Outside of visits to London, if anything Liverpool , few people are familiar with most cities in England. At International House Madrid we have the means to remedy this: our summer courses allow you to learn English and get to know almost all the big cities in the United Kingdom. Today we will discover the best ways to make the most of our English course in Manchester .
Manchester? And what’s in Manchester? It is possible that this question arises if it occurs to you to mention that you are going there on a trip, so in this article we will try to give you a hand in case you do not know what to answer to it. Of course, football fans will jump like a spring: Manchester United! For the rest, perhaps the idea that first comes to mind is that of an industrial city, but one that lacks -beyond football- monuments or enclaves recognizable from the outside.
Does this stereotype correspond to reality? Yes and no. That is to say, Manchester is not only an industrial city, but the industrial city par excellence , the first in the world to play a central role in the Industrial Revolution; Not surprisingly, during the 19th century it was known as ‘Cottonopolis’ thanks to the massive manufacture of textile products. Now, if the image that this evokes in your head is rather Dickensian, of narrow streets and wrapped in eternal mist , the result of fog and pollution, blackened and smoking chimneys… Well, in that case, keep reading to discover the most attractive of Manchester, but not before clarifying that in the article we will refer to both the city of Manchester and the county known as Greater Manchester .
The Imperial War Museum , whose impressive steel building -represents war- was designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind, offers a journey through the history of the wars in which the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth have participated throughout history . In it you can experience through audiovisual projections life in the trenches and the experience of the combatants. Another of the most famous is the People’s History Museum , which may not be for all palates, but those interested in history will find an exciting journey through the milestones of British democracy and the labor struggles of its workers.
The Manchester Museum , belonging to the university and dedicated to anthropology and natural sciences , is also highly recommended ; it houses one of the largest collections of Egyptian art in Europe, apart from huge skeletons of dinosaurs and mammoths. In case you go with your children or young children , the Legoland Discovery Center offers the charms of a miniature amusement park, fully assembled with the famous LEGO blocks.
Libraries
Chetham Library is famous for being the place where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels met during the summer of 1845 to discuss their works. In fact, the desk around which both thinkers chatted is still in the same corner of the bookstore, and the books that they presumably consulted at that time are also preserved. Also, the building itself is a magnificent place, beautiful and welcoming, and the oldest public library in the UK (dating back to 1653) . 60,000 of its more than 100,000 volumes date from before 1851.
Another exciting visit for bibliophiles and architecture lovers alike is John Ryland’s Library , housed in a magnificent Gothic Revival building. It houses one of the largest collections of books in the United Kingdom, which includes everything from a Gutenberg Bible to a papyrus considered the oldest edition of the New Testament; Last but not least, the building is imposing, both inside and out , thanks to its huge reading rooms packed with books and works of art.
Music and nightlife
Together with Liverpool and London , it is probably the city that has produced the most and best music in the United Kingdom . Not in vain, Manchester is the place where the mythical club The Haçienda was located, where the sound that would come to be known as Madchester was created . The city has been the birthplace of some of the best pop, rock and electronic artists of the last decades: Joy Division , Van Der Graaf Generator, A Certain Ratio, New Order, Oasis , The Chameleons, Chemical Brothers, Magazine, Smiths , Stone Roses or The Fall, among others, have contributed to music lovers turning our eyes towards Manchester on more than one occasion. Despite the fact that the aforementioned The Haçienda closed its doors almost two decades ago, nightlife and music clubs continue to be a great attraction in the city . In this list you can find some of the best pubs and clubs to go to.
También se destaca cómo la vida nocturna de la ciudad se ha revitalizado en los últimos años, algo que no es raro si tenemos en cuenta que Manchester es la ciudad europea con mayor población estudiantil. Los jóvenes suelen visitar la zona de Fallowfield durante las horas nocturnas, un área que se caracteriza por la abundancia de bares, clubes nocturnos y restaurantes, normalmente a precios asequibles. Otra buena opción es el Barrio Norte, habitualmente asociado a la bohemia y los locales underground. Algunos de los mejores clubes nocturnos y salas de conciertos de la ciudad se encuentran en él: el Matt & Fred’s, un sitio idóneo para escuchar jazz, The Deaf Institute, que se caracteriza por su gran repertorio de grupos de la escena independiente, Common, Cord, o Now Wave, otro de los clubes perfectos para descubrir a bandas rompedoras o emergentes. Si todavía no os hemos convencido, esta web especializada os puede servir para indagar en lo que Machester ofrece tras la puesta de sol.
El cine hecho o ambientado en Manchester tampoco se queda corto: por ejemplo, ahí se han rodado películas tan notables como “A Taste of Honey”, de Tony Richardson, “Naked”, de Mike Leigh”, “24 Hour Party People”, de Michael Winterbottom, o “Control”, de Anton Corbijn. Por ejemplo, algunas de estas películas pueden darte una idea aproximada de cómo es –o, mejor dicho, era- Manchester. Tampoco te asustes ante algunas de ellas, que las cosas han cambiado bastante desde entonces, y ten en cuenta que juzgar a una ciudad por lo que dicen de ella las películas no suele ser una buena idea: por ejemplo, supón que la estampa de Madrid que puede esperar encontrar un guiri sea la reflejada en las películas de Almodóvar de los 80.
Por otro lado, el acento de Manchester es delicioso o, como mínimo, peculiar. Practicar diferentes acentos siempre viene bien, y el deje de Manchester es de los más idiosincráticos de Gran Bretaña, si bien no resulta excesivamente difícil de entender. Ver algunas de las películas que sugerimos más arriba puede ser una gran forma de habituarse al acento de Manchester y de familiarizarse con algunas pintorescas estampas de la ciudad. Aparte de disfrutar de buen cine, por supuesto.
Si lo que deseas es pegar un buen paseo por el centro de la ciudad, te recomendamos que leas este texto, ilustrado con estupendas fotografías, en el que se propone una breve ruta por las zonas y enclaves más emblemáticos de la ciudad. Y también os recomendamos que aprovechéis vuestra estancia para acercaros a ciudades cercanas a Manchester: afortunadamente, está muy bien comunicada con ciudades cercanas y tan atractivas como Liverpool, Lancaster, Chester o York, todas ellas situadas a solo una hora de trayecto. Por esta razón, Manchester suele considerarse un punto de partida óptimo para hacer rutas por Inglaterra; aquí os podéis informar acerca de las más interesantes, y en este blog (in Spanish) you will find some suggestions about the main attractions of the area.
Is it tempting to spend a few days in Manchester? Of course, you will not regret visiting one of the busiest and most student-oriented cities in Europe, and take the opportunity to learn English. We have the best way to do it, thanks to the International House Madrid courses in Manchester .
