Wythenshawe

Wythenshawe was built in the 1920s as one of the largest council estates in Europe, a garden-city project designed to rehouse people from the inner-city slums. It's often misunderstood by people who've never been. Wythenshawe Park is 270 acres of parkland with an equestrian centre, a working community farm and Wythenshawe Hall, a Tudor timber-framed manor house that survived the Civil War. The Forum Centre on Simonsway is the civic heart, with the library, theatre and leisure centre all sharing a roof. Manchester Airport is a ten-minute drive away and most Mancunians who live here work in or near it. The community is tight, the people plain-spoken, and the accent is one of the broadest in Greater Manchester. If you visit, come for the park and the hall, and stay for a pint at the Airport Pub or the Gardeners Arms.