England Guide
The Northwest
Within the northwest of England lie some of the ugliest and some of the most beautiful parts of the country. The least attractive zones are to be found in the urban sprawl linking the country's third and sixth largest conurbations, Manchester and Liverpool, but even here the picture isn't unrelievedly bleak, as the cities themselves are appealing. Where once only a handful of Victorian Gothic buildings lent any grace to the place, Manchester has been transformed in recent years by a rebuilding programme that puts it in the vanguard of modern British urban design.
Quite apart from a clutch of top-class visitor attractions – including The Lowry and the Imperial War Museum North – where Manchester really scores is in the buzz of its thriving café and club scene. Liverpool, set on the Mersey estuary, is perhaps less appealing at first glance, though its revitalized dockside, Georgian townhouses, grand civic buildings and museums, and burgeoning café and restaurant scene soon change perceptions.
The southern suburbs of Manchester bump up into the steep hills of the Pennine range, and to the southwest the city slides into undulating, pastoral Cheshire, a county of rolling green countryside, whose dairy farms churn out the crumbly, white Cheshire cheese. The county town, Chester, with its complete circuit of town walls and partly Tudor centre, is especially alluring.
Lancashire reached industrial prominence in the nineteenth century, primarily due to the cotton-mill towns around Manchester. Along the coast to the west and north stretches a line of resorts that once formed the mainstay of the northern British holiday trade. Only Blackpool is really worth visiting for its own sake, a rip-roaring resort which has stayed at the top of its game by supplying undemanding entertainment with more panache than its neighbours. For anything more culturally invigorating you'll have to continue north to the historically important city of Lancaster, with its Tudor castle.
The semi-autonomous Isle of Man, only 25 miles off the coast, provides a terrain almost as rewarding as that of the Lake District but without the seasonal overcrowding.
Highlights
1 Imperial War Museum North,Manchester A startlingly modern exploration of the reasons for, and effects of, war.
2 Café society, Manchester Legendary café-bars set the tone for England's second city. See Kro2
3 City walls, Chester Survey the handsome old town from the heights of its Roman walls.
4 World Museum Liverpool The wonders of the world, on view at Liverpool's most family-friendly museum.
5 Blackpool Tower Blackpool's bold answer to the Eiffel Tower lights up the skyline of the UK's favourite resort.
6 Lancaster Castle From the dungeons to the ornate court rooms, the castle is a historical tour-de-force.
7 Calf of Man Weather permitting, don't miss a boat ride across to the Isle of Man's remote bird sanctuary.