First Time in Manchester
An insider’s guide to a city reinventing itself
WORDS | TONY NAYLOR
POPULATION: 2.6 million (Greater Manchester)
VISITORS PER YEAR: 8.9 million (overnight stays) of which 1.1 million are international
LANGUAGE: English
CURRENCY: Pound (£)
PRICE OF A PINT OF BEER: £2.80 ONE-BED CITY CENTRE APARTMENT: £70,000+
WHATEVER MANCHESTER NOW IS – and Mancunians can argue long and hard about that – it is utterly changed from what it was even 10 years ago. The IRA’s bombing of the city centre in 1996 and Manchester’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 2002 brought about a period of urban regeneration which has transformed how the city looks and feels.
Its dark, Satanic mills and ornate Victorian buildings – Manchester’s legacy as the first city of the Industrial Revolution – are now loft apartments, galleries and hotels. Stand in Piccadilly Gardens watching Metro trams glide past trendy bars, and modern Manchester feels buzzy, cosmopolitan, almost European.
Or at least the city centre does. Manchester still scores badly on many poverty indexes, and outside of the centre it retains its rough edges. To see this contrast at its sharpest, take a walk along shabby, unloved Oldham Road to Vermilion, a stunning £4.5m restaurant.
Long one of Europe’s most culturally vibrant cities, Manchester is best known, of course, for music. A new wave of Manchester bands (the Courteeners, Delphic, Lonelady etc) are currently re-energising the city’s music scene. Head to the Northern Quarter, a warren of hip bars and gig venues, if you want to discover the next big thing.
Manchester International Festival is the city’s headline arts event, but local culture vultures are well served by the Cornerhouse cinema, multiple art galleries and museums and Manchester’s showpiece classical music venue, the Bridgewater Hall.
Sadly, Urbis is one diversion Voyager can no longer recommend. Much to the dismay of Manchester’s chattering classes this futurist building, which used to house a unique museum of popular culture, will reopen in 2011 as Britain’s National Football Museum. But that is Manchester: always changing.
HOTELS
THE OX
Busy, cosy gastropub with 10 bedrooms. Good budget option. From £49.95. 71 Liverpool Road, Castlefield, +44 (0)161 839 7760, www.theox.co.uk
ABODE
Smart, central. Rooms have an airy New York-loft feel. Good restaurant. From £79. 107 Piccadilly, +44 (0)161 247 7744, www.abodehotels.co.uk
GREAT JOHN STREET HOTEL
Upscale boutique hotel in a former Victorian school house, with rooftop garden. From £110.
Great John Street, Castlefield, +44 (0)161 831 3211, www.greatjohnstreet.co.uk
EATING & DRINKING
COMMON
The definitive boho Northern Quarter bar, with DJ nights, art shows and gigs. 39-41 Edge Street, +44 (0)161 832 9245, www.aplacecalledcommon.co.uk
GABRIEL’S KITCHEN
Sharp, affordable day-time diner, well worth the short detour from the centre. 265 Upper Brook Street, +44 (0)161 276 0911, www.themoderncaterer.co.uk
SAM’S CHOP HOUSE
Subterranean pub-restaurant serving rib-sticking British classics. Try the corned beef hash or steak ‘n’ kidney pud. Back Pool Fold, Chapel Walks, +44 (0)161 834 3210, www.samschophouse.co.uk
NEXT BIG THING
It’s still pretty low-key, but an influx of artists, musicians and loafers into the area around Chapel Street – a run-down main road just over the border in Salford – is turning the area into an unlikely creative hub. Visit the multifunctional arts space Islington Mill (www.islingtonmill.com), or pub-theatre the King’s Arms (www.studiosalford.com).
THE ALE TRAIL
Modern Manchester retains a fantastic network of traditional pubs. Start out at the Marble Arch (73 Rochdale Road), which brews its own beers, before visiting the Castle, City Arms, and Peveril of the Peak, ending up in the Briton’s Protection (50 Great Bridgewater Street).
A BRIEF HISTORY
AD78 A Roman fort is established at Mamucium. Remains visible at Castlefield.
1782 Richard Arkwright opens Manchester’s first industrial-scale cotton mill, kick-starting the Industrial Revolution.
1845 The Manchester-based founding father of communism, Freidrich Engels, publishes The Condition of the Working Class in England.
1948 The world’s first programmable computer, Baby, is built at Manchester University.
1989 The ‘Madchester’ music scene puts Manchester on the global cultural map.
1996 The IRA bomb central Manchester, after which the city centre is remodelled.
SCENE DOUBLE
Manchester Town Hall, a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic, is often used as a stand in for the Houses of Parliament, which were built around the same time. You can see it in the recent Sherlock Holmes movie.
BUSINESS TIPS FOR MANCHESTER
Practical, on-the-ground advice from Chris Fletcher of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Despite it being a major economic centre and a leading European city, you usually find that because of the strong networking links and connections, everyone knows someone who can help you.
The city centre has seen massive regeneration and development over the last decade and is home to stunning commercial properties that in the current climate are eager to attract business. MIDAS, the city’s inward investment agency, is a great first stop if you are looking to move business into the city.
Manchester is also now a regular on the political party conference circuit: 2010 sees the Labour party back; 2011 is the Conservative’s turn. So hotel rooms are at a premium during late September.
Greater Manchester is the economic powerhouse of the north west and while it has focused strongly on finance and professional services over the last few years, it also has healthy manufacturing, retail and food sectors. If we don’t do it at present, that’s never stopped us in the past. Manchester is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution after all.
