I grew up on the foothills of the Pennines, just outside of the metropolis of Manchester. For most of my childhood, I’d relish the trips into the city by train or by car to wander through the Victorian-era streets, experience the excitement of the stores that lined the streets, and explore the farmers’ markets that brought food from the verdant countryside into the beating heart of England’s northwest. With its recent boom in modern office blocks and residential towers (which, as you can see in the picture, doesn’t quite blend in with the city’s more historic architecture), it’s a city that’s constantly changing. The slightly scrappier and edgier counterpart to the more prim and proper London (an assertion I’m sure we’ll see challenged in this course), Manchester is a city that’s energetic, welcoming, and not afraid to be itself.
