Day Trips from Manchester

In Brief. Visitors to Liverpool can pay homage to The Beatles in a variety of ways. Sites associated with the band and their songs can be visited on tour busses, and photographs can be taken with their statue at the waterfront. The highest profile visitor attraction is  The Beatles Story  at The Albert Dock, which includes recreations of places associated with the band and its members, accompanied by an informative audio guide.  This is somewhat complemented by Liverpool Beatles Museum , near the Cavern Club, which contains more conventional displays and memorabilia, from clothes to cufflinks. The Fab Four What's Here? More than 50 years after they split up, The Beatles still top polls as the Greatest Rock Band of All Time , and are thus deserving of ongoing recognition in their home town.  For a day trip, the journeys to and from Liverpool are also a good chance to revisit some Beatles albums (I went with Abbey Road and returned to Sgt. Pepper, but of course there ...

In Brief. The World of Wedgwood is a visitor centre located with the main Wedgwood pottery factory. Wedgwood has been making up-market pottery in (or now close to) Stoke-on-Trent since 1759. The factory is now in a suburban location, and has well developed visitor facilities. Factory tours can be booked in advance, there is a modern museum with a comprehensive collection of Wedgwood products covering the whole history of the company, and there is an impressive tea room, reassuringly devoid of disposable cups. Josiah Wedgwood What's Here. There are several different attractions on site that could seem like the focal point of a visit. Having booked the factory tour, my assumption was that it would be the high point, but it seems that for many the tea room is the main draw. The factory tour involves meandering through various spaces where different types of pottery are being worked on, from cups and teapots to pots and ornaments. This factory is in marked contrast to the scale and im...