Manchester: Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution
The canals still remain in Manchester, a city where cotton mills produced enormous wealth. And the terraced houses of workers still stand, like a scene from Coronation Street, which is set in the city.
David Neilson (who plays Roy Cropper) owns the shopping bag that is as famous as he is – his late mother took the bag to Loughborough market for years. He now uses it carry scripts around!
Today, many people in the city get around by trams, a great form of transport that is only used in a few other cities nationwide including London, Nottingham, Sheffield and Blackpool.
Manchester is known for its music. It’s the city that birthed The Smiths and folk singer Ewan MacColl (who wrote Dirty Old Town and was father to Kirsty MacColl).
Another local was Letter from America’s Alistair Cooke, who presented on BBC Radio 4 for decades. A tragedy after his death is that illegal gangs sold his bones to the medical industry (he died from bone cancer, so the tissue was not even healthy). All in a country that Alistair spent his life endearing us to.
