A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public or private transport , usually, but not always, in an urban environment . Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus , or on demand to many locations, operating in a similar manner to a taxi . A boat service shuttling between two points would normally be described as a ferry rather than a water bus or taxi.
118-571: The term water taxi is usually confined to a boat operating on demand, and water bus to a boat operating on a schedule. In North American usage, the terms are roughly synonymous. The earliest water taxi service was recorded as operating around the area that became Manchester , England. Cities and other places operating water buses and/or taxis include: On demand water taxis are also commonly found in marinas , harbours and cottage areas, providing access to boats and waterfront properties that are not directly accessible by land. On March 6, 2004,
236-694: A fort named Mamucium in the year 79 to ensure that Roman interests in Deva Victrix ( Chester ) and Eboracum ( York ) were protected from the Brigantes. Central Manchester has been permanently settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the final version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield . The Roman habitation of Manchester probably ended around the 3rd century; its civilian settlement appears to have been abandoned by
354-617: A local river goddess ). Both usages are preserved in Insular Celtic languages , such as mam meaning "breast" in Irish and "mother" in Welsh . The suffix -chester is from Old English ceaster ("Roman fortification", itself a loanword from Latin castra , "fort; fortified town"). The city is widely known as "the capital of the North". The Brigantes were
472-468: A seaport at Liverpool , the availability of waterpower from its rivers, and its nearby coal reserves. The name Manchester, though officially applied only to the metropolitan district within Greater Manchester, has been applied to other, wider divisions of land, particularly across much of the Greater Manchester county and urban area. The "Manchester City Zone", " Manchester post town " and
590-598: A bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in the Manchester Arena ; the bomb killed 23, including the attacker, and injured over 800. It was the deadliest terrorist attack and first suicide bombing in Britain since the 7 July 2005 London bombings . It caused worldwide condemnation and changed the UK's threat level to "critical" for the first time since 2007. Birmingham has historically been considered to be England or
708-573: A large transport and distribution infrastructure: the canal system was extended, and Manchester became one end of the world's first intercity passenger railway—the Liverpool and Manchester Railway . Competition between the various forms of transport kept costs down. In 1878 the GPO (the forerunner of British Telecom ) provided its first telephones to a firm in Manchester. The Manchester Ship Canal
826-650: A member of the English Core Cities Group since its inception in 1995. The town of Manchester was granted a charter by Thomas Grelley in 1301 but lost its borough status in a court case of 1359. Until the 19th century local government was largely in the hands of manorial courts , the last of which was dissolved in 1846. From a very early time , the township of Manchester lay within the historic or ceremonial county boundaries of Lancashire . Pevsner wrote "That [neighbouring] Stretford and Salford are not administratively one with Manchester
944-546: A more skilful musician and it was then ordered that "the said waits shall hereafter be received to play music at all and every wedding and dinners in this town". In 1918 the Education Committee appointed a Music Adviser to the schools of the city who encouraged the formation of school choirs and orchestras and the teaching of musical appreciation and the playing of instruments. According to C.H. Herford (writing in 1915): "Music has been said to divide with Mammon
1062-496: A notable collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, including works by Ford Madox Brown , Holman Hunt and Rossetti . A major Pre-Raphaelite work, The Manchester Murals , is a series of twelve paintings on the history of Manchester by Ford Madox Brown which were commissioned for the Great Hall of Manchester Town Hall in 1879. The Great Hall is open to the public, except during private functions. Manchester's importance in
1180-587: A notable place in the history of Marxism and left-wing politics; being the subject of Friedrich Engels ' work The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 ; Engels spent much of his life in and around Manchester, and when Karl Marx visited Manchester, they met at Chetham's Library. The economics books Marx was reading at the time can be seen in the library, as can the window seat where Marx and Engels would meet. The first Trades Union Congress
1298-442: A peak of 108 in 1853. Thereafter the number began to decline and Manchester was surpassed as the largest centre of cotton spinning by Bolton in the 1850s and Oldham in the 1860s. However, this period of decline coincided with the rise of the city as the financial centre of the region. Manchester continued to process cotton, and in 1913, 65% of the world's cotton was processed in the area. The First World War interrupted access to
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#17327867610161416-652: A population of 2,539,100 in 2004. In addition to Manchester itself, the LUZ includes the remainder of the county of Greater Manchester . The Manchester LUZ is the second largest within the United Kingdom, behind that of London. Religious beliefs, according to the 2021 census Since the 2001 census, the proportion of Christians in Manchester has fallen by 22 per cent from 62.4 per cent to 48.7 per cent in 2011. The proportion of those with no religious affiliation rose by 58.1 per cent from 16 per cent to 25.3 per cent, whilst
1534-461: A route from Manchester to the sea docks on the Mersey. The Bridgewater Canal , Britain's first wholly artificial waterway, was opened in 1761, bringing coal from mines at Worsley to central Manchester. The canal was extended to the Mersey at Runcorn by 1776. The combination of competition and improved efficiency halved the cost of coal and halved the transport cost of raw cotton. Manchester became
1652-498: A set of lampoons entitled Characteristic Strictures upon a Series of (Imaginary) Portraits .". Samuel Bamford , born at Middleton in 1788, was a weaver and poet and also active in radical politics in the Manchester district. He is also notable for his autobiography, Passages in the Life of a Radical . The writer Thomas De Quincey was born at Manchester and in early life moved to Greenheys . He attended Manchester Grammar School and
1770-596: A song entitled "Manchester, England" though the mention of the city in the song's title is somewhat irrelevant and merely used as punctuation in the song's lyrics. Méric Casaubon published some of the papers left by Dr John Dee , for a time Warden of the Collegite Church, in 1659, together with a long introduction critical of their author, as A True & Faithful Relation of What passed for many Yeers between Dr. John Dee (A Mathematician of Great Fame in Q. Eliz. and King James their Reignes) and some spirits. As
1888-477: A successful solo career, as has ex- Smiths' leadman Morrissey . Among the others born in the Manchester area are Richard Ashcroft , front man of alternative rock group the Verve , and Jay Kay , the singer and mastermind of the acid jazz band Jamiroquai . In 1965, on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 , a unique hat-trick of consecutive number 1s took place in the spring, all from Mancunian pop groups. Freddie and
2006-436: A tale of Manchester life (1848) by Elizabeth Gaskell The factual study The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 was written by Friedrich Engels while living and working in Manchester and drew largely on his observations on the life of the working people of Manchester and Salford. Charles Dickens is reputed to have set his novel Hard Times in the city, and while it is partly modelled on Preston, it shows
2124-919: A water taxi on the Seaport Taxi service operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation capsized during a storm on the Patapsco River , near Baltimore's Inner Harbor . A total of five passengers died in the accident, which the National Transportation Safety Board determined was caused by insufficient stability when the small pontoon-style vessel encountered strong winds and waves. The company no longer operates water taxi vessels in Baltimore harbor. Manchester Manchester ( / ˈ m æ n tʃ ɪ s t ər , - tʃ ɛ s -/ )
2242-412: A wide variety of architectural styles, from early 19th century Neoclassical and Victorian through to the most modern. Much of the architecture in the city harks back to its former days as a global centre for the cotton trade. Many warehouses have now been converted for other uses but the external appearance remains mostly unchanged so the city keeps much of its original character. An interesting facet of
2360-535: Is 35.0 miles (56.3 km) north-east of Liverpool and 35.0 miles (56.3 km) north-west of Sheffield , making the city the halfway point between the two. The city centre is on the east bank of the River Irwell , near its confluences with the Rivers Medlock and Irk , and is relatively low-lying, being between 35 and 42 metres (115 and 138 feet) above sea level. The River Mersey flows through
2478-450: Is 806.6 millimetres (31.76 in) compared to a UK average of 1,125.0 millimetres (44.29 in), and its mean rain days are 140.4 per annum, compared to the UK average of 154.4. Manchester has a relatively high humidity level, and this, along with abundant soft water, was one factor that led to advancement of the textile industry in the area. Snowfalls are not common in the city because of
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#17327867610162596-521: Is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester , England, which had an estimated population of 568,996 in 2022. It contributes to the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom as a part of Greater Manchester, which has a population of approximately 2.92 million. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and
2714-502: Is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building. Due to being already highly urban, the city contains limited portions of protected green-belt area within greenfield throughout the borough, with minimal development opportunities, at Clayton Vale , Heaton Park , Chorlton Water Park along with the Chorlton Ees & Ivy Green nature reserve and
2832-812: Is also contiguous with Salford and its borough but is separated from it by the River Irwell . This urban area is cut off by the M60 , also known as the Manchester Outer Ring Road , which runs in a circular around the city and these areas. It joins the M62 to the north-east and the M602 to the west, as well as the East Lancashire Road and A6 . The name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunio and
2950-673: Is also presented in the Museum of Transport in Cheetham Hill . Salford Quays, a short distance from the city centre in the adjoining borough of Trafford, is home to Imperial War Museum North . Other museums in Manchester reflect the history of the city's people; the People's History Museum presents the history of the work and politics in the city, commemorating the Peterloo Massacre , and Manchester's strong association with
3068-533: Is best known for his Confessions of an English Opium Eater . William Harrison Ainsworth (born in 1805) also went to Manchester Grammar School. He wrote many historical novels some of which relate to the history of Lancashire , including The Manchester Rebels which tells the story of six soldiers from the grammar school who fought in the Jacobite cause in 1745. Three members of the Wilson family of Manchester in
3186-452: Is contiguous on all sides with several large settlements, except for a small section along its southern boundary with Cheshire . The M60 and M56 motorways pass through Northenden and Wythenshawe respectively in the south of Manchester. Heavy rail lines enter the city from all directions, the principal destination being Manchester Piccadilly station . Manchester experiences a temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ), like much of
3304-530: Is one of the most curious anomalies of England". A stroke of a baron's pen is said to have divorced Manchester and Salford, though it was not Salford that became separated from Manchester, it was Manchester, with its humbler line of lords, that was separated from Salford. It was this separation that resulted in Salford becoming the judicial seat of Salfordshire , which included the ancient parish of Manchester . Manchester later formed its own Poor Law Union using
3422-624: Is open to the public in Castlefield. Manchester's rich industrial heritage is celebrated in the Science and Industry Museum , also in Castlefield. This large collection of steam locomotives , working machines from the Industrial Revolution , aircraft and space vehicles is appropriately housed in the former Liverpool Road railway station , the terminus of the world's first passenger railway . Transport heritage in Manchester
3540-402: Is recorded as within the hundred of Salford and held as tenant in chief by a Norman named Roger of Poitou , later being held by the family of Grelley, lord of the manor and residents of Manchester Castle until 1215 before a Manor House was built. By 1421 Thomas de la Warre founded and constructed a collegiate church for the parish , now Manchester Cathedral ; the domestic premises of
3658-528: Is still read throughout the world (following republication in 1991 and again in 1998), and its heroes, Jabez Clegg and Joshua Brooks, are commemorated locally in the names of Manchester public houses . j Edward Abbott Parry (born in London in 1863) was a judge and dramatist who lived in Manchester as judge of Manchester County Court 1894–1911. and became Judge of Lambeth County Court in 1911. He wrote several plays and books for children. Poets' Corner
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3776-424: Is the UK's largest city-centre shopping centre. Large city sections from the 1960s have been demolished, re-developed or modernised with the use of glass and steel. Old mills have been converted into apartments. Hulme has undergone extensive regeneration, with million-pound loft-house apartments being developed. The 47-storey, 554-foot (169 m) Beetham Tower was the tallest UK building outside of London and
3894-517: Is the capital, in every sense, of the North of England , where the modern world was born. The people know their geography is without equal. Their history is their response to it". Whilst Ian Brown of the Stone Roses has previously said that "Manchester has everything except a beach". Often cited as the world's first industrialised city, with little pre-factory history to speak of, Manchester
4012-1047: Is the largest indoor arena in Europe . In 2001, the arena was voted International Arena of the Year . Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo and the Manchester Academy . Smaller venues are the Band on the Wall , the Bierkeller, the Roadhouse, the Night and Day Café the Ruby Lounge and the Deaf Institute. The famous American anti-war hippie musical from the late 1960s, Hair , includes
4130-489: Is the third most visited city in the United Kingdom after London and Edinburgh and is a major centre of the creative industries . The Art Treasures of Great Britain was an exhibition of fine art held in Manchester from 5 May to 17 October 1857. It remains the largest art exhibition to be held in the UK, possibly in the world, with over 16,000 works on display. It attracted over 1.3 million visitors in
4248-738: The Manchester Guardian . In 1828 and 1836 the Manchester Festivals were well covered by the Manchester Guardian whose writers found much of the performances which included a Beethoven symphony to be of a fine quality, though they were had mixed opinions of the singing of Mr Braham. Maria Malibran , the great French singer, appeared at the festival of 1836 having been injured in a fall from her horse in July which led to her death on 23 September. Though buried in
4366-699: The Bridgewater Concert Hall , the Manchester Arena , and (in Salford) the rebranding of the port as Salford Quays . Two bids to host the Olympic Games were part of a process to raise the international profile of the city. Manchester has a history of attacks attributed to Irish Republicans, including the Manchester Martyrs of 1867, arson in 1920, a series of explosions in 1939, and two bombs in 1992. On Saturday 15 June 1996,
4484-577: The Buzzcocks , the Smiths and the Fall , as well as one of the most significant independent labels of the time, Tony Wilson 's Factory Records , home to many major groups originating locally including Joy Division and New Order . The " Madchester " music scene brought much media attention to the city from the late 1980s to the beginning of the 1990s. Bands such as the Stone Roses , Happy Mondays ,
4602-487: The Christmas Blitz on the nights of 22/23 and 24 December 1940, when an estimated 474 tonnes (467 long tons) of high explosives plus over 37,000 incendiary bombs were dropped. A large part of the historic city centre was destroyed, including 165 warehouses, 200 business premises, and 150 offices. 376 were killed and 30,000 houses were damaged. Manchester Cathedral , Royal Exchange and Free Trade Hall were among
4720-623: The Collegiate Church she was afterwards exhumed and reburied at Brussels . A medallion of her was sculpted by William Bally which was presented to the Henry Watson Music Library . Felix Mendelssohn conducted a performance of his oratorio Elijah in the Free Trade Hall , Manchester, in 1847. In 1848 Frédéric Chopin , already suffering from serious illness, came to play in a Manchester concert and
4838-672: The Manchester Jewish Museum tells the story of the Jewish community in Manchester from the Industrial Revolution to the present day. In Elizabethan times the Court Leet of the manor of Manchester appointed town waits to undertake certain duties, one of which was of "playing morning and evening together, according as others have been heretofore accustomed to do". In 1603 they welcomed into their company
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4956-820: The Meistersinger by Richard Wagner were performed in Manchester in the autumn of 1913. Musical ensembles active in the early 20th century included the Gentlemen's Glee Club, the Manchester Vocal Society and the Brodsky Quartette. In 1929 the 250-strong Manchester Children's Choir recorded Henry Purcell 's " Nymphs and Shepherds " and the Evening Benediction from Hansel and Gretel with the Hallé Orchestra at
5074-573: The Middle Ages , Manchester remained a manorial township but began to expand "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century. Manchester's unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution and resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city. Historically part of Lancashire , areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated into Manchester in
5192-547: The National Football Museum is moving to Urbis in Manchester city centre and will become its new permanent home. The move to Manchester is aimed at maximising the museum's visitor rates - it is predicted the move will boost visitor rate fourhold to 400,000 rather the 100,000 annual visitors at its previous home in Preston . The new National Football Museum is due to open in late 2011. In Cheetham Hill,
5310-512: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out the 1996 Manchester bombing , the detonation of a large bomb next to a department store in the city centre. The largest to be detonated on British soil, the bomb injured over 200 people, heavily damaged nearby buildings, and broke windows 1 ⁄ 2 mile (800 m) away. The cost of the immediate damage was initially estimated at £50 million, but this
5428-692: The RNCM , the Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester Cathedral . Brass band music, a tradition in the North of England, is an important part of Manchester's musical heritage; some of the UK's leading bands, such as the CWS (Manchester) Band and the Fairey Band of Heaton Chapel , are from Manchester and surrounding areas, and the Whit Friday brass band contest takes place annually in
5546-493: The Remains of Samuel Butler , the author of Hudibras which had until Thyer published them in 1759 been unpublished. James Ogden was the author of two epic poems: The British Lion Rouz'd (1762) and The Revolution: an Epic Poem in Twelve Books (1790). Richard Wroe, Warden of the Collegiate Church, who was nicknamed "Silver-tongued Wroe" because of his fine preaching published in 1782 a treatise on The Beauty of Unity . Another local clergyman, Thomas Seddon, had published in 1779
5664-408: The Trade union movement, Women's suffrage and football . Manchester, being situated in the North West England is also a hugely popular footballing city and its football past is remembered at the home stadiums of the cities' Premier League clubs, Manchester City and Manchester United . Both have museums at the City of Manchester Stadium and Old Trafford football stadium . Furthermore,
5782-401: The University of Manchester and Royal Northern College of Music in the 2011/2012 academic year. Of all households in Manchester, 0.23 per cent were Same-Sex Civil Partnership households, compared with an English national average of 0.16 per cent in 2011. The Manchester Larger Urban Zone , a Eurostat measure of the functional city-region approximated to local government districts, had
5900-399: The urban warming effect but the West Pennine Moors to the north-west, South Pennines to the north-east and Peak District to the east receive more snow, which can close roads leading out of the city. They include the A62 via Oldham and Standedge , the A57 , Snake Pass , towards Sheffield , and the Pennine section of the M62 . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Manchester
6018-420: The " Manchester Congestion Charge " are all examples of this. For purposes of the Office for National Statistics , Manchester forms the most populous settlement within the Greater Manchester Urban Area , the United Kingdom's second-largest conurbation. There is a mix of high-density urban and suburban locations. The largest open space in the city, at around 260 hectares (642 acres), is Heaton Park . Manchester
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#17327867610166136-403: The "Police Commissioners". In 1853, Manchester was granted city status . In 1885, Bradford , Harpurhey , Rusholme and parts of Moss Side and Withington townships became part of the City of Manchester. In 1889, the city became a county borough , as did many larger Lancashire towns, and therefore not governed by Lancashire County Council . Between 1890 and 1933, more areas were added to
6254-594: The 142 days it was open, about four times the population of Manchester at that time, with many visiting on organised railway excursions. Its selection and display of artworks had a formative influence on the public art collections which were being established in the UK at the time, such as the National Gallery , the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum . There are several art galleries in Manchester, notably: The municipally-owned Manchester Art Gallery on Mosley Street houses extensive displays of paintings by Italian and Flemish masters, as well as
6372-484: The 1950s, the city was home to the so-called 'Manchester School' of classical composers, which comprised Harrison Birtwistle , Peter Maxwell Davies , David Ellis and Alexander Goehr . Manchester is a centre for musical education, with the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham's School of Music . Forerunners of the RNCM were the Northern School of Music (founded 1920) and the Royal Manchester College of Music (founded 1893). The Gentlemen's Concerts were begun in
6490-444: The 1960s and 1970s. However, in the 21st century, there has been a renewed interest in building skyscrapers in Manchester . Numerous residential and office blocks are being built or have recently been built in the city centre. The Beetham Tower was completed in the autumn of 2006 and houses a Hilton hotel along with a restaurant and residential properties. It was the tallest building in the UK outside London until November 2018, when it
6608-625: The 2011 census. The city experienced the greatest percentage population growth outside London, with an increase of 19 per cent to over 500,000. Manchester's population is projected to reach 532,200 by 2021, an increase of 5.8 per cent from 2011. This represents a slower rate of growth than the previous decade. The Greater Manchester Built-up Area in 2011 had an estimated population of 2,553,400. In 2012 an estimated 2,702,200 people lived in Greater Manchester . An 6,547,000 people were estimated in 2012 to live within 30 miles (50 km) of Manchester and 11,694,000 within 50 miles (80 km). Between
6726-463: The 20th century, including Wythenshawe in 1931. Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and linking the city to the Irish Sea , 36 miles (58 km) to the west. The city's fortune declined after the Second World War , owing to deindustrialisation, and the IRA bombing in 1996 led to extensive investment and regeneration. Following considerable redevelopment, Manchester
6844-411: The British Isles, with warm summers and cold winters compared to other parts of the UK. Summer daytime temperatures regularly top 20 °C, quite often reaching 25 °C on sunny days during July and August in particular. In more recent years, temperatures have occasionally reached over 30 °C. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. The city's average annual rainfall
6962-419: The Charlatans , the Inspiral Carpets and James mixed alternative rock , psychedelic rock and dance music to create a sound which led to commercial success in the indie rock field and a wider musical influence nationally. The '90s brought forth Manchester's popular band, Oasis . The Chemical Brothers (from Southern England ) formed in Manchester. Also, ex- Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown has forged
7080-422: The City of Manchester became a metropolitan district of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester . That year, Ringway , the village where the Manchester Airport is located, was added to the city. In November 2014, it was announced that Greater Manchester would receive a new directly elected mayor. The mayor would have fiscal control over health, transport, housing and police in the area. Andy Burnham
7198-500: The Dreamers spent two weeks at the top with " I'm Telling You Now " (April 10–24), Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders one week with "Game of Love" (24 April-1 May), and finally Herman's Hermits with "Mrs Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter", a further three weeks (1–22 May), a total of six weeks, an achievement never matched even in the UK Top 50 . Manchester's main pop music venue is the Manchester Arena , situated next to Manchester Victoria railway station . It seats over 21,000 and
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#17327867610167316-400: The Free Trade Hall. The recording was made on 24 June 1929 for Columbia Records and followed a year of rehearsals by the 60 boys and 190 girls who took part. Musical training for the choir had begun when Sir Hamilton Harty , the conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, was engaged by the Education Committee to contribute to musical education in schools. The recordings were an unexpected success and
7434-408: The Guardian writer noted his extraordinary subtleties of tone and feeling. Nymphs and Shepherds Nymphs and shepherds, come away. In ye groves let's sport and play, For this is Flora's holiday, Sacred to ease and happy love, To dancing, to music and to poetry; Your flocks may now securely rove Whilst you express your jollity. Nymphs and shepherds, come away. Both the Ring and
7552-548: The Industrial Revolution brought wealth to the city, it also brought poverty and squalor to a large part of the population. Historian Simon Schama noted that "Manchester was the very best and the very worst taken to terrifying extremes, a new kind of city in the world; the chimneys of industrial suburbs greeting you with columns of smoke". An American visitor taken to Manchester's blackspots saw "wretched, defrauded, oppressed, crushed human nature, lying and bleeding fragments". The number of cotton mills in Manchester itself reached
7670-500: The Manchester Literary Club began in 1874 and the title was soon changed to the Papers of the Manchester Literary Club which continued to be published until 1991. The founder members of the club included the dialect poets Richard Rome Bealey (1828–87), Ben Brierley and Edwin Waugh . Other dialect poets who were members were James Dawson, Junior. (1840–1906) and Joseph Ramsbottom (1831–1901). Charlotte Brontë began writing Jane Eyre in Manchester in 1846. Bronte started writing at
7788-477: The Salutation Lodge (now a public house) on the fringe of the city centre on Higher Chatham Street in Hulme - a few blocks away from Oxford Road. Brontë was in Manchester to take her father, Patrick , for a cataracts operation and a blue plaque adorns the building where Bronte began writing the novel. The novel, The Manchester Man , by Mrs. G. Linnaeus Banks , was first serialised in Cassell's Magazine before being published in three volumes in 1876, and became
7906-402: The UK's second city, but in the 21st century claims to this unofficial title have also been made for Manchester. The City of Manchester is governed by the Manchester City Council . The Greater Manchester Combined Authority , with a directly elected mayor , has responsibilities for economic strategy and transport, amongst other areas, on a Greater Manchester-wide basis. Manchester has been
8024-521: The Whitworth Art Gallery, and the Lowry art centre in Salford Quays (in the neighbouring borough of Salford) devotes a large permanent exhibition to his works. The French Impressionist painter Adolphe Valette spent a period of his life in Manchester and painted local scenes. The Irish sculptor John Cassidy worked in Manchester for most of his life and produced many fine works of sculpture. The Turner Prize -winning artist Chris Ofili hails from Manchester. The architecture of Manchester demonstrates
8142-409: The architecture of Manchester and several other cities which underwent a construction boom during the Industrial Revolution is that inspiration was taken from Venice . Examples of this architecture can be easily found to the south and east of Albert Square and near the 92nd lock of the Bridgewater Canal , near the Beetham Tower. Manchester also has a number of skyscrapers . Most were built during
8260-468: The atom in 1917; Frederic C. Williams , Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill developed the world's first stored-program computer in 1948; and Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov first isolated graphene in 2004. Manchester has a large urban sprawl , which forms from the city centre into the other neighbouring authorities; these include The Four Heatons , Failsworth , Prestwich , Stretford , Sale , Droylsden , Old Trafford and Reddish . The city
8378-433: The author's most lasting achievement. It is considered to be an important social and historical novel, charting the rise of Jabez Clegg, the eponymous "Manchester Man", from the time of the Napoleonic Wars to the first Reform Act . His personal fortunes, from the near tragic snatch of his crib from the River Irk , create a tale of romance and melodrama, his life from apprentice to master and from poverty to wealth, mirroring
8496-474: The beginning of July 2011 and end of June 2012 (mid-year estimate date), births exceeded deaths by 4,800. Migration (internal and international) and other changes accounted for a net increase of 3,100 people between July 2011 and June 2012. Compared with Greater Manchester and with England, Manchester has a younger population, with a particularly large 20–35 age group. There were 76,095 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Manchester Metropolitan University ,
8614-497: The buildings seriously damaged; restoration of the cathedral took 20 years. In total, 589 civilians were recorded to have died as result of enemy action within the Manchester County Borough. Cotton processing and trading continued to decline in peacetime, and the exchange closed in 1968. By 1963 the port of Manchester was the UK's third largest, and employed over 3,000 men, but the canal was unable to handle
8732-439: The citizens are still referred to as Mancunians ( / m æ n ˈ k juː n i ə n / ). These names are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name . The generally accepted etymology of this name is that it comes from Brittonic * mamm - (" breast ", in reference to a " breast-like hill "). However, more recent work suggests that it could come from * mamma ("mother", in reference to
8850-526: The city, which had been administered by Lancashire County Council, including former villages such as Burnage , Chorlton-cum-Hardy , Didsbury , Fallowfield , Levenshulme , Longsight , and Withington . In 1931, the Cheshire civil parishes of Baguley , Northenden and Northen Etchells from the south of the River Mersey were added. In 1974, by way of the Local Government Act 1972 ,
8968-455: The college house Chetham's School of Music and Chetham's Library . The library, which opened in 1653 and is still open to the public, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282. Around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the region's textile industry. Manchester became an important centre for
9086-695: The devotion of the people of Manchester. Possibly this sets their musical enthusiasm too high; but music has some chance of being that one of the fine arts to which her climate is least unkind." Manchester has two symphony orchestras , the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic . There is also a chamber orchestra , the Manchester Camerata, and the Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra, an amateur orchestra founded in 1854. In
9204-627: The discs (with Nymphs on the A-side and the Benediction on the B-side) sold over a million copies. In 1989 EMI awarded it a Gold Disc and after BBC Radio 4 played the recording in December 1989, it was re-released as part of the compilation record Hello Children Everywhere . The choir was disbanded after the recording but members were reunited in 1979 and the golden jubilee of the choir's formation
9322-475: The dominant marketplace for textiles produced in the surrounding towns. A commodities exchange , opened in 1729, and numerous large warehouses, aided commerce. In 1780, Richard Arkwright began construction of Manchester's first cotton mill. In the early 1800s, John Dalton formulated his atomic theory in Manchester. Manchester was one of the centres of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution . The great majority of cotton spinning took place in
9440-455: The early 19th century gained a considerable reputation as poets. Between 1842 and 1866 four editions of their poetical works were published (as The Songs of the Wilsons ). Michael Wilson (1763–1840) was a printer and furniture broker who favoured "Jacobinism" in politics. Among his seven sons were Thomas Wilson (died 1852) and Alexander Wilson (1804–46) who like their father wrote poetry. Thomas
9558-679: The export markets. Cotton processing in other parts of the world increased, often on machines produced in Manchester. Manchester suffered greatly from the Great Depression and the underlying structural changes that began to supplant the old industries, including textile manufacture. Like most of the UK, the Manchester area was mobilised extensively during the Second World War . For example, casting and machining expertise at Beyer, Peacock & Company 's locomotive works in Gorton
9676-510: The first public revelation of Dee's spiritual conferences, the book was extremely popular and sold quickly. Dee's Diary was published in 1842 by the Chetham Society. An account of Manchester written by a native of the town, Richard Hollingworth (1607–56), and entitled Mancuniensis: or, A history of the towne of Manchester, and what is most memorable concerning it was edited and published by William Willis in 1839. The poet John Byrom
9794-542: The floodplain surrounding the River Mersey, as well as the southern area around Manchester Airport. The green belt was first drawn up in 1961. Historically the population of Manchester began to increase rapidly during the Victorian era , estimated at 354,930 for Manchester and 110,833 for Salford in 1865, and peaking at 766,311 in 1931. From then the population began to decrease rapidly, due to slum clearance and
9912-529: The growth and prosperity of the city. This is achieved in a politico-historical setting, with vivid accounts of the Peterloo Massacre or Manchester Massacre of 1819 and the Corn-Law riots (the Anti-Corn Law League was formed in Manchester in 1838). In 1896, the year before she died, a well-illustrated edition of The Manchester Man was published with forty-six plates and three maps. The book
10030-580: The highest residential accommodation in Europe when completed in 2006. It was surpassed in 2018 by the 659-foot (201 m) South Tower of the Deansgate Square project, also in Manchester. In January 2007, the independent Casino Advisory Panel licensed Manchester to build the UK's only supercasino , but plans were abandoned in February 2008. On 22 May 2017, an Islamist terrorist carried out
10148-486: The increased building of social housing overspill estates by Manchester City Council after the Second World War such as Hattersley and Langley . The 2012 mid-year estimate for the population of Manchester was 510,700. This was an increase of 7,900, or 1.6 per cent, since the 2011 estimate. Since 2001, the population has grown by 87,900, or 20.8 per cent, making Manchester the third fastest-growing area in
10266-456: The increasingly large container ships. Traffic declined, and the port closed in 1982. Heavy industry suffered a downturn from the 1960s and was greatly reduced under the economic policies followed by Margaret Thatcher 's government after 1979. Manchester lost 150,000 jobs in manufacturing between 1961 and 1983. Regeneration began in the late 1980s, with initiatives such as the Metrolink ,
10384-656: The influence of his friend Elizabeth Gaskell. John Howard Nodal was president (1873–79) of the Manchester Literary Club, and started its annual volumes of 'Papers' which he edited from 1874–79. For the glossary committee of the Literary Club he wrote in 1873 a paper on the 'Dialect and Archaisms of Lancashire,' and, in conjunction with George Milner, compiled a 'Glossary of the Lancashire Dialect' (2 parts, 1875–82). The Transactions of
10502-469: The major Celtic tribe in what is now known as Northern England ; they had a stronghold in the locality at a sandstone outcrop on which Manchester Cathedral now stands, opposite the bank of the River Irwell . Their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford . Following the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century, General Agricola ordered the construction of
10620-644: The manufacture and trade of woollens and linen , and by about 1540, had expanded to become, in John Leland 's words, "The fairest, best builded, quickest, and most populous town of all Lancashire". The cathedral and Chetham's buildings are the only significant survivors of Leland's Manchester. During the English Civil War Manchester strongly favoured the Parliamentary interest. Although not long-lasting, Cromwell granted it
10738-597: The mid-3rd century, although the fort may have supported a small garrison until the late 3rd or early 4th century. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest , the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell and Irk sometime before the arrival of the Normans after 1066. Much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North . In the Domesday Book of 1086, Manchester
10856-474: The name "Manchester". In 1792, Commissioners – usually known as "Police Commissioners" – were established for the social improvement of Manchester. Manchester regained its borough status in 1838 and comprised the townships of Beswick , Cheetham Hill , Chorlton upon Medlock and Hulme . By 1846, with increasing population and greater industrialisation, the Borough Council had taken over the powers of
10974-506: The neighbouring areas of Saddleworth and Tameside . Manchester had a significant pop music scene in the 1960s and early 1970s, with bands such as The Hollies , The Bee Gees , Herman's Hermits , and 10cc preceding the renowned Sex Pistols' performance at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in 1976 which led directly to the formation of a wave of important bands whose acclaim spread internationally. These include artists like
11092-427: The neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The city borders the boroughs of Trafford , Stockport , Tameside , Oldham , Rochdale , Bury and Salford . The history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort ( castra ) of Mamucium or Mancunium , established c. AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell . Throughout
11210-403: The proportion of Muslims increased by 73.6 per cent from 9.1 per cent to 15.8 per cent. The size of the Jewish population in Greater Manchester is the largest in Britain outside London. Culture of Manchester The Culture of Manchester is notable artistically, architecturally, theatrically and musically. Despite being the 5th largest city in the United Kingdom by population and
11328-448: The rest of the world does tomorrow." Manchester's golden age was perhaps the last quarter of the 19th century. Many of the great public buildings (including Manchester Town Hall ) date from then. The city's cosmopolitan atmosphere contributed to a vibrant culture, which included the Hallé Orchestra . In 1889, when county councils were created in England, the municipal borough became a county borough with even greater autonomy. Although
11446-707: The right to elect its own MP . Charles Worsley , who sat for the city for only a year, was later appointed Major General for Lancashire, Cheshire and Staffordshire during the Rule of the Major Generals . He was a diligent puritan , turning out ale houses and banning the celebration of Christmas; he died in 1656. Significant quantities of cotton began to be used after about 1600, firstly in linen and cotton fustians , but by around 1750 pure cotton fabrics were being produced and cotton had overtaken wool in importance. The Irwell and Mersey were made navigable by 1736, opening
11564-498: The second largest conurbation, Manchester has been ranked as the second city of the United Kingdom in numerous polls since the 2000s (decade), with an influential culture scene helping to elevate Manchester's importance in the national psyche. This has helped the city's population grow by 20% in the last decade, and made the universities the most popular choices for undergraduate admission. 20th century broadcaster and social commentator Brian Redhead once said "Manchester ...
11682-475: The south of Manchester. Much of the inner city, especially in the south, is flat, offering extensive views from many highrise buildings in the city of the foothills and moors of the Pennines, which can often be capped with snow in the winter months. Manchester's geographic features were highly influential in its early development as the world's first industrial city. These features are its climate, its proximity to
11800-702: The textile industry is reflected in the collections in the Whitworth Art Gallery , which also displays modern art and sculpture, including works by Epstein , Hepworth , van Gogh and Picasso . Other exhibition spaces and museums in Manchester include the Smolensky Gallery, and the Manchester Costume Gallery at Platt Fields Park . The gallery at Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden in Didsbury has now closed. Home
11918-498: The towns of south Lancashire and north Cheshire, and Manchester was for a time the most productive centre of cotton processing. Manchester became known as the world's largest marketplace for cotton goods and was dubbed " Cottonopolis " and "Warehouse City" during the Victorian era . In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the term "manchester" is still used for household linen: sheets, pillow cases, towels, etc. The industrial revolution brought about huge change in Manchester and
12036-478: The world. A centre of capitalism, Manchester was once the scene of bread and labour riots, as well as calls for greater political recognition by the city's working and non-titled classes. One such gathering ended with the Peterloo massacre of 16 August 1819. The economic school of Manchester Capitalism developed there, and Manchester was the centre of the Anti-Corn Law League from 1838 onward. Manchester has
12154-654: The year 1765 by a group of amateurs who ten years later built their own Concert Rooms on Fountain Street with space for an audience of 900. The name of Concert Lane is derived from this building. A later venue for these concerts was in Lower Mosley Street (on the site of the present Midland Hotel ). From the 1820s, the large and responsive public of the town began to attract famous singers and instrumentalists. Franz Liszt visited Manchester in 1824 (aged 13) and again in 1840. His performances were highly praised in
12272-609: Was born in the town in 1691. His writings are mainly in Latin but he is chiefly remembered for his Christmas hymn "Christians, Awake". He is also the author of a diary and of an idyll "Colin and Phoebe". In 1719 the first newspaper published in Manchester, the Manchester Weekly Journal , began publication and in the same year the first book to be published there was a volume of mathematical lectures by John Jackson. The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
12390-573: Was built between 1888 and 1894, in some sections by canalisation of the Rivers Irwell and Mersey, running 36 miles (58 km) from Salford to Eastham Locks on the tidal Mersey. This enabled oceangoing ships to sail right into the Port of Manchester. On the canal's banks, just outside the borough, the world's first industrial estate was created at Trafford Park . Large quantities of machinery, including cotton processing plant, were exported around
12508-676: Was celebrated at a civic reception at the town hall. For many years the city's main classical venue was the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street. Since 1996, however, Manchester has had a modern 2,500 seat concert venue called the Bridgewater Hall in Lower Mosley Street, which is also home to the Hallé Orchestra. The hall is one of the country's most technically advanced classical music and lecture venues, with an acoustically designed interior and suspended foundations for an optimum sound. Other venues for classical concerts include
12626-429: Was elected as the first mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017 . At 53°28′0″N 2°14′0″W / 53.46667°N 2.23333°W / 53.46667; -2.23333 , 160 miles (260 km) northwest of London, Manchester lies in a bowl-shaped land area bordered to the north and east by the Pennines , an upland chain that runs the length of northern England , and to the south by the Cheshire Plain . Manchester
12744-403: Was founded as a learned society in Manchester in 1781. Its activities have been much more significant in the sciences than in the arts, including literature. Its members have included Peter Mark Roget (author of the thesaurus), Ernest Rutherford and Joseph Whitworth . The first formal meeting of the society took place on 14 March 1781. James Thyer, librarian of Chetham's Library , edited
12862-871: Was held in Manchester (at the Mechanics' Institute, David Street), from 2 to 6 June 1868. Manchester was an important cradle of the Labour Party and the Suffragette Movement. At that time, it seemed a place in which anything could happen—new industrial processes, new ways of thinking (the Manchester School , promoting free trade and laissez-faire ), new classes or groups in society, new religious sects, and new forms of labour organisation. It attracted educated visitors from all parts of Britain and Europe. A saying capturing this sense of innovation survives today: "What Manchester does today,
12980-400: Was imprisoned for smuggling gold, while Alexander (also a self-taught painter) was responsible for compiling the collected verse of the three Wilsons. He died suddenly and his grave at Cheetham Hill has an epitaph composed by Elijah Ridings. In the 19th century, Manchester figured in novels that discussed the changes that industrialisation had brought to Britain. These included Mary Barton :
13098-399: Was key to the increase in Manchester's population. Manchester began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as people flocked to the city for work from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and other areas of England as part of a process of unplanned urbanisation brought on by the Industrial Revolution . It developed a wide range of industries, so that by 1835 "Manchester
13216-615: Was opened in 2015 as a merger of the exhibitions and cinemas in Cornerhouse , and the Library Theatre Company . It hosts exhibitions of both local and international art, including the biennial Manchester Open Exhibition. The works of Stretford -born painter L. S. Lowry , known for his "matchstick" paintings of industrial Manchester and Salford, can be seen in both the Manchester Art Gallery and
13334-530: Was quickly revised upwards. The final insurance payout was over £400 million; many affected businesses never recovered from the loss of trade. Spurred by the investment after the 1996 bombing and aided by the XVII Commonwealth Games , the city centre has undergone extensive regeneration. New and renovated complexes such as The Printworks and Corn Exchange have become popular shopping, eating and entertainment areas. Manchester Arndale
13452-473: Was surpassed by the South Tower at Deansgate Square , which is 201 m (659 ft) tall. Museums in Manchester include: Manchester Museum opened to the public in 1888, has notable collections in archaeology, particularly Egyptology , and in natural history , particularly in botany, entomology and palaeontology. In the Castlefield district, a reconstructed part of the Roman fort of Mamucium
13570-721: Was switched to bomb making; Dunlop's rubber works in Chorlton-on-Medlock made barrage balloons ; and just outside the city in Trafford Park , engineers Metropolitan-Vickers made Avro Manchester and Avro Lancaster bombers and Ford built the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines to power them. Manchester was thus the target of bombing by the Luftwaffe , and by late 1940 air raids were taking place against non-military targets. The biggest took place during
13688-481: Was the host city for the 2002 Commonwealth Games . The city is notable for its architecture , culture , musical exports , media links , scientific and engineering output , social impact , sports clubs and transport connections . Manchester Liverpool Road railway station is the world's oldest surviving inter-city passenger railway station. At the University of Manchester , Ernest Rutherford first split
13806-426: Was without challenge the first and greatest industrial city in the world". Engineering firms initially made machines for the cotton trade, but diversified into general manufacture. Similarly, the chemical industry started by producing bleaches and dyes, but expanded into other areas. Commerce was supported by financial service industries such as banking and insurance. Trade, and feeding the growing population, required
13924-462: Was −17.6 °C (0.3 °F) on 7 January 2010. The highest temperature recorded in Manchester is 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) on 19 July 2022, during the 2022 European Heatwave . Manchester lies at the centre of a green belt region extending into the wider surrounding counties. This reduces urban sprawl , prevents towns in the conurbation from further convergence, protects the identity of outlying communities, and preserves nearby countryside. It
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