Day Trips from Manchester

In Brief. Haddon Hall is an imposing country house that occupies an elevated position overlooking the River Wye near Bakewell. The hall has its origins in the 11th Century, has remained in the same family since the 12th Century, and continues to be a family home. The public areas include one of the courtyards, the original hall, the chapel, a long gallery and the compact but pleasant gardens. Several of these are striking and distinctive, for example with the chapel featuring extensive medieval wall paintings. Haddon hall from the gardens. What's Here? Haddon Hall is a substantial building, built around two courtyards, though one of these is private. However, the lower courtyard gives access to a portion of the 12th century wall as well as the 14th century hall and kitchens. The hall was originally used for most aspects of communal living, and includes a large fireplace, as an early example of a home improvement. The hall featured a log fire during my visit, and provides access to...

In Brief. Bradford Museums and Galleries have a range of venues, including the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery and the Bolling Hall Museum and Library .  The former is an imposing Baroque building from the turn of the 20th Century, located in the rolling Lister Park, with several themed spaces including a David Hockney Gallery.  Bolling Hall seems much more like a country house, if we ignore the fact that it is no longer in the countryside, with a variety of interiors from different periods. Cartwright Hall and Mughal Gardens What's Here? The Cartwright Hall Art Gallery seems much smaller inside than outside, but perhaps that is just as well given the scale of the building. I was interested to see the David Hockney Exhibition, which is compact, but in being arranged chronologically provides an interesting review of the artist's evolving techniques and subjects. I particularly liked a video that captures the process of creating some of his iPad paintings. This complements the Dav...

In Brief. Little Moreton Hall is a now somewhat wonky timber framed manor house dating from the 16th century, located just south of Congleton in Cheshire.  The name is (Little Moreton) Hall - the hall in Little Moreton, and not Little (Moreton Hall), the hall that is smaller than some other hall in Moreton.  Indeed, although the grounds are quite compact, mostly being inside a moat round the property, the house is quite substantial, featuring a striking courtyard and a decorated long gallery at the top of the building.  The Hall and the Moat. What's Here? Little Moreton Hall, despite its seemingly humble name, is distinguished by two vanity projects. The hall is surrounded by a moat, which is felt to have been built as a status symbol, and which encompasses the compact formal gardens and a lawn.  Furthermore, the top floor is dominated by a long gallery that spans from one end of the hall to another, the weight of which may have contributed to the irregular walls an...

In Brief. Liverpool is well served for museums, and previous blogs have covered visits to The Museum of Liverpool , the Maritime and Slavery Museums , and The Beatles Story and Beatles Museum . So, it was something of a surprise to find a further, substantial museum with the ambitious scope of covering The World.  A grand Neo-Classical building adjacent to other imposing civic piles, The World Museum  provides a sensitive modernisation of a Victorian building, with a variety of spaces on different floors covering different places and times, including Egypt and World Cultures galleries and an aquarium. That it is almost next door to The Walker Art Gallery means you will need to bring comfortable shoes. The World Museum and Liverpool Library. What's Here? The World Museum has a central atrium, from which different galleries and exhibitions are reached over what seems like quite a few levels if you use the stairs!  There are some temporary exhibitions, for which there may b...

In Brief. This visit was to the heart of Sheffield, where the Peace Gardens occupy the square beside the Town Hall, Plants fill a modern Winter Garden and Pictures are among the objects on show in the Millennium Gallery . In fact, the Millennium Gallery more strongly features craft items, and the nearby Graves Gallery is the place to go for paintings. All of these are deserving of attention, and the compact town centre seems to have emerged strongly from a series of development initiatives. Sheffield Town Hall from the Peace Gardens What's Here? Perhaps the Peace Gardens are the definition of the centre of Sheffield, occupying the public space in front of the town hall. It won't take long to visit them, but the combination of lawns, water features and levels, from the late 1990s, manages to be be both stately and calming in the middle of the bustling town centre. The Winter Gardens The Millennium Gallery and adjacent Winter Gardens were the original focus for my visit. Neither...

In Brief. The East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway running over 12 miles of track with 7 stations, one of which is a hub at Bury, where there is also a transport museum. The railway, which is kept going at least in part by an army of volunteers, has a large collection of engines and rolling stock, and runs a wide variety of events; my visit was to one day of a Steam Gala that runs over three days with a variety of impressive and compact engines pulling the trains.  A London-Midland-Scottish Locomotive from 1936. What's Here? At the risk of stating the obvious, there are stations, trains and tracks: The stations include a sizeable hub at Bury that provides a bar, a cafe and shops, and there are also catering facilities at either end of the line, at Heywood and Rawtenstall. This regular supply of catering reflects the fact that a visit is expected to include a certain amount of pottering about, the occasional visit to places that travellers might not otherwise visit, and s...

In Brief. The National Memorial Arboretum provides a permanent commemoration of the sacrifices made by service personnel in conflicts and peacetime. Given how great these sacrifices have been, the responsibility to provide a fitting recognition seems great, but the challenge has been risen to in the National Memorial Arboretum. The site is substantial and immaculately maintained, with over 400 memorials spread across a 150 acre site. Visitors can explore the site on foot, or participate in guided tours. The Stretcher Bearers Sculpture  on the Armed Forces Memorial What's Here? The arboretum is on level land by the banks of the River Tame.  Though there are trees, for the most part the site is light and open, with views along avenues and across lawns to the many memorials. These vary substantial in style and scale.   The Armed Forces Memorial The monumental armed forces memorial names members of the navy, army and air force who have lost their lives on service since the S...