My Manchester bucket list: the progress so far

For those that don’t already know, I will be leaving the sunny shores of Manchester in a few short weeks for pastures new (Düsseldorf, to be precise). And so, as a final goodbye to the city I’ve called home since 2008, I drew up a list of places to visit before I jet off.

And so, with two weeks until I leave the North West, which have I managed to tick off?

Manchester cathedral

Heading to the cathedral was nice, though to be honest, the interior was a bit underwhelming. It has some beautiful stained glass windows and some interesting architectural details, but the nave in the centre seems to interrupt the flow of the space a bit and means you can’t get a good grasp of its size.

However, it was nice to see a corner of Manchester I’d never been to before and the real highlight was the tea shop directly opposite, which is joined to the cathedral visitor centre. Propertea has a quirky interior, and serves up a delicious afternoon tea with a scone, jam, cream cheese and a pop of tea of choice for under a fiver.

Manchester Central Library

The newly restored Central Library seems to be a real talking point in Manchester at the minute. Closed for restoration in 2010, it opened with a flourish the weekend before last. The ground floor is now an open and interactive exhibit of Manchester’s recent history, showcasing the library’s archives.

I’d love to explore it a bit more when the hype has subsided a bit – I’m pleased to say it was packed when I visited.

Museum of Science and Industry

The fact I hadn’t visited MOSI, arguably Manchester’s premier museum, had been my biggest secret shame for over a year… until now. I finally paid the museum a visit at the weekend and am pleased to say it did not disappoint.

The museum is a real homage to Manchester’s role as the birthplace of industry and goes a long way to show just how important the city was in the 19^th Century – the scale of machinery on show that was introduced or invented in Lancaster is staggering.

However, the real highlight for me was the Manchester Liverpool Road station – the world’s first passenger railway station. The station was opened in 1830 – over 180 years ago. Thanks to the museum exhibitions and the carefully restored station interior, it’s easy to imagine what train travel must have felt like back then.

We did, of course, also ride the steam train. Amazing.

Another highlight was the ‘Experiment Centre’, featuring lots of cool science stuff to help kids learn while they play. All we saw were plenty of adults having a whale of a time without a child in sight…

Still to come…

With three things crossed off, I still have a way to go to complete my bucket list… and only two weeks left in Manchester.

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For my full bucket list, click here.