October 2013: MediaCityUK

MediaCityUK, a development site, of mixed-use and some 200acres, on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, is the home, amongst others of BBC North. And was the destination of the Society’s autumn trip. The land, part of the former Port of Manchester and Manchester Docks, a series of nine docks in Salford, Stretford and Manchester, completed in 1894,closed in 1982. The BBC signalled its intention to move jobs to Manchester in 2004, and the Salford Quays site was chosen in 2006. The Peel Group was granted planning permission to develop the site in 2007, and construction of the development, with its own energy generation plant and communications network, began the same year.