Spinningfields, Manchester

Spinningfields is Manchester’s realm of glass and steel, where global corporations have their headquarters. It’s also become a real culinary hotspot: you can find modern tapas at Ibérica, innovative Chinese food at Tattu and even a pub in a 16th century hop kiln (called the Oast House), which has an impressive selection of beers and an attendant, fire-warmed teepee in the frosty months. In the winter, Spinningfields hosts a Christmas ice-rink and markets; in summer, Hardman Square becomes the site for pop-up activities including film screenings and mini golf.

Spinningfields is also home to one of the city’s most historic buildings: the People’s History Museum. On the banks of the Irwell, the People’s History Museum is part Grade II-listed hydraulic pump house, part weathered-steel exhibition centre, and tells the story of the 200-year march towards British democracy. It has all the more resonance because of its location here in Manchester, the birthplace of Socialism, the British Labour Party, and universal suffrage.

Behind Spinningfields is the Old Granada Studios, the headquarters of Granada Television from 1956-2013, and host to Coronation Street, Brideshead Revisited and The Beatles’ first TV performance.

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