Culture Guides
Destination Guides
The Quays is an area that’s gone from busy industrial dock to 21st century cultural hub in just over 100 years. Opened by Queen Victoria in 1894, the Salford Docks (as they were then known) became the busiest in the UK, serving the ships that came up the Manchester Ship Canal, a waterway built in order to escape the hefty charges levied by Liverpool’s dock and rail companies. Today, The Quays is home to MediaCityUK (the largest media hub in Europe) and studios purpose-built for the BBC’s move up North in 2011.
Two major cultural institutions – Imperial War Museum North and The Lowry – also straddle the Ship Canal, connected by a pedestrian bridge. The Lowry boasts two theatre, galleries, a studio space, restaurant and shop; IWM North’s fragmented design represents a globe shattered by war (inside, it’s completely devoid of right angles) and houses a beautifully-presented permanent collection and series of changing exhibitions that consider the many ways conflict shapes society. Restaurants, bars and even high-end supermarkets (the family-run Booths) complete the offer in the area.
With good transport links to the city centre, The Quays is the sort of place where you could happily lose half a day; or some of your sanity, if you choose to complete the ‘dock to dock’ course of the Great Manchester Swim.
Rambert – Ghost Dances Plus Other Works at The Lowry
Spirits of the dead take over the stage in an electrifying dance piece at the centre of this unmissable triple bill at The Lowry.
Bayadère – The Ninth Life at The Lowry
A new set has been created by the theatre designer who collaborated on the poppies at the Tower of London for this stunning dance piece, which interrogates perceptions of ‘the east’.
Lowry at Home: Salford 1966 – Unseen photographs by Clive Arrowsmith at The Lowry
What can we tell of a man from his kitchen sink or old-fashioned cooker? A great deal it would seem judging by a new exhibition of rare, previously unseen photographs at The Lowry…
The Lowry Autumn Season 2017
The Lowry’s Contemporary season pays scant regard to the traditional genre boundaries of dance, theatre and visual art.
Wyndham Lewis: Life, Art, War at IWM North
IWM North turns its attention to one of the most controversial figures in British art.
Superposition at The Lowry
Chanje Kunda unpacks female identity by asking some tough questions…in a strip club.
Andante at The Lowry
Igor and Moreno want to make life changing works. They also want to dance around a lot.
Alexander Whitley – 8 Minutes at The Lowry
ancers perform in front of a magnificent visual installation in this acclaimed, cosmos-inspired dance piece at The Lowry.
Hush Hush at The Lowry
Hush Hush is a night where you don’t know who the performer will be, and you can pay what you decide.
Transformer 2 at Victoria Warehouse
Event series Transformer returns to Victoria Warehouse for its second one-day festival outing – featuring Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Liars, Ben Frost and Omar Souleyman across two stages, plus cinema, digital funfair, record stalls and food trucks.
Manchester District Guides
Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester
Burton Road is the heart of West Didsbury, a beautifully maintained leafy hubbub of shops,…
Beech Road Chorlton, Manchester
It may not quite have the reputation of Benefits Street, but Beech Road in Chorlton…
Didsbury, Manchester
Follow Oxford Road South through the Curry Mile, along Wilmslow Road, past Platt Fields Park…
Chorlton, Manchester
This left-leaning suburb a few miles south of Manchester’s city centre (and only ten minutes…
Cheetham Hill, Manchester
As an area, Cheetham Hill gets a pretty bad rep. The foreboding architecture of Strangeways…
Manchester Visitor Guides
Chinatown Manchester Restaurants
Head over to Manchester’s Chinatown and you’ll be spoilt for choice. That famous Faulkner Street arch looks down on some of the city’s most exciting eateries. Here are five of the best.
Pubs in Manchester
From a beautifully tiled old haunt with a mysteriously sloping floor, to the ultimate beer specialists – here’s our guide to the best boozers in Manchester.
Bars in Manchester
A wine jukebox near Albert Square, a loveably scuzzy pub on Oxford Road… our guide to the best bars in Manchester has it all.
Food Shops in Manchester
We’re not talking supermarkets or department store food halls here: these are Manchester’s truly independent food emporiums.
Shopping in Manchester
Like retail therapy? Well, don’t we all. Here’s our guide to the best shopping in Manchester.
Healthy Restaurants in Manchester
If you’re eating out and want to fill your stomach with revitalising goodness, then let this guide to the best healthy eateries in Manchester nudge you in the right direction.
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