Manchester

:This article is about the city in England. For alternative meanings, see Manchester (disambiguation).

Culture

Art galleries

There are many art galleries in Manchester, notably:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The Lowry in Salford Quays, which houses works by the Salford painter L. S. Lowry
• The Athenaeum
• Salford Museum and Art Gallery
• Manchester Art Gallery
• The Whitworth Art Gallery
• The Chinese Arts Centre
• Cornerhouse
• The Castlefield Gallery
• Cube Gallery
• Comme Ca Art Gallery
• The Barn Gallery

Museums

Museums in Manchester include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Greater Manchester Police Museum
• Imperial War Museum North
• Manchester Jewish Museum
• Manchester Museum
• Museum of Science and Industry
• Pankhurst Centre
• People's History Museum
• Urbis, a museum of city life

Classical music

Manchester is home to two symphony orchestras, the Hallé Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. There is also a chamber orchestra, the Manchester Camerata.

Related Topics:
Symphony orchestra - Hallé Orchestra - BBC Philharmonic Orchestra - Chamber orchestra - Manchester Camerata

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For many years the city's main classical venue was the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street. Since 1996, however, Manchester has had a modern 2,500 seat concert venue called the Bridgewater Hall, which is also home to the Hallé Orchestra. The hall is one of the country's most technically advanced classical music and lecture venues, with an acoustically designed interior and suspended foundations for an optimum sound. Other venues for classical concerts include the RNCM, the Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester Cathedral.

Related Topics:
Free Trade Hall - 1996 - Bridgewater Hall - RNCM - Royal Exchange Theatre - Manchester Cathedral

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester is a centre for musical education, being home to the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham's School of Music.

Related Topics:
Royal Northern College of Music - Chetham's School of Music

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the 1950s the city was home to the so-called "Manchester School" of classical composers, which comprised Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and Alexander Goehr.

Related Topics:
1950s - Harrison Birtwistle - Peter Maxwell Davies - Alexander Goehr

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Popular music

For Mancunians, the popular musical heritage of the city has always been a source of great pride. The city's eclectic mix of music has created the sense among its inhabitants that Manchester is the most important city in world music.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Local groups have included The Hollies, 10cc, Buzzcocks, Joy Division, New Order (both on local label Factory Records), The Smiths, M People, Oasis and the Madchester scene bands the Happy Mondays, The Inspiral Carpets, and The Stone Roses.

Related Topics:
The Hollies - 10cc - Buzzcocks - Joy Division - New Order - Factory Records - The Smiths - M People - Oasis - Madchester - The Happy Mondays - Inspiral Carpets - The Stone Roses

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester's main popular music venue is the Manchester Evening News Arena, which seats over 21,000, and is the largest arena of its type in Europe. It was voted International Arena Of The Year beating New York's Madison Square Garden in the United States.

Related Topics:
Manchester Evening News Arena - Europe - New York - Madison Square Garden - United States

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo and the Manchester Academy. The many smaller venues throughout the city, such as the Roadhouse and Night and Day Cafe, ensure that Manchester's music scene is always vibrant and interesting.

Related Topics:
Manchester Apollo - Manchester Academy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See list of Manchester bands

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Food and Drink

Manchester has a vibrant and exciting range of restaurants, bars and clubs, spanning the famous curry mile in Rusholme to traditional "grub", China Town, modern bars and bistros at Deansgate Lock in the city centre.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Regional favourites include the Eccles cake from Eccles (hence the name) and the traditional pie capital of the UK is supposedly at the heart of Wigan, 15 miles outside the city.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a Hard Rock Cafe, with upmarket restaurants like Wagamama and bars that include Waxy O'Connors and The Living Room. The coffee chain Starbucks has 11 outlets in a 2 mile radius. Other, more independent restaurants, bars and clubs can be found in the Northern Quarter area of the city centre.

Related Topics:
Hard Rock Cafe - Starbucks - Northern Quarter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester is also famous for its beer. Although "The Cream of Manchester", Boddingtons may have left the city, there are still many international, local and independent breweries operating in the Greater Manchester area.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The scene set in Coronation Street of real northern life with a traditional English pub can also be found in the region.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gay and Lesbian

Manchester has the UK's largest gay population outside of London, and is renowned for its gay village; centred around the Canal Street area the gay village is home to various gay shops, restaurants, numerous bars and clubs, and each August bank holiday hosts the Manchester Pride Festival (previously known as Mardi Gras and Gayfest). Manchester's gay culture was brought to mainstream attention in 1999 by the acclaimed and controversial Channel 4 drama series Queer as Folk, which portrayed life in the village. The year round gay and lesbian heritage trail exhibits Manchester's colourful and often dark gay history. Manchester's claim to status of gay capital of the UK was strengthened in 2003 when it played host city to the annual Europride festival.

Related Topics:
Gay village - Canal Street - Channel 4 - Queer as Folk - Europride

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Literature

Famous writers to come from the Manchester area include Elizabeth Gaskell, and Anthony Burgess who wrote 'A Clockwork Orange', later adapted into a film by Stanley Kubrick. W. G. Sebald lived in Manchester when he first came to England, and it features prominently in his novel The Emigrants. Jeff Noon, the author of Vurt, writes novels which take place in Manchester.

Related Topics:
Elizabeth Gaskell - Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick - W. G. Sebald - Jeff Noon - Vurt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Writer's Bureau also runs its offices from the city.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester is home to the Manchester Metropolitan University Writers School, one of the top creative writing schools in the country.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Theatre

Manchester is noted for its excellent theatres, among them:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Contact Theatre, a theatre for young people with a bold contemporary design
• The Green Room, a small fringe venue
• The Library Theatre, a small producing theatre situated in the basement of the city's central library
• The Lowry, a large touring venue in Salford
• The Opera House, a commercial theatre promoting large scale touring shows which regularly plays host to touring West End shows
• The Palace Theatre, another large scale commercial theatre
• The Royal Exchange Theatre, a large producing theatre located in Manchester's former cotton exchange

The city is also home to two highly-regarded drama schools; The Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre and the Arden School of Theatre.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Architecture

Manchester has a wide variety of buildings 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 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), King Street by Sir Edwin Lutyens
• The Midland Hotel
• Piccadilly Gardens by Tadao Ando
• 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

Public monuments

• The Alan Turing Memorial
• The Albert Memorial, Albert Square, by Thomas Worthington
• B of the Bang, Britain's tallest sculpture
• The Queen Victoria statue, Piccadilly Gardens by Edward Onslow Ford
• Monument to Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Square, marking the cotton famine of 1861-5

Media

ITV Granada Television has its original headquarters on Quay Street in the Castlefield area of the city. The city is the main television production centre outside London, it is where popular programmes like Coronation Street and many CITV presentations are made and produced.

Related Topics:
ITV - Granada Television - Coronation Street - CITV

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The BBC has its headquarters for Northern England in New Broadcasting House on Manchester's Oxford Road. Popular programmes including A Question of Sport, Mastermind and Real Story with Fiona Bruce are made from here. The BBC will soon move its Sport, Radio Five Live, New media, CBBC, Cbeebies and other important departments to the city from its bases in London.

Related Topics:
BBC - A Question of Sport - Mastermind - Radio Five Live - CBBC - Cbeebies - London

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Channel M, Manchester's own television channel, also broadcasts from the Printworks, in the millenium quarter of the city centre. It is owned by the Guardian Media Group and has operated since 2000. It is available via terrestrial, NTL cable and from 2006 on British Sky Broadcasting

Related Topics:
Channel M - Guardian Media Group - NTL - British Sky Broadcasting

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The city is home to local radio stations such as BBC GMR, Key 103, Galaxy, Piccadilly Magic 1152, 105.4 Century FM and 100.4 Smooth FM, Capital Gold 1458, as well as some smaller stations. Xfm is to begin broadcasting later in 2005. There is also a community radio network coordinated by Radio Regen http://www.radioregen.org/, and with stations covering the communities of Ardwick/Longsight/Levenshulme (All FM 96.9) and Wythenshawe (Wythenshawe FM 97.2)

Related Topics:
BBC GMR - Key 103 - Galaxy - Piccadilly Magic 1152 - 105.4 Century FM - 100.4 Smooth FM - Capital Gold 1458 - Xfm - Community radio - Ardwick - Longsight - Levenshulme - Wythenshawe

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Guardian newspaper was founded in Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian. Its head office is in Manchester, though many of its management functions were moved to 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 Metronews North West, both of which are available from Metrolink and rail stations across the city.

Related Topics:
The Guardian - London - Manchester Evening News - Metrolink

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Universities

Manchester is home to two universities: The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University. The former is the largest full-time non-collegiate university in Britain, and was created in autumn 2004 by the merger of the former Victoria University of Manchester with UMIST.

Related Topics:
Universities - University of Manchester - Manchester Metropolitan University - 2004 - Victoria University of Manchester - UMIST

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Together with nearby Salford University, and the Royal Northern College of Music, these give the area a student population in excess of 65,000. This is one of the biggest higher education student populations in Europe.

Related Topics:
Salford University - Royal Northern College of Music - Europe

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sport

Sport and especially football are an important part of Manchester culture. Two major football clubs, Manchester United and Manchester City, bear the city's name. Manchester United's Old Trafford ground, the largest club football ground in England, is just outside the city proper, in the borough of Trafford. These football teams are just two examples: according to the Urbis centre Manchester has the highest concentration of football clubs per capita of anywhere in the world. Other football teams in Greater Manchester include Oldham Athletic, Stockport County, Bury, Wigan Athletic, Rochdale, Bolton Wanderers and F.C. United of Manchester.

Related Topics:
Football - Manchester United - Manchester City - Old Trafford - Trafford - Urbis centre - Oldham Athletic - Stockport County - Bury - Wigan Athletic - Rochdale - Bolton Wanderers - F.C. United of Manchester

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The legacy of the Commonwealth Games in 2002 includes many first class sporting facilities such as the Manchester velodrome(otherwise known as The National Cycling Centre), the City of Manchester Stadium (also home to Manchester City, the National Squash Centre and the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Related Topics:
Manchester velodrome - City of Manchester Stadium - National Squash Centre - Manchester Aquatics Centre

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Old Trafford cricket ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club, hosts many first-class cricket and important international matches including Test Matches.

Related Topics:
Old Trafford - Lancashire County Cricket Club - First-class cricket

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manchester is also represented in rugby union by Sale Sharks, who currently play their home games at Edgeley Park in Stockport and Manchester R.C.; and in Rugby League by Wigan Warriors, who share the JJB Stadium with Wigan Athletic, St Helens RFC is nearby and Salford City Reds, who are currently in the process of constructing a new state-of-the-art stadium not far from Manchester City Centre.

Related Topics:
Sale Sharks - Stockport - Manchester R.C. - Wigan Warriors - JJB Stadium - St Helens RFC - Salford City Reds

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~