Spend a day in Manchester and it rapidly becomes apparent just how much the city has reinvented its industrial past into a new, trendsetting present - and an ambitious future. Today, the listed buildings of the world’s first inter-city passenger railway house the Science & Industry Museum, a globally important heritage site, while the monumental columns of a former trading hall - once an international cotton exchange - hold up the UK’s biggest theatre in the round at the Royal Exchange. Manchester’s world-class art and textiles collections, held by Manchester Art Gallery and the redeveloped Whitworth, were amassed as a result of the city’s great post-industrial wealth and world standing - without which, exceptional buildings such as the Grade I listed John Rylands Library would not have been possible. The Quays - now home to MediaCityUK, the largest media hub in Europe, national museum IWM North and Manchester’s most visited cultural attraction The Lowry - is an area that has been transformed from the busiest industrial dock in the UK, to a 21st century cultural centre in just over 100 years. Of course Manchester is synonomous with football and you’ll find world-class collections at the National Football Museum.
133 libraries taking part ~ free events programme ~ Wednesday 12 June to Sunday 16 June 2024 Manchester City of Literature is preparing to celebrate the joy of libraries with Greater Manchester and the world when the Festival of Libraries takes place from Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 June 2024.
More than 2,500 people joined in the celebrations as Rochdale Town Hall reopened its doors to the public for the first time in four years this weekend. Thousands of visitors from all different walks of life packed into the Grade I listed building, eager to see the results of The National Lottery…
Manchester has been selected by The New York Times to feature in its annual ‘52 Places to Go’ list for 2024. The US publication’s annual list of where to travel features Manchester as a ‘music-mad city’, selecting it at number 12 in the global destinations it recommends visiting in the year ahead.
Known as the rainy capital of the North, Manchester is not always blessed with sunshine and dry spells. Thankfully, there are plenty of activities to get stuck into when the weather isn’t great. Either for families or groups of friends, there are lots of options for everyone looking for something…