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FIRST WORDS 2015 was an incredible year for Greater Manchester. Whether it was being praised for its new cultural offering; examined as the leader of the devolution and Northern Powerhouse agendas; or lauded as a must-visit destination by the likes of Lonely Planet and the New York Times. It is now, as The Guardian puts it, “... the most mentioned place in an increasingly loud conversation about British cities”. The skyline of Manchester has also changed of course, and in five years’ time, it will be entirely unrecognisable to that of ten years ago as our feature from page 54 explains. However, the change has been so much more than just physical. Manchester, and Greater Manchester as a whole, has developed an entirely new level of confidence in recent years. Sure, as people Mancunian’s are famously self-assured, but this new attitude is infectious; strengthened by investment, awards, and outside recognition from the world over. For newcomers to the city, there’s definitely a feeling at the moment that anything is possible. And it’s inspiring people to do amazing things. Take our Manchester Voice interviews in this issue – a cross section of makers, thinkers and doers who credit the city, and its current trajectory for pushing them on. They’ve chosen Greater Manchester as their home: Joe Hartley, like many others, coming here as a student and deciding to stay put. As poet and Chancellor of the University of Salford, Jackie Kay, asks: “Why live in London now when you’ve got Manchester?” So you can only imagine my delight at joining Marketing Manchester at this pivotal moment as its new managing director. I take the mantle from the wonderful Andrew Stokes who led the organisation for the best part of two decades, shaping and informing the opinion and perception of Greater Manchester as a fantastic place to live, work and visit. I’m returning to Manchester after a period of about ten years, when I worked at the BBC’s former site on Oxford Road. Of course, it’s no longer there – instead, the BBC and an increasingly diverse mix of media, creative and tech companies are now doing fabulous things at MediaCityUK in Salford and Trafford. That’s one of many profound changes that have developed in recent years in Greater Manchester and a marker that suggests the city-region has never been in better shape.
This confidence will come in handy in 2016 as Manchester becomes the European City of Science. As a city known for shouting loud about its virtues, Mancunian have been strangely remiss in the area of science – arguably one of its strongest assets along with the aforementioned creative industries, football and, increasingly, culture. The City of Science title will be an opportunity to change that, giving science top-billing across the city with events ranging from performances by a robot orchestra to a major exhibition about the discovery of graphene. To that end, this issue of MCR rifts loosely on a science theme with something to inspire us all. Sheona Southern Managing director, Marketing Manchester
Marketing Manchester Churchgate House, 56 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 6EU T. +44 (0)161 237 1010 marketingmanchester.com visitmanchester.com
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy in this publication, Marketing Manchester cannot accept liability for any loss or damage arising from its use. As changes often occur after publication date, it is advisable to confirm the information given.
Designed & Published: Marketing Manchester, December 2015
Marketing Manchester is the agency charged with promoting the city-region on a national and international stage, and is part of the Manchester Growth Company. Visit Manchester is the Tourist Board for Greater Manchester and is a division of Marketing Manchester. They are funded by 400 commercial members and the organisations below.
Photography: David Lake, Ben Page, Craig Easton, Joby Catto & VisitEngland
The information contained within this guide is copyright and no part of the guide may be reproduced in part or wholly by any means, be it electronic or mechanical, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
Part of Manchester Growth Company part of MGC
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CONTENTS FEATURES
WHAT’S ON
04 – 06 What’s new? News and updates from the greatest city in the world.
8 – 10
16 – 20 Manchester: European City of Science Scientific wonders are coming to Manchester in 2016. By David Atkinson. 22 – 25 Saved for the City: The Corn Exchange Local historian and author Jonathan Schofield explains the many previous carnations of the newly reanimated Corn Exchange. 37 – 41 The crema of the crop Suggestions for thirteen coffeehouses to visit in Manchester city centre. 46 – 49 Best in Travel 2016 Manchester made it into Lonely Planet’s list of top cities to visit in 2016. This is what they had to say about the city. 54 – 58 Upwardly mobile Jill Burdett looks at Manchester’s rapidly changing skyline. 67 – 71 Geeks guide to Greater Manchester Where to go and what to do to get your geek on throughout Greater Manchester. 75 – 77 Bee is for Manchester Tour guide Anne Beswick reflects on the city’s prolific symbol.
Exhibitions
Right Here, Right Now; Pitch to Pixel; and The Imitation Game.
27 – 29 Festivals Chinese New Year; Geronimo!; and Manchester Histories Festival. 34 – 35 Music Fun Lovin’ Criminals; Muse; and the Stone Roses. 42 – 43 Theatre Inkheart; The Pitman Painters; and Mamma Mia. 63
LGBTQ
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Expos and fairs
Queer Contact Festival 2016; Great British Bear Bash; and Sparkle. Manchester Beer & Cider Festival; Levenshulme Market; and TriExpo Manchester.
72 – 73 Sport National Squash Championships; Great City Games; and World Rugby U20 Championships. 81 – 83 Greater Manchester After Life: Portraits of Taxidermy; Puppet Masters: Celebrating Animation; and Northern Life.
87 – 91 North West foodie adventures A quartet of itineraries offering a flavour of Greater Manchester and beyond. By Emma Sturgess. 104
The last word
Vicky Rosin on bringing Manchester alive with science.
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1. The Corn Exchange, p.22 2. Chinese New Year, p.27 3. North West foodie adventures, p.87
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CONTRIBUTORS David Atkinson
David Atkinson is a writer and blogger based in Chester, covering travel and family stories for the Daily Telegraph amongst others. He tweets @atkinsondavid.
Emma Sturgess
Emma Sturgess is a freelance food writer and restaurant critic who works for the Guardian, Radio Times and delicious. magazine. She lives in Altrincham and tweets @emmasturgess.
Anne Beswick
Anne Beswick is a Mancunian, biologist, garden designer and Manchester Tour Guide. She tweets @annebesw.
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SNAPSHOTS Manchester, as interpreted by local, photographer Tom UN: 12 – 13 32 – 33 50 – 51 64 – 65 84 – 85 96 – 97
Whitworth Park Manchester Skyline University Campus University Building, Sackville Street River Irwell Werneth Low
Jonathan Schofield
Jonathan Schofield is a well-known Manchester guide, writer and broadcaster. He tweets @JonathSchofield.
MCR VOICES 14 – 15
Simone Ridyard
Senior lecturer at Manchester School of Art and founder of Urban Sketchers Manchester.
44 – 45 Gary Barlow Singer-songwriter, composer and record producer.
Jill Burdett
Jill Burdett is a property journalist who has been charting the changing face/skyline of Manchester for the past two decades. She tweets @jillburdett
60 – 61 Joe Hartley Designer. 78 – 79 Jackie Kay Poet, novelist and performer. 92 – 93 Shaune Harrison Make-up artist, writer and director.
USEFUL STUFF 99
Manchester Map
100
Transport information
Use our handy city centre map to navigate your way around the city. A guide to Greater Manchester’s transport network.
102 – 103 Airport information Direct flights from over 210 destinations around the world.
Tom UN
Tom (also known as 0161) is a Manchester born self-taught photographer focussing on the architecture of the city. facebook.com/ohonesixone
Mark Coleman
Mark works in PR for Social Communications and is also self-employed as a tour guide in Manchester, delivering regular walks for Manchester Guided Tours and the East Lancashire Railway.
@visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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WHAT’S NEW
Manchester selected for Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 Lonely Planet, the world’s leading travel media company, has declared Manchester as one of the top ten cities to visit in 2016 alongside destinations such as Rome in Italy, Nashville in the United States and Mumbai in India. Highlighting the city’s significant investment in the arts, the guide states that “the one-time engine room of the Industrial Revolution has found a new groove for the 21st century as a dynamo of culture and the arts”. See the full Manchester extract at page 46. lonelyplanet.com | lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel
New Manchester Visitor Information Centre Manchester has a new look Visitor Information Centre located at One Piccadilly Gardens, just across the road from the old site on the corner of Portland Street. The new centre, supported by NOMA, shares its location with Transport for Greater Manchester, providing a common point of contact for all tourists to the city. The centre offers exactly the same services as before, but visitors can now arrange transport around Greater Manchester if they need to. visitmanchester.com | @visit_mcr
New Flights to Los Angeles, Boston and Beijing Thomas Cook Airlines, part of the Thomas Cook Group, has announced new routes to/from Los Angeles and Boston, with two flights a week starting in May 2016. Meanwhile Hainan Airlines will launch four flights a week to/from Beijing from June 2016. These new routes will be the only means of travelling to/from these iconic cities from outside London. thomascook.com | @ThomasCookUK hainanairlines.com | @HainanAirlines
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King Street Townhouse With opening imminent as this magazine went to print, the intimate King Street Townhouse is the fifth venue in Eclectic Hotels’ portfolio of luxury townhouse hotels and members’ lounges in Greater Manchester. The former bank and Grade II listed building offers a luxurious and unique experience to its guests, complete with 40 bedrooms and suites, gym and spa treatment rooms, afternoon tea rooms and conferencing and event space for up to 200 people. A real distinguishing feature of the hotel is its south facing rooftop infinity spa pool with views of Albert Square and Manchester Town Hall. kingstreettownhouse.co.uk | @KingStTownhouse
Lost & Imagined Manchester This lavishly illustrated book by tour guide, writer and broadcaster, Jonathan Schofield, tells the story of more than fifty ‘lost’ and ‘imagined’ buildings and projects in Manchester. It includes some of the grandest buildings and plans ever dreamt up in the UK but also more modest buildings that go to the heart of city life. Expect cathedrals, castles, palaces, pubs, race courses, skyscrapers, stadiums and even the apocalypse. The book is published by Manchester Books Limited, publisher of the best-selling Manchester: The Complete Guide. mcrbooks.co.uk | @MBLpublishing
The Study at Manchester Museum Big ideas, singular collaborations, strange and wonderful things; The Study brings these all together as Manchester’s new space for thinking about life, the universe and everything within. Resulting from a major renovation to the entire third floor of Manchester Museum’s Grade II-listed ‘1885 building’, the new space which opened in September evokes the historic ambience of the 19th Century gallery, with 21st Century facilities to provide visitors of all ages with the tools and resources to engage in research of their own. thestudymcr.com | @TheStudyMcr @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Albert’s Schloss The gang behind Trof, Gorilla, Deaf Institute and Albert Hall have opened their latest venture, Albert’s Schloss on the ground floor of the iconic Albert Hall. Named in part after Prince Albert, the ‘schloss’ refers to a Bavarian palace, countryside pile or chateau. Featuring Manchester’s first Tankovna serving fresh, unpasteurised Pilsner, homemade schnapps, an in-house bakery and a menu of rustic Bavarian food; Albert’s Schloss is a significant landmark in the ongoing resurgence of Peter Street’s nightlife economy. albertsscholoss.co.uk | @AlbertsSchloss
Anniversaries abound in 2016 Manchester will mark a wide variety of anniversaries in 2016. Most poignant is the 20th anniversary of the IRA bombing of Manchester on 15 June 1996 – an event where remarkably no lives were lost, but which subsequently spearheaded the city’s rapid regeneration story. Also marking 20 years is The Bridgewater Hall; undergoing construction at the time of the IRA bombing, it’s said that two builders working in the main concert hall failed to hear the explosion on the day – a testament to the building’s unique, sound-proofed design. Additional musical anniversaries include 50 years since Bob Dylan’s infamous ‘Judas’ concert and 40 years since the landmark Sex Pistols gig which is said to have spawned bands such as the Smiths and Joy Division – both events took place at the former Free Trade Hall, now the Radisson Blu Edwardian. It’s also the 25th anniversary of Oasis’ first gig at the Boardwalk nightclub; the 40th anniversary of the Royal Exchange Theatre; the 60th anniversary of Granada Television’s Coronation Street; and the 200th anniversary of the Blanketeers march to London to protest the desperate state of the textile industry and suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act.
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MUSEUM & TOUR
GO BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE THEATRE OF DREAMS SEE THE DRESSING ROOMS, PLAYERS’ TUNNEL AND MANAGER’S DUGOUT
BOOK YOUR MUSEUM & STADIUM TOUR TODAY CALL: 0161 820 4938 VISIT: MANUTD.COM/MUSEUM @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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WHAT’S ON:
EXHIBITIONS Right Here, Right Now
Pitch to Pixel: The World of Computer Gaming
The Lowry Until 28 February 2016 Art is busier than ever - re-imagining our perceptions and interactions in a world where our lives are becoming increasingly networked and systematised. With open data, linked data, the internet of things, and constant technological developments, are we now all becoming ‘systems thinkers’? Right Here, Right Now brings together international artists whose critical, playful and illuminating works challenge our understanding of the digital systems that surround us, both visible and hidden. thelowry.com | @The_Lowry |
National Football Museum Until 5 June 2016 An immersive, interactive experience from the National Football Museum, EA Sports & Sports Interactive. Discover what happens when videogame meets the beautiful game, with a closer look at how simulation is shaping the real-life sport. Enjoy a playable history of football gaming and put yourself in and on the pitch for a unique experience of a worldwide obsession. nationalfootballmuseum.com | @footballmuseum
MediaCityUK
Horrible Histories: Blitzed Brits IWM North Until 10 April 2016 Seventy-five years ago, Britain faced one of the greatest dangers in its history – the Blitz. Now, to mark the anniversary, IWM North, part of Imperial War Museums, in Greater Manchester has teamed up with Horrible Histories® to reveal some of the terrible truths behind this catastrophic conflict. iwm.org.uk/north | @IWMNorth |
MediaCityUK
Gifts for the Gods: Animal Mummies Revealed Manchester Museum Until 17 April 2016 A ground breaking exhibition of over 60 animal mummies showing how modern science can help explain this ancient practice. Mummies of jackals, crocodiles, cats and birds are displayed alongside artefacts, art and never-seen-before archives documenting their history through the stories of the people who have investigated what lies within the wrappings. manchester.ac.uk/museum | @mcrmuseum
1. Horrible Histories: Blitzed Brits 2. Pitch to Pixel: The World of Computer Gaming 3. Cravings: Can Your Food Control You? 1
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Cravings: Can Your Food Control You? Museum of Science and Industry Until 18 September 2016 This colourful and food-for-thought exhibition explores how food affects the body, brain and eating habits. From flavours learned in the womb to experiences in adult life, appetites are shaped by food. Through personal stories, fascinating objects, newly commissioned art-work and cutting-edge science, this exhibition explores what drives our desires for the food we love and how we can change the sensory experience of food by rethinking how we eat. msimanchester.org.uk | @msimanchester
Grafters: Industrial Society in Image and Word People’s History Museum 6 February until 14 August 2016 Nothing compared to photography when it came to capturing the Industrial Revolution. As Britain’s society changed, techniques in photography developed, enabling workers to capture their own lives for the first time. Visitors will witness how the working classes went from objects in photos, to heroic representations of industry and finally to photographers themselves. phm.org.uk | @PHMMcr
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AL and AL: Incidents of Travel in the Multiverse HOME 6 February until 27 March 2016 Incidents of Travel in the Multiverse is a major new solo exhibition of film, drawing, installation and live concert hall performances conceived from AL and AL’s epic sci-fi odyssey. The exhibition focuses on three Multiverse journeys that the artists have made with ground-breaking scientists. It will present a world premiere, an exclusive live performance with the BBC Philharmonic and a brand new publication featuring Multiverse reports from Brian Greene and graphic novel writer Grant Morrison.
The Imitation Game Manchester Art Gallery 12 February until 5 June 2016 Inspired by Manchester’s rich history of computer science, The Imitation Game will feature work by international contemporary artists who explore the theme of machines and the imitation of life. The exhibition will include video, sculpture and installation work by artists James Capper, Tove Kjellmark, Yu-Chen Wang, Paul Granjon, Phillippe Parreno, Mari Velonaki, Ed Atkins and David Link. manchestergalleries.org | @mcrartgallery
homemcr.org | @home_mcr
Bus de la Lum and Darvaza
Julian Stair, Quietus: The Vessel, Death and the Human Body
The Whitworth 26 February until 18 September 2016
Manchester Cathedral 10 February until 24 March 2016 Julian Stair is one of the world’s most acclaimed ceramicists. This major solo exhibition explores the containment of the human body after death and features a collection of Stair’s very beautiful funerary vessels, from cinerary jars to monumental life-size sarcophagi. The exhibition is part of the PassionArt Trail and will be on display during Lent.
A year after his performance at the Whitworth re-opening weekend artist Nico Vascellari returns to Manchester with a large solo exhibition throughout the Landscape Gallery. In Bus de la Lum and Darvaza visitors will be transported into locations from the artists own childhood, each of which are surrounded in legend and hidden history. manchester.ac.uk/Whitworth | @WhitworthArt
manchestercathedral.org | @ManCathedral
For gift ideas or souvenirs of your stay call into Manchester Visitor Information Centre for a range of Manchester goods including clothing, bags, postcards, the Manchester Bee collection and more. 1 Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, M1 1RG visitmanchester.com
In partnership with
Supported by
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The best destinations and experiences for the year ahead. Get 25% off your copy of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016.
Enter the code MAN2016 at checkout. shop.lonelyplanet.com Offer applies only to purchases made from www.lonelyplanet.com until 30 September 2016. Offer may not be combined with other special deals, discounts or promotions (including promotional codes).
Snapshot Whitworth Park
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SIMONE RIDYARD Senior lecturer at Manchester School of Art and founder of Urban Sketchers Manchester I have drawn since studying architecture at Canterbury School of Art back in the 1980s and during my architectural career I often did freehand visualisations for the practices I worked in. I started taking painting more seriously in around 2008 and my work draws on my architectural training. Since coming across the Urban Sketchers network in 2012, I have started drawing in sketchbooks and have developed a much looser, reportage style of drawing – much of which records Manchester city centre. I love teaching at Manchester School of Art, spending my days in a creative environment working alongside the dynamic and energetic staff team. Educating the next generation of designers is in itself rewarding. There is a real creative buzz working in the Benzie building. I am admissions tutor for our course and it’s always great to see interviewees’ reactions when they come for interview – it’s as if they can’t wait to be part of our community. The Urban Sketchers movement promotes the artistic, storytelling and educational value of location drawing and aims to ‘show the world, one drawing at a time’. I became aware of the network a few years back, but didn’t get actively involved until on an exchange teaching trip to Singapore in 2012 where I was encouraged to set up a group in Manchester. Back then there was only a London group in the UK, but there are now a number of other groups in most major cities. It really is a global phenomenon and has somehow really captured peoples’ imagination. At our early meetings we’d be lucky to get a handful of people, whereas now we regularly get 30-40 people out sketching with us. Since I’ve become an active participant in the organisation, I’ve been to the last three symposiums in Barcelona, Paraty (Brazil) and this year Singapore. I became increasingly confident that Manchester could be an excellent location for the next symposium and put the bid forward. We beat New York City, Chicago, Cleveland and Mexico City! 16
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So look out for 500 sketchers arriving in Manchester from all round the world in July 2016. It’s not just artists, illustrators and architects who will be sketching. People from all walks of life and backgrounds attend; accountants, dentists, housewives, nursery teachers and university lecturers. Liam Spencer is on my list of favourite artists. Also fellow urban sketcher Caroline Johnson whose fine-art approach to urban landscapes is immediate and engaging. Neil Dimelow is another fellow artist unafraid of tackling big skylines or panoramas, although his astonishing attention to detail is scary. Jan Chlebik is one of my favourite photographers. I would highly recommend anyone reading this who is inspired by our city to check out ‘Manchester’, words by Phil Griffin and photographs by Jan Chlebik. Manchester’s art scene should be viewed as one that competes at a truly global level. I think Manchester International Festival should take a lot of credit for this, with my favourite 2015 performance Tree of Codes premiering in New York in September, and wonder.land holding its own as the National Theatre’s
main Christmas show in London. It is especially exciting to see the legendary Granada Studios heading towards the most exciting cultural development in the UK, with The Factory Manchester. I am very proud of being Mancunian and architectural visitors must see the Whitworth, Benzie Building (School of Art), Central Library, NOMA and MediaCityUK. I love the scale of our city; its ‘walkability’. I am also increasingly fond of HOME. I wasn’t a regular visitor to the Cornerhouse in the way many of my contemporaries were, but I felt very sad when it closed. I’m really pleased that HOME has made that difficult leap of re-establishing itself, and will only continue to flourish. Simone’s work is sold through Contemporary Six Gallery and via her website. Her first book Archisketcher was published in summer 2015 by North Light books in the US and Apple books in the UK.
For more information: simoneridyard.co.uk | @simoneridyard @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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MANCHESTER: EUROPEAN CITY OF SCIENCE By David Atkinson
A performing robot orchestra, a journey of discovery into the miracle material of the 21st Century and an artistic take on artificial intelligence — these are just some of the wonders of science coming to Manchester this year.
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The reason? Manchester has been named the European City of Science for 2016. It’s the first time the title has been bestowed on a UK city and the nomination of Manchester is particularly timely: 2016 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of John Dalton, the pioneer of modern atomic theory. Dalton started the tradition of science education in the city that still thrives today. Indeed, Manchester still leads the world in many aspects of scientific research, notably smart textiles, digital health and quantum dots which are currently key areas of research in the city. The next generation of Manchester scientists will have an opportunity to share the science that they enjoy on 6 July 2016, which has been named as The Great Science Share. “The aim is to get people excited about science. Manchester has a great history and a bright future, and science is crucial to that,” says Annie Keane, director of European City of Science. “As a city, we have always been open to new ideas and new ways of doing things.”
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New discoveries Manchester has had a long-standing relationship with scientific innovation throughout history (see page 20). The city where science first met industry has been home at various points in time to atom-splitting Rutherford, AI-researching Turing and more recently, the graphene pioneers Geim and Novoselov, winners of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. Some 25 (and counting) Nobel Prize winners have researched their breakthroughs in Manchester while scientists from the University of Manchester are amongst those now working at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva. Even the popular TV scientist Professor Brian Cox lectures at the University of Manchester.
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Brian Cox will be among the 4,500 big thinkers taking part in Europe’s largest science conference - EuroScience Open Forum 2016 at Manchester Central from 23 – 27 July. This global symposium brings together people with a shared interest in new discoveries in the sciences, humanities and social sciences to contribute to over 150 thought-provoking sessions and workshops on the ways in which science shapes our lives and the world around us. “The breadth of the science being talked about at the forum is staggering” explains Vicky Rosin, ESOF 2016 director. “Some sessions look at ways to tackle antibiotic resistance, whilst others focus on the space race, or climate negotiations, as well as how robots and people will co-exist in the future.”
Artificial intelligence One of the flagship events to be staged next year is The Imitation Game, running at the Manchester Art Gallery from 12 February until 5 June 2016. The exhibition responds to the question first posed by Alan Turing in 1950: “Can machines think? ... Are there imaginable digital computers which would do well in the imitation game?” The exhibition, featuring new commissions and creative collaborations from international artists, explores how to break down traditional boundaries between art and other disciplines, such as computer science and engineering. Look out for, amongst other installations, gallery-roaming robots from the artist Paul Granjon and David Link’s Loveletters
1.0, an installation directly inspired by Manchester University’s computing department amongst others. “For me,” says Clare Gannaway, curator of contemporary art at the Manchester Art Gallery, “the exhibition is an imaginative way to look at machine imitation of life. It reflects a question humans have been exploring for generations — from science-fiction stories to the popular reporting of science in the news.”
Changing the world Another of the cornerstone festival events is an exhibition devoted to tackling climate change. Climate Control, a programme of exhibitions and events at the Manchester Museum, runs from May until September 2016. It will allow visitors to explore the causes of climate change, the complexity of the subject, and what they can do about it. Finally, the Museum of Science and Industry, the museum that celebrates the spirit of innovation indelibly printed into Manchester’s DNA, is to host a major exhibition about the discovery of graphene in Manchester. It opens in July, in time for the ESOF conference. It is hoped that the exhibition, developed in collaboration with the National Graphene Institute in Manchester, will tour after the Manchester Science Festival to spread the word globally about Manchester’s new miracle material.
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Five Manchester ‘firsts’ that changed the world Manchester stakes its claim as the first modernindustrial city. From the heavy machinery of the Industrial Revolution to the ground-breaking university research into material sciences in recent years, the evolution of the city has been powered by science. These are five landmark firsts born in Manchester.
1803 1 1. Dara O’Brien at ESOF Dublin 2. The National Graphene Institute
“I like to put science where you don’t expect to find it; to break down the barriers and stereotypes around it,” says Mareike Navin, director of the Manchester Science Festival, who confesses to an obsession with particle physics and trains as an astronaut in her spare time. “The temporary exhibition and accompanying live events will illustrate the journey of discovery of graphene with a little bit of playfulness and curiosity,” she adds. The programme of events will draw to a close in late 2016 with the tenth Manchester Science Festival, the city’s premier annual event for public engagement with science, plus a performance by the newly formed robot orchestra. This will feature humans and robots performing together with real instruments and guided by a conductor — think Joy Division meets Kraftwerk meets the Last Night of the Proms. “I see the robot orchestra as a citizen engineering project to repurpose obsolete gadgets from the home and use them to do something both fun and sustainable,” says Professor Danielle George of the University of Manchester, who is leading the project. “The music may sound alien at first but,” she adds, “my advice is to get ready to tune into the future.” For more information: manchestersciencecity.com | @ScienceCity2016
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The scientist John Dalton unveils his atomic theory, based on the concept that elements are made of extremely small particles called atoms. It forms the precursor of modern chemistry.
1830 The opening of the world’s first passenger railway station, running steam-powered trains from Manchester to Liverpool. Today it is found at the Museum of Science and Industry.
1917 Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, first split the atom at the University of Manchester.
1948 The engineers Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams develop ‘Baby’, the world’s first stored-program computer, at the University of Manchester.
2015 The National Graphene Institute, devoted to the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material, opens at the University of Manchester.
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SAVED FOR THE CITY: THE CORN EXCHANGE 24
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Manchester’s Corn Exchange reopened this autumn following a major overhaul transforming it into a dining destination home to no less than thirteen restaurants. Here, local historian and author Jonathan Schofield explains the many previous reincarnations of this stunning Edwardian building.
In February 1996, on the anniversary of John Dee’s death in 1609, a local paranormal group attempted to levitate the Corn Exchange in Manchester. The group believed alchemist, mathematician and some say, magician, John Dee, had lived for several years on the site of the Corn Exchange while exercising his duty as the Warden of the town at what is now the nearby Chetham’s Library and Medieval Buildings. This is what the paranormal group had to say about the endeavour: ‘Manchester Area Psychogeographic was realised publicly on 10 February 1996, when we performed our first Action, the Levitation of the Corn Exchange, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival in Manchester of Dr John Dee. We circumnavigated the buildings, anti-clockwise, and made a public declaration, and watched the building move. Which it did, very slightly, as the staff in the fish and chip restaurant on the ground floor realised. Four months later, the building moved again, less gently, when the IRA bombed the nearby Arndale Centre.’ Manchester can lay claim to many very marvellous facts but this is the only one that involves modern magic. But then again, prior to 1996 the Corn Exchange had hosted a rich assortment of strange and curious retailers, poets and low-rent offices. Down on the former trading floor you could in half an hour buy a rare bootleg album by cult-Manchester band Magazine; have your tarot read; buy an obscure antiquarian book; a pair of tartan platform shoes; and wait for that tattoo you’d always wanted. You could then cycle home on a top of the range bike from Harry Hall Cycles. Upstairs Carcanet Press had their offices, one of the UK’s best-known poetry publishers and a labour of love from Mexican Michael Schmidt. Schmidt and Carcanet are still going strong after more than 45 years of rhyme and reason. Once, while on a mission to collect a poster from a Corn Exchange printers, I passed an open door on the second floor. “And what goes on in here?” I asked the elderly gentlemen bent over an array of obscure looking instruments and tiny machine components. “I repair electric razors,” he said. “Nothing else?” I asked. “Nothing else,” he said. I paused. “Is there much call for that?” I asked. “You’d be surprised,” he said. I was. Yet the eccentric Corn Exchange as an ‘alternative’ market was just one episode in its rich history. The name gives the game away. Its history has mainly been tied up with food, either the trade in corn or wholesale grocery. @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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It was a beauty too, although occupying only a fraction of the present site. The architect was Richard Lane who also designed the still surviving Friends Meeting House on Mount Street close to the Town Hall. The columned Classical building provided a façade to an 80ft by 70ft trading hall. The attractive nature of the hall meant it could be rented out in the evenings for concerts and entertainment and extra revenue extracted for the Corn Exchange shareholders. Political meetings took place there too, including appropriately a renowned Anti-Corn Law rally. For a while it was even a Sunday chapel, for which £100 a year was paid and Father Gavazzi, Father Ignatius, and a celebrated Wesleyan minister, the Rev Dr Brammont all delivered lectures. As the nineteenth century progressed, it became apparent the building was way too small for the growth in the Manchester grocery and corn trade. Plans were put in place and eventually the whole city block was bought and converted into the Corn Exchange we know today. Architects Ball & Elce were responsible for the brick part of Fennel Street and Potts, Son & Pickup the rest. The vastly enlarged building was finished in 1903 with its trademark dome and familiar Renaissance style façade. As the finishing touches were being applied a newspaper noted, ‘The extension of the Exchange, which is rapidly approaching completion, will render it the most commodious of the kind in the kingdom, and the enlargement will meet the demands of the Grocery Market, which is the largest and most important in the country, Manchester being the great centre of the provision trade in the north of England.’
It was for that reason several Manchester food merchants met together on 5 June 1834, to discuss the need for a covered market. They advertised for property to be sold and converted between Hanging Ditch and Fennel Street. Previously the merchants had met in the open in all weathers on the corner of Cathedral Street and Fennel Street. Things moved quickly. On 6 January 1837, a grand dinner was given to celebrate the opening of the Corn Exchange. The Manchester Guardian (now The Guardian) wrote, ‘We congratulate the promoters of the new edifice on at length possessing a corn exchange worthy of the importance of this great and flourishing town.’ 26
@visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
There were good and profitable years following opening but they couldn’t last. Different ways of doing business, the movement of the trade from central locations and the growth in technology led to the closure of the Corn Exchange in the decades that followed WWII. The large trading floor was used as rehearsal space for the Royal Exchange Theatre Company for a while and part of Brideshead Revisited by Granada TV was filmed there. Then the eccentric market and the electric razor repairers moved in. Entertainment returned though. From the sixties to the nineties on the Fennel Street side of the building there had been nightclubs, with the two most well-known being Pips and Konspiracy, the
latter following the other in the same space. Pips is remembered with complete affection. It advertised ‘nine beautiful bars and eleven crowded dancefloors’ and with its Roxy and Bowie Rooms it was the city’s cool-glamour venue where extravagance was à la mode. A cursory request for memories from Twitter garnered this memory from Patpat, ‘Once met my cousin Brian on Saturday night in the Victoria Bridge taxi queue in 1975. He’d been to Pips and was wearing a white suit and carrying an empty violin case. His girlfriend was wearing a fox fur.’ Despite having a room named in honour of his band, one story relates how the dapper Bryan Ferry was once refused admission for wearing jeans. Regulars from Manchester’s music scene included Joy Division/New Order boys, Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook, The Smiths’ leaders Morrissey and Johnny Marr and Factory Records folk such as Tony Wilson and Peter Saville. The Mark Addy pub in the city centre still hosts a monthly Pips night.
After the 1996 IRA bomb there was an attempt to turn the building into a shopping centre but the idea back-fired and it closed its doors in summer 2014. A return to food and drink, if not their wholesale provision, looks a far better bet. This is a building of strong architecture married to a rich history of trade and entertainment. It’s a building that elegantly locks down a strong central Manchester presence and should find it easy to rise again as a destination for food. Of course it isn’t likely to levitate anytime soon despite the best efforts of the Manchester Area Psychogeographic but it will should provide a much more stable focus for Manchester life. There’s lots of life in the 1834 institution yet. For more information: cornexchangemanchester.co.uk | @cornexchangeman
@visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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GREAT FOOD DESERVES THE GRANDEST OF SETTINGS
Now open, a mouthwatering mix of restaurants in a stunning Edwardian venue cornexchangemanchester.co.uk #GrandTimes
WHAT’S ON:
FESTIVALS European City of Science Manchester 2016 Various venues, throughout Greater Manchester Until 31 October 2016 The next year will see a dynamic and diverse programme of events linking science to Manchester’s vibrant music, sporting and cultural scene. The pinnacle of Manchester’s celebrations as the European City of Science will be the science festival, taking place at the same time as the EuroScience Open Forum in July 2016.
PUSH 2016 HOME 12 – 23 January 2016 Re:Play Festival is reborn! Immerse yourself in two weeks’ worth of new and extraordinary theatrical experiences, some never seen before, some that demand to be seen again; all created by Greater Manchester’s most exciting companies and performers. homemcr.org | @HOME_mcr
manchestersciencecity.com | @ScienceCity2016
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Chinese New Year
Manchester Irish Festival
Chinatown, St Ann’s Square, Albert Square February 2016
Various venues, Manchester March 2016
Hey, hey, it’s the year of the monkey and in traditional Manchester style there will be a wealth of festivities culminating on 8 February. The events will be centred on Chinatown and the city centre’s retail core. Food, drink, performance and art will celebrate Manchester’s vibrant Chinese population and throw the spotlight on Britain’s second largest Chinatown. Last year’s highlight was the façade of St. Ann’s Church being brought to life via a mix of light projections, art and film.
The Manchester Irish Festival is back again in 2016 after the success of its 20th birthday bash last year launched by Coronation Street star Sean Ward. The ten-day Irish cultural extravaganza, with over 200 events at 100 different venues, is now firmly established as Europe’s biggest Irish Festival outside of the Emerald Isle. The festival’s events are scattered around the city, with the majority focused around Levenshulme, Fallowfield and Chorlton.
cityco.com | @cityco
manchesteririshfestival.co.uk | @MancIrishFest
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Sounds from the Other City (SFTOC) Various venues, Salford 1 May 2016 SFTOC is a celebration of new music and performance, uniting the cream of the national and international scene with some of the city’s finest independent promoters, collectives and club nights. Taking place regularly on the May Day Bank Holiday each year along the Chapel Street Corridor of the historic city of Salford, 2016 will be the festival’s 12th instalment. soundsfromtheothercity.com | @sftoc
Dot to Dot Festival Various venues, Manchester 27 May 2016 Since starting eleven years ago Dot To Dot Festival has established itself as the UK’s premier festival for unearthing the hottest new talent around, alongside established acts from all over the globe. The festival now takes place in Nottingham, Manchester and Bristol and has put acts such as The xx, Mumford & Sons, Florence & The Machine and Jake Bugg on the map. Rest assured, the team at Dot to Dot will be putting together another stellar line-up of eclectic, innovative, ground-breaking acts for 2016. dottodotfestival.co.uk | @d2dnottingham 1. Chinese New Year 2. Victoria Baths, Manchester Histories Festival 3. RHS Flower Show, Tatton Park
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Geronimo! Tatton Park 29 - 30 May 2016 This May bank holiday, it’s time for Geronimo, the largest children’s festival in the North West. Expect a line-up jam packed with some of the biggest names in children’s entertainment, plus amazing experiences and wonderful adventures resulting in a fantastic family day out. tattonpark.org.uk | @tatton_park
Manchester Histories Festival Various venues, throughout Greater Manchester 3 – 12 June 2016 History runs throughout all of our lives and Manchester Histories Festival aims to both celebrate the familiar and reveal the new and hidden histories from across Greater Manchester. The Celebration Day is a one day event on the last Saturday of the festival that is traditionally held in Manchester Town Hall and includes exhibitions, talks, film screenings, games and lots more. mancheterhistoriesfestival.org.uk | @mcrhistfest
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 20 – 24 July 2016 Set in magnificent parklands the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park is a celebration of the best in gardening. With a vibrant carnival atmosphere it is a spectacular day out for friends and family alike. The show is laid out in zones, each with a distinctive theme; there will be breath-taking displays, inspiring show gardens and the chance to meet top gardeners, along with live music and entertainment. rhs.org.uk/tatton | @The_RHS 3
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Get together. Over coffee.
Join us for a latte, cappuccino or your Starbucks favourite. We look forward to seeing you and to making your drink exactly the way you like it.
You’ll find us at 76 Sackville Street, Manchester.
BELLE VUE GREYHOUND STADIUM
DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
BOOK YOUR GREAT NIGHT OUT ONLINE
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// 0870 720 3456
THE FINEST HOSPITALITY IN THE HEART OF MANCHESTER
The iconic Midland is one of the most famous landmarks in Manchester, effortlessly mixing decadent glamour with 21st century sophistication. Located in the heart of the city the hotel offers a choice of 312 sumptuous bedrooms, and with 14 stunning event rooms the hotel can cater for any occasion. The Midland is famous for its indulgent Afternoon Tea and guests can enjoy this traditional pastime in the opulent Octagon Lounge. The Midland provides some of the finest dining experiences in the UK with two critically acclaimed and award wining restaurants by chef Simon Rogan. The French has been awarded four AA Rosettes, and holds a prestigious place in The Good Food Guide as one of the top 50 restaurants in the UK. Mr Cooper’s House & Garden Restaurant and Bar serves great food cooked with flair and imagination in unique surroundings and is listed in the Condè Nast Traveller Gold List 2015. The Spa At The Midland is Manchester’s first luxurious spa dedicated to helping guests relax, unwind and experience innovative treatments. Begin your journey of relaxation with one of our specially tailored Day Spa Packages or Spa Breaks.
0161 236 3333 | TheMidland@qhotels.co.uk Peter Street, Manchester M60 2DS QHotels.co.uk/TheMidland @TheMidlandQ
Snapshot Manchester Skyline
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WHAT’S ON:
MUSIC Tame Impala
Grimes
Manchester Arena 11 February 2016
Manchester Academy 12 March 2016
Australian psychedelic rockers Tame Impala will make their Manchester Arena debut next year in one of their biggest performances to date. Their February show will be one of only two UK performances confirmed for next year. With two stellar albums under their belt already, lead Kevin Parker and the rest of the group will be performing tracks from their latest album Currents which has been lauded by critics the world over.
After opening select dates on Lana Del Rey’s “Endless Summer” tour this past summer, the self-taught producer, singer, multi-instrumentalist and critical darling, Grimes, will showcase her uniquely immersive live experience in her much-anticipated AC!D Reign European headline tour this spring and will be supported by very special guest, enigmatic synth-pop princess HANA.
manchester-arena.com | @McrArena
Fun Lovin’ Criminals Manchester Cathedral 26 February 2016 Fun Lovin’ Criminals will play live shows in January and February 2016 to celebrate and resurrect in all its glory one of the most important albums of 1996, ‘Come Find Yourself’. Twenty years on this debut release for the group sounds as fresh and vibrant as it did that year, when it spent almost 12 months in the UK chart and you can hear every track this February inside the spectacular Manchester Cathedral. manchestercathedral.org | @ManCathedral
BBC Philharmonic: Three Musical Adventures
manchesteracademy.net | @MancAcademy
Video Games Live Albert Hall 19 March 2016 Video Games Live is an award-winning immersive concert event featuring music from the most popular video games of all time. Created, produced and hosted by world renowned game industry veteran and superstar Tommy Tallarico, top orchestras and choirs around the world perform along with exclusive synchronized video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, electronic percussion, live action and unique interactive segments, to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience alberthallmanchester.com | @Alberthallmcr
1. Tame Impala 2. Muse
The Bridgewater Hall 12 March 2016 Mahler admired him; Richard Strauss was awestruck by his genius. And if you enjoy both those composers, you’ll simply fall in love with the music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, last of the great Viennese romantics. His glorious Sinfonietta, written when the composer was just 16 years old, is 45 minutes of epic drama, dazzling colour and the sweetest, most swoonsome waltz tunes. For John Storgårds, it’s a real passion: it’s certainly a powerful contrast to Peter Maxwell Davies’s windswept Orkney seascape A Reel of Seven Fishermen. The smooth art-deco lines of Copland’s jazzy Concerto, meanwhile, make an ideal showcase for one of Britain’s best-loved young clarinettists, Julian Bliss. bridgewater-hall.co.uk | @BridgewaterHall
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Funeral for a Friend
Dr John Cooper Clarke
The Ritz 8 – 9 April 2016
Albert Hall 10 June 2016
Funeral For A Friend have announced the ‘Last Chance To Dance’ Tour, a final curtain call on the band’s illustrious fifteen year career and each city they play will be treated to two shows, an Hours show one night followed by a Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation show the next. The band released their seventh and final studio album Chapter And Verse via Distiller Records earlier this year and will be leaving behind an impressive catalogue of music which will be held dear by their dedicated legion of fans.
Britain’s best loved and most important performance poet, Dr John Cooper Clarke, also known as The Bard of Salford has announced a very special UK summer tour for June 2016. Today, John Cooper Clarke is as relevant and vibrant as ever, and his influence just as visible on pop culture. He has recently announced the first anthology of his work, a unique 3CD/DVD collection of his work ‘Anthologia’.
mamacolive.com/theritz | @TheRitzHQ
Muse Manchester Arena 8 April 2016 Rock music legends Muse will return to Manchester Arena next year for a spectacular show as part of their Drones World Tour. Drones is the band’s seventh studio album and features singles Dead Inside, Mercy and Psycho. It topped the UK charts for two weeks in June, whilst simultaneously topping the charts in the USA, a first for the band. The band will only play three shows in the UK as part of the tour and their Manchester date will be the only performance outside of London.
alberthallmanchester.com | @Alberthallmcr
The Stone Roses City of Manchester Stadium 15, 16, 17, & 19 June 2016 One of Manchester’s seminal bands, The Stone Roses will play four dates in June. Originally scheduled to play just two shows on the 17 and 18 June, two additional dates have now been added due to unprecedented demand. It is the first time the Stone Roses have played Manchester since 2012 when they performed three shows at Heaton Park and around 220,000 watched the band play. mcfc.co.uk | @MCFC |
Etihad Campus
manchester-arena.com | @McrArena @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Celebrate Chinese New Year in Manchester Thursday 4 – Sunday 7 February 2016
Join us for the UK’s brightest Chinese New Year celebrations. As the streets light up, welcome in the Year of the Monkey. chinesenewyearmcr.com @CNY_MCR
THE CREMA THE CROP In Manchester it’s been a pleasure to wake up and smell the coffee for quite some time now, the reason being there are some damn fine purveyors of the stuff dotted around the city centre. Every high street corner may still be populated with the more well-known, corporate coffeehouse but if you delve a little deeper you will discover a flourishing independent coffee scene in Manchester, with bundles of character and some frighteningly good brews. So much so it proved far too difficult to produce a top ten coffeehouses in the city centre, instead we have had to plump for a top thirteen, which are all listed below in no particular order.
Fig & Sparrow Fig & Sparrow’s unique proposition of coffee shop and lifestyle store has been setting the standard for indie coffee shops in the Northern Quarter since its inception in 2013. The atmosphere is cool and convivial which immediately makes you feel at ease; as does the warm lighting and soothing classical music that flows in the background. Real effort goes in to the coffee and loose leaf tea and it shows. Sourced from Ringtons of Newcastle, whether it’s a flat white, mocha or espresso it never disappoints. Equally as impressive as the coffeeshop is the front of house lifestyle store where you can discover an array of beautiful homewares and quirky gifts. figandsparrow.co.uk | @FigSparrow
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Idle hands Idle Hands is a light and airy space situated on Piccadilly station approach, serving great speciality coffee and a range of freshly baked goods. Finally the hordes of commuters passing through Piccadilly can grab a real cup of coffee in a relaxed and elegantly designed environment. idlehandscoffee.com | @idlehandscoffee
Pot Kettle Black Barton Arcade is a beautifully restored piece of Victorian architecture and the owners have crafted a space which really does the building justice; complimenting the classic features with a tastefully modern finish. Jon Wilkin and Mark Flanagan are the two rugby stars behind the venture and the coffee is made with beans from London’s Workshop roasters, owned by family friends. Mark experienced the joys of a lighter and much more delicate roast while playing in Australia for Sydney’s Wests Tigers and has brought this tenet of Ozzy coffee back with him. potkettleblackltd.co.uk | @PKBcoffee
2 1. Pop-Up bikes 2. Ezra & Gil Coffee & Provisions 3. Foundation Coffee House
Ezra & Gil Coffee & Provisions
Manchester city centre’s original cycle café is located under a railways arch in Angel Meadows. Not only do they provide cycle repair and indoor cycle parking for over 100 bikes they also serve great coffee (roasted locally in Ancoats) in their quirky on-site coffee bar.
New boys to the Northern Quarter coffee scene are Ezra & Gil Provisions and they’ve been making a real fist of it – better latte than never. The name translates as helper (Ezra) and happiness (Gil) and you can help yourself to some happiness with some of their rich and flavourful ‘urban coffee’. They have a broad selection of food from breakfast staples to more adventurous pairings and the extensive site is surprisingly welcoming.
popupbikes.co.uk| @PopupBikes
ezraandgil.com | @ezra_gil
Pop-Up bikes
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© No Chintz 3
Foundation Coffee House
North Tea Power
Foundation is Manchester’s largest coffee house, covering the whole ground floor of Sevendale House on Lever Street. The space boasts minimalist cutting edge design and provides the perfect setting for coffee enthusiasts as most importantly, they deliver a top-notch cup of coffee. There’s a solid breakfast and lunch offering with deli style favourites courtesy of Levenshulme bakery heavyweights, Trove. The real jewel in Foundation’s sparkling crown is its ‘bullet proof’ coffee, which adds butter and oil to a black coffee – created by fitness freaks in the states it apparently gives you more energy and keeps you fuller for longer.
As you enter North Tea Power, nestled neatly in to the Smithfield arcade on Tib Street, you will be greeted by a delightfully clean and muted interior, matched with recycled furniture and low hanging lights; fitting the Northern Quarter mould perfectly. As the name suggests NTP is fond of its teas and has an excellent collection but also takes real care over its coffee. Both the espresso and flat white are rich and deep, matching and exceeding the high standards of the teas available. The food on offer is relatively basic but the sarnies are scrummy and the team excel when it comes to cake; each slice is pure bliss. northteapower.co.uk | @northteapower
foundationcoffeehouse.co.uk | @FDNCoffee
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Takk
Federal Café & Bar
Takk coffee house is a café and creative space in Manchester’s Northern Quarter loved by hipsters and techies alike. The paired back décor and the experience are both distinctly Nordic and inspired by its owners travels throughout Scandinavia and Iceland. The coffee is nothing short of superb and the house espresso blend is Nordic in style and roasted specifically for Takk by Clifton Coffee Roasters; a must try for the coffee purist longing for a special caffeine hit. Takk are dedicated to sourcing some of the best coffees in the world and there are some brilliant single origin coffees from the Barn in Berlin. The food, like the coffee is simple and delicious; locally sourced and seasonal menus are the order of the day, usually comprising of some terrific Mediterranean inspired sandwiches.
Federal is a relaxed antipodean style coffee shop on the edge of Manchester’s Northern Quarter and as our cousins down under invented the flat white and are trailblazers of artisan coffee culture, it’s not a bad style to replicate. The café serves speciality coffee from Ozone Coffee Roasters in London and as well as a house blend they also serve a range of seasonal single origin coffees, giving the discerning drinker the opportunity to create their perfect brew. To match the drink selection they offer a superb brunch menu including breakfast staples such as eggs benedict, a special plate called shrooms and halloumi and a signature French toast which is worth the visit alone.
takkmcr.com | @takkmcr
federalcafe.co.uk | @FederalCafeBar 1. Takk 2. Federal Café & Bar 3. Caffeine & Co.
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Caffeine & Co. Taking up residence in the ground floor of Old Granada Studios, Caffeine & Co. have created a space which has a bright and distinctive feel to it, utilising the natural light from the huge front windows and mixing contemporary and reclaimed, quirky furniture. All the coffee is sourced from the capital’s coffee aficionados, Square Mile Coffee, which has proved a stellar choice as the coffee is beautifully rich. In addition to great coffee, the team at Caffeine & Co. pride themselves on expertly made fresh food. Their kitchen and bakery in Longford Park makes all the food from scratch on a daily basis using only the best local ingredients. The seasonal menu consists of sandwiches, salads, soups and stews which changes weekly and they have a consistent supply of cakes, scones, biscuits and breads. caffeineandco.com | @caffeineandco 2
Ziferblat Ziferblat is about as alternative as it gets when it comes to coffeeshops and where better to be situated than on Edge Street, slap bang in the centre of the Northern Quarter. It’s a new kind of “anti-café” space founded in Russia, in which the venue charge just six pence per minute per person to use their giant living room space and visitors can help themselves to all of the kitchen goodies. All drinks and snacks are free, including cakes, fresh coffee, tea, biscuits, cereals and super strength 100MB Wi-Fi. ziferblat.co.uk | @ZiferblatEdgeSt
Lupo Caffe Italiano There is a unique and warming charm to Lupo Caffe Italiano which is a rare commodity nowadays but this cafe has it by the bucket load. The café is located in the brown tiled, crescent shaped building on Chapel Street; it’s hard to miss and is oddly appealing. The inside compliments its exterior as it is quaint and homely, with a lot of real wood and vases of flowers scattered about. The place is run by Nico and Ornella; Nico is the barista and server while Ornella runs things in the kitchen. This partnership works incredibly well as Nico’s coffee (sourced from his homeland of Italy) has a stunning depth of flavour and Ornella’s homemade Italian dishes and cakes are as good as any you will find in the city. There’s no pretence here, just an authentic taste of Italy transported to Salford. lupocaffe.co.uk | @Lupo_Caffe
Grindsmith Espresso & Brew bar “From humble beginnings come great things” – and this saying couldn’t ring any truer than with Grindsmith who began their journey in an ecopod on Greengate Square in Salford, early 2014. Fast forward twelve months and a successful crowdfunding project later and they have a permanent coffee shop on one of Manchester’s busiest thoroughfares. This Deansgate space could happily wander in to the Northern Quarter, park itself on Tariff Street and no one would bat an eyelid; such is the style and quality of the design. It’s contemporary yet comfortable, with a smattering of comfy sofas, routinely hard to find in most modern coffee bars. More importantly, Grindsmith serves terrific tasting artisan coffee, made with great attention to detail. This includes being served on branded wooden boards, and although they don’t really serve a purpose, it’s a nice touch. grindsmith.com | @Grindsmiths 3
WHAT’S ON:
THEATRE Inkheart
The Girls
HOME 4 December 2015 until 9 January 2016
The Lowry 8 – 30 January 2016
Books can take us to a different world – but what happens if that world is full of dark magic and ferocious and forbidding villains, where secrets are revealed and stories come alive? This Christmas, HOME presents Inkheart, adapted from Cornelia Funke’s brilliant, worldwide bestselling fantasy adventure novel for children.
The Girls is a new musical based on the hugely successful film and award-winning stage play, Calendar Girls. It tells the story of a group of ladies who decide to appear nude for a Women’s Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands. This musical comedy shows life in their Yorkshire village, how it happened, the effect on husbands, sons and daughters, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary.
homemcr.org | @HOME_mcr
Into the Woods Royal Exchange 4 December 2015 until 16 January 2016 A baker and his wife, desperate for a child, venture into the woods to find the ingredients to reverse the witch’s curse. But when the couple encounter a world of fabled characters, gathering the magical items becomes complicated. Into the Woods is a darkly comic exploration of our favourite fairy tales, and their power to delve into our innermost thoughts and desires royalexchange.co.uk | @rxtheatre 1
thelowry.com | @The_Lowry |
MediaCityUK
Mary Poppins The Palace Theatre 20 January until 5 March 2016 The magical story of the world’s favourite Nanny arriving on Cherry Tree Lane has been triumphantly and spectacularly brought to the stage with dazzling choreography, incredible effects and unforgettable songs. The stage version of Mary Poppins has been adapted from the stories by PL Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film with a book by Oscar-winning screenwriter and Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes. atgtickets.com/manchester | @PalaceandOpera
The Pitman Painters Oldham Coliseum 5 - 27 February 2016 An Oldham Coliseum production, based on a true story, The Pitmen Painters is a funny, feelgood, moving tale of a group of ordinary men who achieved extraordinary things. The Ashington Group were Northumberland miners who, in 1934 employed Robert Lyon, Master of Painting at Kings College Newcastle, to teach an evening class in Art Appreciation. Lectures on the Old Masters from a posh academic were lost on the pitmen and so instead Lyon taught them to paint, with amazing results. coliseum.org.uk | @oldhamcoliseum | Oldham Mumps
1. Into the Woods 2. Reckless Sleepers: Negative Space 3. Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis
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Reckless Sleepers: Negative Space Contact 1 – 3 March 2016 The UK/Belgium based company renowned for beautifully bold, intelligent and hilarious work are determined get to the bottom of things. Constructing their set before our eyes; a white box, a box for their ideas, ideas that can’t be contained. The set, a set of rules that are bent and tested quite literally to destruction. The fur will fly and walls will come down. Indefinable... contactmcr.com | @contactmcr 3
Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis
Mamma Mia
Octagon Theatre Bolton 10 March until 2 April 2016
The Palace Theatre 10 May until 4 June 2016
In a suburban semi on a cold winters evening, a collection of family, friends and acquaintances gather to celebrate a fortieth birthday. Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis premiered at the Octagon Theatre in 1999 and was received with critical acclaim and regular standing ovations. Described by the Financial Times as “one of our most accomplished and entertaining young playwrights”, the play is heartfelt, poignant, and funny in equal.
Join the ultimate feel-good party at Mamma Mia, the world’s sunniest and most exhilarating smash-hit musical! Set on a Greek island paradise, a story of love, friendship and identity is cleverly told through the timeless songs of ABBA. Sophie’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings her mother face to face with three men from her distant romantic past on the eve of a wedding they’ll never forget!
octagonbolton.co.uk | @octagontheatre
atgtickets.com | @PalaceAndOpera
@visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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GARY BARLOW OBE
Singer-songwriter, composer and record producer The process of creating The Girls started about four years ago with my friend Tim Firth whom I’ve known since I was about 15. We actually come from the same village; Frodsham in Cheshire. He came to see me and shared with me his idea that he wanted to make the film and play of Calendar Girls into a musical. He took me to see the play, which was on tour in the UK at the time, in Milton Keynes, and I was very inspired by it and wanted to write some music. Four years on and I think what we’ve got is a very good start of a musical; of course we are tinkering and tailoring it all the time but we are very happy where we are at the moment. I think The Girls carries a very universal message about people looking out for one another. It’s the life of a small village, it’s a story of love, it’s the story of loss, and it’s a story that could happen in any village anywhere in the world. I think the fact that it’s based in Yorkshire gives a real strength to the comedy as I think you get the in-jokes of a small town in the UK, but it will still translate universally.
Meeting the original girls was amazing. I think working to a storyline is one thing but working to a true story gives it an entirely different feel. You want to dig deeper in yourself when it’s something that’s happened to real people, and when you meet the people that it’s happened to, it definitely made it feel much more real and meaningful. It’s very important to us that this was to launch in the north of England, because we wanted it to open in the part of the country where it started and we’re not that far from there, being in Leeds and Manchester. We are also opening in two of the most beautiful theatres in the country so that is always an attraction. Manchester for me is obviously very important, it’s the place I always call my home town when I play up north, and so between Yorkshire and Manchester it’s great that this show is getting its first viewings in those regions. We have hopes and dreams it could be as big a success as the original Calendar Girls have made their story.
The Girls is at The Lowry, Salford from 8–30 January 2016. For more information: thelowry.com | @The_Lowry
© Matt Crockett
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Article from: LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2016
Manchester, UK This one-time engine room of the Industrial Revolution has found a new groove for the 21st century as a dynamo of culture and the arts.
ŠPaul-Karalius
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Article from: LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2016
Population: 2.5 million Foreign visitors per year: 1.4 million Language: English, with a pronounced Mancunian accent Unit of currency: pound sterling (£) Cost index: pint of beer £3.10 (US$4.60), hotel double/dorm bed per night £65-120 (US$96-180)/£14-20 (US$20-30), short taxi ride £6 (US$9), admission to live-music gig £6-15 (US$9-22)
Why go in 2016? > The UK’s cultural boomtown Raised on lofty ambition and never afraid to declare its considerable bona fides, the one-time engine room of the Industrial Revolution has found a new groove for the 21st century as a dynamo of culture and the arts. And the government agrees: it has committed £78m to build The Factory, a new, multi-purpose arts space that will include a 2200 theatre and will be the permanent home of the Manchester International Festival. One of Britain’s most important art galleries, the Whitworth, reopened in 2015 after a £15 million revamp with a new glass promenade and art garden. A few months later saw the opening of HOME, a multi-artform centre with ambitions to produce the country’s best theatre, film and visual art. Britain’s second largest public library, the pantheon-like Central Library, reopened in 2014 as a ‘living-room space’ for the city, with a media lounge, British Film Institute Mediatheque, music library and a modern children’s library to boot. Injecting fun into culture is the new Breakout on Brazennose St, a ‘real-life escape room game’ based on puzzle game shows like The Krypton Factor, where participants gather clues and hints to crack the lock on the escape door. And 17 years after the city served as the setting for Russell T Davies’ ground-breaking gay TV drama Queer as Folk, Manchester is once again the backdrop for Davies’ newest endeavour, the frank and very funny Cucumber. @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Article from: LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2016
Life-changing experiences • Get to the heart of the city’s most divisive passion and take in a match at either Old Trafford, home to one of the world’s most popular football clubs, Manchester United, or the Etihad Stadium, where recently cashed-up football powerhouse Manchester City stake their claim to be the city’s finest. • Hop on a Saturday suburban train to south Manchester and immerse yourself in the community-minded Levenshulme Market, the city’s best for food, artisanal wares and a host of other locally made goodies (March to December only). • Go the distance in the all-night Islington Mill,
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a multi-purpose venue in Salford where you can sweat to everything from Bikram yoga to hardcore techno.
Most bizarre sight Dominating the skyline of north Manchester is the 71m ventilation tower of Strangeways Prison, the city’s main detention centre, which is featured in the title of The Smiths’ album Strangeways, Here We Come. Many people mistakenly think it’s an over-
What’s hot… Multimeda, football, local artisans …What’s not Madchester, chain bars, Chelsea Football Club
Article from: LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2016
tall guard tower, but everyone agrees that its height serves as a constant reminder to the city that crime doesn’t pay.
Classic restaurant experience Manchester has no shortage of fine dining, but since opening in 2013 Manchester House delivers it with plenty of local flair. Inspired by the molecular gastronomy of Blumenthal and El Bulli, chef Aiden Byrne serves up carefully crafted delicacies that have all of the sophistication but none of the preciousness of haute cuisine. The dining room is all industrial chic and informal elegance; even more popular is the buzzy lounge on the 12th floor, with its cocktails and local
brews, to be enjoyed with stunning views of the Manchester cityscape.
Best shopping From the boutiques of South King St and the high- fashion stores of Spinningfields to the high-street cornucopia of the Arndale Centre and the hipster shops of the Northern Quarter, Manchester has a cure for every strain of retail fever. One of the most interesting openings has been the Manchester Craft & Design Centre in a converted Victorian fish market on Oak St in the Northern Quarter. Here you can buy jewellery, ceramics, textiles and clothing made by the 30odd designers in situ.
Classic place to stay
Festivals & events Manchester is European City of Science in 2016 – the theme of late July’s EuroScience Open Forum is what the city was built on: breakthroughs in science and the conditions needed for a city to capitalise on scientific knowledge (it’s way more interesting than it sounds!). Manchester Pride’s main event is the Big Weekend at the end of August, and it’s immediately preceded by a month-long fringe festival of arts, culture, music and comedy. The city’s gourmet credentials and craft beer revolution are celebrated during the Manchester Food and Drink Festival, which takes place over 10 days in September.
Great John Street Hotel. Elegant designer luxury? Present. Hotel delights – Egyptian cotton sheets, luxe toiletries, free-standing baths and lots of high- tech electronics? Present. This former schoolhouse (ah, now you get it) is small but sumptuous – beyond the Art Deco lobby are the fabulous bedrooms, each an example of style and luxury. If only school left such comfortable memories. • By Fionn Davenport
For more information on Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 visit: www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel Visit Lonely Planet Online Shop: shop.lonelyplanet.com/world/lonely-planetsbest-in-travel-2016/ Enter the code MAN2016 at checkout and get 25% off Best in Travel 2016 (print/ebook) TERMS AND CONDITIONS * Offer applies only to purchases made from www.lonelyplanet.com until 30 September 2016. * Offer may not be combined with other special deals, discounts or promotions (including promotional codes).
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Snapshot University Campus
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UPWARDLY MOBILE By Jill Burdett
Š Enna Bartlett
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Things have changed. In 1949 the Manchester property magnate Joseph Sunlight proposed a 380ft ‘skyscaper’ immediately behind his eponymous Sunlight House and next to the Opera House. He wanted to call it Memorial Tower, the money was in place, the contractors ready, but the city council and the men from the ministry weren’t interested. Sunlight’s blue sky thinking was shut out by a black cloud of official disapproval. He was refused permission because his skyscraper, ‘would dominate the existing and proposed buildings, would involve development in excess of an appropriate density for the area, cause injury to the amenities of the buildings in the vicinity, and would be prejudicial to any reasonable plan for the redevelopment of the area.’ The planning department of 1949 would tremble to think of the rush to build tall in 2015. By late 2017 Allied London will deliver a building of 24 storeys, No1 Spinningfields, immediately on the other side of the Opera House. Manchester it appears is planning to be more upwardly mobile in the next few years than, arguably, in any time in its history. Michael Ingall, CEO of Allied London said: “With No 1 Spinningfields we intend to create one of the most desirable office buildings in the UK. Inspired by buildings from around the world, it will be a powerful statement for us and for the skyline of Manchester.” He would say that of course but it underlines the confidence in the city centre and the desire to grow another forest of cranes. And if you want to grow a city and give it density and vibrancy you have to go up. SimpsonHaugh architects have designed No 1 Spinningfields. They have form with tall buildings, having provided Manchester’s tallest structure in 2006, Beetham Tower, at 169m (554ft). They’ll be at it again down the road from No 1 Spinningfields as part of the hugely ambitious, £1.5 billion, St John’s scheme on the former Granada Studios site. Alongside low-rise houses, public gardens and a huge new arts centre, The Factory, there will be two 50 storey residential towers – vertical villages – with covered gardens at various levels giving breathing space to the high living population. @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Scarcely a week goes past without a new project being proposed. In mid-October the Cooperative Group announced plans for two more modest commercial towers of nine and eleven storeys in the NOMA development at 2 Angel Square. These will sit in the shade of the mighty 14 storey, 72m high, £105 million Cooperative headquarters, One Angel Square. The new buildings are intended to be as sustainable as the latter, in other words the ‘greenest’ buildings in the country. David Pringle, director of NOMA at The Cooperative Group, says: “This new build element of NOMA offers a contrast to the post-industrial splendour of our listed buildings but still reveals the ambition of the project and the ambition in the city.”
© Lost & Imagined Manchester 1
Manchester is growing up and two new towers will soon cluster to keep Beetham Tower company on the approach into the city from the south. One particularly attractive tower design will soon rise 37 storeys or around 117m (384ft) on Whitworth Street West. The strikingly simple profile of the 5plus Architects’ to-be-named design will enhance this part of the city centre and also give passengers on the mainline to Liverpool and Scotland an architectural thrill - if that’s their thing.
Ambition is flooding through central Manchester when it comes to the property market. There are so many projects at the moment they’re beginning to form a seamless ring around the traditional core. From west to south to east and back again there is Greengate, Middlewood Locks, St John’s, Great Jackson Street, Cambridge Street, Kampus, Mayfield and NOMA. Five of the new residential towers that will soon be puncturing the city skyline are being built by the Manchester based Renaker Group with twin towers at Greengate rising 31 and 19 storeys, an aforementioned pair on Cambridge Street up to 22 and 29 storeys and a single 28 storey landmark on Regent Road. The group is also building four blocks at Wilburn Basin, technically Salford but they will change the city’s sunset skyline.
Again residential, it will include a bar, ‘a party room’, a library, a gym, a slide and a rooftop garden. As 5plus director Jon Matthews, says: “We want this to be an elegant and serious building but we want it to be more than that, we don’t want to make it a one-liner, these spaces we hope will give the building extra soul.” Almost directly opposite is Axis, another 5plus design, and a shiny copper slither of a building that will rise 26 storeys or 93 m (303ft) from an impossibly tight canal side site and be easily distinguishable by the screen on its city facing flank. 58
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3 1. Joseph Sunlight’s Memorial Tower 2. To-be-named 5plus Architects tower 3. St John’s development 4. Kampus
Renaker MD Daren Whitaker said: “Towers are the most efficient way to add vibrancy and mass to a city and accommodate growth. The changes on Manchester’s skyline are exciting and I think the city will look dramatically different in another 20 years.” Many of the new schemes incorporate tall buildings but some fall short of ‘tower’ status. The £150 million 450,000 sq ft Kampus scheme close to Piccadilly Station will include 500 new apartments, two new hotels, bars, restaurants, cafés and offices, and an attractive cobbled street acting as the spine of the development, Little David Street. Several of these buildings will be similar in height to 2 Angel Square and reveal that not only is Manchester’s skyline to be lifted in height through genuine skyscrapers but also through the rise of the buildings in between. The whole of the city centre and the area within Salford’s Trinity Way is rising slowly like dough in an oven.
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Adam Higgins of Capital & Centric, one of the developers along with Henry Boot Development says: “The philosophy at Kampus is to deliver nothing but the best in architectural design. It’s by doing this that we can create a new destination, community and an entirely new offer for city centre living and trading. Our ethos is that we don’t do ordinary.” @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Again he would say that, but this has to be the right philosophy for Manchester. The key to the success of the new projects has to be attention to detail from the top of the skyscraper through the low-rise buildings below to the street furniture at ground level. It’s important that public spaces and gardens are usable, well-maintained and good-looking. Sadler’s Yard at NOMA looks set to incorporate these qualities with its living walls, its topography and its mix of cafés, restaurants, bars and shops. After all, the more interconnectivity between and through city centre areas restores a sense of balance to a walk through cities such as Manchester. It’s stirring to look at heroic profiles of skyscrapers from a distance but the way a city works at ground level is more important. Manchester, we are fond of saying, does things differently and development is no exception. The city has no tall buildings policy regulating where developers can go high, nor is it overly concerned with the way new developments impinge upon heritage buildings or locations. Manchester is not a Victorian theme park is another favourite phrase. The city council energetically pursues a policy Deansgate/Castlefield Metrolink Station
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of freedom and encouragement to investors and developers that shows it is fully the heir of Manchester’s nineteenth century Free Trade Movement. That can go too far though and in the giddy desire to ‘develop’ caution has to be applied. A benchmark project displaying creativity, practicality, and real beauty is the beautification of Deansgate/Castlefield Metrolink station. This suddenly transforms public transport through landscaping, robust civil engineering and the sweet design of the lift and station structures into a thing of pleasure. It’s a model for the way Manchester can and should deliver projects whatever their scale. These are exciting times in Manchester’s development, not just across the central areas of the city but at its fringes as it naturally grows and matures. The task for all the developers is to ensure quality, design and legacy come first as the city’s profile both literally and metaphorically continues to grow. For more information: manchesteratmipim.com | @mcrMIPIM
Shop with us: in centre | at home | on the go
Exposed! A fashion lover’s paradise
With over three miles of sweeping marble malls, lined with an incredible collection of stores it’s easy to miss some of the absolute gems hidden inside. But intu Trafford Centre is a true fashionista’s paradise, with lots of flagship designer and high street brands, including A|X Armani Exchange, Calvin Klein Jeans, Hugo Boss, Russell & Bromley, Reiss, Lacoste, Zara, Selfridges, John Lewis and Victoria’s Secret. And it’s so easy to reach on the X50 city centre express bus every 5-10 minutes from Manchester Piccadilly.
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One of my favourite recent projects was a set of Russian dolls made for the Science Museum in London as part of their Cosmonaut exhibition. Rather than using the traditional women, the figures represented different aspects of Russian space travel. So we had Laika, the first dog in space; inside Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space; inside a space suit; inside a rocket. It’s all made out of ceramic, with the individual features representing the solar system. Yuri’s face for example is yellow, representing the Sun, with his cheeks representing Mercury and Venus passing by. I like to add hidden stuff like this, almost in secret for people to spot.
JOE HARTLEY Designer I’ve always been drawn to hands-on work, but that’s led me into a few pretty varied jobs, including as a butcher and in a bakers. I like to think that this translates well into my current work, which for the most part focuses on very simple, time-honoured materials. I work a lot with clay, wood and cloth, the sort of materials that’ve been used for hundreds of years, and so it’s always exciting to be able to come up with new uses for them. I grew up in Silverdale in Lancashire, which again I think had a big hand in shaping what I make. It’s a rural village just south of the Lake District, so I was surrounded by the sort of traditional materials that I now use in my work. That’s one of the things I love most about Manchester; how it toes the line between a big and a small city, so even in the city centre I’m never more than an hour away from the countryside. I sometimes describe my work as ‘material-driven, idea-led’. By this I mean that I often strive to explore the relationship between what an object physically is, and its utility, purpose and the thoughts it conjures up. I’ve been known to make anything from pots to clothes hangers, but I feel that what ties it all together is a sense of playing with these two aspects of an item. I like to think of it as a refreshingly low-tech approach that really focuses on the bare bones of the raw materials used.
Manchester is a city that makes things, and so I’ve always felt at home here. Historically it’s always been linked with crafting and building, and so I’m really proud to be a part of it. It’s also really well placed for me professionally, since it’s so accessible for the North West and the UK in general. For example Stoke, the centre of the ceramic industry, is just down the road; a massive help when I’m ordering clay by the tonne. I’ve got a real warm spot in my heart for Manchester. A few years after I moved here I went to study 3D Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, and I’ve worked here ever since. Now I have a workshop in the centre which I share with a small and varied community of designers. Together we run a group called Makers Dozen, where we collaborate with a constantly evolving selection of creatives from around the North West. The group allows us to lean on each other creatively, taking our work in new directions. It’s also allowed us to form a project called In-Source, where we look to outsource work within the group, encouraging us to marry up our specific skills in innovative ways. My latest work is for the Pilcrow, ‘the pub that Manchester built’. It’s a year-long project to create a pub where everything inside - from the artwork to the chairs to the glasses - has been made by the people of Manchester. I’ll be taking residence in the space in Sadler’s Yard (part of NOMA) from December, where I’ll be spending a year project managing groups of the public as they craft the pub’s contents. It’s completely different to anything I’ve ever done, and we’re all really committed to making the process as inclusive as possible. Anyone is invited to come down throughout the year to help make things, so if you’re in Manchester in 2016, make sure to drop by! For more information: josephhartley.co.uk | thepilcrowpub.com | @Joe_Hartley @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Yours to explore... Mansion
Parkland
Farm
Tudor Old Hall
Gardens
Stableyard restaurants and shops www.tattonpark.org.uk
Leftbank/ Spinningfields A NEW RIVERSIDE EATING AND DRINKING DESTINATION LEFTBANK, SPINNINGFIELDS, MANCHESTER M3 3ER
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WHAT’S ON:
LGBTQ
Queer Contact Festival 2016
Great British Bear Bash
Contact & venues across Manchester 4 – 14 February 2016
Various venues, Manchester 28 April until 2 May 2016
Each February, as part of LGBT History Month, Queer Contact Festival celebrates LGBT arts and culture in Greater Manchester, with theatre, music, cabaret, comedy, dance, literature, and visual art from the best in established UK and international artists, alongside new and emerging performers. Helping celebrate the festival’s eighth birthday will be Andy Bell (Erasure), Our Lady J, Kate Bornstein, Jackie Kay, Bethany Black, David Morgan, Ajamu + Khalil West, Mother’s Ruin, and more.
Four days of furry, friendly fun held each April/May. The bears come out of hibernation and the Gay Village comes alive with club nights, parties and events catering for fans of fur. The majority of programmed events will take place within the Gay Village where regular nights like The Rem’s Beareokee and The Big Scrum are joined by special events over the course of the weekend.
contactmcr.com/queercontact | @contactmcr
Sparkle
Sugar & Spice Various venues, Manchester 5 – 6 March 2016
manbears-manchester.co.uk | @manbears
Sackville Gardens, Manchester 8 – 10 July 2016
Sugar & Spice is The Lesbian & Gay Foundation’s annual celebration of International Women’s Day for lesbian and bisexual women. This free festival features workshops, discussions, socialising, wellness activities, crafts, food and lots of fun! Attended by over 200 women in 2015, Sugar & Spice is Manchester’s biggest free event for lesbian and bisexual women and is turning 10 in March 2016.
The Sparkle Weekend has been celebrating the trans community for the last 10 years and now regularly welcomes over 4,500 people, making it the largest free trans event in the world. Taking place in Sackville Gardens in the Gay Village, Sparkle is open to everyone who sees themselves as transgender – and this extends to friends and families. This year Sparkle in the Park runs for two days again, with a full programme of live music, events and stalls. Sparkle Fringe will also return from 6 – 13 July.
lgf.org.uk | @lgfoundation
sparkle.org.uk | @Sparkleweekend
Queer Contact Festival
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Snapshot University Building, Sackville Street
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WHAT’S ON:
EXPOS AND FAIRS Manchester Beer & Cider Festival
Levenshulme Market
Manchester Central 20 – 23 January 2016
Levenshulme March until December 2016
The Manchester Beer & Cider Festival will move to the heart of the city in January 2016, once again providing over 500 of the finest beers, ciders and perries to choose from. The team will select the very best beers from the UK’s burgeoning craft beer brewery scene alongside the Bière Sans Frontières bars which will bring an even larger range of draught and bottled beers from innovative and exciting breweries from around the world.
Levenshulme Market is a community run market that operates on Saturdays between March and December in Levenshulme, South Manchester. Offering up to 50 traders selling the very best arts, crafts, produce, hot food and artisan goods, the market is the only social enterprise of its kind in Manchester, working towards reinvigorating the high street in Levenshulme and supporting both existing local businesses and budding entrepreneurs.
mancbeerfest.uk | @MancBeerFest
levymarket.com | @levymarket
The Destinations Show
TriExpo Manchester
EventCity, Trafford 21 – 24 January 2016
EventCity, Trafford 18 – 20 March 2016
Now in its fifth year, Destinations will showcase the biggest choice of leading and specialist travel brands in the North with hundreds of tour operators and tourist boards exhibiting. Indulge your passion for travel and ignite your curiosity for countries you’ve yet to explore with experts on hand from Trailfinders, Round the World Experts, Ramblers Worldwide, Viking Cruises, Deep South USA, Great Rail Journeys and many more.
All the latest products, innovations and masterclasses with appearances from some of the biggest names in the world of triathlon. Everything from running shoes, compression wear and goggles right through to nutrition foods, energy drinks and a whole host of other performance accessories. Get practical advice on hydration and recovery techniques as well as swimming performance analysis in the pools from some of the top swim coaches in the country.
destinationsshow.com | @DestinationShow
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triexpo.co.uk | @thetriexpo
A GEEKS GUIDE By Mark Coleman
If you’re using a compass to find your way to Manchester and let’s face it, why wouldn’t you be, the coordinates you need are: 53°30’ N, 2°19’ W. What you decide to do once you arrive will be dependent on your entry point. Whilst the city of Manchester itself covers approximately 45 square miles, Greater Manchester is a whopping 500 square miles in total. Clearly, this is going to need some planning... Get into the geek Before embracing your inner geek and exploring Greater Manchester’s more specialist attractions, you should be assured that you are in very good company. High profile geeks have been associated with Manchester for centuries. Historic members of the city’s geek club include James Joule who used to give his brother electric shocks for fun. Joule devised the first law of thermodynamics on the back of experiments he undertook in his own brewery. Then there was Shelagh Delaney, author of 1958s classic ‘A Taste of Honey’. This gritty ‘kitchen sink’ drama was her first piece of professional work, written in just ten days when she was only 18 years of age. Delaney and her works had a huge influence on one of Manchester’s most popular geeks of recent times; Stephen Patrick Morrissey.
Indeed the word ‘geek’ itself originates from this part of the world. It is derived from the English dialect word ‘geck’ meaning ‘fool’, which was adopted and widely used throughout the north of England and Scotland during the 19th century. Fortunately, a slow-burning semantic shift has meant that being a geek in the modern age is anything but foolish. And good job too; the city will be geeks galore over the next 12 months as Manchester celebrates its status as the European City of Science. As the city’s poster science-geek, Professor Brian Cox, puts it: “Manchester was the first scientific city; where the industrial world began. To have modern, cutting-edge science coming back to the city again is absolutely superb.” @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Space, man If you’re arriving at Manchester Airport on a clear day, look out of the window to the South as your plane approaches the runway. There’s a good chance you will gain your first glimpse of the famous Lovell Telescope in the distance; centrepiece of the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank. The Telescope has had eyes and ears set firmly on the far reaches of outer space since 1957. It continues its interplanetary exploration today as the proud headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an international effort to create the most powerful radio telescope ever built by using resources in several countries. SKA will be formed by the construction of new telescopic infrastructure across an entire square kilometre in South Africa and Australia. Whilst this exciting project ramps up, Jodrell Bank remains open to visitors with a welcoming discovery centre which includes three pavilions (themed on the planets, stars and space), a galaxy garden, space playground, shop and café.
In Manchester city centre itself, those looking for a much lesser-known but equally brilliant space observation facility should navigate towards the University of Manchester’s Sackville Street building - the 1903 Godlee observatory, complete with its double telescope, stands tall on the rooftop of the building. It was gifted to the city by the wealthy cotton magnate Francis Godlee and remains a truly hidden gem. The observatory is built from wood and – seriously – paper mâché. In July 1969, the team at Godlee famously communicated with the crew of the Apollo 11 by telegram, to warn Buzz Aldrin and his crew of possible volcanic activity close to the moon-landing zone. Manchester Astronomical Society today takes care of the day-to-day running of Godlee and in addition to their weekly meetings, they stage a wealth of stargazing activity throughout the year. Visitors are welcomed to the site but should enquire before arriving.
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Transport, comics and crate digging Traditional geeks will be pleased to learn that Manchester offers a number of bookshops to satisfy eclectic tastes. Those arriving or leaving the city via Piccadilly station might want to check out Ian Allan book and model shop, located on the approach to the main station entrance. This welcoming store will encourage any transport, military or history enthusiast to part with their cash. It can also remedy a broader want for general niche knowledge or railway modelling paraphernalia. As many people will gladly tell you, Manchester lays claim to the world’s first passenger railway station and also one of the world’s first aircraft builders, Avro, to mention just a couple of impressive accomplishments associated with this city. If you’re enthused to learn more about this rich area of history, Greater Manchester’s Transport Heritage is a consortium of the museums that are dedicated to taking visitors on an often-literal journey of discovery. The East Lancashire Railway and Bury Transport Museum, Heaton Park Tramway, and Museum of Transport are all situated north of the city centre and can be easily reached by road or Metrolink tram. In the city’s Northern Quarter, a different kind of geek is catered for. Comic book fans can take comfort in Travelling Man on Dale Street. If you’re heading here from Piccadilly Station, take note of the Dale Street approach, which is where part of Hollywood Blockbuster Captain America was filmed back in 2011. The cast and crew were welcomed to Manchester with goody bags that included a bottle each of the city’s most famous drink, Vimto. Travelling Man specialises in comic books, board and role-playing games. Nearby, Forbidden Planet on Oldham Road has the feel of a slightly larger scale operation than Travelling Man, with as much emphasis on popular culture merchandise. For a truly independent, family-owned book and comic shop, head for Paramount Books on Shudehill. This gem of a building is always bursting with second hand stock and has that re-affirming musty scent of yesteryear. If you’re browsing through past editions of DC Comics, look out for editions of Action Comics and Justice League Elite from the early noughties. You might be lucky enough to spot Manchester Black, a telekinetic anti-hero and enemy of Superman, hailing from this city. Also well worth
2 1. Jodrell Bank 2. East Lancashire Railway
looking out for is Blood Blokes, a six-issue comic series illustrated and written by Adam Cadwell. The black-comedy series is about slacker vampires sharing a house in Manchester.
Use the power of your mind In a city of serious ingenuity like Manchester, you might suddenly find an urge to put your own mental agility to the test and Breakout Manchester is a fun way to do so. Styled as a live escape room, it is located on Brazennose Street just moments away from Manchester Town Hall. You will be locked into a room with friends or family and have 60 minutes to figure out how to escape. There are several themed rooms including ‘Virus’, ‘Madchester’ and ‘John Monroe’s Detective Office’. Running a similar concept at the other end of the city is Escape Room, located on Chapel Street, close to Manchester Cathedral and Victoria Station. @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Ready, steady, go...
Manchester Airport
Stonerig Raceway is a unique attraction in Oldham that will keep car and modelling geeks entertained for a good few hours. The venue has nine professionally built Scalextric racing tracks for kids and adults alike to race on. The longest track is more than 36 metres long and some of the tracks include innovative digital features such as lap counting, false start detection and an F1 starting grid. Bookings are taken for the amount of time spent and paying guests will be able to access all of the racing tracks. The facility also has an F1 simulator and provides refreshments as well as selling cars, racing sets and accessories so that you can work on your own creation at home.
Whether you’re flying from the airport or not, plane geeks will be pleased to learn that Manchester has a spot which is the closest point you can get to a commercial airliner in the UK without boarding it. The large beer garden at the Airport pub (owned by Greater Manchester brewery Robinsons) backs onto one of Manchester Airport’s two runways and affords truly stunning views. It’s a perfect place to mix a love of aviation with a love of ale. The interior of the pub has recently been refurbished and is kitted out with vintage propeller fittings and remodelled former jet engines. Iron Maiden fans hoping to spot the bands own plane can enjoy the experience with a pint of Trooper, Robinsons’ famous ale.
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Five geeky experiences in Greater Manchester... The Morrissey Smiths Disco The Moz Disco takes place in the Star and Garter pub on Fairfield Street (opposite Piccadilly Station) on the first Friday of each month. Always hugely popular, guests are advised to arrive early as the queues can get lengthy. Doors open at 9pm and last entry is 12.30am. A Morrissey quiff and specs are optional but those without might find themselves in the minority. starandgarter.co.uk | @Star_GarterManc
Bowlers Exhibition Centre The UK’s largest computer market happens here every Saturday from 9.30am to 3pm (just two minutes from the Trafford Centre). This is where to go if you need a new graphics card, mobile phone, ink cartridge, or simply anything you can think of in the world of computing. Also look out for one-off events such as The Love of The Force, an independent Star Wars fan convention. bowlersexhibitioncentre.co.uk | @BowlersMcr
The Octagon Bolton A highly acclaimed national theatre, the Octagon stages thought-provoking productions all year round. Roald Dahl fans should look out for the award-winning adaptions of his novels during the winter season. octagonbolton.co.uk | @octagontheatre
Hat Works Museum
And if you’re looking for even more airport-themed enjoyment, the hangar at the Runway Visitor Park is home to the now retired Concorde 204 G-BOAC – the flagship of the British Airways fleet. With plenty of other historic aircraft on display, the Runway Visitor Park also offers a viewing platform to watching the landings and take-offs from Manchester. Nature geeks will be interested to learn the airport has three bat barns to house thousands of Pipistrelle, Brown Longeared and Brandt’s bats. It also has a mammal tunnel under the second runway and 92 ponds full of newts, toads, frogs and insects.
The only place in the world where you will find out so much about hats under one roof. Discover why Stockport’s residents are said to be ‘mad as hatters’ and enjoy this recreated hat factory with over 400 hats from around the world. stockport.gov.uk/museums | @SMBC_Museums
Ziferblat An innovative space where the concept is simple; everything is free except the time you spend. Costing six pence per minute, Ziferblat is a geek’s dream venue. Come here to study, to code, to knit, to talk about the latest happenings in the Walking Dead with strangers, or simply do as you please. ziferblat.co.uk | @ziferblatedgest
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WHAT’S ON:
SPORT
Revolution Series
ASICS Greater Manchester Marathon
National Cycling Centre 2 & 23 January 2016
Trafford 10 April 2016
Team Wiggins, Team Sky and many more pro cycling teams go head to head in the UK’s biggest Track Cycling Series. Expect plenty of world-class racing as our Olympic hopefuls fine tune their form against some of the world’s best road and track stars.
The UK’s flattest, fastest and friendliest marathon, attracting a top quality British elite field as well as many international runners. The 2016 race will be the 40th anniversary race of the Manchester Marathon, which current organisers Xtra Mile Events brought back in 2012 after a decade’s absence.
cyclingrevolution.com | @Revolution_UK |
Velopark
National Squash Championships National Squash Centre 8–14 February 2016 The best of British squash do battle on a brand new, all-glass show court in Manchester, where fans will see if champions Nick Matthew and Sarah-Jane Perry can retain their titles. It all points to a dramatic championship at the National Squash Centre which will also host a Masters tournament comprising 15 age-group events. nationalsquashchamps.net | @NationalsSquash | Etihad Campus
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greatermanchestermarathon.com | @Marathon_Mcr
UCI BMX Supercross World Cup National Cycling Centre 9–10 April 2016 The fastest, bravest riders in the world will take the gate in the race for world supremacy and a prime placing at the world championships. Accelerating down the 8m high Supercross ramp around the professional indoor course, this is BMX racing at its most exhilarating and dangerous. bmxsuperx.com | @BMXsuperX |
Velopark
1. Revolution Series 2. Morrisons Great Manchester Run 3. Aegon Manchester Trophy Tennis
Aegon Manchester Trophy Tennis The Northern Lawn Tennis Club, Didsbury 28 May until 7 June 2016 Watch world-class grass court tennis at ‘the Wimbledon of the North’ when the AEGON Manchester Trophy, part of the ATP Challenger tour, comes to The Northern in Didsbury. The club has a rich history of international grass court tennis with Fred Perry, Maria Bueno, Billie-Jean King, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and Goran Ivanisevic amongst numerous other top players who have graced its courts. ita.org.uk/aegonmanchestertrophy | @TheNorthernMCR | West Didsbury
World Rugby U20 Championship The Academy Stadium, Manchester & AJ Bell Stadium, Salford 7–25 June 2016
Great CityGames Manchester city centre 21 & 22 May 2016 The Great Manchester Run has now grown into a weekend festival of sport, including the Great CityGames Manchester. It’s a unique event that brings world class athletics to Manchester’s streets and last year a crowd of 25,000 gathered to see Jessica Ennis-Hill line up for the 100m hurdles, her first race since July 2013. The event takes place on the Great CityGames track on Deansgate and at the purpose built athletics arena in Albert Square. greatcitygames.org | @Great_Run
See the very best young rugby players compete in the World Rugby U20 Championship in Manchester in June, giving fans the chance to see the next generation of stars in action. With England stars Courtney Lawes, George Ford, Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell all recent graduates it promises to be a tournament full of great rugby action from the next heroes of the game. englandrugby.com/u20champs | @EnglandRugby
IronmanUK Triathlon Bolton, 17 July 2016 A feat of endurance involving 2,000 athletes from all over the world. Starting with a 2.4 mile swim at Pennington Flash at 6am; 112 mile cycle through Lancashire and a 26 mile marathon ending in Bolton town centre. This event attracts thousands of athletes and their families and friends who all come to cheer on the athletes completing the gruelling challenge.
Morrisons Great Manchester Run
ironmanuk.com | @IRONMANEurope
Manchester City Centre 22 May 2016
Second Investec test match: England vs Pakistan
Europe’s biggest 10k running event is televised live on BBC television and is for runners of all abilities, from some of the world’s greatest athletes, to thousands of people running for a host of good causes. Famous for its atmosphere with thousands of spectators lining the streets of the city centre, the event has become one of the highlights of Manchester’s sporting events since it was first staged in 2003. greatrun.org | @great_run
Emirates Old Trafford 22–26 July 2016 Pakistan will be touring the country for the first time since 2010 and will attract strong support from their own communities in this country which all adds up to an exciting game of international action played in front of a packed house. lccc.co.uk | @EmiratesOT |
Old Trafford
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BEE IS FOR MANCHESTER There are bees all over Manchester; swarms of those sweetest and busiest of insects are everywhere. Even in the depths of winter they are here, on every bollard and bench, on buildings and bins all over our city writes Anne Beswick. The bee is the symbol of Manchester and this city of industry is rightly proud of its link with the hardworking insect. In 1842 when Manchester changed from a hustling, bustling town into an even busier city, the early city fathers had to decide on a coat of arms that would tell the world who we were. It was a Victorian branding exercise. They included a globe with seven bees to show how we worked and traded across the seven seas. The Manchester bee was born of industry.
Manchester’s bee is a worker bee, reflecting a city made by the workers; made by the people, not a city that has grown from royal patronage or easy natural resources. Mancunians have worked hard to make this place thrive. The standard bee on our street furniture has been around since the 1970s but most of our bees are 19th century creations. Bee-spotting is a good way to spend time in the city. Look up, look around; when you’re strolling the streets or relaxing with a coffee or a meal. The coat of arms on the exterior of Manchester Town Hall is a good starting point. Inside make your way upstairs to the bee mosaic landing in front of the Great Hall; a grid of bees enclosed by entwined threads of cotton. Cotton was the industry that made Manchester rich, the city’s equivalent of honey. @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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An individual worker bee lives for about three weeks in the busiest summer months. She visits between 50 to 100 flowers on each flight and up to 2,000 flowers daily. As well as producing honey she makes beeswax, propolis (a sort of disinfectant that is plastered around the entrance to the hive) and royal jelly to feed the queen. Worker bees are all female whilst the males are called drones. The latter are useful for one thing then they are thrown out of the hive and the females get on with all the work. Please consider this and draw your own conclusions. Just remember that Manchester is well-known for its strong women! Emmeline Pankhurst, Enriqueta Rylands, Nancy Rothwell, Maxine Peake, to name a few. The special thing about the human relationship with bees is that we can control them and exploit their products. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the only insects that have been domesticated, and have been since at least the days of the ancient Egyptians. Jars of honey were found in the tomb of Tutenkhamun.
The link corridor between Central Library and the Town Hall extension has bees in the glass walls and Lancashire roses on the floor for them to feed on. Look in Manchester Art Gallery and you’ll see the brightly-coloured frieze with its bee motif on the first floor. More bees can be found at Spring Gardens, Hotel Gotham and Zizzi on King Street has a fine traditional beehive in the window. There is Beehive Mill in Ancoats, and St Ann’s Square has oversized 1980s bees opposite the Royal Exchange. Nip into the Visitor Information Centre at Piccadilly Gardens to buy a bee mug. Then stroll down to the Palace Hotel on Oxford Road and look way up, at the clock face where bees tell the quarter hours. The ancient-andmodern University of Manchester also has three large bee symbols on its coat of arms. Manchester claimed the bee because she is an industrious little grafter, individually insignificant but collectively a superorganism. Together we are stronger. And bees are amazing; jaw-droppingly stunning.
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The Old English custom of “telling the bees” reflects the close bond between beekeeper and bee-kept. This commands that all major family issues (births, marriages and deaths but general gossip too) must be reported to the bees or they will fly off, die, or fail to produce honey. This could be seen as a quaint old custom or just a way of encouraging that proper attention is paid to the hive. And Manchester did not always pay good attention to her adopted insects. One thing we are not so proud of hereabouts is that we practically invented air pollution or, at least, the Industrial Revolution left us with a legacy of biological degradation second to none. We have spent many years rebuilding our environment and connecting back with the wider world around us and this means that our bees are back! There are beehives all around the city, on top of the Cathedral, the Printworks, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester Central conference centre and even on some commercial buildings around the city. These bees are lovingly tended to by volunteers with an evangelical zeal for their new charges. Come the warmer days of spring and summer, real honeybees flit above our heads, busy as Mancunians. Proper Manchester honey can even be bought in some of the
associated buildings and their shops. The Manchester and District beekeepers Association (mdbka.com) has its home at Heaton Park just north of the city where you can see a demonstration hive and get lots of information and advice if you wish to give beekeeping a go. We can all help the bees. Even if you don’t think that baggy combination of white canvas and netting is quite your look you can do your bit by putting out food for bees. They need flowers; simple, open flowers from spring to autumn. They like native and exotic species equally; bees aren’t prejudiced, as long as there is nectar, pollen and easy access.
our Discover Manchester tour. We’ll tell you all about our city, past and present. Come along. Before the Industrial Revolution bees made honey and people loved it. Industry turned the world upside down forever. Manchester, the original, modern city was born. Now the city is growing up and linking back to the best bits of the past. Welcome home bees.
In Manchester, flowers are coming back too. Planters are dotted about, flowering green walls appearing, gardens are springing up in previously unlikely spaces and sympathetic apartment dwellers are planting windowsills and balconies and welcoming the bees. Local people are working together to blur the division between urban and rural and the bees are back. Manchester is back too. After many mid-twentieth century years in the doldrums, this city is on a rapid ascent. As well as all the business, sport, culture and conferences, tourists are coming in ever-larger numbers. Our guides at Manchester Guided Tours (manchesterguidedtours.com) meet visitors and locals at 11am every day outside Central Library for
FEED YOUR BEES
Grow some of these to help the bees
SPRING
Rosemary, Pussy Willow, Bluebell, Primrose, Hawthorn
MID SUMMER
Foxglove,Honeysuckle, Sage, Clover, Geranium, Teasel, Thyme
LATE SUMMER/AUTUMN Buddleia, Heather, Lavender, Marjoram, Sedum, Ivy
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JACKIE KAY Poet, novelist and performer I am Chancellor of the University of Salford. I like writing in different forms. My memoir Red Dust Road is being adapted for the BBC. My most recent play for young people, BRINK, was on at the Royal Exchange Theatre. My most recent collect of poetry, FIERE was shortlisted for the Costa Award. I am inspired by Manchester’s working class history; by the fact Engels spent some time in Manchester and Salford; by the response of people to The Peterloo Massacre; by Shelley’s Masque of Anarchy; and more recently Maxine Peake’s phenomenal performance of it. I’m proud that Manchester has managed to document the history of working people, and the fact that The Working Class Movement Library is in Salford. I was born in Glasgow but live in Manchester and think of them as very similar – both at the vanguard of the Industrial Revolution; working cities with great public spaces and buildings and big hearts. Manchester attracted me in particular because it is racially diverse and at ease, and because it has a Gay Village, The Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Exchange Theatre, fabulous public libraries and open spaces. And I like the red brick! My work explores how fluid identity can be; how people can reinvent themselves; and how gender and race are categories that we try to fix, perhaps in order to cherish our own prejudices. I think when you are adopted, as I was, you have from the very beginning an interesting relationship with your own identity, and you ask yourself the question what makes us who we are – nature or nurture? You have an imaginary mother (your birth one) and a real one (your adoptive one) so you’re already placing stories at the very centre of your life, and changing around ideas of blood and biology. I can’t think of any other major city that has two poets as Chancellors of their universities. I am the sixth Chancellor of the University of Salford. The first © Matthew Kay
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one (back when it was the College of Advanced Technology) was Prince Phillip. I quite like that as an indicator of change! But Manchester is a city steeped in culture - it has a great literature and jazz festival and brilliant theatres, small and large, so it seems apt that it is also a city that has poet-chancellors. Contact theatre is a great venue - one that attracts a diverse audience and is welcoming and fun to be in. They do great community work. I’ve performed at Queer Contact before and was struck by the warm welcome and the brilliant atmosphere. It’s an important festival and it reaches out to all different parts of the community. LGBTQ events are still important. They tell people they are not alone, give people a chance to meet each other. Plus: we can never get complacent. Even although progress has been made – massive progress – we still live in a society where gay hate crimes exist and where prejudice abounds. It’s important not to think, ‘well that’s that sorted then’, and slide back, because history can repeat itself. We shouldn’t let the clock slide back. At a time when the cultural sector has been cut in other cities, it shows really savvy and forward thinking that Manchester’s cultural sector is growing and thriving. HOME is the biggest multi-arts venue outside of London, and attracts people to the city. It is heartening that Manchester City Council has got behind them and supported the arts. Why live in London now when you’ve got Manchester? I would tell new visitors to Manchester to take a walk on Chorlton Ees, across the meadows and down the Mersey. Or I would tell them to visit one of the brilliant and interesting libraries or museums in Manchester or Salford such as The Portico Library or The People’s History Museum. Or to find Three Minute Theatre in the Northern Quarter. Or to seek out something interesting locally - in my case The Edge Arts Centre or Chorlton Book Shop. Jackie Kay will be performing as part of Queer Contact Festival 2016. For more information: contactmcr.com | @contactmcr @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Molly Parker. Leads the school choir and the search for the Sumatran tiger. Extraordinary discoveries, every day www.chesterzoo.org/islands
Registered charity number 306077.
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WHAT’S ON:
GREATER MANCHESTER Coloured Interval, Liz West Ordsall Hall, Salford Until 31 January 2016 Coloured Interval is a new body of work by Liz West exploring her fascination with exuberant colour, sculptural form and intense light. Alongside a series of new site-specific light-based installations, West will also be exhibiting works on paper. Using unconventional industrial and man-made materials, such as electrical tape, aluminium and mirror, these pieces echo many of the materials utilised within her installation work. salfordcommunityleisure.co.uk | @TheOrdsallGhost | Exchange Quay
The Peak District Stockport Art Gallery and War Memorial Until 16 February 2016 This collection of hauntingly beautiful images by Paul Webster is an essential guide to the Peak District. Webster has travelled widely in order to present images that reflect not only his unique perspective of known sites, but also his penchant for finding hidden gems. Using several methods including long exposures and black-and-white infrared photography, Webster conveys the ethereal atmosphere of breath-taking landscapes. stockport.gov.uk/artgallery | @smbc_museums
2 1. After Life: Portraits of Taxidermy 2. Coloured Interval, Liz West
After Life: Portraits of Taxidermy Oldham Gallery Until 20 February 2016 This touring exhibition created by Scottish photographer, Sean Dooley features poignant photographic portraits of extinct and endangered animals from museum collections. These photos portray specimens of entire species that are losing, or have lost, the fight for survival. Because of their rarity these specimens are important, as sources of knowledge that can help conserve species and as reminders of the beauty of these lost and fading species. visitoldham.com | @OldhamCouncil | Oldham Central 1
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Š Warner Bros.
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Puppet Masters: Celebrating Animation Waterside Arts Centre, Trafford Until 27 February 2016 A new exhibition bringing stopmotion animation to life comes to Waterside Arts Centre in Sale this autumn, showcasing the work of world-renowned puppet makers Mackinnon and Saunders. Puppet Masters: Celebrating Animation will focus on some of their most celebrated work including Corpse Bride, Mars Attacks! The Clangers and Bob the Builder and give visitors a fascinating behindthe-scenes insight into the world of stopmotion animation. watersideartscentre.co.uk | @WatersideArts 2
Jarred: Ceramics from the collection
The Smithills Hall Story exhibition
Touchstones, Rochdale Until Saturday 1 October 2016
Smithills Hall, Bolton Until 29 April 2016
Jarred looks at how ceramics help us in our everyday lives, telling their story from 4000BC to the present day. Discover how ceramics have been used in social and religious rituals and to commemorate events, places or people. Explore the decorative styles that have influenced their design. Learn how bricks were locally produced on an industrial scale to build Lancashire’s famous mills and terraces.
This fantastic exhibition will tell the story of Smithills Hall through the ages and the people who lived and worked there. Smithills Hall has been the centre of local life for over 700 years. The exhibition will introduce you to some of the powerful families who owned the house and estate over the centuries, but also the lives of the servants who worked behind the scenes. The Ainsworth family owned Smithills Hall in the 1800s.
link4life.org | @Touchstones |
visitbolton.com | @VisitBolton
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Rochdale Interchange
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Ancient Egypt Resdiscovered Museum of Wigan Life Until June 2016 The land of the pharaohs comes to the Museum of Wigan Life with a fabulous new exhibition about the Ancient Egyptians. This exhibition will explore the famous death customs and mystical religious beliefs of the Egyptians, alongside their everyday lives. You can get up close and personal with ancient coffins, statues of the gods and a spectacular gold mask which will be on display for the first time in over 40 years. This amazing collection covers over 3,000 years of Egyptian history; fast forward to the 21st century to discover how new science is revealing more about these objects and helping us to conserve them for the future. wigan.gov.uk | @WiganCouncil
The Gallipoli 100 and Six VC’s before breakfast Fusilier Museum, Bury Until June 2016 On 25 April 2015 it was 100 years exactly since the Lancashire Fusiliers famously won ‘Six VCs before breakfast’ as part of the Gallipoli landings. To commemorate this major milestone for the first time ever, The Fusilier Museum will display all six Victoria crosses and explore the story about what happened to The Lancashire Fusiliers during Gallipoli including the stories behind the medal winners. fusiliermuseum.com | @FusilierMuseum | Bury
4 1. The Corpse Bride, Puppet Masters: Celebrating Animation 2. Smithills Hall 3. 1940s Weekend at East Lancashire Railway 4. Northern Life
Northern Life Ashton Central Art Gallery 20 January until 20 April 2016 A reflection on the last decades work by local artist Chris Cyprus; from the school run to shopping at the local butchers to harvesting produce from his allotment, Chris observes his daily routines and transforms his visions onto canvas. whatson.tameside.gov.uk | @tmbc_culture | Ashton-under-Lyne
1940s Weekend East Lancashire Railway, Bury 28 – 30 May 2016 Put on your glad rags and journey back in time to the glamorous 1940s. This award-winning event is back at the East Lancashire Railway with more entertainment and activities than ever before, including battle scenarios and 1940s singers and musicians. eastlancsrailway.org.uk | @eastlancsrly | Bury
Horwich Festival of Racing Horwich, Bolton 19 June 2016 Over the last ten years Horwich Festival of Racing has grown to become one of the most popular sporting events in the North West. The event, formerly known as Horwich Carnival Races, embraces both sporting excellence and community participation across a range of events and activities. visitbolton.com | @VisitBolton 3
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Snapshot River Irwell
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NORTH WEST FOODIE ADVENTURES By Emma Sturgess
From city centres to wild places, the North West has an extraordinary range of destinations – and there’s great food to be had in all of them. Whether you want to explore Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire or Merseyside, there’s a tasty way to do it. Our quartet of itineraries will give you a flavour of Greater Manchester and beyond.
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Cumbrian Terroir: from Manchester to the Lakes
Brewery and Cartmel Cheeses, where co-owner and local cheesemaker Martin Gott sells his much-admired St James cheese.
There’s no pride like local pride, and Cumbria is brimming with it. No wonder – in a beautiful but often unforgiving landscape, provenance is king, and a community of producers, growers and chefs thrives on making food with a sense of place. But before you even leave Manchester, you can taste the Lakes: at The French, Simon Rogan’s restaurant at the Midland hotel, the kitchen shows off produce grown at his Cumbrian farm. Next morning, hit the road (you’ll need a car to really explore) and travel north through cheese country, stopping to see it being made at the Dewlay dairy near Garstang. Restaurant geeks will relish the prospect of double Rogan, either at his two Michelin starred Cartmel flagship, L’Enclume, or brasserie Rogan & Company; he also offers plush accommodation. But Cartmel is a lovely destination in its own right, boasting Cartmel Village Shop (home of the sticky toffee pudding, but also a great toffee apple crumble), Unsworth’s Yard
For sweet saltmarsh lamb, head for the stately home and gardens at Holker Hall, where lambs graze on the marshland at the edge of Morecambe Bay, or strike north for Sarah Nelson’s Grasmere Gingerbread, a celebration of the local spice trade in unusual biscuit form. You’re in the heart of the Lakes here and ideally situated to walk off the weekend (either side, perhaps, of lunch at Ambleside’s Drunken Duck Inn) but don’t head home without stopping at Tebay Services on the M6. This unique family-owned service station is famed for its farm shop, where some of the region’s finest produce is temptingly displayed. Take home some of the Cumbrian food you didn’t manage to try – and maybe a bit more of what you did.
1. Simon Rogan 2. L’Enclume 3. Cartmel Village Shop 4. The Inn at Whitewell 5. The Parkers Arms 6. Northcote
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Nose to Tail in Lancashire: from Bowland to Bury
hotpot, but the all-mod-cons cookery school added recently is gaining a reputation too. Co-owner Craig Bancroft, a barbecue fanatic, runs cookery courses all year round on the (meaty) thrill of the grill; sessions even include a Christmas barbecue. Stay the night if you possibly can and be sure to stop in at the Freemasons at Wiswell whilst in the area, recently named number one pub in the Good Food Guide for the second year running.
Country pubs don’t get much more countrified than The Parkers Arms, set in glorious isolation in the Forest of Bowland. It’s a fresh green place to start a red-blooded survey of some of the north’s best (and best-cooked) meat, fish and fowl, including the unusual bits. Here chef Stosie Madi takes lesser-spotted cuts, game and hogget and conjures bold, contemporary pub food out of them; don’t be surprised to see crumbed cod tongues with airdried ham alongside the well-regarded handmade pies. Further south at pub-with-rooms The Inn at Whitewell, you just have to look out of the windows to see the moors and farms where dinner is raised; homemade black pudding is a staple, as is Lonk lamb, a native Lancashire breed.
You’re heading for Bury now. Take a diversion through Ramsbottom and you might find black pudding throwing, a pie festival or the monthly Artisan Market, and in the evening there’ll certainly be excellent Indian food (with plenty of veggie options, should you be ready for them) at Sanmini’s. But save time to give the food halls at Bury Market, repeatedly voted the best in the country, a thorough once-over. Contemporary tastes are well represented, but the traditional honeycomb tripe, Bury black pudding and black peas with vinegar are Bury’s distinctly Northern answer to the street food phenomenon.
If you want to do more than eat, drive south (via Cowmans Famous Sausage Shop in Clitheroe, perhaps) to Langho and Northcote. This hospitably luxe getaway is famous for chef Nigel Haworth’s
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Life’s Sweet in Cheshire: from Altrincham to Tattenhall
course but always has an expertly-made frangipane and fruit tart on the menu, as well as amaretto chocolate truffles served with coffee.
The cliché about Cheshire is that it’s all footballers and their wives. They might live here, but you won’t find them sipping the single origin hot chocolate at Sam Joseph’s Altrincham market stall. More fool them. Sam Joseph also specialises in high-end desserts, and is among the brilliant producers who have found a permanent home in Altrincham’s revitalised Market House, a refectory that makes a sweet start to a tour of Cheshire’s dessert highlights. Pick up a friand, brownie or doughnut from the Wolfhouse Kitchen counter for the train from Altrincham to Chester, where it’s straight to the grand Chester Grosvenor to choose between a visit to Rococo, the chocolatier’s only shop outside London, dinner at the Michelin-starred Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor, where puddings satisfy the French traditionalist within, or just the grandest overnight in town. It’s a short walk to Sticky Walnut, the brasserie that punches above its weight at every
Venturing beyond Chester is highly recommended, but you’ll need a car. Drive as fast as legally possible to The Ice Cream Farm at Tattenhall, the home of Cheshire Farm Ice Cream. It’s designed as a family attraction – kids will be entertained for hours – but the ice cream parlour serves seriously good ice cream in flavours that aren’t easily available anywhere else. For a more sedate sweet experience, it’s got to be Brian Mellor’s Harthill Cookery School, ten minutes down the road. The converted village school is a lovely setting for a variety of courses, with chocolate making and biscuit-baking popular choices. Never mind one for the road; you’ll leave with enough handmade Viennese biscuits, jammy dodgers and magnificently big bourbons for a sustained in-car picnic.
1.& 2. Chester Grosvenor 3. Cheshire Farm Ice Cream 4 & 5 Camp And Furnace 6. Burnt Truffle
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A Journey of Discovery on Merseyside: from Cheadle to Liverpool
a great line in homemade cake, and dinner options are myriad. You could hit Heswall for Burnt Truffle, which demonstrates the fact that restaurants with terrible names can do very good food. Or go to Irby for Da Piero, rare among Italian joints for its extensive vegan and vegetarian menus. But the daddy of food on the Wirral is Marc Wilkinson, and it’s at Fraiche, his Michelin-starred restaurant in Oxton, where nothing on the multi-course tasting menu is as it seems. This is rewarding, ultra-contemporary cooking, and the only certainty is the need to book well in advance.
Like surprises? This trip’s got plenty of them. Who would have thought that some of the region’s best Indian food would be found not on Manchester’s curry mile but on a back street in the Stockport suburb of Cheadle? The Indian Tiffin Room is squashed, hectic and dinner-only, but absolutely worth it (and staying locally) for the goat keema pav and crisp puri. From Stockport, you can pick up trains to Chester and the Wirral, or if time is short, hire a car. The next destination is the Wirral’s Claremont Farm, in an unlikely but peaceful spot near the M53, where the seasons dictate what’s available when: you might be able to eat fresh asparagus, pick your own fruit, fish for bream or learn to make Nepalese momo dumplings. There’s always something new on the farm shop shelves, and in the café, too. Base yourself at Mere Brook House, a handsome B&B which does
You could end your trip here without troubling Liverpool at all, but from Birkenhead it’s just through the tunnel. At Camp And Furnace, a vast industrial conversion, weekend Food Slams combine club nights and street food in spaces you could drive a food truck into – which they often do.
Find out more about travelling in the north of England at northernengland.com
© bacononthebeech.com
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Shaune Harrison Make-up artist, writer and director I’ve loved making monsters since I was a kid, when I would try and build models and masks in my bedroom. I’m a huge horror fan, and I was first inspired when I saw an ad in a magazine for American Werewolf in London. Ever since then I’ve known that being a make-up artist was my calling. In 1988 I was able to get my foot in the door as a trainee on a Clive Barker film called Nightbreed, and since then I’ve worked all over the world. My career has involved working on some blockbuster films including all the Harry Potter films, Star Wars: Episode I, World War Z, Captain America, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Game of Thrones, The Mummy, and Children of Men. Of all of them I’d say my favourite to work on was Sleepy Hollow. I got to work with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken who’s a huge icon to me. The sets were also some of the best I’ve ever been on and I had the honour of working closely
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with director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki who’s a complete genius and has since worked on Gravity and Birdman. I set up the Shaune Harrison Make-Up Artist Academy in Manchester a few years ago. It’s something I’d wanted to do for years; I love teaching, and now I love getting to see my students go on from the academy to get work in the industry. It’s also given me the freedom to get involved in Manchester’s creative community and focus more on writing and directing. One of my favourite creations is a witch character I made as a demo to promote the Academy. It took five months to make and got my wife to wear it. I wanted to blow people away, so we went all out making a wig, teeth, lenses, hands with finger extensions, a cane to walk around with. We got my wife to model it at a trade
show and people loved it. They kept asking “what movie’s that from” and we’d explain that it’s not from anything, we made it especially to show off the Academy. I chose to set up in Manchester because I love the city. I’m originally from the Wirral, so I’m a northerner at heart and I’m really familiar with Manchester. My wife and I run the Academy together, and when we were deciding where to go it was an easy decision. She’s originally from Poland, so it was a big step for her to move to England, and now she loves it. Now we live here together with our dog Juno. Manchester’s a great place for creative types. The biggest thing is MediaCityUK, but there’s also some great stuff happening around the First Street project with HOME. There’s loads of investment at the moment in trying to get people up from the south and creating in Manchester. There’s also this spirit of bringing people together up here that doesn’t happen in London. There’s a tight community in Manchester, and I’ve met more people in a year in Manchester than I’ve ever known in London. I’ve done so many shorts with other filmmakers up here. It’s a great community of film people.
It’s the people that make this city unique. They’re always really friendly, and I’ve never felt uneasy talking to someone new. It’s thanks to the sense of community that I’ve managed to get involved in so many projects. Recently I worked on a film called Out of the Shadows up in Clitheroe, which we did a load of prosthetics for. Then we’ve done A Father’s Day, a really sweet zombie project, and we’ve done a few gag shorts, one called Modern Hero which is a really good serial killer movie set in a forest. Coming up I’m potentially involved in couple of feature films, and I’m working on my own film called Infinity, which I’ve co-written with my friend Mark Jones, and I’ll be directing in New Orleans. We’ll be hopefully creating some prosthetics for it too, and of course trying to involve the students in the academy so they can get some on set experience.
For more information: shauneharrisonacademy.com | @ShauneAcademy
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How to build a pub. In three difficult steps.
Step
Decide to build a pub You have to take this step fairly seriously as it turns out building things can be quite a long and involved process. Why do you want to do this? If you have a decent answer to this question (other than simply making a quick buck) then you are on the right lines. As soon as you are 100% sure that you have a plan you believe in, tell everybody. This way you will look pretty stupid if you fail to commit - embarrassment is a great motivator.
Step
Start building a pub There is never a “right time” to start a project like this, so start now. Most projects don’t happen because they don’t get started. Don’t wait until you are experienced enough; make it up as you go along, that is what most people are doing most of the time.
Step
Don’t stop until you have a pub In our experience this will take up all your time, your energy and a little bit of your sanity. It took us nearly two years to find the perfect place to build The Pilcrow, keeping going is really the hardest part. This is why it is so important to believe your answer to the question “Why are we doing this?”. If you believe in your idea, you won’t want to let it down.
We’ll admit that our three-step guide is a little light on the detail but this is honestly all we had in the bag when we started this project; you need an idea, a purpose and motivation, everything else will follow.
Figuring out how to apply for planning permission and how to run workshops has been tricky, but way easier than you might expect, like most things you can learn by doing and fix as you go along. We are still firmly in step three, with about a year until The Pilcrow pulls its first pint.
Find us at
You can follow our progress on The Pilcrow website here – www.thepilcrowpub.com
Snapshot Werneth Low
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MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE To Heaton Park, Bury, Oldham & Rochdale approx. 10, 23, 24 & 48 minutes by Metrolink from Victoria Metrolink under construction (due to open in 2017)
(Sept 2015)
1 Angel Square ANGEL SQUARE
Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art
Manchester Craft & Design Centre
Exchange Square
¾
¾
Balloon Street to Exchange Sq. opening winter 2016 Exchange Sq. to St Peter’s Sq. opening 2017
Urban Exchange
To Etihad Campus (approx 1/2 mile), Droylsden & Ashton approx. 8 & 20 minutes by Metrolink from Piccadilly Station
Old Granada Studios
To The Quays, Chorlton, MediaCityUK, Altrincham, Eccles, East Didsbury & Manchester Airport approx. 15, 16, 20, 28, 30, 32 & 50 minutes by Metrolink from Manchester city centre.
Albert Hall
(trams running through but not stopping until Summer 2016)
HOME
All Saints Business School & Student Hub
The Deaf Institute To MMU Birley, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care (Princess Road, A5103)
Central Retail District Featuring the biggest names in fashion including high street favourites.
Piccadilly The main gateway into Manchester with Piccadilly train station and Piccadilly Gardens.
Corridor Manchester Home to the city’s two universities, a host of cultural attractions and nightlife.
Northern Quarter Creative and urban centre with independent fashion stores, record shops and cafés.
Spinningfields A district of offices and high-end shopping and some of the city’s Manchester Business School West best restaurants and bars.
First Street Manchester’s cultural and office district featuring the new multi arts centre HOME.
Chinatown Made up of oriental businesses including Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Korean restaurants.
NOMA A neighbourhood of offices, homes, public spaces, shops and restaurants.
Petersfield Manchester Central Convention Complex, The Bridgewater Hall and Great Northern.
The Gay Village Unique atmosphere with restaurants, bars and clubs around vibrant Canal Street.
Civic Quarter Medieval Quarter Home to iconic Whitworth AnBuilding area rich in Whitworth Hall listed buildings culture and history. such as the Town It is the home of Hall and some of the city’s University Central Library. oldest buildings. of Manchester Students Union
Castlefield A residential neighbourhood with waterside restaurants, pubs and bars. St. John’s A new unique residential neighbourhood, a community of creativity and innovation.
The Academy
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TRANSPORT INFORMATION Manchester is one of the most accessible cities in the UK thanks to its location and level of connectivity with national transport infrastructure. Once you have arrived in the city, getting around couldn’t be easier thanks to a fleet of buses, trains and trams. TRAVELLING TO MANCHESTER By Air
There are flights to Manchester Airport from over 210 destinations worldwide where on arrival you can choose the train, Metrolink or taxi to transport you to the city centre. manchesterairport.co.uk | @manairport
By Train
Manchester is well connected by train with direct services running between London and Manchester every 20 minutes, and frequent services from many other major UK towns and cities. There are four main stations in the city centre: Piccadilly, Oxford Road, Victoria and Deansgate. Piccadilly welcomes the majority of visitors and is the main arrival point for those flying into Manchester Airport or travelling up from London. nationalrail.co.uk | @nationalrailcom T 08457 48 49 50
By Coach
National Express provides services from all over the country into Chorlton Street Coach Station in the heart of the city. nationalexpress.co.uk | @nationalexpress
By Road
Manchester is well connected to the rest of the UK via excellent motorway links. The M60 ring road connects the city to motorways north, south, east and west. In the city, NCP has over 13,000 car parking spaces across 43 sites, including a number of exclusive parent and child bays and green bays for vehicles with low emissions. Parking with NCP in the city centre starts from just £1.60 an hour. ncp.co.uk | @ncpcarparks
By Metroshuttle
GETTING AROUND MANCHESTER By Metrolink
Metrolink is Greater Manchester’s tram system offering easy travel into the city centre. Trams run frequently and so you don’t need a timetable, just turn up and travel anytime from early morning until late in the evening. With services every six to twelve minutes, it is great mode of transport to get you right across Greater Manchester. Tickets should be purchased from the machines on the platform before boarding. metrolink.co.uk | @MCRMetrolink The Metrolink network is developing and expanding, and a new line through the centre of Manchester is currently under construction and due to open in 2017. For information on network changes visit transformationinformation.co.uk
By Bus
Manchester is at the heart of the region’s bus services providing an effective means of getting to the heart of the city. tfgm.com | @OfficialTfGM 102
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Metroshuttle is a free bus service linking the main transport hubs to the shops, restaurants and businesses in the city centre. There are three routes to choose from making it an ideal way to get about. There’s no need to purchase a ticket, simply hop on and off as convenient. For the latest route information check before you travel. tfgm.com/metroshuttle
By Bike
If you have a bike, cycling is a low cost and healthy way to travel. Transport for Greater Manchester can help you plan your route, including options using cycle lanes and quieter roads. tfgm.com/cycling
By Foot
Manchester city centre is easy to get around on foot – you can cross from one side to the other in 20 minutes Transport for Greater Manchester can help you plan your journey online but also provide you with up-to-date travel information about local public transport and ticketing. Visit tfgm.com | @OfficialTfGM or phone Traveline 0871 200 22 33
Go places with Metrolink Metrolink is Manchester’s fast and modern tram system offering easy travel into the city centre from the many town centres across the region. Trams run frequently and so you don’t need a timetable, just turn up and travel anytime from early morning until late in the evening. Metrolink is the largest light rail system in the UK and stops in the city centre are highly visible. With nearly 60 miles of track, 92 stops - many with free parking for customers. Metrolink makes it easy to reach Manchester’s popular attractions and the surrounding districts. It’s also fully accessible and safe to use with CCTV and help points at every platform. Ticket machines are located on all stops; just remember to buy your ticket before catching the tram as tickets cannot be purchased once travelling. There are a range of great value Travelcards on offer for you and your family to travel anywhere on Metrolink, all day or all weekend. Visit www.metrolink.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @MCRMetrolink for more information on the tram network, tickets and services. The Metrolink network is currently undergoing some exciting improvement works which might result in some temporary changes to services. Please check before you travel to see if this affects your journey.
MANCHESTER AIRPORT – part of MAG With three terminals handling over 23 million passengers each year, Manchester Airport is the UK’s Global Gateway for the North. Sixty-five airlines ensure Manchester Airport is directly connected to over 210 destinations and no more than one stop away from anywhere in the world. Whether travelling for business or pleasure, Manchester Airport offers a host of facilities and services to help ensure hassle-free travel. Airport Shopping and dining
Disabled access
Join the vast number of savvy shoppers already taking advantage of exclusive tax and duty free savings at the airport. Then, make the most of the wide selection of food and drink options available across all three terminals.
A pioneering new access guide has been designed, which provides disabled customers with all the information they need to plan their journey from door to door.
Escape Lounges
Stay connected to the outside world, with free Wi-Fi for up to 60 minutes, across all three terminals.
For those looking to start their holiday in style, or simply some peace and quiet to complete last minute business, the Escape Lounges in Terminal 1, 2 and 3 offer a tranquil environment. Here you can also enjoy a host of complimentary refreshments and take advantage of the free Wi-Fi.
For the kids If you need to keep the kids entertained or use up some of their excess energy before a long flight, there are now two free soft play areas. These are located in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.
Free Wi-Fi
The Manchester Airport App For the perfect travel companion download the Manchester Airport app, it’s your one-stop guide for flight and airport information. Even better it’s completely free to download on your smartphone.
Airport Parking There is a parking option to suit every need, from great value Long Stay parking to the ultimate convenience of Meet & Greet parking.
For the latest information visit manchesterairport.co.uk or follow @manairport on Twitter.
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Direct Connectivity There are direct flights from over 210 destinations worldwide including: Europe Aberdeen Amsterdam Athens Barcelona Berlin Bilbao Billund Bruxelles Budapest Cologne Copenhagen Cork Dublin Dusseldorf Frankfurt Gothenburg Glasgow Hamburg Hanover
Helsinki Isle Of Man Knock Krakow Lisbon London Lyon Madrid Marrakech Milan Moscow Munich Murcia Naples Nice Oslo Paris Pisa Prague Rennes
Reykjavik Rome Shannon Stockholm Tel Aviv Turin Venice Vienna Warsaw Zurich North America Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Las Vegas Miami New York Philadelphia Toronto
Vancouver Washington From May 2016 Boston Los Angeles Middle East Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Jeddah Asia Hong Kong Singapore From June 2016 Beijing
For a full list of direct flights please visit manchesterairport.co.uk
Get there with System One... WHO?
Everybody!
WHERE?
Anywhere in Greater Manchester
HOW?
with a System One Travelcard
UNLIMITED TRAV EL
ON ANY BU , TRAIN & TRASM *
Find your perfect travelcard at systemonetravelcards.co.uk *System One Travelcards are accepted by all bus operators in the System One network. See systemonetravelcards.co.uk for full list of operators. Information produced by Greater Manchester Travelcards Limited (GMTL) October 2015. @visit_mcr | visitmanchester.com
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Manchester’s credentials It is absolutely right that we are the European City of Science and much of this is reflected in the article about our plans for next year and ESOF
THE LAST WORD Bringing the City alive with science Having spent much of my career involved in cultural and sporting activities in Manchester, when I was asked to take on the organisation of Europe’s biggest science conference, this offered a great new personal challenge. Science is all around us, from the trams getting us from A to B and our smart phones, to the energy we use and, of course, the weather - making major and minor changes to our daily lives all the time. I just hadn’t particularly stopped to think about how fundamental it is to everything we do. Now, of course, I think about it all the time! Bringing the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) to Manchester next July is hugely exciting for me and the team that is engaged in the planning and organisation of this landmark event. Five amazing days of awe inspiring science, sharing knowledge and inspiring discoveries means we will all learn something from this shared experience It’s not just welcoming all the visiting delegates, VIPs and young people starting their science careers, but also the chance to shine the spotlight on a city that is steeped in science; a city that can quite rightly claim to be the first modern science city. As the European City of Science for the next year, the opportunity to tell the story of the importance of science to the city - with our amazing array of Nobel laureates, scientific discoveries and world firsts - is just the start. Add to the mix lots of new collaborations, festivals, exhibitions, science in strange places, pop up experiments, interesting food, music made by machines, plus Brian Cox and an astronaut.
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The geeks guide shows that the city continues to surprise with hidden gems found alongside more established attractions. Whether we celebrate the coming of The Factory Manchester, the reopening of the Whitworth or our new HOME; the excitement of the offer in Manchester is equally building in the science community. What other Town Hall in the country has two very eminent scientists - James Joule ( of energy fame) and John Dalton (father of atomic theory) sitting guard over its grand entrance? The bees are all over the Town Hall but listen out for the engaging story of the peppered moth which you might not have heard of before, but is quite remarkable. It’s story will be told during the coming year of science and is emblematic of how the city has changed and adapted itself from the Industrial Revolution through to the original modern city - emerging with a reinvented image for today’s world. This ability of the city - like the moth - to adapt was one of the factors recognised by the globe-trotting experts at Lonely Planet who acknowledged Manchester as the ‘dynamo of culture and the arts’. Science and arts are very much two sides of the same coin and the strength that the city derives from the interdependence between cultural organisations and the city’s burgeoning science scene has undoubtedly contributed to this accolade. Having the last word means I can also pay tribute to my former colleague and great friend Andrew Stokes who left Marketing Manchester in November 2015. Andrew has been a constant champion of the city, over almost two decades at the helm. He has always promoted science as a core element of the Manchester story which we share with the world and he was instrumental in bringing us the prize of European City of Science. Being the first city to truly grasp this designation brings huge responsibility, which I don’t take lightly, but relish. Over the coming months you will hear and see so much more about the European City of Science and ESOF in July and I invite you all to be part of what will be a great year. Vicky Rosin Programme director ESOF 2016
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Short break packages to Manchester and beyond
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