Life in red lipstick...: Thoroughly modern Manchester?

I recently spent a couple of days in Manchester with work and was shocked as to how different it was to what I remember.

On the train in from Crewe (where I had to change from Birmingham - look after the pennies and all that) I sped past streets that looked as if they were a set, dressed and ready to shoot the opening titles of Coronation Street or even, dare I say it, Blitz Street. The two up, two down set ups with cobbled streets were something I wasn't used to - even as a Brummie!

However, as I hobbled (juggling a wheely suitcase/laptop bag/holdall/handbag) off the metro (why don't we have them in Birmingham? So fast and cheap!) I was greeted by the most wonderful red bricked Victorian building in the shape of The Midland Hotel.

The more I discovered of Manchester the more I found beautiful old buildings maintained in great condition and all being used for modern purposes - be it hotels, shops or businesses, and I was so surprised. It's a real bug bear of mine that it seems new builds are all trying to "out modern" each other (case in point - The Cube, Birmingham) and then look incredibly out-dated 10 years later, while 100 year old styles remain classically beautiful.

I wish I'd had time to take more pictures but here are a few I've managed to snap from the confines of the GMEX!