Manchester: Post-War Architecture Walking Tour｜United Kingdom

Meet your guide in Sadler's Yard and set off on a journey through Manchester's post-war transformation. Discover how the city was re-imagined after World War II, when Britain, broken as a superpower, found it hard to face its past.

Learn how a dirty, bombed Manchester, being the first urban center of the Industrial Revolution, didn't like what it saw when it glanced in the mirror. It seemed better to wipe all the old stuff away and make a fresh start.

Explore the superb in scale and ambition 1945 Manchester Plan. The vision in this huge document is thrilling but thankfully it was never realized. If carried through, the city would have been left with a Stalinist city center like Nova Huta close to Cracow. Instead of the glorious mess of Manchester architecture, the city would have been left with a regimented and uniform street scene.

See telltale signs of how the plan would have been realized and buildings that hint at how the city might have looked if it all had been carried through.

Learn about some of the mighty buildings remaining from the controversial post-war love of concrete, glass, and steel, including the CIS Tower, the Piccadilly Plaza complex, Manchester's little Brasilia, and precursors such as the glorious Daily Express building.

Visit sites inside and outside buildings. Look at buildings and huge and often overlooked artworks (such as William Mitchell's wonders) and hear about the personalities involved with the Manchester Plan.