Manchester’s Railway Heritage

After a first trip on an Avanti from Stoke, we soon arrived at Manchester Piccadilly, Britain’s 10^th busiest station in 2022 and 2^nd outside London after Birmingham New Street. Outside the entrance is the bronze statue, Victory over Blindness, by Johanna Domke-Guyot. It remembers the 3,000 World War One veterans who were affected by blindness as a result of the conflict.

It’s easy to find examples of Manchester’s railway heritage by just walking around the city. On the west side, the massive old LNER and GNR goods depots still stand. The impressive and recently refurbished Midland Hotel is straight opposite the GMEX Exhibition and Conference Centre - formerly Manchester Central station.

We took a boat trip from Ralli Quays, near to the People’s History Museum on the River Irwell, to Media City at Salford, the starting point of the Manchester Ship Canal, which was opened in 1894. The boat took us beneath George Stephenson’s 1830 bridge that was built for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway’s approach to Liverpool Road station. Across the city centre to the north, the refreshment room and the wooden façade of the booking office at Victoria station are both beautifully restored.