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Manchester and the Surrounding Area Introduction Manchester [1] is a lively cosmopolitan city in the northwest of England with a population of nearly 3 million and it has an extensive motorway and rail network. It is situated 200 miles north of London and 120 miles south of Carlisle, which is on the Scottish border. It has an international airport (see below) that serves over 200 cities worldwide. The airport rail station is adjacent to Terminal 1 and there is a frequent service directly into the centre of Manchester. The city offers an enviable mix of multicultural attractions. There is something for everyone: theatres; restaurants to suit all tastes; classical through to pop music; sporting events; pubs and clubs. Within comfortable driving distance there is beautiful surrounding countryside including national parks such as the Peak District, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and Snowdonia [2]. So we hope you will find opportunities to relax in the area before, during and after European Microwave Week. EuMW will take place literally in the centre of Manchester at G-Mex and the Manchester International Conference Centre (MICC). This means that many of the hotels, restaurants, theatres and pubs are within walking distance. In your delegate bag, in addition to details on EuMW, will be a guide to many of the city's attractions and a map of the city centre that shows the close proximity of art galleries, China Town, the Opera House, the Cathedral, etc. There are more theatres than in any other city outside London, two premier league football teams (Manchester United and Manchester City), three universities (Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford), two symphony orchestras and 80 golf courses. The EuMW Gala Dinner will be held at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United [3]. The EuMIC dinner and the EuRAD dinner will be held at the historic Town Hall [4], which is within a few hundred yards of the MICC. Just across the road from the MICC is the Midland Hotel where the Rt. Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls and Sir Ferderick Henry Royce signed the agreement to establish their famous car company in 1904. Also across the road is the Bridgewater Hall, the modern award winning concert hall that is home to the famous Hallé Orchestra and Hallé Choir. The Museum of Science and Industry is just around the corner. Manchester's range of restaurants has at least 30 styles of cuisine including: Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Mexican, Spanish and Thai [5]. Three quarters of a mile south of G-Mex is the Manchester Aquatics Centre that has two 50m swimming pools, two flumes and a leisure/fitness centre, all of which are open to the public [6]. Within a 2-mile radius of G-Mex/MICC are two areas of additional interest. To the west is Old Trafford and the redeveloped waterfront area, called The Quays, part of the port of Manchester. The Quays is the location of the Lowry Centre (with art galleries and theatres) and the Imperial War Museum North (IWMN) with a Harrier jump jet and a tank among its displays. Both The Lowry [7] and the IWMN [8] have won architectural awards and are worth a visit. To the east is Sports City where the following are closely grouped: the City of Manchester Stadium [9]; the National Cycling Centre (Velodrome) [10]; the National Squash Centre; Indoor Tennis Centre and the Regional Athletics Arena. The tallest sculpture in the UK (56m, 184ft), the spectacular "B of the Bang" [11], is also located in Sports City. Buses, Trams and Trains There is a free public bus service, the Metroshuttle [12], which has three circular routes covering all of the main city centre areas and they have stops near G-MEX, Manchester International Conference Centre and at Piccadilly railway station (routes 1 and 3). A convenient route map can be downloaded from [12]. The buses have low-floors with easy access and the service is frequent: about every 5 minutes on Service 1 (orange), every 10 minutes on Service 2 (green) and every 10 minutes on Service 3 (purple). [Service 3 (purple) does not operate on Sundays.] Metroshuttle links all of the city centre railway stations, the main NCP car parks, and many hotels, bus and Metrolink tram stops. So whether you travel around the city for work, shopping or for leisure, you can use the free city centre buses to get around - hopping on and off as often as you wish. There is also a modern tram service, the Metrolink [13], which covers parts of the city and extends out to the suburbs and has two stops near G-Mex. Manchester is also served by an excellent rail network with convenient services to London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, York, and many other cities [14]. Manchester Airport For most overseas visitors, Manchester Airport [15] provides the most convenient entry to the north of England. It is one of the world's top 20 airports and the third largest in the UK, handling over 19 million passengers each day. It has three terminals and two runways, and approximately 100 airlines serve over 200 destinations worldwide. It is located about 10 miles (16km) southwest of the city centre and is linked directly to the city centre by a frequent 24-hour train link to central Manchester. The Airport rail station is adjacent to Terminal 1 International. Direct trains run approximately every ten minutes between Piccadilly Railway Station (in the city centre) and the Airport between 5.40am - 11.30pm, then approximately every hour through the night. The journey time is 15-20 minutes and costs approximately £3. Taxis are also available from the airport to the city centre. The journey time is 20-30 minutes and costs approximately £12. Shopping in Manchester There is endless scope for shopping in Manchester's city centre. Prestigious designer stores can be found in King St. and St. Anne's Square and along Deansgate. There are well-known department stores and independent stores in the Arndale and along Market St. Fine shops can also be found in the old Corn Exchange, located on Hanging Ditch near the Cathedral. For those seeking the creative touch there is the Northern Quarter, which includes the Craft Centre, Affleck's Palace on Church St. and the Chinese Art Centre. All of these locations are within approximately half a mile of GMEX and the Convention Centre. For those seeking a shopping mall experience there is the Trafford Centre [16], which is easily reached by public transport from the city centre. Said to be the largest shopping mall in Europe, its central dome is two thirds the size of that of St. Paul's Cathedral in London and it has three miles of covered walkway that give access to department stores, restaurants, entertainments. It has parking for 10,000 cars. Opening hours for the shops are: Monday-Wednesday 10-8, Thursday-Friday 10-9, Saturday 9-7 and Sunday 11-5. The restaurants and entertainments stay open later. Details of amenities and public transport services can be found at [16]. History Manchester has had a long and sometimes tempestuous history. It dates back to Roman times (79AD) when a small fort called "Mamuciam" was built on a small hill by General Julius Agricola and his legions. After the Romans left in 400AD the Saxons came and then the Danes and, finally, the Normans in 1066. Manchester Cathedral (known at that time as the Church of St Mary) is mentioned in William the Conqueror's Domesday Book of 1086. The Flemish weavers, who were invited by Edward III, came in the 14th century and established a cottage textile industry that subsequently formed the basis of the cotton industry 300-400 years later which, in turn, was the catalyst for the industrial revolution. Manchester was put under siege by the Royalists of King Charles I in 1642 because the town was suspected of being sypathetic to Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians, but the town withstood the siege. In 1605 and 1645 the town was struck by "The Plague" before the plague (then called the "Black Death") hit London in 1665. The first canals, i.e. modern artificial waterways, were designed and built around Manchester in 1757-1760 to transport coal from nearby towns and villages to fuel the industrial revolution that was occurring in Manchester. James Watt's steam engines in the 1760s powered the new cotton looms that dramatically increased output over that of the handlooms. Stephenson's "Rocket" was the engine that powered the first commercial railway from Manchester to Liverpool in 1826. In 1894 the Manchester Ship Canal [17] brought sea-going vessels from the Irish Sea almost to Manchester city centre thereby converting the city into a port to support this thriving industrial powerhouse. To supply materials for the construction of the canal required a purpose-built railway supporting 180 locomotives and 6000 waggons. Many of the huge cotton warehouses in and around Manchester that were built between 1750-1850 are still standing - a tribute to fine workmanship - and some of them have been converted into excellent hotels and up-market apartment blocks. Informative websites [1] www.manchester2002-uk.com/intro.html [See links to transport, arts & culture, etc.] |
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