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4 top reasons to visit Manchester

I’m just back from Manchester, where I explored Manchester’s creative side as a guest of Creative Tourist, the online guide to all things artistic and creative in the city. These were my impressions of Manchester and 4 of the top reasons to visit this Northern city.

Salford Quays, Manchester
Salford Quays, Manchester

1. Industrial Heritage in Manchester

Manchester doesn’t do picturesque, it does a gritty industrial landscape that is full of canals, warehouses and cranes. Manchester made its money from mills and making things and now things have come full circle as those canals and warehouses that fell in to decline have been renovated and reinvented as smart apartments and areas for leisure.

You’ll see this clearly if you take the metro line out to Salford Quays where we enjoyed visits to the Lowry Arts Centre and the Imperial War Museum that sit on opposite sides of the Manchester Ship Canal, linked by a metal bridge that rises from time to time to let the ships through.

The Lowry in Manchester
The Lowry in Manchester

3. LS Lowry at The Lowry Centre

It’s not every artist that has an arts centre named after him, and although you may not know much about LS Lowry, you’ll almost certainly have seen his pictures of matchstick figures hurrying with their collars turned up against the wind, on their way to the factory with smoke billowing from chimneys or hurrying to the football match. Lowry painted what he saw on the streets of Manchester and his work is on show at The Lowry Centre in Salford Quays.

Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester

3. Manchester’s Creative Side

Manchester may be better known for football, nightlife and shopping, but we took the opportunity to explore some of the many free museums that are on offer in the city. At the Imperial War Museum we saw the thought provoking black and white war photography by Don McCullin at the Shaped by War exhibition and listened to the voices of children at war in the audio-visual presentation in the main exhibition hall.

At the Science and Industry Museum, we were able to press our noses up to the Mona Lisa without the usual crowds in the Louvre, including the unframed back view of the masterpiece with nail holes and scribbles from past curators.

Of course, she wasn’t the real thing, but an extremely detailed photographic copy taken with a special camera that recreated every tiny detail. Both of these exhibitions have moved on, but you’ll be sure to find other exhibitions to enjoy and plenty of information on the latest artistic happenings on the Creative Tourist Website.

The Northern Quarter in Manchester
The Northern Quarter in Manchester

4. Street Art and Vintage in the Northern Quarter

The Northern Quarter is a real antidote to the sleek, modern designer labels that thrive in the Arndale Centre. Here you’ll find a street vibe of clubs, cafes, and vintage fashion peppered with street art like these tiled cars that we spotted down a side alley.

It’s a great place for wandering around, checking out the most interesting and original that Manchester’s artistic community can come up with.

More Manchester Memories

Up Close with the Mona Lisa at MOSI in Manchester
Getting to know LS Lowry at the Lowry in Manchester
Street Art and Vintage at the Northen Quarter in Manchester

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com.

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Casing Pipe

Tuesday 19th of November 2013

Manchester is a gritty industrial landscape that is full of canals, warehouses and cranes. Manchester made it’s money from mills and making things

North India

Monday 2nd of May 2011

Thanks for sharing these useful information! Hope that you will continue doing nice article like this . northindiatrip.com

Turkey's For Life

Saturday 16th of April 2011

Really enjoying reading everyone's blog posts on Manchester - our playground when we're back in the UK. It's an amazing city - but then we're biased. :) We've worked for Urban Splash - one of the companies regenerating Manchester by converting the derelict warehouses and factories etc. To answer Cathy McGath's question, Urban Splash and other companies are working with the government and local youngsters and families to ensure affordable accommodation so they can get a start on the property ladder. Julia

Heather on her travels

Thursday 7th of April 2011

@ Hels I'm sure that your point about cold steel on the outside and warm on the inside is very apt. I was certainly glad to see some colour on the cold day I was at the Lowry

Hels

Thursday 7th of April 2011

Lowry was not my favourite modernist, but there was something very telling about his scurrying matchstick figures and his industrial landscapes. So it seems appropriate that the The Lowry Arts Centre was built with a Manchester Industrial feel.

Cold steel and glass are harsh materials, making the colourful interior a welcome change. Is that something about local people being tough on the outside but warm and loving on the inside?