Media City and Salford Quays

I think the Quays and MediaCityUK are great places to go with the camera. I do love old architecture but I also find a lot of merit in the modern which this area has in abundance. Consequently, in photography terms, it tends to take me out of my comfort zone as I normally deal in landscapes and nature.

I parked up on a four hour ticket and only just got back to the car in time which just go to show how interesting and varied the place is. In that four hours, I included a customary visit to the Costa Coffee Shop who amused me by using an umbrella template to sprinkle the chocolate on the top of my cappuccino. Well I was in Manchester, the home of drizzle!

This entire area was previously the site of the Manchester Docks. Salford Quays became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in 1982 and is now home to -

The Lowry Theatre and Art Gallery which has a permanent exhibition of L.S. Lowry's work,

MediaCityUK with it's focus on creative industries whose principal tenants are media organisations including the BBC.

Imperial War Museum North (IWM North). The museum's structure was designed to be a metaphor for a world shattered by war with sloping walls and ceilings and holds extensive collections of historical artifacts, primarily from the wars occurring during the 20th century. It also currently has a large framework section taken from the New York 9/11 Twin Tower disaster. The last time I was at the museum there was an exhibition on the Iraq war which had the remains of a car detonated by a bomb which was a very sobering and thoughtful sight.

Added to the above there is a shopping mall (sorry an outlet village) plus a surrounding area of both business and residential properties all offering great photo opportunities. It also has Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United as its next door neighbour.

The journey over and back on the M62 and M60 can be a proper pain. No matter what they do to try and improve those roads, just fails miserably. I got stuck in heavy traffic both ways but neither spoilt my enjoyment of the day. I hope you enjoy the photos I took.