Manchester beyond the Tory Party Conference Part 1

Preparations are already afoot for the Conservative Party Conference, which begins on Monday, October 5th and concludes on Thursday, October 8th.

A number of buildings and streets will be off limits to non-authorised personnel as this week progresses. By Friday of this week, Lower Moseley Street, Museum Street, Windmill Street, Mount Street and Peter Street will be closed in part or in full - accept to authorised personnel. The headline speeches will be made in Manchester Central (formerly the GMEX). Manchester Central and the Midland Hotel form part of the secure site, which only authorised personnel - delegates, journalists and authorised support staff will have access to.

The GMEX Metrolink tram station will be closed for the duration of the four day event.

Delegates, journalists and visitors alike will want to find some light relief away from the Conference island site. Manchester has lots of great places to eat and drink. Conference goers can try a range of Indian cuisine on the city's famous Curry Mile in Rusholme - approximately 2.3 miles from the Midland Hotel (pictured below). Delegates can catch a cab, take a walk or catch a bus from bus stop J in Piccadilly Gardens and take a number 111, a number 42 or a X57 to the Curry Mile.

Alternatively, sample Chinese and Oriental cuisine in Manchester's China Town a short walk from the secure island site. My favourite Chinese restaurant in the city, Sweet Mandarin, is located on Copperas Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Sisters Helen, Lisa and Janet Tse set up the restaurant five years ago. The food is excellent and the welcome is warm and genuine. The restaurant is situated close to the Old Fish Market, on High Street, and near to the Manchester Craft and Design Centre.

The aforementioned Craft and Design Centre is often overlooked in reviews of 'things to do in the city'. It's a great place to unwind and appreciate the work of local photographers, sculptors and artists.

Gravitating back towards the island site as delegates and journalists will inevitably do, I would recommend you take a look at the interior of the Royal Exchange Theatre. For many years, the Royal Exchange was the hub of the world's cotton trade. Visitors can learn more about the Royal Exchange and how Manchester became the world's first industrial city with the Manchester: Then & Now audio guide. Closing prices from the final day's trading, December 31, 1968, are still posted on the wall at the Exchange Street end of the Great Hall.

Visitors will see that the former Great Hall is occupied by a futuristic theatre-in-the-round. Listeners to the Walk Talk Tour of Manchester will hear how this area of the city was damaged, and, subsequently rebuilt after a 3,300lb bomb planted by the IRA fifty metres from the building exploded on June 15th, 1996.

The Walk Talk Tour of Manchester is 2.4 miles (3.8km) long; can be completed in two hours and costs £5. Unlike a conventional guided tour, listeners have the freedom to stop, start and listen again to any part of their commentary. To hear an audio sample from the Manchester: Then & Now tour please click here.

Later in the week, I will be looking at some of Manchester's heritage and cultural offering...

The gateway pictured top is on Salmon Street in the Northern Quarter.