoyed learning more about Manchester’s industrial past and it’s a great starting point for visitors, especially families with young kids.
🪴 Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great space with areas for interactions and activities
♿Accessibility ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fully accessible; wheel chairs, strollers, walking aids
💲Cost ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Free entry, donations are welcomed
🍽️ Food/Drinks ⭐⭐⭐⭐ On site cafe but can be a bit pricey
🧑🏽Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Full time staff plus volunteers; there are talks, guided tours, activities, presentations etc. Great stuff!
Another favourite of mine, this museum has a focus on wars (mostly first and second world war). The exhibits are really good; I found them to be educational, informative and short enough to captivate even me (I’ve got a short attention span!). I really like the layout of the museum because the space is utilised pretty well. At regular intervals, the main hall is turned into a huge ‘stage’ for various audio visual presentations (videos are projected on multiple walls creating a really immersive experience) touching on the impact of war. A very sobering topic but presented well.
🪴 Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Splendid! It is a bit dark but creates the right mood for such a topic
♿Accessibility ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The external areas of the museum may be a bit tricky to access but all the internal areas are fine
💲Cost ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Free entry, donations are welcomed
🍽️ Food/Drinks ? On site cafe but I’ve not given it a try yet
🧑🏽Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Friendly and helpful as always
The Northern Quarter is a neighbourhood in North Manchester and I really like this area because it’s like hipster central to me; lots of independent shops, a nice arty/creative community, loads of street art around. Some areas can be a bit dirty, grimy and feel unsafe but generally, it is a pretty exciting neighbourhood to explore.
Some notable favourite POIs in this area:
- Afflecks contains numerous shops within and spaced out over multiple floors; it's very funky and retro in here and just a delight to browse
- Ezra & Gill is my favourite place for food but there are tons of others to explore too; Koffee Pot, PLY, Evelyn’s, Yard & Coop, Mackier Mayor, Nell’s Pizza, Almost Famous etc.
- Fig + Sparrow, Sugar Junction, Takk, Idle Hands, Foundation, Just Between Friends, Federal Cafe .. and more for your caffeine fix
- Manchester Craft and Design Centre houses several local businesses and is a great place to find custom jewellery, art work etc.
- Matt & Phreds Jazz Club, Night & Day Cafe, Band on the Wall and Frog & Bucket Comedy Club are geared for the music/entertainment scene
🪴 Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Really funky but grimy at times
♿Accessibility ⭐⭐ Hit and miss.. pavements do not have ramps or have design cues for the visually impaired
💲Cost ⭐⭐⭐ Generally okay. Some places are cheap.. some not.. but you can or should be able to find something to match your budget here
🍽️ Food/Drinks ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lots of choices!!
🧑🏽Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Generally okay. Some places can get really busy which affects service
Located on the outskirts of Manchester city centre is this unassuming Grade II listed building. Victoria Baths publicly opened in 1906 and over the years, it housed three swimming pools, a Turkish bath, a sauna and was also the first to install a public jacuzzi in the country! Unfortunately, it closed in 1993 and was at risk of dereliction until it won a restoration programme in 2003, which is still in progress. Thankfully certain areas are open from March to November where visitors can go on guided tours and special events are held here throughout the year. As the building is unheated, it is closed during the winter months. Incidentally, Google hired this space for its launch of the City Experts program in Manchester.
🪴 Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Really beautiful interiors; the architecture of the building, the terracotta tiles, the stained glass…just beautiful.
♿Accessibility ⭐⭐⭐ Some areas are accessible but the goal is to make it as fully accessible as possible
💲Cost ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Certain days, free tours are available. Private tours are £8 per person
🧑🏽Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐ There’s a Tearoom for light snacks and also a shop selling memorabilia
This is the newest “kid” on the block! The Aviva Studios is also called Factory International and is the venue for performing arts and visual arts. The space is multi-use so can be configured to be an exhibition area or a concert venue. I managed to check the place out during the Manchester International Festival as well as more recently, and can certainly give this place a thumbs up! There are a few niggles that could be worked on but overall, Aviva Studios has a bright future ahead!
🪴 Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Interesting design and space available. Its open nature can be problematic though if the event organiser has not utilised the space properly.
♿Accessibility ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Generally okay. It’s a new building so accessibility has been factored in
💲Cost ⭐⭐⭐ Cost of events vary widely
🍽️ Food/Drinks ⭐⭐⭐ On site bar is okay; they tend to struggle to cope with a large crowd though. Food is basically pizzas
🧑🏽Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Generally okay
Adrian: And those are our picks for the Top 10 things to do or see in Manchester! Of course, there’s more to do and see, and I even found it difficult to narrow down my favourites to just the top 5!! Everything listed above is saved into this shared Google Maps list (Manchester’s Top Places to Visit #EM24) which you can save into your list of saved places.
Peter: Yes, but it’s been fun sharing all our favourites with you! Hopefully, if you can join us at the #EuroMeetup2024 event, we’ll be able to visit most of these places too (and more that’s not on the list). And if you can’t, you can always use Google Maps to visit Manchester virtually!
Adrian: Also, our next post is going to be… drumroll… Top 10 places for Food and Drinks in Manchester! The culinary scene in Manchester is hot hot hot 🔥 with a constant barrage of new cafes/restaurants to try, and they are more spread out in the Greater Manchester and Lancashire areas. So stay tuned for the next post coming out in February!
Peter: So that's just about it for this month's #MoreOfManchester post. I can't help noticing how your items and mine are in totally different styles @AdrianLunsong but that's the beauty of the Local Guides program - every different one of us is welcome! We are so looking forward to sharing our wonderful city with as many of you as possible either through these posts every month, or from 6-9th of June if you can make it here in person. Till next month then, another Manchester phrase: Sithee. (=See you later)
Here is the original post announcing the EuroMeetUp 2024. It's worth looking out for the next post about top places to dine in Manchester, which we will post in February. Meanwhile if you've got any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below and we will both do our best to answer them.
Here are the posts in this series so far:
- Top Places to Visit - this post
- Top Places for Food
- A Short History
@PeteMHW there's something wrong with the Manchester folks.. we don't seem to sleep at reasonable hours 😅. Great post by the way, if I'm allowed to say that 😉
@deadmanjones @ZoeOooe @RussKH @Johnbhewitt @Castlefield_David @Maria68 @StretfordSue @TimBull
What are your favourite places in Manchester (or Greater Manchester)!? There's a lot to choose from so I can imagine our choices would be quite different! 😎
any music fans planning to come to MancMeet24? Any locations you'd like to see? Today we paid our first visit to Salfords Lads Club, familiar to any Smiths fans
Also experienced ia high point of cuisine
@deadmanjones I think we have some music fans in the group... I know @JanVanHaver is into the Beatles and he's going to pop over to Liverpool for a brief trip to go all fan crazy there!
Indeed @richardoldroyd74 !! Do you have any plans of joining us in Manchester in June? Sign up early so we can plan appropriately for the right numbers! 😎
