dougw

Hi there. our driving itinerary South to North through England has us in Manchester on the weekend of 10 September, which is apparently the date of the local derby between City and United. It seems there can be a bit of animosity between some of the fans from time to time and I'm wondering if any of that spills into the city centre to the extent that it might spoil our visit? Thanks.

flanneruk

I've spent much of my life adjacent to England's other two major derbies: Spurs/Arsenal and Liverpool/Everton.

Both create a reasonable amount of public animation turning into outright piss-head nonsense - but nothing significantly different from any other Saturday night near the local clubs and bars (I lived virtually on the strip where the evening jollies are played out.) England's inner cities aren't exactly sets from Miss Marple.

They cause virtually zero inconvenience to civilians for two reasons. The crowds are generally self-policing. But, on the odd occasion they're not, our major cities have a high tolerance (tbh: high demand) for non-lethal police brutality. A spot of off-camera instant police discipline works wonders and meets general approval from the chums of those misbehaving.

Greater Manchester Police are no different from Merseyside or the Met.

Rubicund

The match takes place on Saturday the 10th with a 12:30pm kick off at Old Trafford, so you'll see little or no evidence of it in the City Centre other than people transiting through to get to the game and most people will be at the ground by noon at the latest. You may hear some chanting of team loyalties, but little else.

The match will be over by 2:20pm(ish) and people will be returning through the City until 4pm ish. Some will stay in town for the evening, most won't. Those that do will not usually be a problem to the general populace or each other. The odd idiot will get drunk, but they would have done that anyway in all likelihood.

Your visit won't be spoiled and you'll have a great weekend in the City. Let me know if you'd any info on where to eat, stay or what to see.

Rubicund

ps, for those in the area, Manchester was 32 degrees C yesterday, today is supoposed to be 25 or thereabouts. It's probably going to snow by the 10th September, you may need a husky team.

bilboburgler

BritishCaicos

The City and United derbies are really not a big issue, as Rubi has posted. It has frequently been the case that being from Manchester is far more important than being red or blue.

United and Liverpool matches are are different story when there can be issues, there's no love between the two cities and I have seen trouble in the city centre on the odd occasion. Many Mancs buy Range Rovers with the sole intention of stoking up global warming with the long held dream of Liverpool sinking into the sea at the next high tide.



Manchester

BritishCaicos

Manchester city centre has been transformed over the past 20 years, it has world class shopping, industrial museums and art galleries.

Our favourite restaurants are currently Saparo (Japanese), El Rincon (Catalan) and a new place Lebanais which is has a chainish feel but has really good quality middle Eastern food with a very plush but quirky interior. Great for lunch.

Afternoon tea at The Great John Street hotel isn't cheap but is fairly legendary. The roof gardens are peaceful and high quality.

Traffic around Manchester on a Saturday afternoon can be horrible : throw in a local derby and you could add half an hour to journey times.

dougw

Wow! Thank you very much for those great replies. Just heading out now but will absorb them all later and no doubt take up any offers of more local information. Looks like Manchester is firmly on the itinerary....

dougw

Thanks for the restaurant tips, BritishCaicos, (looking up what your username represents has broadened my travel horizons), my wife has already settled on Libanais and lunch is our favourite time to eat out. Probably more likely to head for a bar after lunch than afternoon tea, provided an appropriate quota of sightseeing has been done, so please feel free to throw in any ideas along those lines. We're arriving Sunday now and dropping the hire car at the airport and getting the train in (unless any other suggestions) so hopefully will avoidd the traffic.

Also any thoughts you might have, Rubicund,(that's expanded my vocabulary as well) will also be appreciated. We'll be staying at the Premier Inn, Portland Street, now on Sunday 11th and Monday 12th Sept (coming from Megavissey in Cornwall and overnighting in Wotton under Edge -couldn't resist the name). We're 65 and 62 (and think we're 35 and 32), mostly interested in where people live and play, maybe some historical stuff, have seen more than enough churches and cathedrals, though.

Thanks for your help.

stevelyon

Various great bars near you on Portland Street but depends on what you like ie modern or old?

For some unusual bars with great beer you may want to try the Gas Lamp off Princess Street or the one on Oxford road which has been converted from a public convenience the Temple Bar. Britons Protection(a bit of an institution) is not far from you, its an old fashioned boozer although marketed for those visitors intent on finding a real boozer. There are more genuine pubs in Manchester Centre.

Rubicund

I'd also recommend the Cafe Istanbul for Turkish food on Bridge St.,the Random in Albert Sq. for Indian/Nepalese or the Yang Sing on Princess St on the corner if Portland St. for Chinese.
Close to the same corner is the Circus Tavern, a tiny place but we'll known. Also the Sawyers Arms corner of Deansgate and Bridge St.

Have a look at Rylands library at Spinningfields, built by the wife if an industrialist in his memory. Manchester Town Hall is magnificent building.

Rubicund

Sorry, auto blooming correct! The Indian in Albert Sq is called The Rajdoot.

stevelyon

Auto correct can be a bit Rajdoot - whoops that should say random.

Rylands library also do a very good afternoon tea ie tea, coffee, cakes and butties (known as sandwiches in London.

dougw

I thought I'd already posted this so please excuse me if it repeats.

All those options look great, stevelyon, and Rubicund, looks like we'll have a full dance card and may have to extend our stay. If any of them have live music on Sunday afternoon/evening that will sway us.

And a visit to the Town Hall and Rylands library will surely justify the later shenanigans..

Thanks very much for your input.

Rubicund

Sunday evening the 11th September? I'd recommend Matt & Phredds on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter. It's a 5 or 10 minute walk from your hotel and is one of those no frills places with great music. It doesn't start till 9:30pm and goes on till 1am. That night it's a lady called Terri Shaltiel who they describe as :

"Returning to M&P's, Terri is a powerful funky singer as well as being a band-leader, song-writer, who sings a bluesy fusion of deep soul, jazz, funk, rare-groove, reggae and all that is fine, She has a tone ranging from gutsy and raw to lilting and lush.

Her Influences include;
Aretha Franklin, Etta James,Marlena Shaw, Gladys Knight, Ray Charles,Phyllis Dylan plus many more.

Terri has worked with several prestigious musicians including jazz and funk guitar legend Jim Mullen, who invited her to perform live with him, Grammy award-winning house/soul/gospel singer Barbara Tucker, and session singing for hip-hop artist MC Undakova.

As well as singing for award-winning reggae producers Mafia and Fluxy and ex-Sugar Mynott producer Roman Pryce, Terri has even sung jazz in Harlem!
She has secured radio play with her own songs on BBC Radio 6 Music with Craig Charles’ funk and soul show, and has had some of her material recently featured on reggae/r’n’b stations Passion FM and Unique FM."

We saw her a year or two ago and she was fantastic.

http://www.mattandphreds.com/diary/terri-shaltiel-15

dougw

Had a listen on Youtube. She's great! 9.30PM eh? Better time my run.

Rubicund

Try and get there a little earlier to get a table if you don't book, but I'd recommend reserving.

dougw

Will do, thank you