Some years ago, when a national newspaper editor headed north to view the property boom that is transforming Manchester’s city centre and its skyline, Andrew Spinoza was entrusted with the job of tour guide.
“I put him on a Metrolink tram outside his hotel to Salford Quays,” writes Spinoza in Manchester Unspun, which has deservedly been fast tracked into a paperback edition. “This ride showed off the arrestingly mashed-up historic and current Manchester. The city’s crumbling and ripped backsides were being integrated with classy modern buildings. The views from St Peter’s Square through Castlefield to the Lowry Centre were, and still are, a brilliant 20 minutes’ advertisement for the resurgent urban centre.”
