Manchester

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This page is about the City of Manchester in the north west of England. For the wider metropolitan county, see Greater Manchester. For other places, people and other uses, see Manchester (disambiguation).

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of Greater Manchester in north-west England. The City of Manchester has a population of 441,200,[1] while the wider Greater Manchester Urban Area has a population of 2,240,230,[2] making it England's third largest conurbation after Greater London and the West Midlands.

Manchester is historically notable for being the world's first industrialised city[3][4][5][6] and for the subsequent central role it played during the Industrial Revolution. It was the dominant international centre of textile manufacture and cotton spinning.[7] During the 19th century it was nicknamed Cottonopolis,[8] 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, which facilitated its development during the 19th century.[9]

Sometimes described as the "Capital of the North",[10][11] and forming part of the English Core Cities Group, Manchester today 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.[12][13][14] It is the third most visited UK city by foreign visitors, after London and Edinburgh.[15] Manchester is well known for its sporting connections, being associated with two major Premier League football teams, Manchester City and Manchester United[16] and internationally renowned as a centre of sporting excellence having hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games in 2002. In January 2007, Manchester was awarded the licence to build the only supercasino allowed in the United Kingdom.[17]

City of Manchester

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 (2022)
Density 		Ranked

/ 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  


Geography and administration

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)[18] meaning that its reputation is relatively undeserved.[19] 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.

Climate data for Manchester (MAN), 69 m (226 ft) amsl, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1958–present
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[20] NOAA (relative humidity and snow days 1961–1990)[21]
Source 2: KNMI[22][23] Current Results - Weather and Science[24] Meteo Climat[25] Time and Date: Average dew point (1985-2015)[26] WeatherAtlas[27]

Civic History

The town of Manchester (as it was then) was granted a charter in 1301 by Thomas de Grelley, Baron of Manchester, who was also the Lord of the Manor of Manchester.[28]

Map of the ancient parish of Manchester.

Until the 19th century, Manchester was one of the many townships in the ancient parish of Manchester which covered a wider area than today's metropolitan borough.

In 1792 commissioners, usually known as police commissioners, were established for the improvement of the Township of Manchester. By the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, the Borough of Manchester was established in 1838 as a local authority, which included the areas of Manchester, Beswick, Cheetham, Chorlton-on-Medlock and Hulme townships.[28]

On the 11 December 1840, the Manchester Poor Law Union was formally declared and took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law in the area.[29]

In 1853 the Borough was elevated to City status. In 1885 further areas were added to the City of Manchester with Bradford, Harpurhey, Rusholme and parts of Moss Side and Withington townships.

By the Local Government Act 1888, the City of Manchester became in 1889 a County Borough, although it still kept the city title.[28]

Other areas, which had been under the control of Lancashire County Council, were added to the City between 1890 and 1933:

Under the Local Government Act 1972, the City of Manchester, with the addition of the civil parish of Ringway, became on the 1 April 1974 one of the ten Metropolitan Boroughs of the newly created Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester.

In 1986 Greater Manchester County Council was abolished by the Local Government Act 1985 and most of its functions were devolved to the ten boroughs, making them effectively unitary authorities. Some of the County Council's functions were taken over by joint bodies such as Passenger Transport Authorities, and joint fire, police and waste disposal authorities.

The M postcode area has three separate post towns, Manchester, Salford and Sale. The M postcode area borders the postal areas of BL (Bolton), OL (Oldham), SK (Stockport), WA (Warrington) and WN (Wigan).

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".[30]

History

Main article: History of Manchester

Early history

The Peterloo massacre.

The Manchester area was settled in or before Roman times.[31] 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.

Around the 13th century, Manchester grew heavily due to an influx of Flemish settlers who founded Manchester's new cotton industry[citation needed] and sparked the growth of the city to become Lancashire's major industrial centre.

Industrial Revolution

Manchester (or Cottonopolis as it was sometimes referred) during the early 19th century.

In the late 18th cenury, Manchester was the destination of arguably 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 first passenger railway - the 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 Friedrich 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 Salford docks. The docks functioned up until the 1970s, with their closure leading to a large increase in unemployment in the area.

Albert Square

Manchester suffered greatly from the inter-war depression and the underlying structural changes that began to supplant the old industries, including textile manufacture.

Recent history

During 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 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.

Bombing

Main article: 1996 Manchester bombing
The devastation left by the IRA bombing
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.

Redevelopment

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 stands at almost 169 metres in height and is the tallest building in the UK outside London.[32]

Politics

Main article: Politics in Manchester

Economics

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[citation needed] 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 boundaries, 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.

Shopping

Manchester is a major retail centre. There are two large shopping malls in the area; the Manchester Arndale in the middle of the city and just outside its boundaries is 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

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. In addition to these there are many independent fast food retailers throughout Manchester. 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. Chains such as The Living Room, Yates Wine Lodge, Revolution Vodka Bar, La Tasca, Est, Est, Est and Restaurant, Bar and Grill all started in the city before being introduced to other cities across the U.K..

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 McEwan's 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 the cities of 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.[33] 82,788 were aged under 16, 284,994 16 to 74, and 25,037 aged 75 and over.[34]

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.

Ethnicity

81% of people identified themselves as "White", 5.9% as "Indian" or "Pakistani", 2.3% as "Black Caribbean" and 1.4% as "Black African".[35] Manchester has an ethnically diverse population, this is shown most in south Manchester, In areas such as Moss Side, Longsight, Rusholme, and Whalley Range just to name a few.

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%[36]

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.[37]

Education

Universities

Manchester is home to two major universities - the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University - which are both located to the south of the city centre. 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. 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 along and near to Oxford Road (with the exception of the North Campus of the University of Manchester, which was the UMIST campus before the merger). Manchester Business School, which offered the first MBA course in the UK in 1965, forms a part of the University of Manchester.

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. The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester still operates the state grammar school (11+) system and therefore has a large number of high attaining schools in the state school sector. Altrincham Grammar School for Boys (state school) is among these, rated as the top boy's school in the North of England, based upon the 2006 A-level results. The school has a number of links with Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.

Religion

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.

Places of interest

See also: Category:Visitor attractions in Greater Manchester

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, the Inacity Tower, is scheduled to commence construction in 2007 behind Manchester Piccadilly station.

Other structures of interest in Manchester include:

Key
Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
Accessible open space Accessible open space
Amusement/Theme Park
Castle
Country Park Country Park
English Heritage
Forestry Commission
Heritage railway Heritage railway
Historic house Historic House
Places of Worship Places of Worship
Museum (free)
Museum		 Museum (free/not free)
National Trust National Trust
Theatre
Zoo

Public monuments

Piccadilly Gardens

Within Manchester there are monuments to numerous people and events that have helped to shape the city and influence the wider community. There are two large squares that hold many of Manchester's public monuments. There is Albert Square in front of the Town Hall which has monuments to Prince Albert, Bishop James Fraser, Oliver Heywood, William Ewart Gladstone and John Bright , and Piccadilly Gardens which has monuments dedicated to Queen Victoria, Robert Peel, James Watt and the Duke of Wellington.

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.

Streets and plazas

See also: Category:Streets and squares in Manchester

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

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. [citation needed] 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).

There are 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

Manchester Airport, formerly Manchester Ringway Airport, is the fourth busiest airport in the UK in terms of passengers per year. The busier airports are London's Heathrow, Gatwick and (from 2006) Stansted. It is served by a dedicated railway station. In 2006 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, Calgary, Vancouver,Port of Spain, Antigua, Barbados. Asian destinations include Damascus, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, 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 highest 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 light aircraft. It also has the world's oldest operating aircraft control tower, completed in 1933.

The first airfields in the Manchester area were at Trafford Park (1911-1918), followed by Alexandra Park Aerodrome (1918-1924).

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 stretch between junction 16 (Pendlebury/Kearsley) and junction 17 (Prestwich/Whitefield).

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.

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. Full timetables can be found at the Trainline

Metrolink

A Metrolink tram in Manchester city centre.
Main article: Manchester Metrolink

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.[41] 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.[citation needed]

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.

The city’s buses are operated by a range of companies including First, Stagecoach (incorporating the lower-cost Magicbus), Finglands, Arriva and R. Bullock. Until 22 December 2006, when their services were suspended by the North-west Traffic Commissioner[1], UK North (also trading as GM Buses) also operated buses in Manchester. 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.

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.
  • "Jilly's Rockworld".
  • "Home".
  • "Flesh".
  • "Homoelectric".
  • "Danceteria".
  • "The Hacienda"
  • " Sankeys Soap"
  • " 5th Avenue Nightclub, Manchester No1 Indie Experience"
  • " 42nd Street Nightclube

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.

Further reading

  • Simon Reynolds Energy Flash: Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture Picador, 1998, ISBN 0-330-35056-0.
  • Sean Bidder The Rough Guide to House Music, Rough Guides, 1999, ISBN 1-85828-432-5.
  • Dave Haslam Manchester, England Fourth Estate, 2000, ISBN 1-84115-146-7.
  • Mick Middles From "Joy Division" to "New Order": The True Story of Anthony H. Wilson and Factory Records Virgin Books, 2000, ISBN 0-7535-0638-6.
  • Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey, Grove Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8021-3688-5.
  • Dave Haslam Adventures on the Wheels of Steel: The Rise of the Superstar DJs Fourth Estate, 2002, ISBN 1-84115-433-4.
  • Sean Bidder Pump Up the Volume: A History of House Music, MacMillan, 2002, ISBN 0-7522-1986-3.
  • Tony Wilson 24-hour Party People Channel 4 Books, 2002, ISBN 0-7522-2025-X.
  • Keith Rylatt, Phil Scott CENtral 1179: The Story of Manchester's Twisted Wheel Club BeCool Publishing 2001 ISBN 0-9536626-3-2

Art

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

There are several art galleries in Manchester, notably:

Museums

Museums in Manchester include:

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.

Pop music

Main articles: History of popular music in Manchester and List of bands from Manchester

For Mancunians, the pop musical heritage of the city has been a source of great pride.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

File:Better late Oasis.jpg
The world famous band Oasis who originate from the Burnage area of Manchester

Local groups and bands have included:

As well as "Madchester" scene bands:

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 pop 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.

See also: List of bands from Manchester

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, [2]
  • 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 [3].

Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange, was born and educated in Manchester. Little Wilson and Big God, the first volume of his autobiography, includes a detailed account of his early life in the city between 1917 and 1940.

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 [4].

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 1970s under the editorship of Michael Schmidt [5]. 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. Manchester Theatresprovides a guide to the theatres in the city and its' environs.

Venues

The MEN Arena.

As well as many sporting venues Manchester has many venues for performances and conventions:

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 as training facilities prior to the 2012 Olympics in London.

Football

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, 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 now accommodates 76,000. The truth is that nobody knows for sure which team has the most local support and that the figures are probably too similar 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 overall fan base.

File:031658 a83397e7.jpg
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 one of 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.

Manchester is also important to the history of football. In 1868 a meeting was held in the city for representatives from the UK's football associations, and the International Football Association Board, which makes the rules for the game, was formed following this meeting.

Rugby football

Although many of the big rugby teams in the north west of England play Rugby League, Manchester's rugby teams have a long tradition by playing Rugby Union.

Manchester Rugby Club, was founded as the "Manchester Football Club" in 1860, eleven years before the formation of the Rugby Football Union, the club is one of the oldest rugby union clubs in the world along with Blackheath Rugby Club and Liverpool St Helens F.C.. The club's ground is located at Grove Park in Cheadle Hulme, and is divided into different sections - 1st XV, 2nd XV, Warriors, Ladies, and Mini, Juniors, Colts.[42] See main article: Manchester Rugby Club

Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C., is one of the oldest Rugby Union Clubs in England and was established in 1882, just one year after the Lancashire County Rugby Union was founded and eleven years after the formation of the national Rugby Football Union. The club has had a number of different grounds in its time, mainly in the Salford/Prestwich area, but also in the south of Manchester. Since 2004 its present new facility is at Hough End in Chorlton, in South Manchester. Originally the club had only one senior side, but now fields four senior sides and supported by one Colts (U19), four youth (U13-U17) and four mini (U8-U12) teams; a total involvement of some 220 players each week. Broughton Park R.F.C. is the City of Manchester's highest placed representative in the Rugby Union Leagues.[43]

Didsbury Toc-H Rugby (Union) Club was originally founded in 1924 as "Toc H Manchester" and was situated in Victoria Park. After moving to various sites the club arrived in Didsbury and in 1986 the name was changed to "Didsbury Toc-H" to identify with the location of the clubhouse. The club, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2003/2004, is located at Ford Lane in the heart of Didsbury Village, in the south of Manchester, close to neighbouring areas Withington, Fallowfield, Burnage, and Stockport. The club fields four teams each week, the 1st team plays in the North Lancashire & Cumbria league, the 2nds, 3rds, and 4ths play in competitive "intermediate leagues". The club also has an established junior section. The "Toc-H" part comes from a soldiers club at Poperinghe in Flanders in the First World War. Soldiers and officers could get a respite from the battlefields. This place was named Talbot House in honour of a young lieutenant who was killed in action the year before. Signallers pronounced the letters 'T' as 'Toc' and 'H' as 'House'. Today they'd be 'Tango' and 'Hotel'. When the rugby club was founded, Manchester soldiers called the new club as "Toc-H Manchester".[44]

The City of Manchester has also has other rugby teams: the University of Manchester Rugby Club,[45] and Manchester Village Spartans RUFC.[46]

Cricket

Old Trafford cricket ground, located in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, is the historic home of Lancashire County Cricket Club, which 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.

Manchester also has an Australian Rules Football Club, The Manchester Mosquitoes, who played their first season in the BARFL in 2006.

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).

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

Media

Television and radio

ITV franchisee Granada Television has its original headquarters on Quay Street in the Castlefield area of the city. The city is where programmes including Coronation Street and many Children’s ITV presentations are produced.

The BBC has its headquarters for the North West in New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road in the south of the city. Programmes including A Question of Sport, Mastermind and Real Story are made here. Manchester is also the regional base for the BBC One North West Region so programmes like North West Tonight are produced here. The BBC intends to relocate large numbers of staff and facilities to Manchester or Salford from London, once a new, larger site has been selected. The Children's(CBBC), Comedy, Sport (BBC Sport) and New Media departments are all scheduled for a move from London to Manchester or Salford before 2010.

Manchester has its own television channel, Channel M, owned by the Guardian Media Group and operated since 2000. It also has several local radio stations 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. There is a community radio network coordinated by Radio Regen, and with stations covering the South Manchester communities of Ardwick, Longsight and Levenshulme (ALL FM 96.9) and Wythenshawe (Wythenshawe FM 97.2)

Several now defunct radio stations are much lamented including Sunset (which became) Kiss 102 (now Galaxy), and KFM which became Signal Cheshire (now Signal 1). The latter three played a significant role in the city's emerging House music culture, also known as the Madchester scene, which was partly based around clubs like the the Hacienda which had its own show on Kiss 102. There were also scores of pirate radio, student radio (currently consisting of Fuse FM at the University of Manchester and Shock FM at the University of Salford) and community radio stations and initiatives in Manchester.

BBC Radio Manchester, which became BBC GMR in 1988, returned to its former title in 2006.

The character of Daphne Moon in Frasier (the role which eventually made Jane Leeves the highest-paid British actress on television) came from Manchester.

Film

Manchester is home to the Manchester film festival and has held the commonwealth film festival.

Even Hollywood has featured Manchester occasionally in its films. My Son, My Son!, made in 1940, directed by Charles Vidor and starring Brian Aherne and Louis Hayward, is set in Manchester, and in MGM's all-star opus of 1932, Grand Hotel, most of Wallace Beery's dialogue seems to consist of him furiously shouting "Manchester!" throughout his entire part. Manchester over the years has shot many films from the Ewan McGregor blockbuster Velvet Goldmine to Sir Alec Guinness's The Man in the White Suit.

See also: Films set in Manchester

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 still shares a Manchester office on Deansgate with its sister publication, the Manchester Evening News, Manchester’s biggest-selling daily paper now free within the city centre, and Greater Manchester's biggest-circulation newspaper, the free weekly Manchester Metro News. Other free commuting papers include Metro North West, both of which are available from Metrolink stops, rail stations and other busy locations across the city at rush-hour.

For many years most of the national newspapers had important 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 80s lasting just three months. Another attempt was made with the North West Enquirer, which was Manchester based and 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 'Moving Manchester' amongst others.

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
  • 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:-

Photo Gallery

Twin Cities

See also

References

Print

  • Manchester architecture
    • Manchester. Clare Hartwell. Pevsner Architectural Guides ISBN 0-300-09666-6
    • Manchester: A guide to recent architecture. David Hands and Sarah Parker. Ellipsis. ISBN 1-899858-77-6
    • Manchester — an Architectural History John Parkinson Bailey. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5606-3
  • General
    • The City Life Guide to Manchester: 6th edition. ISBN 0-9544460-7-0
    • The Mancunian Way Published by Clinamen Press ISBN 1-903083-81-8
    • Manchester — a Celebration. Brian Redhead. André Deutsch Limited, London. ISBN 0-233-98816-5
    • Victorian Manchester & Salford. Published in 1988 by Ryburn Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-85331-006-9
  • Manchester culture
    • Morrissey's Manchester: The Essential Smiths Tour Phil Gatenby ISBN 1-901746-28-3
    • Manchester, England. The story of the pop cult city. Dave Haslam ISBN 1-84115-146-7
    • And God Created Manchester. Sarah Champion. Wordsmith. ISBN 1-873205-01-5
    • The Hacienda Must be Built. Edited by Jon Savage. International Music Publications ISBN 0-86359-857-9
    • Shake, Rattle and Rain — Popular Music in Manchester 1955-1995. CP Lee ISBN 1-84382-049-8
    • Like The Night — Bob Dylan and the road to the Manchester Free Trade Hall. CP Lee ISBN 1-900924-33-1

Online

Notes

  1. ^ Key facts and figures about Manchester, manchester.gov.uk. URL accessed February 21, 2007.
  2. ^ Key Statistics for urban areas in England and Wales, Census 2001. URL accessed February 21, 2007.
  3. ^ Manchester's Buildings, Manchester UK. URL accessed December 18, 2006.
  4. ^ Kidd, A., (2006), Manchester: A History, Carnegie Publishing Ltd.
  5. ^ Frangopulo, N.J., (1977), Tradition in Action: The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County, EP Publishing, Wakefield.
  6. ^ Manchester United in Celebration of City, European Funding NW. URL accessed December 18, 2006.
  7. ^ Cottonopolis, www.Spinningtheweb.org.uk, Manchester City Council. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
  8. ^ Manchester Cottonopolis, Spinning the Web, Manchester City Council. URL accessed December 7, 2006.
  9. ^ Manchester and Salford (Ancoats, Castlefield and Worsley), http://whc.unesco.org (UNESCO). URL accessed October 24, 2006.
  10. ^ Manchester, www.manchester.ac.uk, Manchester University. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
  11. ^ Northern Soul, www.educationuk.org, March 2003. URL accessed October 24, 2006.
  12. ^ "Manchester 'England's second city'", BBC News, 12 September 2002, retrieved 2 May 2006.
  13. ^ "Manchester 'close to second city'", BBC News, 29 September 2005, retrieved 2 May 2006.
  14. ^ "Manchester tops second city poll", BBC News, 10 February 2007, retrieved 11 February 2007.
  15. ^ Overseas Visitors to the UK - Top Towns Visited 2005 .pdf.
  16. ^ Note that Manchester United is in Greater Manchester but not inside Manchester city limits: it is in the borough of Trafford.
  17. ^ Casino Advisory Panel Recommendation
  18. ^ Manchester, England, www.weatherbase.com. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
  19. ^ "Manchester tourist guide — Geography & weather". Manchester Online. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Manchester 1981-2010 Averages". Met Office. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  21. ^ "Manchester Ringway weather station 1961-1990" (FTP). NOAA. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  22. ^ "Manchester ringway extreme values". KNMI. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  23. ^ "Manchester ringway 1981-2010 mean extreme values". KNMI. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  24. ^ "Average snowfall over the UK". Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  25. ^ "STATION MANCHESTER". Meteo climat. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Climate & Weather Averages in Manchester, England, United Kingdom". Time and Date. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Monthly weather forecast and Climate – Manchester, United Kingdom". Weather Atlas. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  28. ^ a b c d Greater Manchester Record Office (Gazetteer Index - select M for Manchester).
  29. ^ Manchester Poor Union (www.workhouses.org.uk).
  30. ^ Mills, A. D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-names. Oxford University Press. ISBN ISBN 0-19-852758-6. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  31. ^ Rogers, Nicholas - Halloween: from Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2003, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-1951-6896-8? P.18
  32. ^ "City building reaches full height", BBC, 26 April 2006, retrieved 2 May 2006.
  33. ^ Manchester, www.statistics.gov.uk, National Statistics. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/00BN-A.asp Manchester], www.statistics.gov.uk, National Statistics. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
  34. ^ Manchester, www.statistics.gov.uk, National Statistics. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
  35. ^ Manchester, www.statistics.gov.uk, National Statistics. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
  36. ^ Manchester, www.statistics.gov.uk, National Statistics. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
  37. ^ Manchester, www.statistics.gov.uk, National Statistics. URL accessed October 25, 2006.
  38. ^ Note: The Lowry Hotel is not in Manchester but across the River Irwell in the City of Salford
  39. ^ Note: Old Trafford (cricket ground) is not in Manchester but across the River Irwell in the borough of Trafford
  40. ^ Note: Old Trafford (football ground) and Manchester United Football Club are not in Manchester but across the River Irwell in the borough of Trafford
  41. ^ "Get our Metrolink back on track", Manchester City Council, 25 November 2005; Retrieved 14 May 2006.
  42. ^ Manchester Rugby Club
  43. ^ Broughton Park Rugby Union F.C.
  44. ^ Didsbury Rugby (Union) Club
  45. ^ The University of Manchester Rugby Club
  46. ^ Manchester Village Spartans RUFC

53°29′00″N 2°15′00″W / 53.48333°N 2.25000°W / 53.48333; -2.25000

External links

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