Rough Praise for Our City
MANCHESTER is singled out as world class in a new travel guide which paints
a bleak picture of England and the English.
The new Rough Guide to England says first-time visitors to the city are surprised
because they don't expect to see much beyond a "dour industrial cityscape".
But it says that since the IRA bomb, the city has been transformed by a building
programme that has placed it in the "vanguard of modern British urban design".
Manchester's "buzzing" café and club cultures are highly praised
as are its tourist attractions, including the Lowry and the Imperial War Museum North.
The guide says: "Few cities in the world have embraced change so heartily. From
engine of the Industrial Revolution to test-bed of contemporary urban design, the
city has no realistic English rival outside of London.
"Manchester can match the capital for glamour in cafés and clubs, and
also boasts the inimitable draw of the world's best-known football team."
Oasis
The Halle Orchestra and Oasis are praised for putting Manchester on the world
map, while the city's student population and its gay scene attracts plaudits.
Nationally, a far bleaker picture is painted.
England, the guide says, is "a nation of overweight, alcopop-swilling, sex-and-celebrity-obsessed
TV addicts". A "tiny, land-owning aristocracy still own most of the land" and "accent
and vocabulary can stamp a person's identity like a brand", the authors
add.
They go on: "It's a nation where commuters suffer overpriced, underfunded
public transport services and where the hearts of many towns consist of identikit
retail zones."
But they also call England "a country of animal-loving, tea-drinking, charity
donors thriving on irony and Radio 4" and "a genuine haven for refugees
and a country of immigrants from more than 100 ethnic backgrounds".
'Individuality'
The book also describes England as a country "where individuality and creativity
flourish, fuelling a thriving pop culture and producing one of the most dynamic
fashion, music and arts scenes to be found anywhere".
English people "can't agree on who or what they are", the guide claims,
and that trying to communicate with a stranger in a public place in London "can
be seen as tantamount to physical assault".
The guide lists 35 "things not to miss" in England, including afternoon
tea, castles, and Bonfire Night.
