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53属30N 2属15W, pop (2001e) 392 800. Metropolitan district in Greater Manchester urban area, NW England, UK, on the R Irwell, 256 km/159 mi NW of London; Roman town, located at a major crossroads; became centre of local textile industry in 17th-c, and focal point of English cotton industry during the Industrial Revolution; became a city in 1853; University of Manchester (1880), University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (1824); Manchester Metropolitan University (1992, formerly Manchester Polytechnic); railway; airport; connected to the Irish Sea by the 57 km/35村 mi Manchester Ship Canal (1894); UK's second largest commercial centre; textiles, chemicals, engineering, paper, foodstuffs, rubber, electrical equipment, printing; major business services centre, with the largest UK office market and the highest number of publicly listed companies outside London; major media and entertainment centre, home to BBC North West and Granada Television, five radio stations, eight national daily and five national Sunday newspapers; cultural centre for the NW; art gallery, Royal Exchange (theatre), Cotton Exchange (leisure centre); Hall辿 Orchestra; 15th-c cathedral; Chetham's Hospital and Library, the oldest public library in England; Free Trade Hall (1843); Salford Quays, an internationally recognized site of urban regeneration, the centrepiece of which is the acclaimed Lowry museum and arts centre, and the Imperial War Museum North; Liverpool Road Station, the world's oldest surviving passenger station; football league teams, Manchester City (Blues), Manchester United (Reds); location of the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

43属00N 71属28 W, pop (2000e) 107 000. City in Hillsborough Co, New Hampshire, USA; on the R Merrimack, 24 km/15 mi S of Concord; largest city in New Hampshire; railway; airfield; New Hampshire College (1932); textiles, leather products, vehicle parts, paper; museum, library, art gallery.

otheruses

City of Manchester
Geography
Status:	Metropolitan borough, City(1853)
Region:	North West England
Ceremonial county:	Greater Manchester
Traditional county:	Lancashire, part in Cheshire
Area: - Total	Ranked 228th115.65 km族
Admin. HQ:	Manchester
ONS code:	00BN
Geographical coordinates:	53|29|N|2|15|W|type:city(437000)_region:GB-MAN}}
Demographics
Population: - Total (EnglishStatisticsYear) - Density	Ranked / km族
Ethnicity:	81.0% White 9.1% S.Asian 4.5% Afro-Carib. 1.3% Chinese
Politics
Manchester City Council www.manchester.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	ONS=00BN}}
Lord Mayor:	David Sandiford(Liberal Democrat)
MPs:	Paul Goggins, Gerald Kaufman, John Leech, Tony Lloyd, Graham Stringer

The City of Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in the North of England, historically notable for its central role in the Industrial Revolution.
Today it is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce and
considered by some to be the country's second city "Manchester 'England's second city'", BBC, 12 September 2002, retrieved 2 May 2006."Manchester 'close to second city'", BBC, 29 September 2005, retrieved 2 May 2006. (although this status is traditionally given to Birmingham).
The metropolitan borough has a population of 437,000, whilst the Greater Manchester Urban Area is home to 2,240,230 people, making it England's third largest conurbation after Greater London and West Midlands.

Manchester is also well-known for its sporting connections, being home to Manchester City and Manchester United football clubs, Lancashire County Cricket Club and having hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games in 2002.

Manchester city centre is on a "tentative list" of UNESCO World Heritage Sites?mainly based around its network of canals and mills, which facilitated its development during the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth centurywhc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1316/.

The city is named from the old Roman name Mamuciam, thought to be a latinisation of the original Celtic name (possibly mamm meaning 'breast' or 'breast-like hill'), plus the Old English ceaster, derived from the Latin castra, meaning "camp". Manchester is a metropolitan borough with city status.

Greater Manchester County consists of the City of Manchester and the other metropolitan boroughs which surround it: Trafford, Tameside, Salford, Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Stockport. The Manchester post town contains parts of all ten boroughs except Stockport - Salford and Sale form separate post towns within the area.

Geography and climate

Manchester is situated within a bowl-shaped land area, bordered to the north and east by the Pennine moors and to the south by the Cheshire Plain. The city centre is located on the east bank of the River Irwell, near the confluence of the River Medlock and the River Irk. The average annual rainfall is 809 mm, meaning that its reputation is relatively undeserved. For example, this total is less than that of Plymouth, Cardiff or Glasgow. In international terms, Manchester receives substantially less rain than New York City, which receives 1200 mm of rain in an average year, and its average annual rainfall total is comparable with that of Rome. The fort was abandoned in the Dark Ages, and at some point in time the focus of settlement shifted from this spot to the confluence of the rivers Irwell and Irk. The former is now Chetham's School of Music, and the latter Manchester Cathedral.

Manchester became a market town in 1301 when it received its Charter. In this period Manchester Grew heavily due to a influx of Flemish settlers who founded Manchester's new cotton industry and sparked the growth of the city to become Lancashire's major industrial centre.

During the 19th Century Manchester grew to become to the centre of Lancashire's cotton industry and was dubbed "Cottonopolis". Also during this period Manchester saw a rise in it's population as Lancastarians, the Irish, Jews and many other people immigrated to the city.

As well as being a centre of capitalism the city saw its fair share of rebellion by the lower classes, with the most famous being the events on St Peter?s Field on 16 August 1819 which have becom known as 'Peterloo'. Other rebellions have taken place in the city with visits from such left-wing radicals as Lenin and Marx at the turn of the 20th century. The first Trades Union Congress was held in Manchester (at the Mechanics' Institute, David Street), from 2 to 6 June 1868. Manchester was also an important cradle of the Labour Party and the Suffragette Movement.

Manchester's golden age was perhaps the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1889, when county councils were created in England, the municipal borough became a county borough with even greater autonomy.During this period, the Manchester Ship Canal was created by the canalisation of the Rivers Irwell and Mersey for 36 miles from Salford to the Mersey estuary at the port of Liverpool. it was home to Avro (now BAE Systems) which built countless aircraft for the RAF, the most famous being the Avro Lancaster bomber.

Recent history

At 11.20 am on Saturday 15 June 1996, the IRA detonated a large bomb in the city centre, the largest to be detonated on British soil. The latest and final part of the renovated Manchester Arndale opened in September 2006, allowing the centre to hold the title of Europe's largest city centre shopping mall.
In 2002, the city successfully hosted the XVII Commonwealth Games, earning praise from many sources. Manchester has twice failed in its bid to host the Olympic Games, losing to Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

Rapidly developing institutions attract crime and disorder; see main article crime and policing in Manchester.

Since the regeneration after the 1996 IRA attack, and aided by the XVII Commonwealth Games, Manchester's city centre has changed significantly. "City building reaches full height", BBC, 26 April 2006, retrieved 2 May 2006.

Places of interest

Architecture

Manchester has a wide variety of buildings mainly from Victorian architecture through to modern. However, this status may be short lived, an even taller building is proposed behind Manchester Piccadilly station.

Other structures of interest in Manchester include:

• The Bridgewater Hall, home of the Hall辿 Orchestra
  
• The Corn Exchange (now the Triangle shopping centre)
  
• The G-Mex Centre
  
• John Rylands Library, Deansgate
  
• London Road Fire Station
  
• Manchester Central Library, St Peter?s Square, by E. Vincent Harris
  
• Manchester Town Hall by Alfred Waterhouse, extended by E. Vincent Harris
  
• Midland Bank building (now HSBC Bank plc), King Street by Sir Edwin Lutyens
  
• The Midland Hotel
  
• Piccadilly Gardens by Tadao Ando
  
• Palace Hotel
  
• The Portico Library
  
• The Royal Exchange
  
• South Manchester Synagogue
  
• Strangeways Prison by Waterhouse
  
• Sunlight House
  
• Trinity Bridge over River Irwell by Santiago Calatrava
  
• Victoria station
  
• The Victoria Baths
  
• Urbis Museum designed by Ian Simpson
  

Public monuments

Within Manchester there are monuments to numerous people and events that have helped to shape the city and influence the wider community. Two large squares, Albert Square, in front of Manchester Town Hall, and Piccadilly Gardens hold many of Manchester?s public monuments.

Notable monuments elsewhere in the city include the Alan Turing Memorial situated in Sackville Park close to Canal street remembers the father of modern computing.
Whitworth Street is a broad 19th century route, stretching from Deansgate to London Road, running parallel to the Rochdale Canal for much of its route, and intersecting with Princess Street, Chepstow Street and Albion Street along the way. The street is closed to general traffic, with the Metrolink running trams along its route.
Another Victorian addition to the city's street pattern was Corporation Street, which cut through slums to the north of Market Street and provided a direct link from Cross Street (and the newly constructed Albert Square) to the routes north of the city.

To the south of the city centre, Wilmslow Road is the hub of much student life and is home to Manchester?s curry mile.

Districts in the City of Manchester

Ancoats Ardwick Baguley Benchill Beswick Blackley Bradford

Burnage Cheetham Cheetham Hill Chorlton-cum-Hardy Clayton Crumpsall Didsbury

Fallowfield Gaythorn Gorton Harpurhey Hulme Levenshulme Longsight

Miles Platting Moss Side Moston Newton Heath Northenden Openshaw Rusholme

Sharston Whalley Range Withington Woodhouse Park Wythenshawe

Parishes

1. Ringway
   

Unparished Areas

Showing former status (prior to 1974)

1. Manchester (County Borough)
   

North West Regional Assembly

Whilst not a directly elected body, the North West Regional Assembly is responsible for promoting the economic, environmental and social well-being of the North West England region.

UK Parliament

There are five UK Parliamentary constituencies which cover the City of Manchester, each of which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in London. These constituencies and their current MPs are:

• Manchester Central - Tony Lloyd MP (Labour)
  
• Manchester, Blackley - Graham Stringer MP (Labour)
  
• Manchester, Gorton - Rt Hon Sir Gerald Kaufman MP (Labour)
  
• Manchester, Withington - John Leech MP (Liberal Democrats)
  
• Wythenshawe and Sale East (also covers part of Trafford) - Paul Goggins MP (Labour)
  

European Parliament

North West England, as a single EU constituency, elects 9 representatives to the European Parliament. The current Members of the European Parliament (MEP) for the North West are:

• Mr Gary Titley (Labour)
  
• Mr Den Dover (Conservative)
  
• Mr Chris Davies (Liberal Democrats)
  
• Mrs Arlene McCarthy (Labour)
  
• Mr John Whittaker (UK Independence Party)
  
• Mr David Sumberg (Conservative)
  
• Mr Terry Wynn (Labour)
  
• Rt. Though these councils frequently have to interact with each other on a number of issues, they are completely independent of each other.
  
  The 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester are:
  
  
  1. City of Manchester
     
  2. Stockport
     
  3. Tameside
     
  4. Oldham
     
  5. Rochdale
     
  6. Bury
     
  7. Bolton
     
  8. Wigan
     
  9. City of Salford
     
  10. Trafford
      

  Towns in the Greater Manchester (County) area include Altrincham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Cheadle, Droylsden, Hyde, Middleton, Oldham, Rochdale, Sale, Stalybridge, Stockport, Stretford and Wigan.
  

  Whilst the county does not have its own tier of government, there are some functions of government organised at the county level.
  

  County-wide functions

  The County council was abolished in Greater Manchester in 1986, however the area still utilises some amenities and services on a county-wide basis. Public transport is organised by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and there is also the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.
  
  AGMA also funds the Greater Manchester County Records Office, who's main function is to collect, store, and make available for research the written heritage of the County, including census and General register office index material. There are other stations in Salford,Hulme, Collyhurst, Withington and Longsight. Manchester?s railways are policed by the nationwide British Transport Police.
  
  Manchester used to have its own police service until 1974, when its force and the lower divisions of Lancashire Constabulary merged to form the Greater Manchester Police. China
  

Economy

Manchester has a large number of office buildings, and its Central Business District is currently located in the centre of the city, adjacent to Piccadilly, focused on Mosley Street, Deansgate, King Street and Piccadilly.

Just outside the city centre, a new business district is appearing in Salford Quays, regenerated ex-shipping docks similar to London's Docklands, and is home to headquarters and call centres for many major companies. The recent announcement (June 2006) of the relocation of several BBC departments to the Quays from London is sure to further expand the area as Greater Manchester's second major Business District. the Manchester Arndale in the middle of the city and the out-of-town Trafford Centre. The city centre has a number of smaller shopping centres, including The Triangle, which caters for a more youthful and upmarket clientele and the Royal Exchange Centre. Manchester also has one of the largest ASDA-WalMart supercentres in the UK, close to the City of Manchester Stadium in Eastlands.

The Shambles contains a branch of Harvey Nichols, a Marks and Spencer store, and a branch of Selfridges, as well as a variety of upmarket designer boutiques.

Deansgate also has many shops, including the department store House of Fraser (formerly Kendals), along with pubs and bars.

Food and drink

Manchester has a vibrant and exciting range of restaurants, bars and clubs, spanning the famous "curry mile" in Rusholme to traditional ?grub?, Chinatown, modern bars and bistros at Deansgate Locks in the city centre. There are now many top class restaurants.

There is a Hard Rock Cafe, chain restaurants such as Wagamama and bars that include Waxy O?Connors and The Living Room. Other, independent restaurants, bars and clubs can be found in the Northern Quarter area of the city centre.

Regional favourites include the Eccles cake. The traditional pie capital of the UK is supposedly at the heart of Wigan, 15 miles outside the city.

Manchester is also famous for its beer, despite the closure of the Boddingtons brewery in 2005. Keg 'Boddies' is brewed by Interbrew in Luton but cask Boddington's continues to be brewed in the city by Hydes brewery in Moss Side. Another Manchester brewer is Joseph Holt, whose Derby Brewery in Cheetham is just round the corner from the defunct Boddingtons Strangeways brewery. J W Lees brewery is in Middleton Junction, a few miles north of the city. There are also a notable number of microbreweries producing smaller quantities of high quality beer, cider and perry.

Breweries in Manchester and Salford which closed within the last twenty years include Wilson's, whose Newton Heath brewery closed in the late 1980's, and Whitbread/Chester's in Salford.

Education

Universities

Manchester is also home to two major universities: The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University are to the south of the city. Manchester Metropolitan University was formed out of the old polytechnic college in the city.

Two miles to the west of the city centre in nearby Salford is the University of Salford, and with the University of Bolton, the Royal Northern College of Music and University Centre Oldham all nearby, Greater Manchester has a total student population of over 100,000.

The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Royal Northern College of Music are all grouped together on the southern side of the city centre, and effectively form one large campus around Oxford Road. Manchester is in the Central North Division of the Salvation Army. Manchester also has a large Muslim population and the UK's largest Jewish community outside London.

Manchester has also has an Anglican cathedral, St George's Cathedral. Today, Greater Manchester still has an extensive citywide railway network, and two mainline stations.

Other forms of transport in Manchester are the famous Black Cabs which are reasonably priced compared to other cities and there are plenty of taxi stands.

Air

Manchester International Airport, formerly Manchester Ringway Airport, is the third busiest airport in the UK in terms of passengers per yearThe busier airports are Heathrow and Gatwick. and is served by a dedicated railway station. Long haul scheduled destinations served directly from Manchester include New York ( JFK and Newark ), Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Toronto, Port of Spain, Antigua, Barbados, Damascus, Dubai, Abu Dhabi (starting Spring 2006), Doha, Tehran, Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and (resuming in 2006), Hong Kong.

The airport has been voted the best airport in the UK by Which Consumer Magazine, Travel Weekly Globe, Business Magazines International and in the Airport World?s Service Excellence Awards (European runner up, second only to Copenhagen).

Barton Aerodrome, one of the world's oldest airports, is still in operation.

Road

Manchester like London has a ring road, the M60.
The main motorways serving Manchester are the M56 (to the airport, Chester and the M6 southbound to Birmingham), the M61 (to Bolton, Preston and the M6 northbound to Lancaster), the M62 (to Liverpool and Leeds) and the M66 (to Bury). All of these motorways connect onto the M60.

Rail

Manchester holds a pivotal position in railway history as a birthplace of passenger rail travel on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830 after the famous Rainhill Trials chose Stephenson's Rocket to pull the trains. In just 50 years the city centre was encircled by stations and termini, including Manchester London Road, (now Manchester Piccadilly), Manchester Victoria, Manchester Central, Manchester Mayfield and Manchester Exchange. Following the Beeching Report in the 1960s, cutbacks followed, with Manchester Central, Manchester Mayfield and Manchester Exchange closing to passengers. High speed trains to London are run from Manchester Piccadilly by Virgin Trains, journeys typically taking around 2 hr 15 min. There are also several smaller stations remaining around the City Centre, including Manchester Oxford Road, Deansgate and Salford Central.

Although there is no Underground Railway system similar to Glasgow's or London's, the city has had several failed attempts to create one including the infamous "Picc-Vic tunnel", a heavy rail tunnel linking the main stations. This may well have referred to the 'Guardian' underground nuclear bunker network, originally constructed by as a means of protecting communications in the city in the event of an atom bomb being deployed and now used by BT.

The urban and suburban areas are covered by a sizeable network of rail lines, including lines to Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Oldham, Stockport and Wilmslow.

Metrolink

Manchester has a tram system called Metrolink. Operated by Serco, the Metrolink links the city centre to Altrincham, Eccles and Bury. The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE), responsible for public transport in the area, led the fight to ensure that the extensions are to be built, with significant support from Local Councils and Communities, as well as the main Manchester City Council. "Get our Metrolink back on track", Manchester City Council, 25 November 2005; The line from Manchester City Centre to Eccles Town Centre is also judged by many to be a failure as it takes longer than an equivalent bus journey following a similar route, but achieves this without the Metrolink's advantage of using 'Metrolink-only' specially dedicated / constructed routes.

Since Metrolink's inception and the initial euphoria at the huge success, by the public / local & national government / environmental groups it has become something of a victim of its own popularity. Maps of bus routes and a public transport journey planner for the Greater Manchester can be found on the GMPTE website.

The city?s buses are operated by a range of companies including First, Stagecoach (incorporating the lower-cost Magicbus), Finglands, UK North (also trading as GM Buses), Arriva and R. These include Oxford Road/Wilmslow Road, one of the busiest bus routes in Europe, bringing large numbers of students & commuters from Fallowfield / Withington / Didsbury to the university buildings that have campuses scattered around the city centre, and the various office buildings — Other routes that are not as commercially attractive, with smaller passenger volumes, are less well provided for, and the cost of a single journey can be similar to that of a Week Pass for the "South Manchester" journey.

First Manchester also operates free Metroshuttle services which link important areas of the city, such as Manchester Victoria, Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations with Chinatown, Deansgate, Salford Central, and Albert Square. They run every 5-10 minutes and complement the Metrolink and National Rail services, linking them with the city?s car parks, tourist attractions and bus termini.

Those arriving at Manchester Piccadilly Bus Station, and needing to take a train from Manchester Piccadilly, can choose either a Metrolink or the free Metroshuttle. It should be noted, however, that if one sits waiting on the Metroshuttle for 10 minutes one could have easily walked the distance to the Train Station, less than ½ mile away.

High frequency bendy bus routes include the Bury-Manchester 135 service and the Bolton-Manchester 8 service, which operate every ten minutes.

Manchester's principal bus station mainly for services on the south side of the city is at Piccadilly Gardens, which is also served by Metrolink and a short walk from the city's main train station, Piccadilly.

Water

One legacy of the industrial revolution is an extensive network of canals: the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, Rochdale Canal, Manchester Ship Canal, which provides access to the sea, Bridgewater Canal, Ashton Canal, and the Leigh Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Tony Prince is credited as becoming the world's first full-time club DJ in 1964 when Savile, who was then a Mecca manager in Manchester, told him that Top Rank considered him to be the first person to be on their payroll as a pure DJ.

Many teenagers of the 1960s developed a love for Northern Soul, which had as two of its epicentres the Wigan Casino and Manchester's Twisted Wheel Club, and is credited as being instrumental in the development of the Motown Sound.

Rob Gretton, members of New Order (the band formed from the remaining members of Joy Division after singer Ian Curtis' suicide) and Factory Records boss Tony Wilson opened Fac 51 The Hacienda on Whitworth Street in 1982. It quickly became the focus of electronic music and the start of house music, the Madchester sound, and the Ibiza scene, which all came together in the Summer of Love in 1988. home of happy hardcore.

• "Paradise Factory" and "The Breakfast Club" at Manto.
  
• "Rockworld".
  
• "Home".
  
• "Flesh".
  
• "Homoelectric".
  
• "Danceteria".
  
• "42nd Street Nightclub" - The Home of Indie
  

One of the oldest and most diverse venues is the Band on the Wall, a live music venue in the Northern Quarter area of the city.

• Sean Bidder Pump Up the Volume: A History of House Music, MacMillan, 2002, ISBN 0-7522-1986-3.
  
• Tony Wilson 24-hour Party People Channel 4 Books, 2002, ISBN 0-7522-2025-X.
  
• Keith Rylatt, Phil Scott CENtral 1179: The Story of Manchester's Twisted Wheel Club BeCool Publishing 2001 ISBN 0-9536626-3-2
  

Art

There are many art galleries in Greater Manchester, notably:

• The Lowry in Salford Quays (Salford), which houses works by the Salford painter L. Lowry
  
• The Athenaeum
  
• Salford Museum and Art Gallery (Salford)
  
• Manchester Art Gallery
  
• The Whitworth Art Gallery
  
• The Chinese Arts Centre
  
• Cornerhouse
  
• The Castlefield Gallery
  
• Cube Gallery
  
• Comme Ca Art Gallery
  
• The Barn Gallery
  

Museums

Museums in Manchester include:

• Imperial War Museum North (Trafford Park)
  
• Manchester Jewish Museum
  
• Manchester Museum
  
• Museum of Science and Industry
  
• Pankhurst Centre
  
• People?s History Museum
  
• Urbis, a museum of city life
  
• The Gallery of Costume
  

Classical music

Manchester is home to two symphony orchestras, the Hallé Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. There is also a chamber orchestra, the Manchester Camerata.

For many years the city?s main classical venue was the Free Trade Hall on Peter Street. Other venues for classical concerts include the RNCM, the Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester Cathedral.

Manchester is a centre for musical education, being home to the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham?s School of Music.

In the 1950s the city was home to the so-called ?Manchester School? of classical composers, which comprised Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies and Alexander Goehr. The city?s eclectic mix of music has created the sense among its inhabitants that Manchester is the most important city in world music.

Local groups and bands have included:

• The Bee Gees
  
• The Hollies
  
• The Mindbenders
  
• 10cc
  
• Buzzcocks
  
• Slaughter and the Dogs
  
• Magazine
  
• A Certain Ratio
  
• Joy Division
  
• New Order
  
  • (the previous three on local label Factory Records)
    
• The Smiths
  
• The Fall
  
• M People
  
• Badly Drawn Boy
  
• Doves
  
• Oasis
  
• Cleopatra
  
• the Chameleons
  
• Elbow
  
• Simply Red
  
• Nine Black Alps
  
• Take That
  
• William Beaman
  

As well as "Madchester" scene bands:

• the Happy Mondays
  
• The Charlatans UK
  
• The Inspiral Carpets
  
• James
  
• The Stone Roses
  

The Chemical Brothers (from southern England) formed in Manchester. Among the others born in Manchester or the suburbs are Richard Ashcroft and Jay Kay-the singer and mastermind of the acid jazz band Jamiroquai.

In 1965, on the U.S. Hot 100, a unique hat-trick of number 1s took place in the spring, all from Mancunian pop groups.Freddie and the Dreamers spent two weeks at the top with "I'm Telling You Now" (between April 10?24), Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders one week with "Game of Love" (April 24),and finally Herman's Hermits with "Mrs Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter", a further three weeks (May 1?22), a total of six weeks, an achievement never matched even in the UK Top 50.

Manchester?s main popular music venue is the Manchester Evening News Arena, situated next to Manchester Victoria railway station, which seats over 21,000 and is the largest arena of its type in Europe, voted International Arena of the Year, beating New York?s Madison Square Garden. Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo and the Manchester Academy. The many smaller venues throughout the city, such as the Bierkeller, the Roadhouse and Night and Day Cafe, ensure that Manchester?s music scene is always vibrant and interesting.

The famous American anti-war hippie musical from the late sixties, Hair, includes 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.

Literature

Famous writers from the Manchester area include Elizabeth Gaskell and Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange. Sebald lived in Manchester when he first came to England, and the city features prominently in his novel The Emigrants. Jeff Noon, the author of Vurt, writes novels which take place in Manchester. Charles Dickens was known to visit the city, and Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are known to have found much to inspire their thoughts and writing when visiting the city during the Industrial Revolution.

Manchester is home to the Manchester Metropolitan University Writers School, one of the top creative writing schools in the country. Larger venues include the Manchester Opera House, a commercial theatre promoting large scale touring shows which regularly plays host to touring West End shows, the Palace Theatre and the Royal Exchange Theatre, a large producing theatre located in Manchester?s former cotton exchange. The Library Theatre is a small producing theatre situated in the basement of the city?s central library and the Lowry is a large touring venue in Salford, and Studio Salford, the Manchester Evening News-award winning theatre and music venue at Bloom Street, Salford.

Smaller sites include the Green Room, which focuses on fringe productions and Contact Theatre, a theatre for young people with a bold contemporary design. Manchester City play at the City of Manchester Stadium, while Manchester United?s Old Trafford ground, the largest club football ground in England, is just outside the city proper in the borough of Trafford.

It is commonly perceived that Manchester City have more local support than United. class=ilnk>Bolton Wanderers.

Many first class sporting facilities were built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, including the Manchester Velodrome, the City of Manchester Stadium, the National Squash Centre and the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Old Trafford cricket ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club, hosts many first-class cricket and important international matches including Test Matches.

The Greater Manchester area is also represented in Rugby League by Wigan Warri