I’m a proud Mancunian, I have a Manc accent and I’ve lived in Manchester all of my life. I have travelled to other fantastic places in the UK but I’m always happy to return to Manchester, my home.
1. The spirit of the people. Mancunian’s are pretty friendly in general. OK, maybe not in the midst of rush hour but we do chat to each other, even strangers chat to each other. This is perfectly normal.
2. It’s layout. People think of Manchester as having mundane rows of terrace houses and although this is true for many parts, there are plenty of winding narrow streets, tunnels, pretty squares and street-art to discover. As I said, I’ve lived here all of my life and I’m still finding hidden parts of the city, even right in the centre!
3. You never get bored. From the tranquility of Manchester’s parks to busy weekly markets. From well known high-street brands to independant quirky shops. From food wholesalers open to the public to little vegetarian deli’s. From cozy pubs with real open fires to trendy bars creating the most unusual cocktails. Many kinds of theatre productions, galleries and the vast Manchester museum – complete with Egyptian mummies, there is something to suit everyone.
4. It’s so culturally diverse. With Southern and Northern Asian, African, Jamaican and Polish influences. Worldwide food and fashion is only a bus ride away, at most.
5. The weather. It’s not grim. We have seasons, this is a good thing, a thing to be looked forward to! You literally never know what the days weather is going to be like, from one hour to the next sometimes. Okay, this can mean a well planned outfit is now totally inappropriate to someone unaccustomed but to a Manc this is an opportunity for layering and accessorising!
6. Us Manc women really know how to make a night of it. It’s Saturday, you’ve gone shopping for something to wear, most likely with a mate and made a day of it. You are meeting up with friends – not in a bar but around at one of your houses. There is drinking to be done, outfits to be created, hair to be styled, taxis to be booked all to the sound of your ‘girls night out’ playlist. I love how this is a little pre-party ritual all of it’s own. The night out usually starts in that bar or pub that everyone is familiar with, then the other bars, then the club or big bar where there is a dance floor, wether you are actually planning on dancing or not. Lastly the takeaway. I love how in Manchester thirty minute friends are made over pizza and kebabs.
7. The traditional charm of the city is always evident. Where I live there are cobbled streets with old fashioned street lamps (the kind you could tie a skipping rope to the cross bar a swing around) and in the centre there are beautiful listed buildings which have been respectfully re-purposed. Ginnels (walk throughs) with their original names artistically displayed in iron are still frequently used and old railway arches are home to various bars, galleries and shops.
8. The transport system. I know this isn’t necessarily going to be a popular one, what with trains getting delayed for up to 60 minutes and the same buses being late and then all arriving at once but there are four different options of transport: Trams, trains, buses and free city centre bus shuttles. Being a non driver I’m glad the bus routes branch out across the city in a spider web pattern and turn up around every twenty minutes, rather than one every hour (apart from little shopper buses) or one a day.
9. Everything is on hand, all of the time. Have a craving for a curry at 1.00am? Then walk down The Curry Mile. Fancy going to a late night showing of a newly released film when there’s no que and freedom to choose your seats? You have a huge choice of cinemas. Need to do some last minute shopping after working over time? Then head to the Arndale or The trafford Centre. Fancy meeting friends for some food and late night bowling? You can visit Dogbowl.
10. The cities history of famous people is seriously impressive.
Notable people in society from Manchester include:
Alan Turing invented the computer and then went on to create the code breaking machines used in World War 2.
Emmeline Pankhurst (from Whalley Range) was a political activist and leader of the Suffragette movement, which secured women the right to vote.
James Prescott Joule ran a laboratory at his father’s home, in Whalley Range. He formulated a theory of heat dynamics – that heat is produced when force is applied. He identified constants which were scientifically immutable and dependable, and determining the unit of energy, which is now named after him – the “joule” (excerpt from manchester2002-uk.com).
George Stephenson an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use steam locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Notable bands from Manchester include:
The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, The Happy Monday’s, Joy Division, New Order, James and The Smiths.
Any reasons why you think Manchester is ace, that I’ve missed?
Chrissie xx
Vamp It Up 