Manchester (2)

Yesterday, I travelled with a friend to Manchester to attend a meetup. We travelled via train, which made my Manchester trip the first time I've used the railway system to visit a place other than London. The train was packed, which meant that my friend and I were forced to stand until half the people on board exited at Sheffield, the middway point of the journey.

I brought my umbrella with me because whenever I've read about Manchester, it's most noteworthy aspect is that it rains much of the time there. When my friend and I left sunny Nottingham, I wasn't to be disappointed when we arrived in Manchester:

It was sprinkling. It wasn't enough to require me to use my umbrella but nevertheless, I was glad I had it with me.

The pub at which the meetup was located was crowded and noisy, as there was a football match playing on the establishment's television. The meetup moved into the pub's garden area; by this stage, the weather had cleared and it had become a sunny day...by Manchester's standards. We all had a pleasant afternoon out in the pub garden.

This is a random street in the centre of Manchester; I have no idea what the name of the street is or its exact location. I took this when the five remaining members of the meetup, which included me, were on their way to another pub to have dinner. For some bizarre reason, the pub the meetup was initially at had closed its kitchen and some of us had had nothing to eat.

After dinner, my friend, one of the other meetup members and I all made our way back to the train station. On the walk back, I ensured that I took a photograph of this building, which is called the Beetham Tower. At 168 metres (551 ft), the Beetham Tower is the tallest building in Manchester and, on a clear day, can been seen from several of the counties surrounding Greater Manchester.

This is platform 5 at Manchester Oxford Road, which was the station where our train back to Nottingham was located. Our train itself departed from platform 4, which is off to the left.

I had a great time in Manchester; it's an interesting city and I would like to go there again. My visit was dampened somewhat because of the football match, as the bellowing football fans in the two pubs made it almost impossible to hear anyone talk. Next time, I'll endeavour to visit on a day that doesn't coincide with a local football event!