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Main article: History of Manchester
 The Peterloo massacre
The Peterloo massacre
 A mill in Manchester in the 1940s, similar to hundreds of textile mills which covered the city in the 19th century
A mill in Manchester in the 1940s, similar to hundreds of textile mills which covered the city in the 19th century
 the Manchester Ship Canal, the first in Western Europe outside of Holland
the Manchester Ship Canal, the first in Western Europe outside of Holland
 The Avro Lancaster was built and designed in the city during WW2
The Avro Lancaster was built and designed in the city during WW2
Earlier history
The Manchester area was settled in or before christian word square was discovered in excavations some years ago. The North Gate of this fort has been reconstructed on the original site, together with a section of the fortress wall, and these may be found in the Castlefield district, at the end of Deansgate.
The fort was abandoned in the Irk. In medieval times, this area included a fortified manor house. Thomas De La Warre, a manorial lord who also happened to be a priest, gave the site to the church for use as a College of Priests around 1422, and commenced the construction of the Collegiate Church. The former is now Chetham's School of Music, and the latter, Manchester Cathedral.
A medieval charter accidently divorced Salford from Manchester, which became a separate township. Consequently, the suburb (now City) of Salford arose on the West bank of the River Irwell, which is only 20 metres wide when it runs between the two cities.
In the 14th century, Salford and Manchester became home to a community of Flemish weavers who settled in the town to produce wool and linen, beginning the tradition of cloth manufacture.
Manchester was an important place in the county of Lancashire by the time of the reformation. Perhaps the textile connections (which included the City Of London) resulted in the spread of puritanism and nonconformity. In 1642, Lord Strange attempted to seize the militia magazine for the King. This was opposed, and the resulting casualty, one Richard Percival, is said to be the first man to be killed in the English Civil War. Lord Strange returned to unsuccessfully besiege the town.
In 1745, the Young Pretender passed through the town en route to Derby. Upon the subsequent retreat some luckless Manchester recruits were left to garrison Carlisle, where they surrendered to the British Army.
Cheshire). It also became an important distribution centre, populated by increasingly important warehouses.
The construction of the Duke's Canal, sometimes referred to as the Bridgewater Canal, Britain's first true inland waterway, spurred this development by the provision of abundant quantities of cheap coal. The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first true public railway, also contributed to the rapid development of the town.
Manchester quickly grew into the most important industrial centre in the world, and, significantly, the first industrial society. The pace of change was fast and frightening. At that time, it seemed a place in which anything could happen - new industrial processes, new ways of thinking (the so called 'Manchester School',promoting free trade and laissez-faire), new classes or groups in society, new religious sects, and new forms of labour organisation. It attracted educated visitors from all parts of Britain and Europe. "What Manchester does today," it was said, "the rest of the world does tomorrow."
Manchester’s population exploded as people moved from the surrounding countryside, and from other parts of the British Isles, into the city seeking new opportunities. Particularly large numbers came from Ireland, especially after the Potato Famine of the 1840's. The Irish influence continues to this day and, every March Manchester plays host to one of the world's largestSt Patricks Day parades. It is estimated that about 35% of the population of Manchester and Salford has at least some Irish ancestry. Large numbers of ( mostly Jewish ) immigrants came to Manchester from central and eastern Europe. The area, including Salford and Prestwich, today has a Jewish population of about 40,000. This is the largest Jewish community outside London by quite some way. To these groups may be added (in later years) Levantines (involved in the Egyptian cotton trade), Germans, and Italians. By the end of the nineteenth century, Manchester was a very cosmopolitan place.
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Manchester was an important seat of radical, reformist politics. A famous meeting, held in furtherance of parliamentary reform, took place in St Peter’s Field on 16 August 1819. It was to be addressed by Henry Hunt, a powerful speaker known as 'Orator Hunt'. Local magistrates, fearful of a large crowd, ordered volunteer cavalry armed with sabres to clear a way through the crowd to arrest Hunt and the platform party. They lost control (some reports suggest that many were drunk) and started to lash out at members of the crowd. The officers of a troop of hussars of the British army were so appalled that they tried to restrain the volunters. These events resulted in the (official) deaths of eleven people with over four hundred injured. The country was appalled. One of the dead had been present at the Battle of Waterloo, and it was said that "Waterloo were a battle, but Peterloo (as the proceedings were satirically called, "were nowt but bloody murder"
The so-called First Reform Act.
The first Suffragette Movement.
Manchester's golden age was perhaps the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Many of the great public buildings (incliuding the Town Hall) date from the. Its cosmopolitan atmosphere contributed to a vibrant culture, which included the Halle Orchestra. In 1889, when county councils were created in England, the municipal borough became a county borough with even greater autonomy.
During this period, a deep canal (the Manchester Ship Canal) was dug, 36 miles long, from Salford to the River Mersey at the port of Liverpool. This enabled ocean going ships to sail right into the Port of Manchester Docks (technically in Salford). The docks functioned up until the 1970s, with their closure leading to a large increase in unemployment in that area.
Trafford Park in Stretford was the world's first industrial estate and still exists today, however with a significant tourist and recreational presence.
Manchester suffered greatly from the inter-war depression and the underlying structural changes that began to supplant the old industries like textiles.
In the Second World War Manchester was involved in heavy industrial construction - it was home to Avro (now BAE Systems) which built countless aircraft for the RAF, most famous being the Avro Lancaster bomber. It was attacked a number of times by the Luftwaffe, particularly in the 'Christmas Blitz' of 1941, which destroyed a large part of the historic city centre and seriously damaged the Cathedral.
In 1974 Manchester was split from the county of Lancashire and the Metropolitan Borough of Manchester was created.
Recent history
 Manchester's Exchange Square
Manchester's Exchange Square
At 11.20 am on Saturday 15 June 1996 the PIRA detonated a large bomb in the city centre. Whilst this bomb caused over 200 injuries, it caused no deaths and the principal damage was to the physical infrastructure of nearby buildings. The consequent reconstruction spurred a massive regeneration of the city centre, with complexes such as the Printworks and the Triangle creating new city focal points for both shopping and entertainment. A following regeneration took almost a decade to complete, with the last part of the Arndale centre renovated opening in the Autumn of 2005.
In 2002, the city successfully hosted the Sydney in 2000.
Rapidly developing institutions attract crime and disorder; see main article crime and policing in Manchester.
Since the regeneration after the 1996 PIRA attack and aided by the XVII Commonwealth Games Manchester's city centre has changed significantly. Large sections of the city dating from the 1960s have been either demolished and re-developed or modernised with the use of glass and steel; a good example of this transformation would be the Arndale Centre. Many old mills have been converted into apartments, helping to give the city a much more modern, upmarket look and feel. Some areas, like Hulme, have undergone extensive regeneration programmes and many million-pound lofthouse apartments have since been developed to cater for its growing business class community.
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Television and radio
ITV franchisee Granada Television has its original headquarters on Quay Street in the Castlefield area of the city. The city is the main UK television production centre outside London and is where programmes including Coronation Street and many Children’s ITV presentations are produced.
The BBC has its headquarters for Northern England in New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road in the south of the city. Programmes including A Question of Sport, Mastermind and Real Story are made there. The BBC intends to relocate large numbers of staff and facilities to Manchester from London, once a site has been selected.
Manchester has its own television channel, Capital Gold 1458 and Xfm. There is also a community radio network coordinated by Radio Regen[2], and with stations covering the South Manchester communities of Ardwick, Longsight and Levenshulme (ALL FM 96.9) and Wythenshawe (Wythenshawe FM 97.2)
Several now defunct radio stations are much lamented including "BBC Radio Manchester" - now BBC GMR, Sunset (which became) Kiss 102 (now Galaxy) and KFM which became Signal Cheshire (now Signal 1). The latter three played a significant role in the city's emerging House music culture, also known as the Madchester scene, which was partly based around clubs like the the Hacienda which had its own show on Kiss 102. There were also scores of pirate radio, student radio (currently consisting of Fuse FM at the University of Manchester and Shock FM at the University of Salford) and community radio stations and initiatives in Manchester.
Film
Manchester is home to the Manchester film festival and has held the commonwealth film festival. This is a list of films (Partial) set in Manchester:
Billy Liar 1963
East is East 1999
There's only one Jimmy Grimble 2000
The Parole Officer 2001
24 Hour Party People 2002
Millions 2005
Control 2006
Newspapers
London in 1964. It still shares a Manchester office on Deansgate with its sister publication, the Manchester Evening News, Manchester’s biggest-selling daily paper. Free commuting papers include Manchester Evening News Lite and Metro North West, both of which are available from Metrolink stops, rail stations and other busy locations across the city at rush-hour.
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Air
 Overview of Manchester Airport's Terminal 2
Overview of Manchester Airport's Terminal 2
Bangkok. Many European and domestic destinations are served. Manchester to London is the only high density airline route within England and is one of the busiest domestic sectors in Europe providing serious competition for the railways.
The airport has been voted the best airport in the UK by: Copenhagen).
Barton Aerodrome, one of the world's oldest airports, is still in operation. It is very busy heliport and has small runways which deal with small aircraft.
Road
The main roads serving Manchester are the M56, M6, M61, M62 and M66 motorways. Most of these routes link onto the M60, Manchester’s orbital motorway.
 A view from inside Manchesters busiest railway station, Piccadilly
A view from inside Manchesters busiest railway station, Piccadilly
Railway
Manchester holds a pivotal position in London are run from Manchester Piccadilly by Virgin Trains, journeys typically taking around 2 hr 15 min. There are also several smaller stations remaining around the City Centre, including Oxford Road station">Manchester Oxford Road, Deansgate and Salford Central.
Although there is no Underground Railway system similar to London's, the city has had several failed attempts to create one including the infamous "Picc-Vicc", a heavy rail tunnel linking the main stations. Excavation work under the Arndale Centre for this project began in the 1970s, but was soon abandoned due to costs and rumours of 'subterranean obstacles'. This may well have referred to the 'Guardian' underground nuclear bunker network, originally constructed by NATO (as a means of protecting communications in the city in the event of an atom bomb being deployed) and now used by BT.
The urban and suburban areas are covered by a sizeable network of rail lines, including lines to Bolton, Oldham, Stockport and Wilmslow.
Metrolink
 A Metrolink Tram in Manchester city centre
A Metrolink Tram in Manchester city centre
Manchester has a tram system called Metrolink. Operated by Serco, the Metrolink links the city centre to Altrincham, Eccles and Bury. It is a high-frequency service, with trams running every 6–12 minutes. It carries nearly 20 million passengers each year.
Plans to extend Manchester Metrolink were reinstated after an election-time u-turn by the Labour Government which had previously rejected the plans months earlier, despite years of support. The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE), responsible for public transport in the area, led the fight to ensure that the extensions are to be built, with significant support from Local Councils and Communities, as well as the main Manchester City Council [4]. If the desired system, nicknamed the big bang, is completed, passenger numbers are predicted to more than double; to an estimated 50 million per year.
A widely held view of many in Manchester of one of the major failings of the Metrolink is that it has never been extended to reach the Trafford Centre (approx. 5 miles away in Trafford Park), with a wide possibility of routes for this task. The line from Manchester City Centre to Eccles Town Centre is also judged by many to be a failure as it takes longer than an equivalent bus journey following a similar route, but achieves this without the Metrolink's advantage of using 'Metrolink-only' specially dedicated / constructed routes.
Since Metrolink's inception and the initial euphoria at the huge success, by the Public / Local & National Government / Environmental Groups it has become something of a victim of its own popularity. Many routes are extremely busy, especially at Peak Times, and prices have risen at a rate far above that of inflation.
Warning: If you wish to take a trip on the Metrolink you must purchase a ticket before the journey, from a ticket machine on one of the platforms. These ticket machines do not accept credit cards or debit cards, and many (half) do not accept banknotes despite the high cost of some routes. You must therefore ensure that you have plenty of coins (£2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p) before travelling. However, if you have a valid train ticket which specifies a Metrolink station or "Manchester Stations" as your destination for that day, you can use this to also ride the Metrolink to certain stops without needing to purchase an additional ticket.
Buses
 Stagecoach Buses in Manchester City Centre
Stagecoach Buses in Manchester City Centre
Manchester and the surrounding area have an extensive bus network, with regular services in and out of the city connecting to all the satellite towns and villages. Maps of bus routes and a public transport journey planner for the Greater Manchester can be found on the GMPTE website.
The City’s buses are operated by a range of companies including First, Stagecoach (incorporating the lower-cost Magicbus), Finglands, UK North (also trading as GM Buses), and R. Bullock. The major routes, with high passenger volumes, are well provided for, including Oxford Road/Wilmslow Road, one of the busiest bus routes in Europe, bringing large numbers of students & commuters from Fallowfield / Withington / Didsbury to the university buildings that have campuses scattered around the city centre, and the various office buildings - including the BBC. Other routes, that are not as commercially attractive, with smaller passenger volumes, are less well provided for, and the cost of a single journey can be similar to that of a Week Pass for the 'South Manchester' journey.
First Manchester also operates free Metroshuttle services which link important areas of the city such as Manchester Victoria, Piccadilly and Oxford Road station">Oxford Road stations with Chinatown, Deansgate, Salford Central, and Albert Square. These services are very successful and therefore often busy. At present, there are three routes, numbered 1, 2 and 3 - each uniquely coloured orange, green and purple respectively. They run every 5-10 minutes and complement the Metrolink and National Rail services, linking them with the city’s car parks, tourist attractions and bus termini.
Those arriving at Manchester Piccadilly Bus Station and requiring to take a Train from Manchester Piccadilly Train Station can choose either to take a Metrolink or wait for the free Metroshuttle. It should be noted, however, that if one sits waiting on the Metroshuttle for 10 minutes one could have easily walked the distance to the Train Station, less than 1/2 mile away.
High frequency Bolton-Manchester 8 service, which operate every ten minutes.
Manchester's principal bus station mainly for services on the south side of the city is at Piccadilly Gardens, which is also served by Metrolink and a short walk from the city's main train station, Piccadilly. Shudehill Bus/Metrolink Interchange caters for routes mainly on the north side of the city and is within walking distance of the Victoria Train Station. Long distance coaches - operated mainly by National Express - serve the Manchester Central Coach Station at Chorlton Street. This smart, modern station opened in March 2002 and replaced the old Chorlton Street coach station (on exactly the same site). The old station was notorious for crime and prostitution.
Water
 The Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal
One legacy of the industrial revolution is an extensive network of canals: the Bolton & Bury Canal">Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, Rochdale Canal, Manchester Ship Canal, which provides access to the sea, Bridgewater Canal, Ashton Canal, and the Leigh Branch of the Liverpool Canal">Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Today, most of these canals are used for recreation.
The Manchester area is supplied with water by numerous artificial lakes, built on the former small rivers around the city. In some cases these lakes form long chains, as in Longdendale. In the past, the city also had a ‘pressurised water’ power supply system, a predecessor of the modern electricity network. Manchester also had Britain's first sewer network, which still exists today. This network is what prevents Manchester from having an underground rail system.
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Architecture
 Manchester Town Hall is an example of the Victorian architecture found in Manchester and is the home of Manchester City Council
Manchester Town Hall is an example of the Victorian architecture found in Manchester and is the home of Manchester City Council
 HSBC Bank, on Spring Gardens
HSBC Bank, on Spring Gardens
 The B of the Bang, a sculpture commemorating the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester
The B of the Bang, a sculpture commemorating the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester
 Albert Square
Albert Square
 The RBS building in Spinningfields
The RBS building in Spinningfields
Manchester has a wide variety of buildings mainly from Victorian architecture through to modern. Much of the architecture in the city harks back to its former days as a global centre for the cotton trade. Many warehouses have now been converted for other uses but the external appearance remains mostly unchanged so the city maintains much of its original character.
Structures of interest in Manchester include:
The Bridgewater Hall, home of the Hallé Orchestra
The Corn Exchange (now the Triangle shopping centre)
The G-Mex Centre
Imperial War Museum North by Daniel Libeskind and Lowry Footbridge
Beetham Tower, due for completion in 2006
John Rylands Library, Deansgate
London Road Fire Station
Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, by E. Vincent Harris
Manchester Town Hall by Alfred Waterhouse, extended by E. Vincent Harris
Midland Bank building (now HSBC Bank plc), King Street by Sir Edwin Lutyens
The Midland Hotel
Piccadilly Gardens by Tadao Ando
Palace Hotel
The Portico Library
The Royal Exchange
South Manchester Synagogue
Strangeways Prison by Waterhouse
Sunlight House
Trinity Bridge over River Irwell by Santiago Calatrava
Victoria Station
The Victoria Baths
Skyline
The tallest London is currently under construction in Manchester: the 47 storey, 561 ft (~171 m) tall Beetham Hilton tower, on Deansgate is due for completion in late 2006. As of 2005, the tallest building in Manchester is the CIS Tower. Another skyscraper, even taller than the Beetham Hilton tower, has been approved and will be built near Manchester Piccadilly station.
Public monuments
Within Manchester there are monuments to several people and events that have helped to shape the city and influence the wider community. The Alan Turing Memorial situated in Sackville Park close to Canal street remembers the father of modern computing and the Albert Memorial, Albert Square, by Thomas Worthington is in memory of Queen Victoria’s consort. Queen Victoria is also remembered by Edward Onslow Ford’s Queen Victoria statue in Piccadilly Gardens.
The success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games is commemorated by B of the Bang, Britain’s tallest sculpture, located near the City of Manchester Stadium. A monument to Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Square marks the | |
