Manchester - Castlefield

To the east of the Air and Space Gallery, the Castlefield Art Gallery has periodic exhibitions of contemporary art.

"Castlefield Urban Heritage Park", to the west of Deansgate Station, is entertaining and full of variety. A walk among the lovingly restored Victorian houses, including the various new buildings which have been harmoniously added, along the old canals or to the reconstructed Roman fort - all of these things convey in a highly impressive way the history of Manchester from the earliest times to the present day.

To the south of the Granada TV Studios, opposite the Air and Space Gallery, the visitor enters the northern gate of the ruins which have been uncovered of the Roman fort, which once existed here and which is now surrounded by lawns.

Nearby the Roman Fort is the Bridgewater Canal which was constructed in 1759-61 to transport coal from the mines at Worsley to the up-and-coming new town of Manchester. Here, as at the Rochdale Canal, which was opened in 1804, Wigan Pier and Salford Quays to the west, between the River Irwell and the Manchester Ship Canal, many of the old warehouses have been restored and turned into offices, shops, hotels and restaurants. A boat trip on one of the Bridgewater packet boats is particularly recommended.