Travel Tips

This is just to show off a few of the interesting corners around Manchester that i've photographed over the years.

Printworks

Printworks used to be a newspaper printing business. It has been renovated and turned from a derelict building to a jumping entertainment center full of lights and action. Cafes, bars, restaurants, cinema multiplex, amusement arcades, a health club and the Hard Rock Casino, all over multi levels. The cinema has an IMAX screen. In the corners of the building you can still see it's industrial past.

A three storey Victorian structure made of cast iron and glass. It was restored in the 1980's and contains boutiques and exclusive shops and some offices. The Glass roof is gorgeous on a sunny day and the interior is very elegant, with marble and tall plants. The shops are pricey but the windows always look lovely. There are entrances on both Deansgate and St. Anne's Square (which is the entrance in this photo)

The Shambles is actually two buildings, the Old Wellington Inn and Sinclair's Oyster Bar, both dating from 3 or 4 centuries ago. They were originally situated on nearby Market Street and moved to make way for the Arndale Center in the 1970's. They were removed brick by brick and reassembled. In 1996, the IRA bomb devastated Manchester centre, but the Arndale and Marks and Spencer took the worst of the blast and the Shambles was minimally damaged. As part of the reconstruction plan for the area and part of the Millenium regeneration, it was decided to move it again to it's present location, opposite the Manchester Cathedral and next to the old Corn Exchange buildings (now the trendy Triangle shopping center).

There is a good article here about the Shambles. As you can see from the photo, it is now across from the brand new Harvey Nichols and just beside that, Selfridges with the new M&S on the opposite (unseen) side of that. The square is busy with people and the Shambles really does seem to symbolize survival.

The River Irwell snakes through Manchester, quite narrow at times and forming the border between Manchester and Salford. This photo was taken from the Trinity Footbridge, near Bridge St. The bridge was opened in 1995 with a new hotel, the Lowry Hotel on the Salford side and some riverside seating and cafes. Mind you, there isn't a whole lot on the Salford side by the hotel, though Trinity church is just a few steps away and there are riverside apartments here as well. It is also close to Salford Central station and Chapel Street.

Walking along Whitworth Street after a meal at a Chinese buffet restaurant, we saw this tiny little pub. We didn't go in but it is open for business and is apparently a friendly place.

Alan Turing was the father of modern computer science. He had an OBE and was his research formed the basis for future developments in artificial intelligence and led to computing science. He was gay and was persecuted for it when it came out, back in the early 1950's. He committed suicide in 1954. This memorial is in Sackville Park, near Canal Street and the Rochefort Canal.

Here's another odd looking old building and i can't remember if it's a pub or a shop. It sort of looks like there are books or similar in the window so it might be a bookstore