Manchester
City of Manchester | |
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Coat of arms of City of Manchester Coat of arms | |
![]() Manchester shown within England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | North West England |
Ceremonial county | Greater Manchester |
Admin HQ | Manchester City Centre |
Founded | 13th Century |
City Status | 1853 |
Government | |
• Type | Metropolitan borough, City |
• Governing body | Manchester City Council |
Area | |
• Borough & City | 44.65 sq mi (115.65 km2) |
Elevation | 256 ft (78 m) |
Population (2005 est / Urban=2006) | |
• Borough & City | (Ranked ) |
• Density | 9,880/sq mi (3,815/km2) |
• Urban | 3 851 000 |
• Ethnicity (2001 Census) | 81% White 9.1% S. Asian 4.5% Afro-Caribbean 2.17% Chinese |
Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time ) |
ISO 3166-2 | GB-MAN |
ONS code | 00BY |
OS grid reference | SJ838980 |
NUTS 3 | UKD31 |
Website | www.manchester.gov.uk |
Manchester (pronounced /ˈmæntʃɛstə/) is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, which has a population of 441,200.[1] Manchester lies at the centre of the wider Greater Manchester Urban Area which has a population of 2,240,230,[2] the United Kingdom's third largest conurbation. It is occasionally considered to be the UK's second city[3][4][5][6] however it is more generally accorded the title of third city.[7][8][9]
Manchester is often described as the "Capital of the North".[10][11] Forming part of the English Core Cities Group, Manchester today is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce. It is also regarded as the third best place to locate a business in the UK,[12] and is the third most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors.[13] Manchester is also well known for its sporting connections, with two Premier League football teams, Manchester United and Manchester City,[14] and hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games in 2002.
It is claimed that Manchester was the world's first industrialised city[15][16][17][18][19] and is notable for the central role it played during the Industrial Revolution. It was the dominant international centre of textile manufacture and cotton spinning.[20] During the 19th century it was nicknamed Cottonopolis,[21] denoting that the area was a metropolis of cotton mills. Manchester City Centre is now on a "tentative list" of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, mainly due to its network of canals and mills that facilitated its development during the 19th century.[22]
History
Toponymy
The name "Manchester" (pronounced /ˈmæntʃɛstə/) 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".[23]
Early history
There are few signs of prehistoric occupation of the city. The only major Bronze age find is at the far south of the city, where the remains of an extensive farming community overlooking the River Bollin were found during the construction of the second runway of the airport.[24]
Central Manchester has been settled since at least Roman times.[25] The Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola constructed a fort in the 70s AD on a defensible hill where the River Medlock meets the River Irwell, at the junction of roads to Chester, York, Buxton, Ribchester, and Melandra.[24] A stabilised fragment of foundations of the final version of the fort is visible in Castlefield. The Romans withdrew in the early fifth century, and by the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 the focus of settlement had shifted to the confluence of the rivers Irwell and Irk.[24][26] Much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North.[27][28]
In medieval times, this area included a fortified manor house. Thomas De La Warre, a manorial lord who was also a priest, donated 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.
Around the 13th century, Manchester grew significantly due to an influx of Flemish settlers, the founders of Manchester's cotton industry[citation needed], stimulating the growth of the city to become Lancashire's major industrial centre.
Industrial Revolution
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Cottonopolis1.jpg/250px-Cottonopolis1.jpg)
In the late 18th century, Manchester may have become the site of England's first entirely artificial canal when James Brindley built the Bridgewater Canal to bring coal from the eponymous Duke of Bridgewater's mines at Worsley. During the 19th century Manchester grew to become the centre of Lancashire's cotton industry and was dubbed "Cottonopolis". During this period the canal system grew, and Manchester became one end of the world's second passenger railway - the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Manchester quickly grew into an important industrial centre. 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. A saying capturing this sense of innovation survives today: "What Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow."[29][30][31]
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 Friedrich Engels' The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844, Engels himself spending much of his life in and around Manchester[32]. Manchester was also an important cradle of the Labour Party and the Suffragette Movement.[33] As technology advanced in industry, The Post Office provided its first telephones, in 1878 obtained from Bell's UK agent, on rental terms, to a firm in Manchester [34].
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. This enabled ocean going ships to sail right into the Port of Manchester. By 1963 the port was the UK's third largest[35][36] and employed over 3000 men, but the canal was unable to handle the increasingly large container ships. Traffic declined, and the port closed in 1982.[37]
Manchester suffered greatly from the inter-war depression and the underlying structural changes that began to supplant the old industries, including textile manufacture.
World War II
During World War II Manchester was involved in heavy industrial construction. 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. In 1940 Manchester Cathedral was partially destroyed by a German air-raid.[38]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Manchester_bomb-devastation.jpg/230px-Manchester_bomb-devastation.jpg)
1996 Manchester bombing
Manchester has a history of attacks attributed to Irish Republicanists, including arson in 1920, a series of explosions in 1939, and two bombs in 1992. On Saturday 15 June 1996, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a large bomb adjacent to a department store in the city centre. The largest to be detonated on British soil, the bomb caused over 200 injuries, heavily damaged nearby buildings, and broke windows half a mile away. The cost of the immediate damage was initially estimated at £50 million, but this was quickly revised upwards.[39] The final insurance payout has been estimated at over £400 million, and many affected businesses never recovered from the loss of trade.[40]
Redevelopment
Spurred by the regeneration after the 1996 IRA bomb and aided by the XVII Commonwealth Games, Manchester's city centre has undergone a continued regeneration. New and renovated complexes such as The Printworks and the Triangle have become popular shopping and entertainment destinations. The completion of the renovated Manchester Arndale in September 2006 allowed the centre to hold the title of the UK's largest city centre shopping mall.[41]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Manchester_Exchange_Squares.jpg/200px-Manchester_Exchange_Squares.jpg)
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, including the Manchester Arndale. Old mills have been converted into modern apartments, Hulme has undergone extensive regeneration programmes, and million-pound lofthouse apartments have since been developed. The 169 metre tall, 47-storey Beetham Tower, completed in 2006, is the tallest building in the UK outside London and highest residential accommodation in the Western Europe. The lower 23 floors form the Hilton Hotel, featuring a 'sky bar' on the 23rd floor. Its upper 24 floors are apartments.[42]The redevelopment of recent years[43][44][45] has hightened claims that Manchester is the second city of the United Kingdom.[46][47][48][49] This title however, which is unofficial in the UK, is also claimed by a number of other cities, including Birmingham which has traditionally held this title since the early 20th century.[50][51][52][53]
SuperCasino
![]() | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (July 2007) |
In January 2007, the independent Casino Advisory Panel awarded Manchester a licence to build the only supercasino in the UK,[54][55] but in March the House of Lords rejected the decision by three votes rendering previous House of Commons acceptance meaningless. This left the supercasino, and fourteen other smaller concessions, in parliamentary limbo until a final decision was made.[56] On 11 July, a source close to the government declared the entire supercasino project "dead in the water".[57] A member of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce professed himself "amazed and a bit shocked" and that "there has been an awful lot of time and money wasted".[58]
Governance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/ManchesterTownHall_OwlofDoom.jpg/220px-ManchesterTownHall_OwlofDoom.jpg)
Manchester is represented by three tiers of government, Manchester City Council ("local"), UK Parliament ("national"), and European Parliament ("Europe"). Greater Manchester County Council administration was abolished in 1986, and so the city is effectively a unitary authority. Since its inception in 1995, Manchester has been a member of the English Core Cities Group,[59] which, amongst other things, serves to promote the social, cultural and economic status of the city at an international level.
Civic history
The town of Manchester was granted a charter by Thomas Grelley in 1301 but lost borough status by a court case in 1359. Until the 19th century local government was largely provided by manorial courts which were not finally ended until 1846.[60] From a very early time, the township of Manchester lay within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire.[60] It formed its own ecclesiastical parish and Poor Law Union by the name of Manchester.[60] In 1792 commissioners, usually known as police commissioners, were established for the social improvement Manchester. In 1838 Manchester regained borough status, and comprised the townships of Beswick, Cheetham Hill, Chorlton upon Medlock and Hulme.[60] By 1846 the Borough Council had taken over the powers of the police commissioners. In 1853 Manchester was granted city status in the United Kingdom.[60] In 1885 Bradford, Harpurhey, Rusholme and parts of Moss Side and Withington townships became part of the City of Manchester. In 1889 the City became the County Borough of Manchester, which was external to the administrative county of Lancashire, and thus not governed by Lancashire County Council.[60]
Between 1890 and 1933, more areas were added to the City from Lancashire, including some which were former villages to the south of Manchester such as Burnage, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury, Fallowfield, Levenshulme, Longsight, Withington. In 1931 the Cheshire civil parishes of Baguley, Northenden and Northern Etchells from the south of the River Mersey were also added.[60] In 1974, by way of the Local Government Act 1972, the City of Manchester became a metropolitan district of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.[60] In this year, Ringway was also added to the city.
Geography
Topography
Manchester lies in a bowl-shaped land area bordered to the north and east by the Pennine hills, a mountain chain that runs the length of the Northern England and to the south by the Cheshire Plain. The city centre is on the east bank of the River Irwell, near the confluence with the Rivers Medlock and the Irk, and is relatively low-lying, being between 35 and 42 metres (115 to 138 ft) above sea level.[61] The River Mersey flows through the south of Manchester. Much of the inner city, especially in the south, is flat, offering extensive views from many highrise buildings in the city of the foothills and moors of the Pennines, which can often be capped with snow in the winter months. 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.[citation needed]
Climate
Manchester has a relatively damp climate, and has developed a reputation as a rainy city[62][63]. Its average annual rainfall is 809 mm, (902 mm from some sources) [64][65] and its mean rain days are 185.3 per year[66]. Manchester also has a relatively high humidity level, which lent itself to the optimised and breakage-free textile manufacturing which took place there. Snowfall is not a common sight in the city, due to urban warming. The Pennines and Rossendale Forest hills that surround the city to its east and north receive much snow in the winter and many roads leading out of the city can be closed due to snow [citation needed], including the A62 road via Oldham and Standedge, the A57 (Snake Pass) towards Sheffield,[67] and the M62 over Saddleworth Moor.
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Record high °C (°F) | 14.3 (57.7) |
19.0 (66.2) |
21.7 (71.1) |
25.1 (77.2) |
26.7 (80.1) |
31.3 (88.3) |
37.0 (98.6) |
33.7 (92.7) |
28.4 (83.1) |
27.0 (80.6) |
17.7 (63.9) |
15.1 (59.2) |
37.0 (98.6) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.3 (45.1) |
7.6 (45.7) |
10.0 (50.0) |
12.6 (54.7) |
16.1 (61.0) |
18.6 (65.5) |
20.6 (69.1) |
20.3 (68.5) |
17.6 (63.7) |
13.9 (57.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
7.4 (45.3) |
13.5 (56.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.5 (40.1) |
4.6 (40.3) |
6.7 (44.1) |
8.8 (47.8) |
11.9 (53.4) |
14.6 (58.3) |
16.6 (61.9) |
16.4 (61.5) |
14.0 (57.2) |
10.7 (51.3) |
7.1 (44.8) |
4.6 (40.3) |
10.0 (50.0) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.7 (35.1) |
1.6 (34.9) |
3.3 (37.9) |
4.9 (40.8) |
7.7 (45.9) |
10.5 (50.9) |
12.6 (54.7) |
12.4 (54.3) |
10.3 (50.5) |
7.4 (45.3) |
4.2 (39.6) |
1.8 (35.2) |
6.6 (43.9) |
Record low °C (°F) | −15.0 (5.0) |
−13.1 (8.4) |
−9.7 (14.5) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
0.8 (33.4) |
5.4 (41.7) |
3.6 (38.5) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−4.7 (23.5) |
−10.0 (14.0) |
−14.0 (6.8) |
−15.0 (5.0) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 72.3 (2.85) |
51.4 (2.02) |
61.2 (2.41) |
54.0 (2.13) |
56.8 (2.24) |
66.1 (2.60) |
63.9 (2.52) |
77.0 (3.03) |
71.5 (2.81) |
92.5 (3.64) |
81.5 (3.21) |
80.7 (3.18) |
828.8 (32.63) |
Average snowfall mm (inches) | 24 (0.9) |
19 (0.7) |
10 (0.4) |
1 (0.0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
2 (0.1) |
15 (0.6) |
71 (2.7) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 13.1 | 9.7 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.4 | 11.1 | 10.9 | 12.0 | 11.1 | 13.6 | 14.1 | 13.5 | 142.9 |
Average snowy days | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 83 | 81 | 77 | 74 | 72 | 74 | 76 | 77 | 79 | 81 | 83 | 84 | 79 |
Average dew point °C (°F) | 2 (36) |
2 (36) |
3 (37) |
4 (39) |
7 (45) |
9 (48) |
11 (52) |
12 (54) |
10 (50) |
8 (46) |
5 (41) |
3 (37) |
6 (43) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 52.5 | 73.9 | 99.0 | 146.9 | 188.3 | 172.5 | 179.7 | 166.3 | 131.2 | 99.3 | 59.5 | 47.1 | 1,416.2 |
Mean daily sunshine hours | 3.4 | 3.4 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 5.1 |
Average ultraviolet index | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Source 1: Met Office[68] NOAA (relative humidity and snow days 1961–1990)[69] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: KNMI[70][71] Current Results - Weather and Science[72] Meteo Climat[73] Time and Date: Average dew point (1985-2015)[74] WeatherAtlas[75] |
Demography
Manchester Compared[76][77] | |||
---|---|---|---|
UK Census 2001 | Manchester | Greater Manchester | England |
Total population | 441,200 | 2,547,700 | 49,138,831 |
Foreign born | 15% | 7.2% | 9.2% |
White | 81% | 91% | 91% |
Asian | 9.1% | 5.7% | 4.6% |
Black | 4.5% | 1.2% | 2.3% |
Christian | 62% | 74% | 72% |
Muslim | 9.1% | 5.0% | 3.1% |
Hindu | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1.1% |
No religion | 16% | 11% | 15% |
Over 75 years old | 6.4% | 7.0% | 7.5% |
Unemployed | 5.0% | 3.5% | 3.3% |
The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed a total resident population for Manchester of 392,819, a 9.2% decline from the 1991 census.[78] Approximately 83,000 were aged under 16, 285,000 were aged 16-74, and 25,000 aged 75 and over.[78] 75.9% of Manchester's population claim they have been born in the UK, according to the 2001 UK Census. Inhabitants of Manchester are known as Mancunians or Mancs for short. Manchester reported the second-lowest proportion of the population in employment of any area in the UK. A primary reason cited for Manchester's high unemployment figures is the high proportion of the population who are students.[78]
Ethnicity
In 2001, 80% of people identified themselves as White British, 9% Asian or Asian British, 5% Black or Black British, 3% Mixed Race and 2% Chinese or other ethnic group.[79]. However correct these statistics are for the year 2001, it is now estimated that Manchester's black and minority ethnic population has made a significant growth and white British now make up 75% of the population compared to 80% in 2001. Moss Side, Longsight, Cheetham Hill, Rusholme, and Whalley Range, but to name a few are particularly noted for their ethnically diverse population. It has been estimated that around 35% of Manchester's population has Irish ancestry.[80]
Manchester's Irish Festival, including a St Patrick's Day parade, is one of Europe's largest.[81] Also, Manchester's Palace Hotel hosted the 2007 Lloyds TSB's Northern Jewel Awards, where leaders of the Asian community in the North of the UK were recognized.[82]
Religion
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Economy
Manchester's Central Business District is in the centre of the city, adjacent to Piccadilly, focused on Mosley Street, Deansgate, King Street and Piccadilly. Spinningfields is a large new business centre west of Deansgate that will serve as home to several headquarters, squares, and cafes. The first building on the site was the Royal Bank of Scotland's new headquarters[83] on Deansgate. The project is being spear-headed by Sir Norman Foster. Other buildings include a 110 metre tall office building, a new civil justice centre[84] and new Migistrates Court[85], to be built over the next few years.
Landmarks
- See also: Places of interest in Manchester
Architecture
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Beetham_tower.jpg/190px-Beetham_tower.jpg)
Manchester has a wide variety of buildings, ranging from Victorian architecture to modern. Much of the architecture in the city harks back to its days as a global centre for the cotton trade.[86] Manchester also has a number of skyscrapers mostly built during the 1960s and 1970s, although recently there has been a renewed interest in building more. Beetham Tower, completed in 2006, includes a Hilton hotel, a restaurant, and residences. It is currently the tallest building in the UK outside London. An even taller building, the Piccadilly Tower, is scheduled to commence construction in 2007 behind Manchester Piccadilly station.[87]
Monuments
Two large squares hold many of Manchester's public monuments. Albert Square, in front of the Town Hall, has monuments to Prince Albert, Bishop James Fraser, Oliver Heywood, William Ewart Gladstone and John Bright. Piccadilly Gardens has monuments dedicated to Queen Victoria, Robert Peel, James Watt and the Duke of Wellington.[88][89]
Other notable monuments include the Alan Turing Memorial (the father of modern computing) in Sackville Park, adjacent to Sackville Street.[89] A monument to Abraham Lincoln was presented to the city by Mr & Mrs Charles Phelps Taft of Cincinnati, Ohio. The statue, located in the eponymous Lincoln Square, is the work of George Gray Barnard[88][89] and marks the part that Lancashire played in the cotton famine and American Civil War of 1861–1865.[90]
The success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games is commemorated by the 56m (184 ft) tall B of the Bang, located near the City of Manchester Stadium in the Eastlands area of the city.[89] As of 2007, the sculpture is the tallest in the UK.[91]
Transport
Manchester and the surrounding settlements in North West England are served by an international airport as well as a major motorway and rail network. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first passenger railway in the world. Greater Manchester has an extensive countywide railway network, and two mainline stations. A network of bus routes and a modern tram system radiates from Manchester City Centre. A canal network also remains from the Industrial Revolution.
Greater Manchester has a higher percentage of the motorway network than any other county in the country.[92] 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).[93][94][95]
Culture
Nightlife
There has long been a thriving nightclub culture in Manchester. One of the oldest venues is the Band on the Wall, a live music club in the Northern Quarter. It was built around 1862 as the flagship pub of a local brewery and originally called The George & Dragon. In 1975 it was taken on by jazz musician Steve Morris and Frank Cusick, and renamed The Band on the Wall, a longtime nickname for the club since the late 1920s alluding to its stage high on the back wall.[citation needed]
Along with other areas that are frequented by late night revellers (such as Castlefield, Deansgate Locks, the Printworks and the Northern Quarter), Manchester boasts the famous Canal Street, the centre of the city's gay community. This was made famous by the Channel 4 programme, 'Queer as Folk', and is the centre of the annual Pride celebrations, held on the last weekend in August.
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. In the 1950s the city was home to the so-called ‘Manchester School’ of classical composers, which comprised Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, David Ellis and Alexander Goehr. Manchester is a centre for musical education, with the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham’s School of Music. The main classical venue was the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, until the 1996 debut of the 2,500 seat concert venue Bridgewater Hall.
Manchester’s main pop music venue is the Manchester Evening News Arena, situated next to Manchester Victoria railway station. It seats over 21,000, is the largest arena of its type in Europe, and has been voted International Venue of the Year[96]. Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo and the Manchester Academy. Smaller venues throughout the city are the Bierkeller, the Roadhouse, and Night and Day Cafe.
Bands that have emerged from the Manchester music scene include The Smiths, the Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division its successor group New Order,and Oasis. . Manchester was credited as the main regional driving force behind indie bands of the 1980's including Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets, James, and The Stone Roses. These groups came from what became known as the "Madchester" scene that also centred around the legendary club Fac 51 Haçienda (also known as simply The Haçienda) developed by founder of factory records Anthony Wilson. Subsequently The Chemical Brothers, although from southern England, formed in Manchester. Ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown and ex-Smiths Morrissey continue successful solo careers. Other Greater Manchester natives include Richard Ashcroft and Jay Kay of Jamiroquai.
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, [5], and 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 Gaskell [6].
Theatre
Larger venues include the Manchester Opera House, featuring large scale touring shows and West End shows, the Palace Theatre, the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester’s former cotton exchange, and the Lowry Centre, a touring venue in Salford. Smaller sites include the Library Theatre, a producing theatre in the basement of the central library, the Green Room, the Contact Theatre, and Studio Salford. The Dancehouse is dedicated to dance productions.
Education
Universities
Manchester is home to two universities, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. The University of Manchester is the largest full-time non-collegiate university in the United Kingdom, and was created in autumn 2004 by the merger of Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST.[97][98] Manchester Business School, which offered the first MBA course in the UK in 1965, is also part of the University of Manchester. Manchester Metropolitan University was formed out of the old polytechnic college in the city[99] and subsequently took over the old Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education in South Cheshire.[100]
The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Royal Northern College of Music are grouped together around Oxford Road on the southern side of the city centre, and form the largest city-centre group of higher education institutions in Europe.[101]
Schools
One of Manchester's most notable secondary schools is the Manchester Grammar School. Established in 1515[102][103] as a free grammar school next to what is now the Cathedral, it moved in 1931 to Old Hall Lane in Fallowfield, South Manchester, to accommodate the growing student body. In the post-war period, it was a direct-grant grammar school (i.e. partially state funded), but it reverted to independent status in 1976 after abolition of the direct-grant system.[104] Its previous premises are now used by Chetham's School of Music. There are two schools nearby: Withington Girls' School and Manchester High School for Girls.
Sports
- See also: Sports in Manchester
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/City_of_Manchester_Stadium_2002.jpg/250px-City_of_Manchester_Stadium_2002.jpg)
Two Premiership football clubs, Manchester United and Manchester City, bear the city’s name. Manchester City's ground is at the City of Manchester Stadium, (48,000 capacity); Manchester United's Old Trafford ground, the largest club football ground in the United Kingdom with 76,000 capacity, and England's only UEFA-rated 5-star stadium, is just outside the city in the borough of Trafford.
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 has competed twice to host the Olympic Games, being beaten by Atlanta for 1996 and Sydney for 2000, and various sporting arenas around the city will be used as training facilities prior to the 2012 Olympics in London.
Motorcycle speedway racing has been staged at four venues in Manchester. The first events were staged at the greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshume Lane in 1928 and was knowns as Belle Vue Speedway. Speedway activities continued under the Belle Vue name at the stadium in Hyde Road from 1929 to 1987, without any breaks even during the war years of 1939 - 1945, when the stadium was sold and redeveloped. Speedway racing returned to the greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshume Lane in 1988 and continues to operate there. The speedway team are known as the Belle Vue Aces. Peter Craven, Ove Fundin, Peter Collins, Jason Crump are amongst the riders who have won World Championships when riding for the Aces. The White City stadium was used in the pioneer days from 1928 to 1930 and a training track at Newton Heath operated in the in the early post war period.[citation needed]
Media
Television and radio
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Granada_TV.jpg/220px-Granada_TV.jpg)
ITV franchisee Granada Television has its original headquarters on Quay Street in the Castlefield area of the city. The city is where programmes including World's oldest and most watched television soap opera Coronation Street which is networked 5 times a week on ITV is made. Local News for the Granada Region, local programmes and Networked Children’s ITV presentations are produced in Manchester.
Manchester is one of the three main BBC bases in England, alongside London and Bristol. Programmes including A Question of Sport, Mastermind[105] and Real Story[106] are made at New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road, just south of the city centre. The hit series Cutting It was set in the city's Northern Quarter and ran on BBC1 for 5 series. Life on Mars was set in 1973 Manchester. The first edition of Top of the Pops was broadcast from a converted church in Longsight, on New Years day 1964.[107] Manchester is also the regional base for the BBC One North West Region so programmes like North West Tonight are produced here.[108] The BBC intends to relocate large numbers of staff and facilities from London to Media City at Salford Quays. The Children's (CBBC), Comedy, Sport (BBC Sport) and New Media departments are all scheduled to move before 2010.[109][110]
Manchester has its own television channel, Channel M, owned by the Guardian Media Group and operated since 2000. The station produces almost all content including local news locally and is available nationally on the BSkyB television platform.
The city also has the highest number of local radio stations outside London including BBC Radio Manchester, Key 103, Galaxy, Piccadilly Magic 1152, 105.4 Century FM, 100.4 Smooth FM, Capital Gold 1458, 96.2 The Revolution and Xfm. BBC Radio Manchester, which became BBC GMR in 1988, returned to its former title in 2006.
Student radio stations include Fuse FM at the University of Manchester and Shock FM at the University of Salford). A community radio network is coordinated by Radio Regen, with stations covering the South Manchester communities of Ardwick, Longsight and Levenshulme (ALL FM 96.9) and Wythenshawe (Wythenshawe FM 97.2).
Defunct radio stations include Sunset (which became) Kiss 102 (now Galaxy), and KFM which became Signal Cheshire (now Signal 1). These stations, as well as pirate radio, played a significant role in the city's House music culture, also known as the Madchester scene, which was based around clubs like the The Haçienda which had its own show on Kiss 102.
Erstwhile producer and radio personality Karl Pilkington, of The Ricky Gervais Show fame, hails from Manchester.
Television characters who hail from Manchester includes Daphne Moon (played by Jane Leeves), of Frasier, Charlie Pace (played by Dominic Monaghan) of Lost, Naomi Dorrit (Lost) and Nessa Holt (Las Vegas), both played by local actress Marsha Thomason.
Filmography
Manchester is featured in films such as My Son, My Son! (1940), directed by Charles Vidor and starring Brian Aherne and Louis Hayward. Also Grand Hotel (1932), in which Wallace Beery often shouts "Manchester!". Others include Velvet Goldmine starring Ewan MacGregor, and Sir Alec Guinness's The Man in the White Suit. More recently, the entire city of Manchester is engulfed in runaway fires in the 2002 film 28 Days Later.
Manchester is also home to the Manchester Film Festival and has held the Commonwealth film festival.
Magazines and newspapers
The Guardian newspaper was founded in Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian. Its head office is still in Manchester, though many of its management functions were moved to London in 1964. It shares an office on Hardman Street with sister publication Manchester Evening News (biggest-selling daily paper although now free within the city centre), and the Manchester Metro News (free weekly, Greater Manchester's biggest-circulation newspaper). Another free newspaper is the Metro North West, available from Metrolink stops, rail stations and other busy locations.
For many years most of the national newspapers had offices in Manchester: The Daily Telegraph, Daily Express, Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Sun. Only The Daily Sport remain based in Manchester. At its height, 1,500 journalists were employed. But in the 1980s office closures began and today the "second Fleet Street" is no more. A late attempt to launch a Northern daily newspaper, North West Times, floundered in the late 1980s lasting just three months. Another attempt was made with the North West Enquirer, which hoped to provide a true "regional" newspaper for the North West, much in the same vein as the Yorkshire Post does for Yorkshire or The Northern Echo does for the North East. It folded in October 2006.
There are several local lifestyle magazines, including 'YQ Magazine' and 'Moving Manchester'.
Foreign consulates and commissions
Manchester and its conurbation are home to a number of foreign consulates and commissions:
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In addition, the British Council maintains a metropolitan centre in Manchester.[111]
Twin cities
Although not an official twin city, Tampere, Finland is known as "the Manchester of Finland" - or "Manse" for short.
Gallery
Further reading
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References
- ^ "Key facts and figures about Manchester". Manchester City Council. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
- ^ United Kingdom Census 2001 (2001). "Key Statistics for urban areas in England and Wales". statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Manchester 'England's second city'", BBC News, 12 September 2002, retrieved 2 May 2006.
- ^ "Manchester 'close to second city'", BBC News, 29 September 2005, retrieved 2 May 2006.
- ^ "Manchester tops second city poll", BBC News, 10 February 2007, retrieved 11 February 2007
- ^ "Birmingham loses out to Manchester in second city face off", BBC Press Office, 9 February 2007, retrieved 18 June 2007.
- ^ Channelnewsasia, "...the Bishop of Manchester, Britain's third city...", 10 June 2007, retrieved 07 July 2007.
- ^ New York Times, "Correction: December 3, 1995, Sunday. An article on Nov. 5 about Manchester, England, misstated the size ranking of Greater Manchester.", 05 November 1995, retrieved 07 July 2007.
- ^ MORI poll 2002, Majority vote Manchester Britain's Third City, 12 September 2002, retrieved 12 July 2007.
- ^ Manchester, www.manchester.ac.uk, Manchester University. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
- ^ Northern Soul, www.educationuk.org, March 2003. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
- ^ [1] 11 July 2007.
- ^ Overseas Visitors to the UK - Top Towns Visited 2005 .pdf.
- ^ Note that Manchester United's ground is in Greater Manchester but not inside Manchester city limits: it is in the borough of Trafford.
- ^ Manchester's Buildings, Manchester UK. URL accessed December 18, 2006.
- ^ Kidd, A., (2006), Manchester: A History, Carnegie Publishing Ltd.
- ^ Frangopulo, N.J., (1977), Tradition in Action: The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County, EP Publishing, Wakefield.
- ^ Manchester United in Celebration of City, European Funding NW. URL accessed December 18, 2006.
- ^ National Museum of Science and Industry. "Manchester - the first industrial city". www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ Cottonopolis, www.Spinningtheweb.org.uk, Manchester City Council. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
- ^ Manchester Cottonopolis, Spinning the Web, Manchester City Council. URL accessed December 7, 2006.
- ^ Manchester and Salford (Ancoats, Castlefield and Worsley), http://whc.unesco.org (UNESCO). URL accessed October 24, 2006.
- ^ Mills, A. D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-names. Oxford University Press. ISBN ISBN 0-19-852758-6.
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value: invalid character (help) - ^ a b c Hartwell et al, pp 11-17.
- ^ Rogers, Nicholas - Halloween: from Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2003, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-1951-6896-8? p 18
- ^ Kidd, p 12; Parkinson-Bailey, p 1; Hylton pp 1-8.
- ^ Hylton, p 9-10.
- ^ Arrowsmith, Peter (1997). Stockport: a History. Stockport: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. pp. p 30. ISBN 0-905164-99-7.
{{cite book}}
:|pages=
has extra text (help) - ^ Speake, Jennifer, ed. (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (4th ed ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198605242. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
What MANCHESTER says today, the rest of England says tomorrow
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(help) - ^ Osborne, George (March 7 2007). "Conservative Party - News Story". Conservative Party Website. Conservative Party. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
The saying goes that what Manchester does today the rest of the world does tomorrow.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "MMU - Manchester Life". Manchester Metropolitan University webpages. Manchester Metropolitan University. 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
What Manchester does today, the world does tomorrow.
- ^ Biography of Engels, Marx-Engels Internet Archive [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/engels/en-1893.htm
- ^ Kidd, Chapter 9 "England Arise! The Politics of Labour and Womens's Suffrage".
- ^ http://web.ukonline.co.uk/freshwater/histuk.htm
- ^ Parkinson-Bailey, John J (2000). Manchester: an Architectural History. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. p127. ISBN 0-7190-5606-3.
{{cite book}}
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has extra text (help) - ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1969). The Buildings of England: South Lancashire. London: Penguin. pp. p267. ISBN 0-14-071036-1.
{{cite book}}
:|pages=
has extra text (help) - ^ "Manchester docks pre-1985". Salford City Council web pages. Salford City Council. 10 June 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
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(help) - ^ "Historical Timeline" Manchester Cathedral's website
- ^ Hylton, pp 227-230.
- ^ "The cost of terrorism". BBC News. BBC. 15 May 2004. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
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(help); Text "Panorama" ignored (help); Text "Programmes" ignored (help); Text "The cost of terrorism" ignored (help) - ^ "CADWeb Project Management - Manchester Arndale", CADWeb, 2005, retrieved 28 June 2007
- ^ "City building reaches full height", BBC, 26 April 2006, retrieved 2 May 2006.
- ^ Hartwell, Clare (2001). Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-071131-7.
- ^ Parkinson-Bailey, John J (2000). Manchester: an Architectural History. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5606-3.
- ^ Hartwell, Clare (2004). Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10583-5.
{{cite book}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Manchester 'England's second city'", BBC News, 12 September 2002, retrieved 2 May 2006.
- ^ "Manchester 'close to second city'", BBC News, 29 September 2005, retrieved 2 May 2006.
- ^ "Manchester tops second city poll", BBC News, 10 February 2007, retrieved 11 February 2007
- ^ "Birmingham loses out to Manchester in second city face off", BBC Press Office, 9 February 2007, retrieved 18 June 2007.
- ^ City Watch: Birmingham - From The Independent
- ^ Second coming - From The Guardian Unlimited.
- ^ Birmingham, Britain's second city The College for International Citizenship
- ^ OAG Cities Guide
- ^ Casino Advisory Panel Recommendation
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/01/30/dome_feature.shtml
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6500859.stm
- ^ http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=allBreakingNews&storyID=2007-07-11T165631Z_01_L11567225_RTRIDST_0_SUPERCASINOS-BROWN-UPDATE-3.XML
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6292630.stm
- ^ English Core Cities Group (N.D.). "Core Cities". corecities.com. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h Anon. "A select gazetteer of local government areas, Greater Manchester County". Greater Manchester County Records Office. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ^ Kidd, p 11.
- ^ [2] accessed July 6 2007
- ^ [3] accessed July 6 2007
- ^ Manchester, England, www.weatherbase.com. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
- ^ "Manchester tourist guide — Geography & weather". Manchester Online.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ World Weather Information Service accessed July 6 2007
- ^ "Snake Pass". High Peak sightseers guide. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
- ^ "Manchester 1981-2010 Averages". Met Office. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "Manchester Ringway weather station 1961-1990" (FTP). NOAA. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ "Manchester ringway extreme values". KNMI. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ^ "Manchester ringway 1981-2010 mean extreme values". KNMI. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ "Average snowfall over the UK". Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ^ "STATION MANCHESTER". Meteo climat. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Climate & Weather Averages in Manchester, England, United Kingdom". Time and Date. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ "Monthly weather forecast and Climate – Manchester, United Kingdom". Weather Atlas. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ United Kingdom Census 2001 (2007-01-17). "2001 Census; Key facts sheets". manchester.gov.uk. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
{{cite web}}
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(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ United Kingdom Census 2001 (2001). "Manchester (Local Authority)". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d Manchester, www.statistics.gov.uk, National Statistics. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
- ^ [4] Manchester ethnic groups- percentages
- ^ History of Manchester - 35 per cent of the city's population has Irish ancestry URL accessed on June 28, 2007
- ^ Manchester Irish Festival - one of Europe's largest, Manchester Irish Festival. URL accessed June 28, 2007.
- ^ Nominees unveiled for northern Asian Jewel Awards, Asia News Network. URL accessed April 13, 2007.
- ^ RBS Press releases, www.rbs.co.uk, RBS Spinningfields press release. URL accessed May 30, 2007.
- ^ Spinningfields Civil Justice Centre URL accessed June 28, 2007
- ^ Spinningfields Magistrates Court URL accessed June 28, 2007
- ^ See Parkinson-Bailey, Hartwell, and Hartwell et al
- ^ Taylor, Paul R (11 May 2007). "It's a really tall storey". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N media. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ a b Hartwell, pp 26-7, 143-4, 168, 189.
- ^ a b c d Hartwell et al, pp 308, 325, 331, 364.
- ^ Inscription on plinth.
- ^ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1388442,00.html
- ^ The Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester has the most extensive motorway network in the United Kingdom. Oldham College -About Manchester URL accessed June 28, 2007
- ^ British Roads Database www.cbrd.co.uk URL accessed June 28, 2007
- ^ "The number's up for Britain's roads". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. October 2002. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
The west side of Manchester is notoriously busy and holds the record for the widest section of motorway - an impressive 17 lanes where the M61 and M60 meet.
- ^ Matthews, Peter (ed) (1992). The Guinness Book of Records 1993. Enfield: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. p121. ISBN 0-85112-978-1.
{{cite book}}
:|author=
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has extra text (help) - ^ "Pollstar Concert Industry Awards 2001", Pollstar, retrieved 24 June 2007.
- ^ http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/archive/list/item/index.htm?year=2007&month=january&id=99915
- ^ http://www.manchester.ac.uk/press/newsarchive/title,3976,en.htm
- ^ Kidd, p 208.
- ^ "The Education (Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education Higher Education Corporation) (Dissolution) Order 1992". Crown Copyright. 1992. Retrieved 2007-07-09. ISBN 0-11-025151-2
- ^ Hartwell, p 105.
- ^ Kidd, p 206.
- ^ Hylton, p 25
- ^ Bentley, James (1990). Dare to be wise: a history of the Manchester Grammar School. London: James & James. pp. pp 108, 114, 119–121. ISBN 0-907383-041.
{{cite book}}
:|pages=
has extra text (help) - ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/bennett_manch.shtml
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/11_november/15/real.shtml
- ^ http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1818023,00.html
- ^ http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/media/tv-and-radio.html
- ^ http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?id=2464
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/31/salford.shtml
- ^ British Council Annual report 2005-06. URL accessed 7 June 2007
External links
- Manchester City Council
- Visit Manchester, the official tourist board
- BBC Manchester
- Greater Manchester Online - Community news & info
- Rail map of Greater Manchester
- National Statistics Profile
- Template:Wikitravel
- Channel M - Greater Manchester's own TV station
- Manchester Conservatives - The local Manchester Conservative party website.