Let me take you on a quick tour around this great Northern City, flicking through just some of the many photographs I’ve taken over the past few days.
From Castlefield Junction, walking up the first of the Rochdale 9 locks towards Deansgate.
An old pub, I’m sure was once used by the boatmen from the quayside here. Peveril of the Peak has a lovely original tiled exterior.
Once the Great Northern Railway Station, now a large convention centre.
The very grand Midland Hotel, a magnificent example of Victorian architecture next to the station for the wealthy holiday-makers visiting Manchester by train.
We walked through from front to back just to get a glimpse of the grandeur inside. Ian asked if I would like to stay there, but didn’t offer to pay!
Nowadays there are modern electric trams whizzing by outside these grand old centres of travel.
Further down Deansgate is the enormous railway warehouse building, now converted to a large shopping complex.
Another magnificent building is the spectacular John Rylands Library. Inside there are galleries showing some old manuscripts and early books, it has a large archive available for academic study and research.
The historic reading room has the aura of a church with stained glass windows and a hushed atmosphere.
Statues of various literary figures are all around the reading room including, Wycliffe who translated the Bible and John Wesley.
The beautiful historic staircase and hallway is also impressive and leads down to the original 1900 toilets, unchanged in style and decoration!
The Cathedral seems somewhat dwarfed by the vast modern buildings surrounding it.
At Victoria station, the outside is less ornate than most other Victorian buildings and inside the roof is being taken off and a new modern glass replacement will be put in place. We liked the map painted on the tiled wall just inside the entrance.
An imperial arch in the centre of China town, marks the importance of the Chinese community living and working in Manchester.
The Town Hall is another impressive building, with an impressive oak hammer beam ceiling in one room. Coats of arms painted along the length show the countries and cities that Manchester traded with.
And finally back home.
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