Greater Manchester

The landlocked county of Greater Manchester is in the north west of England, bordered by Merseyside, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire.

Greater Manchester has a population of around 2,800,000 people. The cities of Manchester, Salford and the towns of Bolton, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale are home to the larger populations in the county.

The landscape of Greater Manchester is mainly urban mixed with some outlying more rural areas home to heather clad moorland, the county flower – cotton grass, the Pennines and Peak District.

The county has a strong industrial heritage – particularly the manufacturing of textiles and cottons in the mills – the world’s first cotton mill being built near Oldham at Royton.

Manchester was founded on commerce with its trade using the world’s first entirely steam railway between Manchester and Liverpool. Excessive port charges led to the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1887 containing the Barton swing aqueduct the only one in the world then and now. The port of Manchester becoming for a time the 3rd largest in the UK, the area now being re-developed as the Salford Quays. Trafford Park was established the world’s first Industrial Park and still the largest in Europe.

62 Nelson Street, Manchester was the home of Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragette movement and is now a museum
Today many of the historic mills have undergone renovation and area such as Salford Quays are home to visitor attractions, restaurants and cafes.

Greater Manchester is very accessible by road with the M60, M67, M602, M61 and M62 among the major roads running through the county linking to the large conurbations of Liverpool, Birmingham and beyond.

The county is well served by train with mainline links into Manchester Piccadilly on the West Coast Main Line meaning London Euston is a little over two hours away.
Visitors from further afield benefit from Manchester Airport.