The Depot Climbing Centre

Imperial War Museum North

MediaCityUK · 1.2 miles

Overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal on Trafford Wharf Road in Trafford Park, Imperial War Museum North occupies a site that was a key industrial centre during the Second World War and suffered heavy bombing in the Manchester Blitz of December 1940. Classified as a military museum, it examines the impact of modern conflicts on people and society and is the first Imperial War Museum branch in the north of England. The museum forms part of a cultural quarter that includes the Lowry centre and MediaCityUK opposite at Salford Quays. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, the building presents three interlocking shards that symbolise air, earth and water; the 55-metre air shard houses the entrance and a viewing balcony above the canal, the earth shard contains the exhibition galleries and the water shard accommodates a café with canal views. The permanent collection arranges chronological and thematic displays, supplemented by hourly audiovisual presentations projected throughout the gallery space, while a separate gallery hosts temporary exhibitions. Since its opening on 5 July 2002, the museum has run a volunteer programme, partnered with Manchester Museum from January 2007. Admission is free and the venue offers step-free wheelchair access. Opening times are published on the museum’s listing, and the nearest town identified by OpenStreetMap is MediaCityUK. As a national museum, it receives core funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and generates additional income.

Peterloo Memorial

Petersfield · 3.1 miles

A contemporary monument in Manchester, England, marks the site of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre. The structure, commissioned after more than a decade of campaigning by the Peterloo Memorial Campaign Group, was presented to the public in August 2019, shortly before the bicentenary of the tragedy. The work, designed by artist Jeremy Deller, measures roughly 1.8 metres in height and stretches 11.6 metres across. Its surface consists of eleven concentric steps crafted from a range of polished British stones, each step bearing the names of eighteen victims and the locations from which they originated. The stone palette includes slate from Broughton Moor and Wales, sandstone from the Peak District and Cove, DeLank granite, red sandstone from St Bees, and Scottish dolerite, reflecting material sourced from across the United Kingdom and former imperial territories. An additional replica of the stepped pattern is reproduced at ground level, accompanied by a plaque set into the floor. While the memorial meets statutory standards for public installations, its stepped configuration has drawn criticism for limiting wheelchair access. Manchester City Council has examined possible alterations, though integrating a ramp without obscuring the inscriptions presents a technical challenge. The site is listed in OpenStreetMap as a monument and historic memorial, and it remains freely accessible to visitors.

The Glade of Light

Medieval Quarter · 3.7 miles

The Glade of Light is a memorial in Manchester, England, that commemorates the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing of 2017. It opened to the public on 5 January 2022 and an official opening event took place 10 May 2022. The memorial is in the form of a garden with a stone centrepiece inscribed with the names of the 22 victims. Individual 'memory capsules' commemorating each victim have been included in the memorial and are situated within the stone centrepiece.

Manchester Jewish Museum

Cheetham Hill · 4.3 miles

The Manchester Jewish Museum is a Jewish history museum, located on Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester, England. The museum occupies the site of a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, the place of worship for the Congregation of Spanish & Portuguese Jews, called the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, also the Sha'are Tephillah Synagogue. The congregation worships in the Sephardic rite from premises located on Moor Lane in Kersal, Salford.

Lancashire Mining Museum

Lower Green · 5.6 miles

A former deep-coal mine on the edge of the Bridgewater Canal now operates as a heritage museum, offering insight into the Lancashire Coalfield’s industrial past. Situated on a 15-acre site near the village of Lower Green in Greater Manchester, the attraction is run by the Red Rose Steam Society and is listed under the name Lancashire Mining Museum. Visitors can view the only surviving pit headgear on the Lancashire Coalfield—a wrought-iron lattice structure rising almost 30 metres, built by Head Wrightson of Stockton-on-Tees in 1912—and the adjoining engine house that houses the largest steam winding engine ever used on the coalfield, a 3,300 horse-power twin-tandem compound unit supplied by Yates & Thom of Blackburn. The museum’s collection includes twenty-eight colliery locomotives, described by sources as the most extensive assemblage of its kind in the United Kingdom, and a short restored railway line of roughly 200 metres. As of 2019, one locomotive on this line was operational, with another undergoing essential maintenance before passenger services can resume. The site’s history stretches back to shaft sinking in 1908 by the Pilkington Colliery Company, production from 1912, amalgamation into Manchester Collieries in 1928, modernisation after nationalisation in 1947, and closure in 1970 before its conversion to a public museum. Opening times are published on the museum’s listing, and the venue is classified as a history museum, providing a tangible link to the region’s mining heritage.

Gorton Upper Reservoir

Reddish Bridge · 6.8 miles

Gorton Reservoirs are two reservoirs on the boundary of Tameside and Manchester in the North West of England. They are Gorton Upper Reservoir and Gorton Lower Reservoir. The upper and lower sections are separated by a road supported by a stone bridge consisting of a series of arches. They are owned and maintained by United Utilities.