Manchester: Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

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I'VE been lucky to take almost 100 different nationalities around the city on guided tours since 1996.

It's been curious and rewarding in that time to see through other peoples' eyes how Manchester has developed - generally in an upwards direction.

This is what people think of us - and I have a bag full of quotes to prove it.

Tourists and visitors think Manchester is a handsome, occasionally beautiful city, with fascinating architecture and lively, friendly and innovative people. They love the range of food and drink and love the culture on display, and they love our sense of humour. 

If explained to them well they can't believe how significant our history is nor how negative we can be about our own city. They all faint with joy when walking around Chetham's Library.

Taking people round and getting a vision of my city through their eyes is like a breath of pure oxygen after being stuck down a tunnel - something I'm very familiar with (click here). 

At the end of the year it's good to remind ourselves of Manchester's qualities. It's virtues. It's good to get perspective on the city.

These virtues were very evident when I took a charming group of architects from Dusseldorf around the city in the midst of a glorious Indian summer.

They really enjoyed Manchester, had a grand time, although, being architects and being northern European, they wondered if our disperate planning departments in our various boroughs ever talk to each other in order to co-ordinate schemes. It's something that remains a mystery to the locals, I had to confess.

(By the way visitors also tend to believe there are more City then United fans in Manchester (there aren't), and wonder why it's so hard to find their way around the city and why that hasn't been sorted out yet. Our public transport system absolutely bemuses them - as it does across the UK.) 

These are the photographs my German group sent to me. Thanks  to Holger Mettig in particular for putting them together.

I've not labelled the locations, you can try and guess them. A game for Christmas.

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