Manchester Cathedral

Having said our goodbyes to Megan, we walked across to the Old Wellington in Shambles Square. Established in 1552, it is one of the oldest pubs in Manchester. We sat outside in the sunshine enjoying a couple of drinks. Manchester Cathedral is located just behind the pub. I didn't remember the cathedral being so close to the Shambles 40 years ago! It turns out that I'm not going crazy! The pub and the oyster bar next door were moved 70 metres closer to the cathedral following the IRA bombing in central Manchester in 1996.

While the others were enjoying a drink, I took the opportunity to have a look around the cathedral. They were just setting up for an event, but I was still able to see the magnificent post-war stained-glass windows which were part of the restoration after major bomb damage in 1940.

Manchester Cathedral or Collegiate Church has been standing for over 600 years. In 1787 it was the scene of the first ever public meeting of the campaign to abolish the slave trade. Founded by royal charter in 1421, it became a cathedral in 1847. It is a classic example of English ‘Perpendicular’ architecture, with fine 15th and 16th-century carvings in the nave and quire. Over the four decades or so during which Manchester mutated into the world’s first-ever modern industrial city, ‘th’ owd church’ hosted mass-industrial baptisms and weddings: batches of up to thirty couples married simultaneously, day after day. Nowadays, it oscillates between being, on the one hand, a haven of peace in a frantic city centre and – on the other hand – in the judgement of the BBC, ‘Britain’s most rocking cathedral’.Read more