Manchester - long may it rain

By KEVIN JONES

Manchester, England's third-biggest city, is famous for lots of reasons - its football teams, rain, Coronation Street, rain, pop stars, Boddington's beer, rain.

Okay, we admit, we've overdone the rain bit, but just be forewarned and pack an umbrella for your trip to this lively, wealthy, sporty, sodden place.

Whether it's Manchester's proximity to the Pennines - the mountainous backbone of England - or just bad luck, the self-appointed capital of the north-west certainly gets its fair share of the wet stuff.

In fact, some would go further and tell you that it's a wonder that they ever manage to complete five-day Test matches at Manchester's Old Trafford cricket ground.

But, don't let the prospect of a bit of rain put you off. Manchester has a lot going for it and, with its busy international airport situated just south of the city, it is perfectly placed for travellers who want to give London's congested airports, prices and crowds a miss.

With its airport, four major train stations, extensive bus and Supertram networks as well as the road and motorway systems, Manchester is one of Britain's easiest cities to reach.

Hence, it makes a great base for the tourist who wants to see, North Wales, the Lake District and take in the delights of nearby Yorkshire to the east.

You can be in Wales with just over an hour's drive and the Lakes can be reached in around an hour-and-a-half.

Liverpool, Manchester's great rival city, is less than an hour away, courtesy of the M62 motorway. Take the M62 heading east and you'll have a choice of five or six Yorkshire towns and cities within three-quarters-of-an-hour. Take a bit longer in the car and you'll reach York within a couple of hours.

But don't think of getting out of Manchester just yet�.wait until the rain starts getting to you!

Manchester was at the centre of the Industrial Revolution and if you look hard enough, you can still see some of the "dark, Satanic mills" to which William Blake referred in his classic English hymn, Jerusalem.

Using Liverpool as its portal and the Slave Triangle as its meal ticket, Manchester made its wealth in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Once the Manchester Ship Canal was built, allowing ships to sail up the River Mersey, then directly to docks in Manchester itself, the city's financial future was assured.

If you're a tourist with an appreciation of history, there's plenty of it on offer in Manchester.

First port of call would have to be the Castlefield heritage area. Castlefield is the area of the city where the Bridgewater Canal brought the Industrial Revolution to Manchester and the planet, where you can find the oldest railway station in one of the most interesting museums in the country.

It's not all history - there is some fine eating and drinking places to be found too.

A must is the Museum of Science and Industry , which has a gallery called Fibres, Fashion and Fabrics that deals with the whole cotton-picking subject.

Other history museums include the People's History Museum, the Museum of Transport and the Manchester Jewish Museum.

The city has a long Semitic tradition and is second only to London as a Jewish centre in the UK.

If you like your museums a little lighter and brighter, you can always check out the Boddington's Brewery Tour - and sink a few of Manchester's finest brew along the way.

Just be warned: "Boddy's" sinks down very smoothly, then kicks like a mule when your guard is down.

If you'd rather keep your Boddington's consumption down to a quiet few in the pub at night, try out the Granada Studios Tour during the day. Granada TV has grown to become one of the UK's biggest and most powerful TV networks. One of its staples is Coronation Street, the world's longest-running soap opera.

"Corrie" is still must-see TV for millions of British viewers, even if you no longer get it on free-to-air TV in Australia.

Fans of the show, past and present, will be delighted with the Street sets at Granada.

There is lots more than just Coronation Street stuff here, though. There are plenty of interactive exhibits and author Bill Bryson is on record as saying he had more fun here than in Disneyland.

The biggest thing in Manchester, however, is not Coronation Street, or Boddington's bitter for that matter; it's Manchester United, the world's most famous, glamourous, weathly - and arrogant - football club.

Soccer fans the world over make a Mecca-like pilgrimage to Old Trafford, United's self-ascribed "Theatre of Dreams", to soak up the atmosphere, drool over the trophy cabinets, and baste themselves in the rich history of the club, which, if the truth be known, only really stems back to 1948 when Sir Matt Busby became its manager and laid the foundations for all the success that has followed.

Star spotters who hope to catch a glimpse of Mr Posh Spice (David Beckham), Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane or any other current United megastar will probably be in for a disappointment, because they only turn up to the stadium on match days.

Take the Museum tour, however, and you'll get a glimpse of a sporting history that is still being written.

Superstars from the past, such as George Best, Eric Cantona (both pictured), Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and Duncan Edwards are all featured and there are heaps of interactive exhibits.

There are, of course, two teams in Manchester - the other being Manchester City, which has been very much the poor relation in the last 25 years. Ask to see the cups at the Maine Road stadium and they'll show you the canteen.

Night life is a big deal in Manchester. Apart from the more traditional pubs, the city is big on nightclubs, cafes and boutique bars and you can rage your face off in a multitude of different locations. Manchester is also a gay mecca, with a very visible and thriving community.

Manchester has spawned some of the biggest names in British - indeed global - music, even if it does tend to have a bit of an inferiority complex over the fact the Beatles came from Liverpool.

Manchester's music scene has been responsible for major stars in each of the past five decades: Dickie Valentine in the Fifties; the Hollies, Herman's Hermits and Freddy and the Dreamers in the Sixties; 10cc and Elkie Brooks in the Seventies; Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths and Simply Red in the Eighties; Oasis, the Stone Roses and the Charlatans in the Nineties.

That music scene is still thriving, so there is always plenty to enjoy in Manchester.

Like Liverpool to its west, Manchester has an accent all of its own that is something of an acquired taste. Like Scousers, Mancunians can be sophisticated and worldly one minute, crass and low-rent the next.

Often stylish and well-groomed, they spoil the illusion by uttering an "eee-bah-goom" chorus that cuts through in much the same way that a grating Scouse accent does.

For all that, though, the overwhelming atmosphere of the place is one of warmth and friendliness and, having been in a multi-cultural melting pot for a couple of centuries, Mancunians know how to be good hosts.

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