Everything about Greater Manchester totally explained
Greater Manchester is a
metropolitan county in
North West England, with a population of
2.55 million. It encompasses one of the largest
metropolitan areas in the
United Kingdom and comprises ten
metropolitan boroughs:
Bolton,
Bury,
Oldham,
Rochdale,
Stockport,
Tameside,
Trafford,
Wigan, and the cities of
Salford and
Manchester. Greater Manchester was created on
1 April 1974 as a result of the
Local Government Act 1972.
Greater Manchester is landlocked, and as a
ceremonial county borders
Cheshire (to the south-west and south),
Derbyshire (to the south-east),
West Yorkshire (to the north-east),
Lancashire (to the north) and
Merseyside (to the west). The
Greater Manchester Urban Area is the
United Kingdom's third most populous conurbation, and spans across most of the county's territory.
Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively
unitary authority areas. However, the metropolitan county, which is some, continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference. Several county-wide services are co-ordinated via the
Association of Greater Manchester Authorities.
Before the creation of the metropolitan county, the name
SELNEC was used for the area, taken from the initials of "South East Lancashire North East Cheshire". Greater Manchester is an
amalgamation of 70 former local government districts from the
former administrative counties of
Lancashire,
Cheshire and
Yorkshire, West Riding and several independent
county boroughs.
History
Origins
The modern county of Greater Manchester was created in 1974. However, the history and heritage of its constituent settlements and parts stems back for centuries. There is evidence of
Iron Age inhabitation, particularly at
Mellor, and
Celtic activity in a settlement named
Chochion, believed to have been an area of
Wigan settled by the
Brigantes.
Stretford was also part of the land believed to have been occupied by the Celtic Brigantes tribe, and lay on their border with the
Cornovii on the southern side of the
River Mersey. Evidence of
Roman activity is provided by the remains of 1st-century
forts at
Castlefield in Manchester, and
Castleshaw in
Saddleworth. Much of the region was omitted from the
Domesday Book of 1086. During the
Middle Ages, much of what became Greater Manchester lay within the
hundred of Salfordshire – an ancient division of the county of
Lancashire. Salfordshire encompassed several
parishes and
townships, some of which, like
Rochdale, were important
market towns and centres of England's
woollen trade. Much of Greater Manchester's heritage is related to
textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution and the infrastructure that grew up to support the sector. Towns such as
Oldham and
Bolton played a central role during the
Industrial Revolution, rapidly becoming some of the most important and productive
mill towns in the world. Due to its commercial and socioeconomic success, the need for local government and geo-administrative change in the conurbation now called Greater Manchester was proposed as early as the 1910s. Traders from Germany had already coined the name
Manchesterthum, meaning "Greater Manchester", and had been using it to describe the area since the 18th century. and Greater Manchester is no exception. Most of Greater Manchester lay within the ancient county boundaries of
Lancashire; those areas south of the
Mersey and
Tame were in
Cheshire. The
Saddleworth area and a small part of
Mossley are historically part of
Yorkshire and in the south-east a small part in
Derbyshire. The areas that were incorporated into Greater Manchester in 1974 previously formed parts of the
Administrative counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, the
West Riding of Yorkshire and of various independent
county boroughs.
The
Manchester Evening Chronicle brought to the fore the issue of "regional unity" for the area in April 1935 under the headline "Greater Manchester – The Ratepayers' Salvation". It reported on the "increasing demands for the exploration of the possibilities of a greater merger of
public services throughout Manchester and the surrounding municipalities". The issue was frequently discussed by civic leaders in the area at that time, particularly those from Manchester and
Salford. The Mayor of Salford pledged his support to the idea, stating that he looked forward to the day when "there would be a merging of the essential services of Manchester, Salford, and the surrounding districts constituting Greater Manchester." Proposals were halted by the
Second World War, though in the decade after it, the pace of proposals for local government reform for the area quickened. In 1947,
Lancashire County Council proposed a three "
ridings" system to meet the changing needs of the county of Lancashire, including those for
City of Manchester and surrounding districts. Other proposals included the creation of a Manchester County Council, a directly elected regional body. In 1951, the
census in the United Kingdom began reporting on South-East Lancashire as a homogonous conurbation. but were divided into separate boroughs. To re-balance the districts, the borough of Rochdale took
Middleton from Oldham.
Greater Manchester is today made up of some 70 former
local authority areas from the former county boundaries. The act formally established Greater Manchester on
1 April 1974, though
Greater Manchester County Council had been running since
elections in 1973. Frangopulo noted that "With the creation of the Greater Manchester county, came statutory recognition to what was already as a result of natural evolution, a distinct and recognised region, bound together by innumerable ties extending back over the centuries. Greater Manchester ... is the logical outcome of centuries of shared tradition." Greater Manchester is the largest of the metropolitan counties by number of boroughs.
Greater Manchester County Council was abolished on
31 March 1986 under the
Local Government Act 1985. Most of the functions of the council were devolved to the ten Greater Manchester
metropolitan district councils, though some functions such as emergency services and public transport were taken over by
joint boards and continued to be run on a county-wide basis. The
Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) was established to continue much of the county-wide services of the
county council.
The metropolitan county continues to exist in law, and as a geographic frame of reference, Greater Manchester became a
ceremonial county as a result of the
Lieutenancies Act 1997 on
1 July 1997.
Unlike most other modern counties (including
Merseyside and
Tyne and Wear), Greater Manchester was never adopted as a
postal county by the
Royal Mail. A review in 1973 noted that "Greater Manchester" would be unlikely to be adopted because of confusion with the
Manchester post town. And so the component areas of Greater Manchester held on to their pre-1974 postal counties until 1996, when they were abolished.
In 1998, the people of
Greater London voted in a referendum in favour of establishing a new
Greater London Assembly, with mayor and an elected chamber for the county.
Her Majesty's Government has outlined similar proposals for metropolitan counties, including Greater Manchester. AGMA has also suggested that a formal government structure be created to cover the whole city region.
Geography
Greater Manchester is a landlocked county spanning
492.7 square miles (1,276 km²). The
Pennines rise along the eastern side of the county, through parts of
Oldham,
Rochdale and
Tameside. The
West Pennine Moors, as well as a number of coalfields (mainly sandstones and shales) lie in the west of the county. The rivers
Mersey and
Tame run through the county boundaries, both of which rise in the Pennines. Other rivers run through the county, including the
Beal, the
Douglas and the
Irk.
Black Chew Head is the
highest point of Greater Manchester, rising above sea-level, within the parish of
Saddleworth.
Chat Moss at comprises the largest area of Grade 1 and 2 farmland in Greater Manchester and contains the largest block of semi-natural woodland in the county.
There is a mix of high density
urban areas,
suburbs, semi-rural and
rural locations in Greater Manchester, but overwhelmingly the land use in the county is urban. It has a strong regional
central business district, formed by
Manchester City Centre and the adjoining parts of
Salford and
Trafford. However, Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts,
Greater Manchester experiences a
temperate maritime climate, like most of the
British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. The county's average annual rainfall is compared to the UK average of, and its mean rain days are 140.4 per annum, Greater Manchester also has a relatively high humidity level, which lent itself to the optimised and breakage-free textile manufacturing which took place around the county. Snowfall isn't a common sight in the built up areas, due to the
urban warming effect. However, the
Pennine and
Rossendale Forest hills around the eastern and northern edges of the county receive more snow, and roads leading out of the county can be closed due to heavy snowfall, notably the
A62 road via
Standedge, the
A57 (
Snake Pass) towards
Sheffield, and the
M62 over
Saddleworth Moor.
Governance
Greater Manchester is divided into 28
Parliamentary constituencies – 18
Borough constituencies and 10
County constituencies. Most of Greater Manchester is controlled by the
Labour party, and is generally considered a Labour stronghold, with only four constituencies (since the
2005 General Election) belonging to the
Liberal Democrats, and one constituency to the
Conservative party.
Local governance in Greater Manchester is currently provided by the councils of ten
districts, known as
metropolitan boroughs, these are:
Bolton,
Bury, the
City of Manchester,
Oldham,
Rochdale, the
City of Salford,
Stockport,
Tameside,
Trafford and
Wigan.
Each Metropolitan Borough comprises a large town (usually having formed a
county borough before 1974) together with the surrounding smaller towns, villages and countryside. Most of the names are self explanatory, for example the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is centred on the town of
Stockport, though includes other smaller towns, such as
Cheadle,
Gatley, and
Bramhall. The names of two of the metropolitan boroughs are not as obvious however. For these, a neutral name was chosen because, at the time they were created, there was no agreement on the town to be put forward as the
administrative centre and neither had a
county borough. These boroughs are
Tameside and
Trafford, centred on
Ashton-under-Lyne and
Stretford, respectively. However in 1986, along with the five other
metropolitan county councils and the
Greater London Council, the Greater Manchester County Council was abolished, and most of its powers were devolved to the boroughs, which effectively became
unitary authorities. Also, some local services are still provided county-wide, but are now administered by statutory
joint boards of the ten districts. These are
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, (GMPTE) which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating
public transport across the county; the
Greater Manchester Police, who are overseen by a joint
Police authority; the
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, who are administered by a joint "Fire and Rescue Authority"; and the
Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. These joint boards are made up of councillors appointed from each of the ten boroughs (except the Waste Disposal Authority, which doesn't include the
Metropolitan Borough of Wigan). The ten boroughs jointly own the
Manchester Airport Group which controls
Manchester Airport and three other UK airports. Other services are directly funded and managed by the local councils.
Greater Manchester is a
ceremonial county with its own
Lord-Lieutenant who is the personal representative of the monarch. The Local Government Act 1972 provided that the whole of the area to be covered by the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester would also be included in the
Duchy of Lancaster – extending the duchy to include areas which were formerly in the counties of Cheshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Thus, the
Lord Lieutenant and
High Sheriff of Greater Manchester are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster rather than, as is more usual, the recommendation of the
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. The first Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester was Sir William Downward who held the title from 1974 to 1988. The current Lord Lieutenant is Warren James Smith. As a geographic county, Greater Manchester is used by the government (via the
Office for National Statistics) for the gathering of county-wide
statistics, and organising and collating general register and census material.
Demography
Greater Manchester has a population of 2,547,700, making it the
third most populous county in the United Kingdom (after
Greater London and the
West Midlands). It is the seventh most densely populated county of England.
Greater Manchester is home to a diverse population and is a multicultural agglomeration with significant ethnic minority population comprising 8.49% of the total population. There are currently over 66
refugee nationalities in the county. As of the 2001 UK census, 74.2% of Greater Manchester's residents were Christian, 5.0% Muslim, 0.9% Jewish, 0.7% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist, and 0.1% Sikh. 11.4% had no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion and 7.4% didn't state their religion. This was broadly similar to the rest of the country, although the relative size of the Muslim and Jewish communities are nearly double the national average. Greater Manchester is covered by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of
Salford and
Shrewsbury, and the
Archdiocese of Liverpool. Most of Greater Manchester is part of the
Anglican Diocese of Manchester, apart from
Wigan which lies within the
Diocese of Liverpool.
Following the
deindustrialisation of Greater Manchester in the mid-20th century, there was a significant economic and population decline in the region, particularly in Manchester and Salford.
Slum clearance and the increased building of
social housing overspill estates by Salford and Manchester City Councils lead to a decrease in population in central Greater Manchester. During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the population of Greater Manchester declined by over 8,000 inhabitants a year.
|}
Greater Manchester's housing stock comprises a variety of types.
Manchester City Centre is noted for its high-rise apartments, whilst
Salford has some of the tallest and
densely populated tower block estates in
Europe. Throughout Greater Manchester, rows of
terraced houses are common. Most of these were constructed during the
Victorian and
Edwardian periods. The
Housing Market Renewal Initiative has identified
Manchester, Salford,
Rochdale and
Oldham as areas with terraced housing unsuited to modern needs. Although Greater Manchester has a reputation as an
urban sprawl, the county does have areas of
green belt, and includes some of the most affluent areas in the country;
Altrincham, with its neighbours
Bowdon and
Hale, is said to constitute a "
stockbroker belt", with well-appointed dwellings in an area of
sylvan opulence. and the thirteenth highest in England per head of population. The majority of students are concentrated on
Oxford Road in Manchester, Europe's largest urban higher education precinct.
Primary,
secondary and
further education within Greater Manchester are the responsibility of the constituent boroughs which form
local education authorities and administer
schools and colleges of
further education. The county is also home to a number of notable
independent schools such as
Manchester Grammar School,
Bolton School and
Bury Grammar School.
Economy
Greater Manchester made much of its wealth during the Industrial Revolution with the world's first
cotton mill built in the town of
Royton. Encompassing several former
mill towns, an
Association for Industrial Archaeology publication describes Greater Manchester as "one of the classic areas of industrial and urban growth in Britain, the result of a combination of forces that came together in the 18th and 19th centuries: a phenomenal rise in population, the appearance of the specialist industrial town, a transport revolution, and weak local lordship". Much of the county was at the forefront of
textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution and into the early 20th century, Considerable industrial restructuring has helped the region to recover. Historically, the docks at
Salford Quays were an industrial port, though are now (following a period of disuse) a commercial and residential area which includes the
Imperial War Museum North,
The Lowry theatre and exhibition centre. A major
BBC centre is also scheduled to open there in 2010.
Today, Greater Manchester is the economic centre of the
North West region of England and is the largest sub-regional economy in the UK outside
London and
South East England. Greater Manchester represents more than £42 billion of the UK regional
GVA, more than
Wales,
Northern Ireland or
North East England.
Manchester City Centre, the
central business district of Greater Manchester, is a major centre of trade and commerce. Manchester today is a centre of the
arts, the
media,
higher education and
commerce. In a poll of British business leaders published in 2006, Manchester was regarded as the best place in the UK to locate a business. A report commissioned by Manchester Partnership, published in 2007, showed Manchester to be the "fastest-growing city" economically. It is the third most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors and is now often considered to be the
second city of the UK. The
Trafford Centre is one of the largest indoor shopping centres in
Europe and is located within the
Metropolitan Borough of Trafford.
As of the 2001 UK census, there were 1,805,315 residents of Greater Manchester aged 16 to 74. The economic activity of these people was 40.3% in full-time employment, 11.3% in part-time employment, 6.7% self-employed, 3.5% unemployed, 5.1% students without jobs, 2.6% students with jobs, 13.0% retired, 6.1% looking after home or family, 7.8% permanently sick or disabled and 3.5% economically inactive for other reasons. The figures follow the national trend, although the percentage of self-employed people is below the national average of 8.3%. The proportion of unemployment in the county varies, with the
Metropolitan Borough of Stockport having the lowest at 2.0% and the
City of Manchester the highest at 7.9%. In 2001, of the 1,093,385 residents of Greater Manchester in employment, the industry of employment was 18.4% retail and wholesale, 16.7% manufacturing, 11.8% property and business services, 11.6% health and social work, 8.0% education, 7.3% transport and communications, 6.7% construction, 4.9% public administration and defence, 4.7% hotels and restaurants, 4.1% finance, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.5% agriculture, and 4.5% other. This was roughly in line with national figures, except for the proportion of jobs in agriculture which is only about a third of the national average of 1.5%, due to the overwhelmingly urban, built-up
land use of Greater Manchester.
| Regional gross value added by the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester at current basic prices. Figures are in millions of British pounds sterling. |
| Year |
Regional Gross Value Added |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
| 1995 |
25,368 |
59 |
8,344 |
16,966 |
| 2000 |
32,995 |
38 |
8,817 |
24,140 |
| 2003 |
38,300 |
48 |
8,973 |
29,279 |
| 2005 |
42,082 |
-- |
- |
-- |
Transport
Public transport services in Greater Manchester are co-ordinated by the
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE), a public body (
Passenger Transport Executive) established as SELNEC PTE in 1969 in accordance with the
Transport Act 1968. the
M60, which cuts through all of the boroughs except
Bolton and
Wigan. Greater Manchester has a higher percentage of the
motorway network than any other county in the country, and according to the
Guinness Book of World Records, it has the most traffic lanes side by side (17), spread across several parallel carriageways (
M61 at Linnyshaw Moss, Greater Manchester, close to the M60 interchange). Greater Manchester's of motorway network saw 5.8 billion vehicle kilometres in 2002—about 6% of the UK's total, or 89,000 vehicles a day. The
Manchester Congestion Charge is a proposed scheme of
road pricing for Greater Manchester county. Unlike the current version of the
London scheme, two cordons will be used, one covering the main urban core of the
Greater Manchester Urban Area and another covering the
Manchester City Centre.
There is an extensive bus network which radiates from
Manchester City Centre, the largest providers are
First Manchester for the northern parts of the county and
Stagecoach Manchester for the southern parts. In addition to the network of bus routes a light rail system began operating in 1992 called
Manchester Metrolink. The tram system serves the City of Manchester,
City of Salford,
Bury and
Trafford. An expansion of the system is due to begin in 2008 which will see the system run to all boroughs except Bolton and Wigan. Greater Manchester has a rail network of 142 route miles (229 km) with
98 stations, forming a central hub to the North West rail network. Train services are provided by private operators and run on the national rail network which is owned and managed by
Network Rail. An extensive canal network also remains from the Industrial Revolution.
Manchester Airport, which is the fourth largest in the United Kingdom, serves the county with flights to more destinations than any other airport in the UK:
The three modes of public transport in the area are heavily used. 19.7 million rail journeys were made in the GMPTE-supported area in the 2005/2006 financial year – an increase of 9.4% over 2004/2005; there were 19.9 million journeys on Metrolink; and the bus system carried 219.4 million passengers.
Sports
2002 Commonwealth Games were staged in Manchester and provided the area with world class sports facilities, including the
Manchester Aquatics Centre,
Bolton Arena,
National Squash Centre,
Eastlands Stadium and the supporting athletics stadium at
Sports City. This built on the success of the
Manchester Velodrome in regenerating the Eastern side of the conurbation.
Greater Manchester is the home of several sports teams who play in the top tier of their sport. Amongst the most prominent are
Manchester United F.C. and
Manchester City F.C. who play football at
Old Trafford and the
City of Manchester Stadium respectively. Manchester United purchased their Old Trafford ground in 1910, at a cost of £60,000. The ground has hosted the
FA Cup Final and international matches. Since 1990, the stadium has undergone redevelopments costing £114M. The City of Manchester Stadium was originally built at a cost of £110M for the
2002 Commonwealth Games; in 2003, it became the home of Manchester City. The stadium also functions as a music venue, hosting
U2,
Bon Jovi, and
Oasis, among many others.
Old Trafford Cricket Ground, the home of
Lancashire County Cricket Club, has also acted as a music venue for bands such as the
Arctic Monkeys,
Radiohead, and
Foo Fighters. The ground was originally built in 1857 and was originally the home of
Manchester Cricket Club.
Sale Sharks began playing
rugby union at
Edgeley Park in 2003 after they moved from their
Sale ground for reasons of size. It is also the home ground of
Stockport County F.C..
Greater Manchester has a high concentration of
football clubs. Four Greater Manchester teams,
Bolton Wanderers F.C.,
Manchester City F.C.,
Manchester United F.C., and
Wigan Athletic F.C., play in the 2007–08
Premier League. In addition to this,
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. play in
League One and
Stockport County F.C.,
Bury F.C. and
Rochdale A.F.C. play in
League Two. There are numerous high-profile non-league football teams, including
Altrincham F.C.,
Stalybridge Celtic F.C.,
Droylsden F.C.,
Salford City F.C.,
Atherton Collieries F.C.,
Hyde United F.C.,
Maine Road F.C. (1954) and the recently created
F.C. United of Manchester. Manchester United F.C. is the most successful team in the history of the Premier League, having won the title nine times since it was introduced in 1991–92. The
Manchester Football League, dating from 1893, includes numerous amateur teams.
In
rugby union,
Sale Sharks compete in the
Guinness Premiership, and won the league in 2006. Whitefield based
Sedgley Park RUFC are competing in
National Division One,
Manchester RUFC in
National Division Two and Wigan side
Orrell RUFC in
National Division Three North. In
rugby league,
Wigan Warriors compete in the
Super League, while
Leigh Centurions,
Rochdale Hornets, and
Salford City Reds take part in
National League One, with
Oldham Roughyeds being local rivals of
Swinton Lions in National League Two.
Lancashire County Cricket Club began in the county as
Manchester Cricket Club and continues to represent the area along with the rest of the
historic county of
Lancashire. The club is based at
Old Trafford and near the famous football stadium of the same name. Lancashire contested the original 1890
County Championship. The team has won the County Championship eight times; in 2007, Lancashire finished third in the County Championship, narrowly missing out on winning their first championship title since 1950.
The Kirkmanshulme Lane stadium in
Belle Vue is the home to top-flight speedway team the
Belle Vue Aces and regular
greyhound racing. Professional
ice hockey returned to the area in early 2007 with the opening of a purpose-designed rink in
Altrincham, the
Altrincham Ice Dome, to host the
Manchester Phoenix. Their predecessor,
Manchester Storm, went out of business in 2002 due to the overheads of staging matches in the 21,500 capacity
Manchester Arena, which is one of the largest indoor venues in Europe.
Greater Manchester had a venue for
horse racing from the 17th century until 1963, initially at
Kersal Moor until 1847 when the racecourse at
Castle Irwell was opened. In 1867 racing was moved to New Barnes,
Weaste but the site had to be vacated in 1901 to facilitate an expansion to
Manchester Docks – the land is now home to Dock 9 of the re-branded
Salford Quays. Racing then moved back to Castle Irwell which later staged a Classic – the 1941
St. Leger, and was most famous as home of the
Lancashire Oaks (nowadays run at
Haydock Park Racecourse) and the
November Handicap, which was traditionally the last major race of the UK flat season. Through the late 50s and early 60s the track saw legendary jockeys
Scobie Breasley and
Lester Piggott annually battle out the closing acts of the jockey's title until racing ceased on
November 7 1963. The main stand at Castle Irwell was designed by local architect Ernst Atherton and was the first stand at any UK sports venue to include private boxes, the idea having later been copied by
Manchester United and then made commonplace throughout the country. The structure still survives as a
Students Union building for the
University of Salford. Although both later sites carried the name of
Manchester Racecourse, neither was within the boundaries of
Manchester itself. A proposal to reincarnate
Manchester Racecourse is presently being pursued by
Peel Holdings at a site in
Worsley – which like New Barnes and Castle Irwell is found in the neighbouring
City of Salford. Aside from Sports City, which has hosted numerous national trials, alternative athletics venues can be found at
Robin Park in Wigan, Longford Park in
Stretford (home to Trafford Athletic Club) and the Cleavleys Track in
Winton (home of Salford Harriers). A wide range of new sports facilities that include a 10,000 capacity stadium and athletics venue are presently being constructed at the
Leigh Sports Village.
Culture
Art, tourism, culture and sport provide 16% of employment in Greater Manchester. The proportion is highest in Manchester. The
Royal Exchange Theatre formed in the 1970s out of a peripatetic group staging plays at venues such as at the University [ofManchester] Theatre and the
Apollo Theatre. A season in a temporary stage in the former
Royal Exchange, Manchester was followed by funding for a
theatre in the round, which opened in 1976.
The Lowry houses two theatres, used by travelling groups in all the performing arts. The
Opera House is a 1900-seat venue hosting travelling productions, often musicals just out of the
West End. Its sister venue,
The Palace hosts generally similar shows. The Oldham Playhouse helped launch the careers of
Stan Laurel and
Charlie Chaplin, and is one of the older theatres in the region. Its productions are described by the 2007 CityLife guide as 'staunchly populist'—and popular.
The Lowry at Salford Quays, which has a changing display of
L. S. Lowry's work alongside travelling exhibitions;
Manchester Art Gallery, a major provincial art gallery noted for its collection of
Pre-Raphaelite art and housed in a Grade I listed building by
Charles Barry;
Salford Museum and Art Gallery, a local museum with a recreated Victorian street; and
Whitworth Art Gallery, a broad-based gallery now run by the University of Manchester.
Greater Manchester has four professional orchestras, all based in Manchester. The
Hallé Orchestra is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra (and the fourth oldest in the world), supports a choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label. The Hallé is based at the Bridgwater Hall but often tours, typically giving 70 performances 'at home' and 40 on tour. As of 2008 it's based at the BBC's Oxford Road studios, but is expected to move to in Salford. The Manchester Camerata and the Northern Chamber Orchestra are smaller, though professional, organizations. The main classical venue is the 2,341-seat
Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, opened in 1996 at a cost of £42M.
Manchester is also a centre for musical education, via the
Royal Northern College of Music and
Chetham’s School of Music.
The main popular music venue is the
Manchester Evening News Arena, situated next to
Victoria station. It seats over 21,000, is the largest arena of its type in Europe, has been voted
International Venue of the Year, and for several years was the most popular venue in the world. The sports grounds in the county also host some of the larger pop concerts.
Some of Greater Manchester's museums showcase the county's
industrial and social heritage. The
Hat Works in Stockport is the UK’s only museum dedicated to the
hatting industry; the museum moved in 2000 to a Grade II listed Victorian mill, previously a hat factory. The
Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, amongst other displays, charts the rise of science and industry and especially the part Manchester played in its development; the
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council described the displays as "pre-eminent collections of national and international importance".
Urbis is a museum of the modern city that attempts to explain the effects and experiences of life in the city; it has had mixed success since its opening in 2002, but had its most successful year in 2006. Stockport Air Raid Shelters uses a mile of underground tunnels, built to accommodate 6,500 people, to illustrate life in the
second World War's air raid shelters. The
Imperial War Museum North in Trafford Park is one of the Imperial War Museums five branches. Alongside exhibitions of war machinery are displays describing how peoples’ lives are affected by war. The
Museum of Transport in Manchester, which opened in 1979, has one of the largest collection of vehicles in the country. The
People's History Museum is "the national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people in Britain"; the museum is closed for redevelopment and will reopen in 2009. The Pankhurst Museum is based in the early feminist
Emmeline Pankhurst's former home and includes a parlour laid out in contemporary style. Manchester United, Manchester City, and Lancashire CCC all have dedicated museums illustrating their histories.
Wigan Pier, best known from
George Orwell’s book
The Road to Wigan Pier, was the name of wharf on the
Leeds and Liverpool Canal in
Wigan. The name has been re-used to describe an industrial-based visitor attraction, partly closed for redevelopment as of 2008.
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