Besides being the home of the two most dominant football clubs (Manchester City and Manchester United) in the premier league, Manchester has played second fiddle to London for centuries. There is definitely a “north and south” rivalry in England as well as the United States. Of course the people in the south believe they are the “proper” ( a word used frequently here) English people and the more guttural accent from the north are less “proper”.
The picture at the top is of Manchester Cathedral from the parking lot where my car was parked today. I drove into Manchester downtown for the first time and it was much nicer than I expected. There has been extensive remodeling like a lot of urban areas in the U.S. The river is the Irwell. I will get better pictures the next time I go back. Originally there was a Saxon church on this property built in 700 A.D. I believe the current church is around 1,000 years old. It is quite impressive.
The picture above is taken of the Irwell in the opposite direction just to give you more perspective of Manchester. Manchester was originally started as a Roman fort.