Manchester Travel Guide, Discount & Cheap Manchester Travel & Tourism, Free Manchester Travel Guide Online
Manchester Travel Guide: Discount & Cheap Manchester Travel & Tourism, Free Manchester Travel Guide Online
Pleasant open countryside with picturesque villages surrounds Manchester, United Kingdom, and there are numerous art galleries, theatres, museums and country houses to visit.
Manchester receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year from all over the world. Britain's second largest city is also one of it's most dynamic and cosmopolitan. There is a growing desire to develop Manchester's individuality, to avoid mediocrity and to encourage high quality design whether it be in the conservation of its 19th century buildings, or in the design of modern buildings, or in the treatment of its open spaces.
Manchester is the Northwest's regional center for finance, commerce, retail, culture and leisure, home to a major international airport and one of the largest student populations in Europe. It has transformed itself from an industrial city dependent on manufacturing to a thriving, modern, international center. It is now rated among the top ten European cities for business location.
Manchester is easily accessible from all parts of Britain and beyond. The city is the hub of an excellent motor way system linking the south with the north; the east with the west. A frequent Intercity service serves two main Manchester railway stations, Victoria and Piccadilly. A regional service links the local and surrounding areas. Coach travel is economical and convenient.
Several examples of 18th century buildings and street patterns remain in the City Center and in some outlying districts, but it is the Victorian and Edwardian plan and building form which dominates the city.
Manchester has established itself as a leading center of youth culture. Its large student population is an essential ingredient in the unique 'Manchester scene' and this results in an exciting variety of entertainment. Mancunians appreciate the importance of an active and varied social life. The club and dance scene in the city is legendary. Manchester has the whole range of pubs from the traditional 'real ale' variety to the city center wine and cocktail bars. Prices are lower than in many parts of Britain so students can still afford to enjoy themselves in the city.
Manchester is one of the most important theatrical centers outside London's West End. Visitors will find a large choice of theatres and productions, from touring musicals at the Palace Theatre and Opera House to the more innovative, fringe or community events at the smaller theatres. The University has its own theatre, the Capitol.
Music is one of Manchester's greatest exports. The city has two internationally renowned orchestras, the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic, which as well as playing to packed houses in Manchester also perform all over the world.
Other classical and contemporary performances are provided by the Manchester Camerata Chamber Orchestra and The Royal Northern College of Music. For many, the city is renowned for the Manchester sound, which has catapulted some of its home grown bands into musical legend.
Pop and Indie fans from all over Britain and abroad see Manchester as the focus of the current music scene. The wide variety of venues means that the whole range of music styles can be presented: including classical, chamber, opera, jazz and blues, folk, and pop.
The treasures of Manchester can be viewed in its many galleries and art centers, including works of the great masters and modern contemporary art. The city has developed vast libraries with thousands of volumes housed in public buildings which are a great resource for students of any subject. The region also has a long pre-industrial history dating back to Roman times. Manchester has a fifteenth century cathedral and many other historic buildings which can be enjoyed by visitors.
As well as two world-famous Premier League football teams, and a test and county cricket venue, facilities to watch or participate in most sports are available throughout the city.
Its rich industrial and commercial heritage is everywhere to be seen and enjoyed: cotton warehouses converted to modern uses, railway bridges, viaducts, quays and peaceful waterways.
Alongside this is the wealth of the great Victorian Manchester celebrated in ornate municipal architecture, adorned buildings, facades, stonework, steeples and spires. Examples abound all over the city: the splendor of its neo-gothic Town Hall, the Free Trade Hall and the Charter House Hotel.
The past is proudly cherished with heritage centers and museums which allow a glimpse of the Manchester of old. The Urban Heritage Park in Castlefield is a historical landscape of industrial museums, working exhibitions, canal-side pubs, narrow boats and walkways.
For those who appreciate open spaces there are many large parks and gardens. Heaton Park and Platt Fields are both large areas of attractive park land in easy reach of the city center. Manchester's excellent central location, motor way and transport system also means that some of Britain's most scenic countryside is readily accessible, including the Peak District and Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, Lake District, Cheshire and North Wales.
Manchester has many individual and specialized shops and boutiques. The city center also contains many interesting and attractive shopping environments including Arndale Center and the more elegant Corn and Royal Exchanges. There is also the more unusual and alternative fashion center, Affleck's Palace. The new Marks and Spencers has four floors, each the size of a football field and includes a customer lounge "where shoppers can put up their feet, watch television and read a newspaper." .
Exciting and varied restaurants and cafés exist all over Manchester. There is Chinese and Cantonese cuisine, as well as American, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Persian, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Manchester is an exciting modern city for business, a place in which to live, work, and study, and a top choice by travelers as the ideal holiday destination.
Manchester Attractions: Manchester Travel Guide, Discount & Cheap Manchester Travel & Tourism, Free Manchester Travel Guide Online
Barton Arcade Deansgate, City Center Between Deansgate and St. Ann's Square Free Admission Beautifully restored Victorian glass arcade with shops and offices.
Boddingtons Brewery Tours 32 Great Ducie Street (0161) 819 1161 Mon-Sat 11:30-11:00; Sunday Noon-3:00 Free Admission. Tours available By Appointment Mon-Thur 11, 4, & 7. Fri. 11 & 4. Boddingtons Brewery has been located on the outskirts of Manchester since 1778 and has been brewing the famous "Cream of Manchester" since 1853, when Henry Boddington became sole proprietor. Boddingtons is still brewed today using traditional techniques and the traditional recipe, including its own strain of yeast and a blend of English hops that have made it famous since its early days. The Brewery Tap is the Boddington's merchandise retail center for the UK, where you will find a full range of Boddingtons memorabilia as well as fine food and a pint.
Cathedral Ddaily 7.30am-6pm; Free organ recitals Thurs at 1pm This is the third church on this site since its founding in the ninth century. A fragment of stone by the choir and a 14th century arch by the tower are all that remain of the earlier structures.
The famed widest nave in England (114ft, as opposed to York Minster's 106ft) is a result of wealthy families adding side chapels to the fifteenth-century church, which were later opened out to provide space for Manchester's large 19th population of worshippers.
A 1000lb bomb in 1940 damaged the interior, knocking out most of the stained glass and necessitated the complete restoration of the fine misericords, which depict dragon-slaying as well as more mundane scenes - backgammon players and a calf butcher among them. The 1996 bomb did relatively minor damage, now largely restored
Central Reference Library City Center, overlooking St. Peters Square. Free Admission. Circular neo-classical building with elegant reading room. Books on every subject, including technical subjects, law, local history, foreign languages. Newspaper and magazine archives, commercial library with European information. Frequent exhibitions of local interest and the Library Theatre and cafe in the basement.
Dunham Massey Altrincham WA14 4J (0161) 941 1025 9 and a half miles Southwest of central Manchester. Free Admission to the park. Georgian House set in 101 hectare wooded deer park. Library, stables, moat, working mill, orange grove, garden, shrubs, rare, late-flowering azaleas.
Greater Manchester Police Museum Bewton Street, M1 1ES (0161) 856 3287 Tue 10:30-3:30 Other weekdays by appointment. Free Admission. The museum is set in a Victorian police station and features 150 years of police history and a collection of police uniforms from around the world.
Heaton Park (0161) 773 1085 Four miles North of central Manchester. Accessible via Metrolink. Free Admission. 600 acre park with boating lake, pets corner, golf course, working tram. Neo-classical Heaton Hall is the venue for music events. Concerts and events held in the park during the summer.
Hollingworth Lake Country Park Rakewood Road, Littleborough, Rochdale (01706) 373421 13 miles Northwest of central Manchester. Free Admission. Lake with watersports facilities. Two and a quarter mile walk around the lake. See waterfowl, view of Pennines and M62 motorway.
Jodrell Bank Science Center and Arboretum Macclesfield, Cheshire (01477) 571339 16 miles South of Manchester Displays on astronomy and the universe with activities for children.
The Lowry Pier 8, Salford Quays, M5 2BH (0161) 876 2000 9:30 to Midnight Free Admission for the Lowry Collection.
Manchester Jewish Museum 190 Cheetham Hill Road, M8 8LW (0161) 834 9879 Mon-Thu 10:30-4:00; Sun 10:30-5:00. Friday by prior arrangement for groups. Admission charged. Manchester's Jewish history is recorded and displayed in this museum, housed in the restored Spanish and Portuguese synagogue. Exhibitions show everyday life in the community back to the 1740s. Education program, demonstrations, music and talks. Please apply for a calendar of events.
The Manchester Museum The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL (0161) 275 2634 Mon-Sat 10:00-5:00 Free Admission. Travel through time and discover ancient civilizations. Come and see the 2000-year-old Egyptian mummies and the footprint of a Mancunian dinosaur! Also, live snakes and crocodiles..
Manchester United Museum & Trophy Room Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 0RA (0161) 877 4002 Tue-Sun 9:30-4:00 Admission charged, under fives go free. Tours Not Included In Admission Price. When the Manchester United Museum & Trophy Room opened in 1986, it was Britain's first football museum. It covers the history of United from its inception in 1878 up to the present day, in words, pictures, sound and visual presentations. There are more than 1000 frequently updated exhibits as well as a full program of exhibitions. Guided tours of the stadium are held at regular times each day the museum is open.
Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester Liverpool Road, Castlefield, M3 4FP (0161) 832 1830 Every day (except 24/25/26 Dec) 10:00-5:00 Admission charged An award-winning museum with interactive exhibits, details about Manchester, the world's first industrial city, replicas and exhibits about planes that made flying history and an outstanding program of changing exhibitions.
Museum of Transport Boyle Street, Cheetham M8 8UW Sat, Sun, Wed and Bank Holidays 10:00-5:00 Admission charged. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation of public road transport in Greater Manchester from horse-drawn bus to Metrolink. Small exhibits and archives. Special event days. Gift shop and tea rooms.
Pankhurst Center 60-62 Nelson Street, Chorlton-on-medlock M13 9WP (0161) 273 5673 Mon-Fri 10:00-3:00 Free Admission. Number 62 is one of the two Georgian houses where the Women's Social and Political Union was formed in 1903. The Pankhurst Parlour and the gardens are in Edwardian style. Suffrage Movement exhibition. Resources for women including meeting rooms, exhibition space, craft workshops and childcare area.
The Pump House: People's History Museum Left Bank, Bridge Street M3 3ER (0161) 839 6061 Tue-Sun and Bank Holidays Mon 11:00-4:30 Admission charged. Friday - Free Admission To All. Exhibitions and displays reconstruct the lives of ordinary people of the past 200 years, from Victorian cotton workers to today's footballers. The Pump House also has a unique collection of banners. Guided tours available for groups.
St Ann's Square, located off the eastern side of Deansgate, was severely damaged by the IRA bomb in 1996 but since its restoration has emerged to provide an anchor for the remarkable transformation taking place between it and the cathedral to the north. On the western side of the square, is the entrance to the Barton Arcade, a Victorian shopping gallery which runs through to Deansgate.
St Ann's Church South side of St. Ann's Square Daily 8am-6pm Baptismal church of Thomas De Quincey . Built in 1712, its lovely Renaissance interior was restored under the masterful direction of Alfred Waterhouse at the end of the nineteenth century, contains strikingly beautiful stained glass.
The church is fronted by a statue of nineteenth-century Free Trader Richard Cobden, joint leader with John Bright of the Anti Corn Law League which finally forced the repeal in 1846 of the restrictive Corn Laws.
Royal Exchange Houses the famous Royal Exchange Theatre, the country's largest theater-in-the-round, constructed of steel and glass under the building's immense glass-domed roof. Formerly the Cotton Exchange, this building employed seven thousand people until trading finished on December 31, 1968. The old trading board still shows the last day's prices for American and Egyptian cotton. Also inside are a bookshop and crafts gallery, a café/restaurant and the Royal Exchange Shopping Center: three floors of shops and cafés.
Arts and Entertainment:
Manchester's highly regarded orchestra, The Hallé (under principal conductor, Kent Nagano), is based at the Bridgewater Hall and several other venues, including the city's churches and its cathedral. The orchestra stages classical concerts throughout the year.
The Cornerhouse is the local arts mainstay, while a full range of mainstream and fringe theatres produce a year-round program of events.
The biggest annual fest is autumn's Manchester Festival, an arts and TV extravaganza, with events in the city's clubs, theatres and open spaces.
The Irish Festival each March celebrates the city's Irish links.
Bridgewater Hall Lower Mosley Street, at the junction with Great Bridgewater Street. (0161) 907 9000 Home of the Hallé (founded 1857) and the Manchester Camerata (the acclaimed chamber orchestra); also sponsors a full program of chamber, classical and jazz concerts.
Contact Theatre 15 Oxford Rd (0161) 274 4400 One of the most innovative theatre companies, puts on predominantly modern works.
Cornerhouse 70 Oxford St (0161) 228 2463 Arts center with three cinema screens, changing art exhibitions, recitals, talks, bookshop, café and bar.
Green Room 54-56 Whitworth St West (0161) 950 5900 Rapidly changing program that includes dance, mime and cabaret.
Library Theatre St. Peter's Square (0161) 236 7110 Classic drama and new writing, in a theatre beneath the Central Library.
Royal Exchange Theatre Upper Campfield Market, Deansgate (0161) 833 9833 Also city-center box office in Albert Square . Mon-Sat 10-7:30 The Royal Exchange continues to put on high-quality theatre productions.
Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) 124 Oxford Rd (0161) 273 4504 Stages top-quality classical and modern jazz concerts, including performances by Manchester Camerata.
Blyth Gallery Amazon House, Brazil Street, M1 3PJ (0161) 236 1004 Life, paintings and sketches by Paul Brotherton, depicting city life and wild life.
Castlefield Gallery 5 Campfield Avenue Arcade (Off Deansgate) M3 4FN (0161) 832 8034 Tue-Fri 10:30-5:00, Sat & Sun 12-5:00. Free Admission.. An artist-run contemporary art gallery with a changing program of exhibitions and education events. Works available for sale. Slide index with information about artists in the North West.
City Art Galleries Moseley Street M2 3JL (0161) 236 7369 Mon 11:00-5:30; Tue-Sat 10:00-5:30; and Sun 2:00-5:30 Free Admission. The City Art Galleries are known for their collection of paintings, sculptures, ceramics and decorative arts, including an internationally famous collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. An exhibition program, focusing on contemporary art, is featured in the adjoining Princess Street Gallery. Cafe and gift shop.
Colin Jellicoe Gallery Portland Street (0161) 236 2716 Drawings, paintings and graphics by Northwest based artists.
The Cornerhouse 70 Oxford Street M1 5NH (0161) 228 2463 (Cafe) every day 11:00-8:30 (Galleries) Tue-Sat 11:00-6:00 and Sun 2:00-6:00 Free Admission. Manchester's center for international cinema and the visual arts. Its three galleries have changing exhibitions of contemporary art, sculpture and photography. Three cinemas, bookshops, bar, cafe and cappuccino bar.
CUBE - Center for the Understanding of the Built Environment 113-115 Portland Street M1 6FB (0161) 237 5525 Tues-Fri 12:00-5:30, Sat-Sun 12-4:00 Free Admission. Manchester's award winning center for architecture and design. CUBE hosts a variety of exhibitions and events of interest to both specialist and popular audiences.
The Gallery Portland Street; (0161) 237 3551 Specializes in work by Northern artists, mixed and solo exhibitions.
The Lowry Pier 8, Salford Quays, M5 2BH; 0161 876 2000 9:30 to Midnight Admission Free for the Lowry Collection.
MMU Contemporary Art Galleries Faculty of Art & Design, Grosvenor Building Cavendish Street, M15 5BR; (0161) 247 1708 Mon-Fri 10:00- 4:00 Free Admission. There are three galleries at the Manchester Metropolitan University: the John Holden, the Righton, and the Aytoun Gallery, each showing a range of visual art and design reflecting a range of the faculty's academic programs.
Royal Northern College of Music 124 Oxford Road M13 9RB Everyday from 10:00-Midnight Free Admission. Occasional art and sculpture exhibitions, sometimes with a musical connection.
Salford Art Gallery Peel Park, The Crescent, Salford (0161) 736 2649 Frequent buses from the city center stop outside the museum, while trains from Oxford Road station and Metrolink trams from St Peter's Square take just seven minutes to reach Salford Crescent, a couple of minutes' walk from the museum. Mon-Fri 10:00- 4:45; Sat and Sun 1-5 Free Admission. No artist is more closely linked with an English city than Lowry is with Manchester, now home to the most extensive Lowry exhibition in the country.
Salford Museum and Art Gallery In Peel Park next to the university. Mon-Fri 10-4.45; Sun 1-5 Free Admission. Illustrates Lowrey's early views on the desolation and sadness of Manchester's mill workers and his changing outlook in later life when he repeated earlier paintings changing the greys and browns to lively reds and pinks. Lowry also expanded his repertoire as he grew older, capturing mountain scenes and seascapes in broad sweeps of his brush, and painting full-bodied realistic portraits which are far less known than his matchstick crowds. In addition to the Lowry exhibition, the museum has an impressive Victorian art collection, a gallery for temporary exhibitions and, on the ground floor, and an authentic reproduction of a nineteenth-century street.
The Whitworth Art Gallery The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M15 6ER (0161) 275 7450 Mon-Sat 10:00-5:00; Sun 2:00-5:00 Free Admission. Home to internationally famous collections of British watercolors, textiles and wallpapers as well as an impressive range of modern and historic prints, drawings, paintings and sculpture. Temporary exhibitions throughout the year. The recently opened Mezzanine Court provides a new venue for sculpture.
Tib Lane Gallery Tib Lane (0161) 834 6928 Exhibitions reflect what is happening in the city and inform about the various communities which call Manchester home.
Manchester Events: Manchester Travel Guide, Discount & Cheap Manchester Travel & Tourism, Free Manchester Travel Guide Online
January:
Reenactment of Civil War Battle of Nantwich, Cheshire, nearest Saturday to the 25th
March:
William Walton festival, Oldham
Ramsbottom Music Festival
May:
Midsummer Manchester Arts season (through June and July)
Saddleworth Arts and Canal Festival
June:
Brass Band competition, Saddleworth and nearby towns
Bury Fair
Oldham Vintage Car Rally
Stockport Beer Festival
July:
Tameside Festival of Leisure
Tameside Canal Festival
Wigan Jazz Festival
Bury Agriculture Show
August:
North Manchester Music Festival North Manchester Music Festival provides a venue for the city's unsigned and up and coming bands.The free event offers a line-up mix of guitar based bands, indie, rock and pop. North Manchester Music Festival is part of an annual calendar of free events showcasing music, dance, drama, visual arts, creativity, spaces, celebration, sport and leisure north of the city. North Manchester Mela, North Manchester Veterans Games and North Face Festival attract over 15,000 people. For more information about North Manchester Music Festival contact Richard Grossick on Tel: 0772 0449700.
Wigan Pier Steam Fayre and Boat Rally
Rochdale annual Rushbearing festival
Bolton Festival
Saddleworth Festival
September:
Castlefield Carnival and Boat Rally
October:
Manchester Festival
November:
The Bury Beer Festival
December:
Christmas
Manchester Facts: Manchester Travel Guide, Discount & Cheap Manchester Travel & Tourism, Free Manchester Travel Guide Online
Population: Manchester is the regional capital of the north west of England, which is the UK's largest economic region outside London. The northwest region has a population of over 6 million. The Greater Manchester area is populated by 2.5 million people living within 1,200 km. Manchester has a population of around 430,000 within the city center.
Area: 117 km
Country: England
Time Zone: Greenwich Mean Time (5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time) When it is noon in New York City, it is 5/00 PM in Manchester. However, due to differences in daylight saving practices between the US and England, there is a one week period in the Fall when Manchester is 4 hours ahead of New York; and a one week period in the Spring when Manchester is 6 hours ahead of New York.
Telephone Area Code: 0161
Average Temperatures (In Fahrenheit):
High
Low
January - March
48
April - June
66
July - September
68
October - December
55
Useful measurements: Equivalent Weights And Measures 1 cm 0.39 inches 1 meter 3.28 feet / 1.09 yards 1 km 0.62 miles 1 liter 0.26 gallons 1 inch 2.54 cm 1 foot 0.39 meters 1 yard 0.91 meters 1 mile 1.60 km 1 gallon 3.78 liters
Holidays: January 1, 2 New Year's Day March or April (varies) Good Friday March or April (varies) Easter and Easter Monday First Monday in May Bank holiday Last Monday of May Spring Bank holiday Last Monday in August: Bank Holiday December 24-26, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Events: To find out what's on in the city, buy the fortnightly City Life listings and reviews magazine, from any newsstand.
Currency: Currency is the Euro (EUR). The notes are in denominations of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, and 5 euro. The denominations of coins are 2 euro, 1 euro, 50 euro cent, 20 euro cent, 10 euro cent, 5 euro cent, 2 euro cent, and 1 euro cent.
Dentist: Dental Hospital of Manchester Higher Cambridge St. 0161/275 6666
Hospital: Manchester Royal Infirmary 13 Oxford Rd 0161/276 1234
Internet: Cyberia Net-Works Center at the Central Library Tues. & Thurs. 10am-7:30pm Wed 1-7:30pm, Fri. & Sat 10am-4:30pm
Pharmacy: Cameolord Ltd 7 Oxford St. Daily 8am-midnight 0161/236 1445
Police: Greater Manchester Police Bootle St. 0161/872 5050
Post Office: 26 Spring Gardens 63 Newton St The Spring Gardens office has a bureau de change and poste-restante section.
Arrival information: A direct rail link into the city makes Manchester Airport, ten miles south of the city, an increasingly popular point of entry into Britain. Trains to Piccadilly (every 15min 5:15am-10:15pm, reduced service through the night; 25min). It is slightly cheaper to take one of the buses from the airport to Piccadilly Gardens or Chorlton Street (every 15-30min, 6am-10:45pm), although these take almost twice as long as trains to reach the center in the rush hour. Taxis are also available from the airport to the city center.
Manchester's three main train stations form the points of a triangle that encloses much of the city center.
1. National mainline trains run from Piccadilly Station, facing London Road, on the east side. 2. Regional routes to points south, east and west call both here and at Oxford Road Station, south of the center 3. Victoria Station, in the north, services the northern hinterland and Bradford.
The city's Metrolink tram service connects Piccadilly station (the platform is underneath the train station) to Victoria and G-Mex. Most long-distance buses use Chorlton Street Coach Station, a few hundred yards west of Piccadilly train station.
City transport: The city center is compact enough to cover on foot, though buses will be needed for Oxford Road and its continuation Wilmslow Road, which runs to Rusholme. Stagecoach is the main operator, though fare wars are common among all carriers. Piccadilly Gardens Bus Station is the hub of the urban bus network, along with a new transport interchange at Shudehill (north of the Arndale Center) Call the GMPTE bus inquiry line 0161/228 7811 daily 8am-8pm) for details.
Travel passes offer seven-day Stagecoach unlimited travel on Stagecoach's city and local buses; the Wayfarer allows 24 hours' unlimited travel throughout Greater Manchester and into the Peak District.
Metrolink: 0161/205 2000 The electric tram service travels through the city center and out to the suburbs, (every 6-15min 6am-11:30pm). An extension to the service runs to Salford Quays, with new stations underrway for the Shudehill transport interchange, the Eastlands Commonwealth Games stadium and the airport. There are stations at Piccadilly Station, Piccadilly Gardens, St. Peter's Square, G-Mex and Victoria Station.
Car: Drivers should have no problem finding a place to park in the city center. There are many signposted car parks. On-street parking at parking meters is usually limited to three hours.
Manchester Kids Activities: Manchester Travel Guide, Discount & Cheap Manchester Travel & Tourism, Free Manchester Travel Guide Online
Dunham Massey Altrincham WA14 4J (0161) 941 1025 9 and a half miles Southwest of central Manchester. Free Admission to the park. Georgian House set in 101 hectare wooded deer park. Library, stables, moat, working mill, orange grove, garden, shrubs, rare, late-flowering azaleas.
Greater Manchester Police Museum Bewton Street, M1 1ES (0161) 856 3287 Tue 10:30-3:30 Other weekdays by appointment. Free Admission. The museum is set in a Victorian police station and features 150 years of police history and a collection of police uniforms from around the world.
Heaton Park (0161) 773 1085 Four miles North of central Manchester. Accessible via Metrolink. Free Admission. 600 acre park with boating lake, pets corner, golf course, working tram. Neo-classical Heaton Hall is the venue for music events. Concerts and events held in the park during the summer.
Hollingworth Lake Country Park Rakewood Road, Littleborough, Rochdale (01706) 373421 13 miles Northwest of central Manchester. Free Admission. Lake with watersports facilities. Two and a quarter mile walk around the lake. See waterfowl, view of Pennines and M62 motorway.
Jodrell Bank Science Center and Arboretum Macclesfield, Cheshire (01477) 571339 16 miles South of Manchester Displays on astronomy and the universe with activities for children.
The Manchester Museum The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL (0161) 275 2634 Mon-Sat 10:00-5:00 Free Admission. Travel through time and discover ancient civilizations. Come and see the 2000-year-old Egyptian mummies and the footprint of a Mancunian dinosaur! Also, live snakes and crocodiles.