Manchester Confidential Tunnel Tour - Tales of the Undercroft

Manchester Confidential are running a new underground tour, this time visiting the undercroft below Barton Arcade. While not on the same scale as the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal Tunnels there's still lots of little nooks and cranny's to explore and a fair few ghost stories tied to the place.

Underground Manchester - Manchester Confidential's Tunnel Tour

Twenty-five feet underground, beneath the Great Northern building lies a section of the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal. Opened in 1839, abandoned in 1922 and then converted into air raid shelters during WWII, the canal can now be explored thanks to Manchester Confidential's underground tour. It's a fantastic experience, with no noises from above reaches this far down and evidence of the war-time era still clearly visible.

For more detailed information on the canal, visit the Subterranea Britannica site. Oh, and don't be suprised if you come across a lost visitor while your down there.

Reality Hack: Hidden Manchester, Urbis

And now to bring us back to Manchester. Tucked away up on the 4th floor of Urbis, Reality Hack: Hidden Manchester is a photography exhibition featuring the work of Andrew Brooks which focuses on hidden or restricted areas of Manchester.
Town Hall is well represented though more modern locations such as the underground road network below the Arndale appear as well. Also featured are some of the abandoned tunnels below the city centre in which ghostly figures of urban explorers appear, proving that while some places are hidden, they aren’t forgotten.
The large-scale prints and light-boxed images display a range of astonishing colours, which the online photos don't do justice to and are well worth seeing in the flesh. If there is a problem with the exhibition, is that it’s too small, with only 16 images on display.
I went to see the show before xmas and since then have been given Keith Warrender's Underground Manchester as a present so I plan on popping back sometime with more of an understanding of the photographs. For more information, check the Urbis website or visit Andrew Brooks photogallery. The show runs until May.