Manchester Attractions

The John Rylands Library is housed in a neo-Gothic building to the southwest of Chetham's Hospital in Deansgate. Founded in 1653, it has over five million books and manuscripts and is England's main repository for early printed books.

Baguley Hall is a timber framed house dating from the 14th C.

The Manchester Central Library next door to the Town Hall is a large rotunda by E. Vincent Harris (1934) and houses nine specialized libraries.

Central Station was on the line that connected Manchester to Liverpool, and once boasted 400 arrivals and departures per day. Great girders pierce the walls and permit sunlight to stream down into the interior.

Manchester's Centre for the Visual Arts is at 70 Oxford Street. For those interested in the moving image there are film showings, video and photographic workshops, and temporary exhibitions.

Chetham's Hospital, just north of the Manchester Cathedral, dates in part from 1422-61. It was originally a residence for priests of a collegiate foundation, and is now occupied by a music school. Its library is one of the oldest public libraries in England with a stock of over 100,000 books, half of which were printed before 1850.

The Manchester City Art Gallery in Mosley Street possesses one of the largest collections in Britain outside London. The gallery includes works by the pre-Raphaelites, Flemish masters of the 17th C, French impressionists (Gauguin, Manet, Monet, etc.), German artists (Max Ernst), and examples of the work of almost every English artist of any note, including Stubbs, Constable and Turner. The sculpture collection includes works by Rodin, Maillol, Jakob Epstein and Henry Moore ("Mother and Child").

The centrally situated Great Manchester Exhibition and Event Center (10,000sq.m/12,000sq.yd of exhibition area) is one of the newest such sites in England and is impressive for its size alone. It has been set up in the former buildings of the Victorian railroad station on Windmill Street and Mosley Street.

This annual festival runs from September to October and features both live and audiovisual events.

It also includes the Best of Edinburgh comedy and theater seasons and a number of free events, including the Castlefield Carnival.

Heaton Hall in Prestwich, built in 1772 in the neoclassical style by James Wyatt, is worth visiting for its applied art and elegant furniture.

The Jewish Museum has a collection which deals with the Jewish community in Manchester.

The museum is housed in the former Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, built in 1874. The building contains noteworthy stained glass windows.

Close by the university is the Manchester Museum with extensive scientific collections. Its Egyptian collection is of particular interest.

Exhibits also include mummies, birds, mammals, fossils, minerals, live snakes, lizards and fish.

In the Museum of Transport (Boyle Street/Cheetham Hill) there are over 60 old buses and other vehicles belonging to the city transport services.

The People's History Museum or National Museum of Labor History is the national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people in Britain. The origin of the museum is from the Trade Union, Labour and Co-operative History Society which began in 1960.

Housed within the Portico Library is the literary collection of Dalton and Joule, the intellectual figures of Manchester who founded the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.

The enormous range of shopping facilities available in Manchester include the elegant shops of St Anne's Square, King Street and Royal Exchange, and the large covered market halls of Bolton Arcade. As an alternative, the visitor can visit the Galleries Shopping Center in the center of Wigan or the smaller shops and businesses of Altrincham.

The Free Trade Hall, opened in 1951 and just a few minutes walk to the southwest of Manchester's Central Library in Peter Street, is home to the Hallé Orchestra. First-class concerts are regularly given here.

The pedestrianized Albert Square is graced by the imposing facade of the neo-Gothic Town Hall (1868-1877), designed by Alfred Waterhouse. From the tower there is an excellent panoramic view, while the Council Chamber and the cycle of paintings by Fort Madox Brown depicting the history of the city merit special attention.

Porcelain, silver and paintings are on display in Wythenshawe Horticultural Center, a half-timbered mansion.