"A place more destitute of all interesting objects than Manchester it is not easy to conceive..." wrote English poet Robert Southey (1774-1843) in 1807. If he were to return today he would be shocked indeed.
Most of the city's old "dark satanic mills" have been converted to trendy pubs, shops, hotels and discos. One of Manchester's newest hotels, The Britannia, with its magnificent blue and gold wrought iron staircase, was created with style from an old warehouse.
Two hundred and ninety-five kilometers (180 miles) northwest of London, the bright, brash, breezy, but business-like city of Manchester claims title as the unofficial capital of northern England.
At once young at heart and rich in history, the city has much to offer within its boundaries as well as being an ideal base for touring the Penine Hills to the east, the Lake District and Scottish border to the north and the rugged mountains of north Wales to the southwest.
During the 19th-century, Manchester was nicknamed "Cottonopolis" due to its dependence upon cotton. The heritage of this industry can still be found in many parts of the city.
Close to Manchester's International airport, Britain's largest after London's Heathrow and Gatwick, you will find Quarry Bank Mill, one of the original water-powered cotton mills which has been restored as a working museum.
The Museum of Science and Industry occupies the old Liverpool Road Station, the first passenger railway station in the world. In the Power Exhibition Hall, engines driven by water, steam and electricity are displayed. Some, including steam locomotives, are fully operational. At Ellesmere Port, the Boat Museum houses one of the largest collections of canal craft in Europe.
Other museums cover a wide range of subjects, from textiles and costume, to transport and the police. Manchester's art galleries contain important collections, with the Wentworth famous for its British watercolors, post-impressionists and 20th-century art. At Salford Museum and Art Gallery the work of local artist L.S. Lowry can be seen. His images of matchstick people set against an industrial landscape have earned him popularity beyond the art world.
Manchester is a major cultural center with 10 theaters including the Opera House. The Royal Exchange, famous for its modern productions, was originally the cotton exchange and a board still shows the prices when dealing stopped in 1968. The new auditorium looks like a space capsule from the outside, but inside is a very traditional "theater-in-the-round" built on and suspended over the trading floor of the old exchange.
Another popular venue is the Free Trade Hall, home for more than a century to the world renowned Halle Orchestra, where a wide range of music from pop to promenade concerts is performed.
There are three libraries of special interest near the city center, in addition to the Central Public Library in St. Peter's Square. One of them, the Portico Library in Mosley Street, established in 1806 as a social and literary institution, has many rare first editions. A plaque records the names of its famous literary browsers, including that of Peter Mark Roget, compiler of the famous Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.
