Ungood (outer)
Mostly, if a place can not meet the site criteria, it is not listed. However, there are a few sites that we can/will not ignore. Sometimes we add ‘warning’ and ‘avoid’ flags.
See also Ungood
Exhibits
Media City
The Lowry Theatre Complex and shopping mall are a few hundred metres away
The BBC/ITV run a tour or two
Media City is a place of work and residence. In daytime it can be deserted. Thought you might see Gary Lineker under an umbrella? No chance
Visits
‘Near’ days out
There are days out near the Greater Manchester boundary; Haydock Park horse racing, Rivington, the collection of north Cheshire attractions (Tatton Park, Quarry Bank Mill at Styal, maybe Jodrell Bank), Rawthenstall dry‐ski slope, Lyme house and park, Glossop, and so forth. In time, we may cover some
for the tourist industry, ‘near’ means something class‐based and elitist. It means you have a car, petrol money, days off work with no obligation or dependency, and are prepared to travel anything up to 50 miles in both directions
if you think driving round Lancashire is like cruising an American interstate, wrong
remember, Manchester is very big. Jodrell Bank from Bolton is car‐only and a full day trip
according to the tourist industry, North Wales, Cumbria and West Yorkshire are all ‘near’ Greater Manchester. In print are several articles saying you can visit the Cumbrian Lake District based, it seems, solely on a day coach trip. We note that the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, is a two hour flight from Manchester Airport. By the tourist industry criteria, Copenhagen is therefore ‘near’ Manchester, and so a ‘day out’
Salford City
Transport connections
Basic shopping centre
no visit or activity attractions. If you cross‐check our and other site’s references, Salford visits are near the University or The Quays
Edgar Wood Victoria Park/Centre
A guy called Nikolaus Pevsner said this building was a thing in 20th Century British architecture
Reputedly, the restoration is excellent. Note: ‘restoration’, not ‘maintenance’
every local guide, historian and PR hash lists this building, gives it 5 stars then calls it ‘beautiful’
it’s a wedding and corporate venue. No museum, no visits, tours once an epoch
the building is described as placed in Victoria Park. There is no ‘park’, nor a view of the building
Not a tourist destination nor a day out (if you want for Wood‐work, try the walk or trail. For a house visit near Manchester centre, try Ordsall Hall)
Worsley Village
Worsley Delp installation of artworks in a small canal basin. If you’re there, worth a visit
On the Bridgewater Canal. If that’s how you arrive, good place for a short walk or to get lunch
Notably scenic shambles of housing
Historical importance—the Bridgewater Canal is where modern industrial history started. About this, good signposting
repeatedly photographed as though it’s York. It’s not
sited underneath the M60/East Lancs Road junction—awash with noise and, on an evening, choked with traffic
Worsley Delp is ten minutes of your time. 2/5 of the area is private golf course. Worsley Old Hall is a pub, a mile from Worsley Green. RHS Bridgewater is further, 1.5 miles of urban A‐Road. Both under the M60. Worsley Woods is a scrap of land between the motorway and a B‐Road estate—a local resource, not a visit. The often‐mentioned Aviary is private
This (affluent) area is strong on preservation, but attractions are minor and disjoint. Imaginatively reinterpreted, the photography is a breach of the Trade Descriptions Act
Rochdale Centre
Recent and pleasant bus station and tram stop (c. 2015–2020)
New box‐shopping centre
Fire Services Museum. Open (Thursday–Saturday), expensive, maybe worth a visit
Rochdale Town Hall huge Gothic architecture currently in restoration by English Heritage
Toad Lane Museum, about the working‐class cooperatives that started here. Small but world class museum (which may in the future be listed)
Tweedale Street and Milkstone Road, but if that’s your background or interest, you’ll know about that
the new shopping centre is one of the smallest in any satellite town, built by architects‐who‐don’t‐live‐there. And is only the latest of two more that lie derelict in the centre
most of Rochdale’s notable architecture is either destroyed or neglected (including the key Drake and Yorkshire Streets)
aside from a statue of Gracie Fields (an important but limited interest), and exposure of a Medieval bridge, there is no attempt to engage with visitors
the Town Hall may be spectacular, but in fifty years no purpose has been found for it. It’s environment has been ruined, perhaps beyond redemption
range of shopping is flatline
the local museum and reference library closed in 2023. Plans not reassuring
above named attractions are disjoint, with no support. Note that most of them are provided by initiatives beyond the borough
Rochdale could and should be a major tourist town. It had architecture, and has heritage and a spectacular setting. But social issues, indifference and bad decisions have destroyed what is not neglected. If you arrive without purpose, it seems like there is nothing there
Walks
Rochdale Way
Rochdale has tourist advantages other towns would grab—architecture, steep scenery, good soil, water, historic significance
The Pennine Edge, covered North and East, is worth a week of time
Path successfully avoids two town centres
pointless two miles sideways for the Hopwood estate. Also, path runs through a golf course—no good for anyone
fails to avoid one town centre
the loopback is through Middleton and South Rochdale suburbs. Say the path dies near Heywood and is reborn near Shaw—that’s fifteen miles of nothing‐much
unmaintained for years—can be waist‐deep in nettles and brambles, poor signposting and Rights of Way broken
3 1/2 miles of A‐Road