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Manchester

England's earliest working canal, built for the Duke of Bridgewater in 1761, brought coal and raw cotton to the heart of Manchester and helped to make it a boom town at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. The city has many impressive 19th-century monuments from its days as a major centre for the Lancashire cotton industry, such as the galleried, glass-domed Barton Arcade, the grandiose town hall and the neo-Gothic John Rylands Library. Castlefield, an area near the city centre, is now a heritage park linking the city's past and future with restored warehouses and lively redevelopments. The city's new Millennium Quarter boasts the Urbis museum, housed in an impressive glass building, as part of the plans to regenerate the centre of Manchester after the devastation wrought by the 1996 IRA bomb attack.

CITY ART GALLERY
An impressive collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings is on display in Sir Charles Barry's classical building of 1829. Nearby stands the Princess Street Gallery of 1839, which was also designed by Barry.

GRANADA STUDIOS TOUR There are backstage tours of the TV studios and the sets on view include those for Coronation Street.

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM NORTH The striking aluminium-clad building displays 20th-century wartime objects which include a Harrier jump-jet and a Russian tank.

MANCHESTER MUSEUM Displays at the museum include a renowned collection of Egyptian mummies, a Japanese section and an interactive science gallery.

MANCHESTER UNITED MUSEUM AND TOUR CENTRE Covering three floors of the North Stand of Old Trafford, the museum traces the football club's history. Exhibits include an awe-inspiring trophy room, team kits and displays on the club legends, past and present. There are virtual reality and real-life tours of the stadium.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY Housed in Liverpool Road Station of 1830, the museum has working exhibits and includes a Power Hall, and Air and Space, Gas, and Electricity galleries, as well as a reconstruction of a Victorian sewer.

THE TRANSPORT MUSEUM A collection of over 80 beautifully restored vintage buses together with plenty of memorabilia can be viewed in the museum.