hkskyline's MANCHESTER photo thread

[hkskyline]

The Industrial Revolution transformed Manchester into a textiles manfacturing centre in the late 18th to 19th centuries from cotton sourced in the New World. Things in "Cottonopolis" looked good for the bourgeois, but for the working poor, conditions were dire. Overcrowded and polluted, it gave inspiration to Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto.

There's still a lot of grand Victorian architecture around the city centre, contrasted nicely by new glassy skyscrapers. The city centre is fairly compact and attractions are walkable to each other. I didn't have much time though - 2 days, but the weather co-operated and I had a great time exploring the city centre.

Let's start with an overview from above.

























More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/manchester.htm

[ColDayMan]

The skyline has certainly grown from, say, ten years ago.

[plinko]

I've only seen the Manchester skyline from a great distance away lit up at night (2018). Seems way more substantial now.

Still, like so many cities that lack towers older than 20 years, not a single building here is really all that memorable. Unfortunate.

[hkskyline]

Let's start the walking tour with a few historic sights in the city centre.

Albert Square is the big public space fronting the massive neo-Gothic Town Hall. Currently under renovation, it was named after Queen Victoria's husband, with a monument in his honour built in 1867, 6 years after his death.





On the other side of the Town Hall is St. Peter's Square, a major tram interchange with the circular Central Library that was built in 1934. At the time, it was the biggest municipal library in the world.



The Midland Railway Company opened the Midland Hotel in 1903 to serve rail passengers arriving from London at the nearby Central station. Over the years, it hosted celebrities, politicians, and royal members.













Now a theatre, the Royal Exchange was originally a trading venue for cotton. The building opened in 1874 as membership swelled quickly, which made a larger venue necessary. It was important enough to have secured an Act of Parliament for the society to increase their capital and take on mortgages to fund its construction.







The Corn Exchange was inaugurated in 1837 with a new indoor trading facility. Before that, dealing happened on the streets and was exposed to the elements. Several expansions followed during the 19th century which would eventually double the size of the building.









More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/manchester.htm