City Centre and Borough of Manchester

The City of Manchester, historically a part Lancashire, is one of the great cities of northern England with a history going back to before Roman times. Its modern importance owes much to the part it played during the years of the Industrial Revolution. From 1974, the city, together with the city of Salford and 8 Metropolitan boroughs, became known as, Greater Manchester.

Today (2006) the Manchester City local council wards are Ancoats and Clayton, Ardwick, Baguley, Bradford, Brooklands, Burnage, Charlestown, Cheetham, Chorlton, Chorlton Park, City Centre, Crumpsall, Didsbury East, Didsbury West, Fallowfield, Gorton North, Gorton South, Harpurhey, Higher Blackley, Hulme, Levenshulme, Longsight, Miles Platting and Newton Heath, Moss Side, Moston, Northenden, Old Moat, Rusholme, Sharston, Whalley Range, Withington, Woodhouse Park

The city is considered by many to be second in importance only to London and the population of Greater Manchester places it as the 3rd largest conurbation in the country, with only Greater London and the West Midlands being larger.

Sport is important to the city which has two Football teams, Manchester City and Manchester United; it is also home to Lancashire County Cricket Club. In 2002 the city hosted the 17th Commonwealth Games.

Manchester today is a city of importance in almost every field that can be imagined and places emphasis on its museums and sites dedicated to recording the development of the city's position in science and industry, much of which is based around the canals, mills and warehouses constructed during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. The impressive and popular Museum of Science and Industry, which is found in the Castlefield area of Liverpool Road, houses permanent free exhibitions and a number of changing 'specials' which usually have a nominal entrance charge. Castlefield was once at the hub of the city's trading network with its canals and railways converging on the area to bring in the raw materials and ship out the finished goods. The Bridgewater canal, one of the first to be dug, brought coals from the mines at Worsley, to feed the steam engines driving the city's economy. Still in Castlefield, and only a few hundred yards away, the remains of the old Roman Fort of Mamucium, dating back to 79AD, can be seen. The canal basin is now a re-generated area with pleasant walks and pavemnent bars on the old wharfs.

A different sort of heritage can be seen in the John Rylands library on Deansgate, currently in the last stages of extensive re-furbishment,. An impressive Victorian building, and a work of art in its own right, it houses an equally impressive collection of books and ancient manuscripts.

St Ann's Square, just off Deansgate, has the church of the same name at one end and, at the other, The Royal Exchange building within which is the Royal Exchange Theatre. This is a self contained theatre-in -the -round construction of glass and steel around which the public can walk.

Entertainment of a different sort can be found in the newly styled 'Printworks'. Once the place from which the Mirror group's newspapers flew off the printing machines, it is now an entertainment complex housing cinemas, bars and restaurants. G-Mex, in the old Central Railway Station functions as an exhibition centre with the International Convention Centre adjacent to it.

The nominal centre of Manchester can probably be said to be Albert Square, dominated by the Town Hall and the statue of Prince Albert. The Central Library backs onto the square (its frontage is in St Peter's Square) and the Midland Hotel, built to accommodate rich visitors in the 19th century, is not far away.

The city is home to the much respected University of Manchester, one of the earlier 'red brick' universities. The university structures are in an everchanging state of flux and now incorporate such prestigious establishments as UMIST, the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. Along Oxford Road are strung the older Manchester University buildings and one of these houses the Manchester Museum with floor after floor of exhibits ranging from prehistoric life and minerals to animal and human history. The museum also houses an extremely fine collection of Ancient Egyption artefacts. Further along the road is the Whitworth Art Gallery which contains, alongside many notable paintings, one of the finest collections of textiles in the country.

Back at the city end of Oxford Road, and at the junction with Whitworth Street, stands the Cornerhouse. This establishment, with bar and cafe areas, is an important influence on the developing arts scene, with an art-house cinema and extensive gallery space dedicated to contemporary and local art.

Manchester can't be mentioned without reference to the Ship Canal which was constructed in the late 19th century to bring ocean-gong merchant ships into the heart of Manchester. It was at the heart of Manchester's booming economy for less than 50 years and, by the late 1950s was in difficulties as fewer ships came up the canal and docks and warehouses lay empty. This decline persisted until the late '90s when the area, along with so much of Manchester, was re-generated after the IRA bombing of the city centre.

The face of Manchester was changed forever by the events of June 15th 1996 when the largest IRA bomb ever detonated in Great Britain exploded in the busy shopping centre around Corporation Street. No- one was killed although many were seriously injured. The devastation across the city was enormous. The next 10 years saw a new Manchester city rise from the ashes as new buildings rose from a newly planned and laid out centre. Miraculously, some buildings were rescued. Sinclairs Oyster Bar, from1720, and The Old Wellington Inn dating back to Elizabethan times, were both, literally and physically, re-located to a new position.

The years of the Industrial Revolution created great wealth for a tiny minority and desperately hard working and living conditions for the poverty stricken labourers employed to service the industrial machine regardless of the human cost. Discontent led to what became known as the Massacre of Peterloo when 11 people were killed by mounted soldiers during what started out as a peaceful demonstration against the artificially high prices of cereal crops, underpinned by the iniquitous Corn Laws. These laws weren't repealed until 1846.The Free Trade Hall was eventually built on St. Peter's Fields, the site of the massacre.

Manchester promotes the arts vigorously in several well known galleries, one of which, City Gallery, has been extensively re-furbished over the last few years. Music plays an important part in city life and the recently built Bridgewater Hall is now home to the famous Halle Orchestra. At the other end of the musical scale Manchester once housed the famous (or, depending on your view, infamous) Hacienda Club during the last 2 decades of the 20th century. This was the club that revolutionised the face of popular music and introduced 'house' music to the world! Still on the international music scene, is the prestigious Chetham's School of Music. This 15th century manor house first became a school and library in 1653. In the same vicinity as Chetham's can be seen the distinctive outline of the sloping, 6 storey, glass construction known as Urbis. Inside the structure is a museum, and exhibition space, dedicated to chronicling modern life and culture.

Moving further away from city centre, and past Piccadilly Gardens, the visitor might venture into the so-called 'Northern Quarter' of the city. Here you can find the Manchester Craft and Design Centre.

It is impossible to write about Manchester without making reference to Chinatown, with its fantastic number of restaurants, and the Gay Village. To find Chinatown just walk down Portland Street and the Dragon Arch is clearly visible down a side street to the right. Chinese New Year is celebrated in style in the city. The Gay Village with the pavement cafes and bars of Canal Street at its heart.