Manchester Piccadilly Station - Rochdale Canal - Deansgate – Spinningfields - Albert Square - Northern Quarter - New Islington

Manchester is a product of the Industrial Revolution and is widely regarded as the first modern, industrial city. It is synonymous with warehouses, railway viaducts, cotton mills and canals - remnants of a past when the city produced and traded goods. Manchester has minimal Georgian or medieval architecture but a vast array of 19th and 20th-century architectural buildings.

It expanded so rapidly that there were no green spaces in the centre; at least until St John’s Church was pulled down in the 1930s and turned into a small park. However, recent restorations and developments - notably the Bridgewater Basin, Spinningfields, Piccadilly Gardens and several pedestrian only areas - have made the city much more agreeable to walk around in.

And wherever you walk there is exceptional architecture, from the Gothic splendour of the Town Hall, through the Art Deco of the Express Building, the modernism of Spinningfields (including a couple of Norman Foster buildings – he grew up in the city and was much influenced by its architecture) to the recent urban development at New Islington – all these you can enjoy and evaluate on this walk.

Finally, Manchester has a creative ‘buzz’ that makes any walk here a pleasure, passing by art galleries and eclectic independent shops and food outlets – wherever you look you will notice a style of individuality.

England - North England - Manchester - Town or city

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Walk id: 7626

Walk grade

Easy Walk

Length

5 Miles

Height gain

20 Metres

Duration

2 Hours 2 Mins

Average rating

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