Union (towers)

Union is a co-living development of two towers in the St John's area of Manchester, England. The first phase, a 112-metre (367 ft), 36-storey high-rise, is the first rent-by-the-room co-living building in the United Kingdom, where potential renters are matched with housemates based on their responses to a questionnaire. It was designed by Denton Corker Marshall and as of December 2025 is the 19th-tallest building in Greater Manchester. The second phase, consisting of a 32-storey building, is due for completion in 2025.

Granada Studios Tour

Granada Studios Tour was an entertainment theme park at the Granada Studios complex in Castlefield, Manchester, England, which operated from 1988 to 1999. The park was in the heart of Manchester city centre adjacent to the Granada House building. The tour attracted over 5 million visitors, but visitor numbers were waning by the late 1990s, and Granada Television sought to prioritise other parts of its business such as the ONdigital service (which, under the name ITV Digital, soon failed). As a result, the Granada Studios Tour closed to the public in 1999, and for good in 2001. The Coronation Street set – part of the original theme park – was temporarily reopened to the public in April 2014 for a six-month period, and its popularity meant it stayed open until December 2015.

Skytrak

Skytrak was a flying roller coaster located at Granada Studios Tour amusement park in Castlefield, Manchester, England. Opened in October 1997, it was the first flying roller coaster in the world, in which riders were tilted forward to experience the sensation of flying. It was named after an event from the Gladiators television series, and was the only roller coaster constructed by Skytrak International, a subsidiary of Fairport Engineering. The ride was a "solo coaster" having only one person per car, which along with a complicated boarding process limited capacity to between 200 and 240 riders per hour. Issues with the ride delayed its opening by several months, and it continued to suffer reliability issues. It closed in 1998, with the park closing soon after. The ride was eventually removed and scrapped.

Granada Studios

Granada Studios was a television studio complex and events venue on Quay Street in Manchester, England, with the facility to broadcast live and recorded television programmes. The studios were the headquarters of Granada Television from 1956 to 2013. After a period of closure, five of the six studio spaces reopened in 2018. The studios are the oldest operating purpose-built television studios in the United Kingdom pre-dating BBC Television Centre by five years. They were previously home to the world's longest-running serial drama, Coronation Street, as well as other long-running shows such as the quiz show University Challenge and the current affairs documentary series World in Action. As well as being the oldest television studios in the United Kingdom, the studios also held the Beatles' first television performance in 1962 and the first general election debate in 2010. Until 2010, the main building, Granada House, had a red neon "Granada TV" sign on the roof, which was a landmark for rail passengers travelling from the west into Manchester city centre. A broadcasting tower was erected at the behest of Sidney Bernstein to give the studios an embellished and professional appearance. The three largest studios each covered over 4,500 square feet (420 m2). The studios were managed by ITV Studios and BBC Resources through a joint venture company, 3SixtyMedia from 2000 until 2013. After a dip in production during the early 2000s, the studios underwent a revival from 2009 until their closure. Countdown moved to Manchester from the Leeds Studios in 2009 and the facility had numerous new commissions including The Chase, Divided, Take Me Out and High Stakes. The studios closed in 2013, and ITV Granada and ITV Studios moved to Dock10's studios at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. Later that same year, the Granada Studios was sold for £26 million to Allied London and Manchester City Council. Allied London's initial plans for the site involved transforming the studios into residential space. However, plans were changed in 2017 to maintain the studio complex due to demand, and most studio spaces were reopened in 2018. Although there were calls to preserve the old Coronation Street exterior set, it was demolished as part of redevelopment work in 2017. Other areas knocked down were Studio 4 and the remaining Granada Studios Tour entrance. The studios' former office block, Granada House is being converted into a hotel and office space.

Mersey and Irwell Navigation

The Mersey and Irwell Navigation was a river navigation in North West England, which provided a navigable route from the Mersey estuary to Salford and Manchester, by improving the course of the River Irwell and the River Mersey. Eight locks were constructed between 1724 and 1734, and the rivers were improved by the construction of new cuts several times subsequently. Use of the navigation declined from the 1870s, and it was ultimately superseded by the Manchester Ship Canal, the construction of which destroyed most of the Irwell section of the navigation and the long cut between Latchford and Runcorn.