One of Buxton's many landmarks, Corbar Cross is a simple wooden cross that has been erected on a…read morehill on the way out of town. I understand it was originally put there by a Catholic in 1950; nowadays it still stands overlooking Buxton and is quite a feature of the local skyline. It is possible to climb up to the Cross from Manchester Road. The path takes you up through some woods, onto open moorland and up to the cross itself. It's quite a climb but if you can manage it you'll be rewarded with some fantastic views over the locality. The silence, the solitude, the scenery, the simplicity of an old wooden cross Corbar Cross a special place to many people, I know.

Exchange Square in Manchester is one of the cities coolest, more modern areas, located at the back…read moreof the Manchester Arndale, here there is the entrance to the Printworks, and even The Corn Exchange, which has also been revitalised recently, with so many more eateries being added there such as Pho and a new restaurant from Gino, the chef from This Morning. Exchange Square was one of the areas hit by the 1996 bombing of Manchester from the IRA, and since then they seem to have done a great job bringing it back to life again. There is a new metrolink station from Exchange Square, providing travel across Greater Manchester, and it is a short walk to Victoria Station, Manchester's 2nd largest station. In Exchange Square, there also is a Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, which adds a higher-end feel to the area, but still it is a nice place to shop and look around, and defiantly worth paying a visit when in Manchester, as it is really central, just being outside one of the exits to the Arndale. There also is a lot of coffee shops here with Café Nero and Starbucks all having stores, Second Cup also opened their first ever store in the UK here since expanding into the nation and now have 3 stores, including stores in London and Birmingham. The Wheel of Manchester was also located here before it was taken down as the owners were not paying their rent. There isn't much else to say about Exchange Square but it is quite a nice, cool area of Manchester which has been greatly improved and they have worked hard since the IRA bombing of Manchester in 1996 strongly affecting it.

Exchange Square is a lovely part of Manchester, and clever too. Cleverly reconstructed after the…read moreinfamous IRA bombing of 1996, this area is a perfect sun trap in Manchester. Well fitted with rows of seating and a large screen autotuned to the BBC, this area is very rarely empty. It's sad that the wheel has left this area as many people knew where they were due to the landmark and now many people (including me!) can be found wondering why we've taken it down and replaced it with a pop up bar which has missed the nicest weather Manchester has seen in a while? Something to do with the new metrolink city crossing I'm sure. I often walk through this area on my way to guide at the Cathedral but have also been known to watch the ballet here when it was beamed and screened from London. Lovely area but the 3 stars reflects some of the eateries and general lack of atmosphere in the area. Great when the beeb is screening something engaging or when the sun is out but otherwise a bit neglected by the masses.

Went here for a gala dinner to celebrate the launch of Cathay Pacific's flights from Manchester to…read moreHong Kong. The venue is stunning for functions. At the entrance the stairs were lit up with hundreds of candles and my eyes were instantly drawn up to the ceiling. We all gathered outside the main room for drinks and canapés then we were ushered in to take our seats at very beautifully decorated tables. I had never been inside the town hall before but I know you can take a tour of the building and I'd heard great things. It's really beautiful inside and it looked fab lit up in coloured lights. The food was the town hall's own catering and it was superb.The chef cooked up a fusion of Asian and British cuisine. Starter was steamed fillet of bream, rice and seaweed crackers, crab salad edame, miso and hazelnut. Main was coal roasted sirloin of kings valley beef, roasted broccoli and sesame emulsion, lightly picked mouli, fermented bean reduction, shin dumpling & aromatic mini fondants. Dessert was coconut milk pannacotta, mancha green tea sponge, papaya & lychee.

Town Hall, Albert Square in city centre has been renovated over the years but it still boasts its…read moreglorious 1800s Victorian architecture with stellar beauty. Many events are held here from weddings, concerts, special events, holiday markets, and more. It's easy to see why. It makes for a beautiful backdrop for any occasion. I do like stopping by when I'm in Man to take in anything that may have changed and its infinite gothic presence.

This busy locale is without a doubt the hub of the village of Honley! It is so much more than just…read morea post office - providing all the usual services, it also offers a sweet counter, a good range of cards and stationary, some unusual gifts and toys, as well as showcasing some of the beautiful water colour pictures of the area painted by a local artist, Andrew Jenkin. The post mistress has raised a lot of money for charity by running the London Marathon, and the post office sponsors the local High School news sheet, Honley High Notes, every term. The Post Office is also the place to find all the small ads from fellow villages - for sale, wanted and services offered.

St Ann's is a good multi purpose area for Manchester, even if it is often overshadowed by the more…read moreopen and upmarket Albert Square down the road. Surrounded by all the usual high street shops like Holland and Barrett, coffee from Starbucks - plus there's some good high street banks here still like HSBC and Barclays (I know... a bank you can actually walk into and do banking stuff still exists in town...) The best thing on offer though are the travelling markets which come and go pretty much every month - there's always something going on here so definitely worth checking out any time of the year - especially the Xmas ones from mid Nov to Dec.

St Ann's is currently holding its annual (I think?) Feast Market. A collection of food stalls all…read morein one convenient place - especially when you work close by, like me! Although St Ann's isn't the biggest public space in Manchester, there are plenty of traders to choose from. It can be hard to take everything in, especially when your stomach's growling and you know you're short on time, but it's worth it trust me. Don't dive in to the first thing you see! You can choose from a Turkish grill serving up different flavours of chicken in wraps, Indian, Chinese, Thai Pies, regular pies, hog roast (the same stall from my previous review and well worth a visit!), fudge, nuts, cakes and breads. There's even a bar serving up beer, wine and prosecco if you feel the need. What more could you want? On this visit - and I'm sure there will plenty more, as I always love walking back into the office with something exciting and everyone then mentally planning their next lunch break - I just went for a cheese and bacon pastry from Martin's, along with a slice of flapjack. The pastry was gone in minutes and the flapjack served very well as a naughty hangover breakfast.

This area is beautiful. We walked around the area and there's just so much to see. Even the free…read morearea is iconic. The little river that runs behind the temple is so pretty. It's worth going in the actual grounds- such an experience me and my family will never forget. I got postcards and read about each room on the grounds. Very nice staff work there in the gift shop a well.

Had a nice family day out and we decided we would go here…read more We went up to Leeds and then had to catch the Bus 19 which took us up between Temple Newsam house and the golf grounds, we then had to walk about 10 minutes to get to the actual place. Walking up to it you're surrounded by green and then there are a load of tree's that seperate so you can walk through them towards the house and grounds, it was like something out of a postcard. When we actually got to the grounds we were stumped on where to go first! Do we go into Temple Newsam House OR do we head towards their little farm OR do we wonder around their 1500 acres of woodlands, fields etc!? Spoilt for choice We started off with the house itself. Prices for a family tickets (2 adults & up to 3 children) are: Temple Newsam House: £9.50 Home Farm: £8.70 Joint Ticket: £15.50 The house is magnificent! You are asked not to take photo's. This is because of the flash as the light and heat can damage pictures etc, it can cause a chemical reaction. I did take a few pictures, but made sure my flash was OFF as not to damage anything. You have a choice of walking around the house reading bits and bobs, or you can use these handheld blocks where you punch in the number per room and a recording will guide you through the room and explain. There are also children's versions of this. We all got confused by it so we opted out lol. Had a little laugh as there is a picture of a man near the picture gallery and he was a spitting image of my father - didn't take a photo of this. Despite it being so big and perhaps a bit dull for children, our children loved it and were full of questions that we tried to answer. They were excited about going into different rooms and their favourite room was the 'nannys room' where they had modern toys for children to play with. We then headed towards the farm. I will be honest with you, I didn't like the farm as much as I would have normally - perhaps it was because of the weather? I would have liked it to have been a farm where we could feed the animals too because places such as the barns with cows, they only had 1 large bucket of this protien stuff which meant that only the biggest cows had managed to get to it (would YOU try and squeeze inbetween 2 fully grown cows!?) and so the younger smaller ones had no chance - perhaps later in the day they would?? :( . One was even eating the straw on the ground which was covered in 'you know what', so I didn't like that bit. The highlight of the farm was that we saw piglets being born! That was amazing! The grounds are huge! As I've already said, all of this is within 1500 acres of land and they have woodlands you can explore which we didn't have time to get to, so it's deffinately an all day trip or perhaps even 2 days. I would go again, although I wouldn't pay for the farm again.

fantastic views! didn't go into the visitors centre, so I can't comment, but even the gust of icy…read morewind yesterday couldn't stop us enjoying the panoramic views from the top. Apparently this is the hill that the grand old duke of York marched his men up and down - interesting. my boyfriend told me that, and I just looked it up http://www.rhymes.org.uk/the_grand_old_duke_of_york.htm I imagine it would be nice for a picnic on a sunny day, but in November it was just cold

Sandal Castle evokes lots of fond memories for me from childhood. It's funny, because you usually…read moreremember things from when you were a kid as 'bigger than life' and then they seem really small when you encounter them in adult life. Yet with Sandal Castle it's the opposite: the hills and ruins seemed quite a manageable size (and climbable) when I was little. Now they seem ruddy huge (and steep!) The safety precautions do seem better than back then, though, and the place is well fenced. Perhaps the place is just in a better state of repair now (as it used to be a bit wrecked) and they have rebuilt parts of it? Yes, by the way, this is the castle where 'when they were up they were up, and when they were down they were down, and when they were only half-way up' etc.

What an incredible piece of artwork in Piccadilly Gardens. The monument is large and pays a great…read morehomage to Queen V. It was unveiled in 1901, just after her death. This piece of public art depicts Queen Victoria on a throne, holding an orb and a scepter. Onslow Ford was the sculptor who created the bronze statue, which was initially intended to be created of marble. It is my understanding that Queen V. felt bronze would be more weather-appropriate. Nice piece of history to take in if you find yourself at Piccadilly Gardens.

Now over 100 years old (the statue, not Queen Victoria), this statue of Britain's longest serving…read moremonarch sits right in Piccadilly Gardens. The statue is oversized. Perhaps that is why this statue represents Queen Victoria as plump and grumpy. Or maybe it's just the expression that the sculptor has left on the subject's face. Sure, this is an impressive statue, but it doesn't possess the elegance or pomp of the Wellington statue just down the way.