Piccadilly-East Centre is the area in Manchester bounded by the A57 (M), Oxford Road, and the A62. It lies within The Historic County Boundaries of Lancashire and is served by Manchester Piccadilly railway station. It contains amongst others, the following neighbourhoods:
- Chinatown: Manchester’s Chinatown around George Street and Faulkner Street has been a feature of Manchester since the late 1970s. It’s a genuine experience – you’ll find people on the streets of Chinatown speaking Chinese to each other and most of the signs are bilingual. It’s home to the bulk of Manchester’s east-Asian restaurants as well as many traders in Chinese food and goods.
- The Gay Village: around Canal Street out of the many cotton warehouses in the area. It is home to one of the oldest and most-established gay communities in Europe and is known for its tolerance toward all kinds of people. Many of Manchester’s most famous bars and clubs are to be found here, most of which are as popular with heterosexual party-animals as they are with the gay crowd. The Village hosts a major Pride festival every year, when the whole region of town is closed to the public for an expensive and exclusive weekend for gay and gay-friendly people from all over the UK.
- Piccadilly Gardens: As well as being Manchester’s central bus station, Piccadilly Gardens is also a recently renovated landscape garden. It’s an interesting choice of design and has not found favour with all of Manchester’s residents. The area is dominated by the hideously-ugly Piccadilly Plaza complex, including the Jarvis Hotel and Sunley Tower, an eyesore visible from miles away.
. . . Manchester/Piccadilly-East Centre . . .
As Manchester’s main bus station (Piccadilly Gardens) is in Piccadilly Gardens, nearly every bus in central Manchester heading into town terminates here.
Piccadilly Gardens is bounded on two sides by Portland Street and Piccadilly.
Piccadilly Gardens is the penultimate stop on all services heading to Manchester Piccadilly. To the north of the square there is the Market Street station on the line to Bury.
Manchester Picadilly is the main station in the city and is served by services from all over the country. This area is also served by Manchester Oxford Road railway station.
- 1 Chinese Arts Centre, Market Building, Thomas Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, ☎+44 161 832-7271. Small, alternative Chinese art gallery.
- 1 The Portico Library and Gallery, Charlotte Street (corner with Mosley Street), ☎+44 161 236-6785, e-mail: librarian@theportico.org.uk. The Portico has been an exclusive members-only library since the early 19th Century and many of Manchester’s luminaries have been patrons of the Portico over the years. Now hosting its own public gallery and providing admission to some parts for non-members, it is a slice of Manchester history that has remained almost unchanged since its inception. Call for latest information. Free entry.
- 1 Imperial Chinese Archway, Faulkner Street, Chinatown. The Chinese arch in the central square of Chinatown was a gift to Manchester from the Chinese people in 1987 and is the only one of its kind in Europe. It is a beautiful and elaborate piece of artwork, reflecting the designs of Ming Dynasty China and is not to be missed.
- 1 Whitworth Gardens, Sackville Street. This small park in the heart of The Village is notable for its memorial to Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, whose homosexuality in an age of intolerance led to his suicide. The bronze statue on a park bench bears the legend ‘Father of computer science, mathematician, logician, wartime codebreaker, victim of prejudice’. Also in the park is “The Beacon of Hope”, an illuminated memorial to those who have died of HIV/AIDS worldwide.
- The Village hosts a major Pride festival every year, when the whole region of town is closed to the public for an expensive and exclusive weekend for gay and gay-friendly people from all over the UK.
. . . Manchester/Piccadilly-East Centre . . .
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