What an amazing and historic landmark! I would recommend anyone tour through the Library. The…read morearchitecture is beautiful and the rare manuscripts and artifacts they house are incredible. They are having a special display of one of Shakespeare's plays, one of the oldest New Testaments, even artifacts from King Nebuchadnezzar's palace. They will all be on display which will be quite amazing to see. This is a must see in Manchester! Truly amazing how it has stood the test of time.

Love spending time in libraries while on holiday (vacation) Stunning late-Victorian neo-Gothic…read morelibrary , John Rylands Library opened at the turn of the 20th century and is a gorgeous remnant of Manchester. Potter-heads would appreciate the look and feel inside the library is inspired the design for Hogwarts. I'm not sure if the Factory Records exhibit is still on display, but I'm a huge fan of Factory Records bands (ie. New Order, Joy Division, Happy Mondays etc.) and bands that came out of Manchester, the Smiths, James, Buzzcocks, The Fall to name few. It was an experience seeing original handwritten lyrics, instruments played, old punk zines, photos and badges on display.

Has fun souvenirs however, they do sell fake Labubus…read more Bought a Man U hat for my husband. A cute t shirt and some magnets.

This store's a funny one to start off with, despite having a giant sign outside saying Manchester…read moreSouvenirs & News and Post Office, it appears to be a small Post Office from the Manchester Souvenirs & News branding, from this store you can expect everything you'd regularly expect from a Post Office which is located inside a newsagents with it being one of the many Manchester Souvenirs & News locations (and even more Post Offices) around the city. Located in Exchange Square, it is located in the former basement of WHSmith, with the lifts removed and upper levels now being home to JD Sport, this means that the only way to enter the store, despite being classed as "Manchester Arndale", is the one and only entrance, just outside the mall in Exchange Square, located next to Caffe Nero. The store is much larger than other locations such as Deansgate and nicer and more modern than the Shudehill branch, which opened around about the same time as this one. I really like the decor around the top of the store, showing Corrination Street and just typical, modern and cool Manchester decor, as that is the theme of the store after all. The newsagents part of the business had a good selection of drinks, albeit at inflated prices costing around £1.49 for an iced tea which are often available to buy for around £1 each (or at least 2 for £2) at other retailers nearby including the Co-op and Superdrug to name just a few. The service here was a little slow and confusing, with two different parts of the till, they were obviously understaffed and struggling to serve two tills, with one man working and moving between the two, and even then it appeared that he had a young child standing behind him (family run business), I personally dislike being served in stores by young children and find it to be messy and complicated. They had one post office counter which was typical of a store this size, of course it isn't a regular Post Office, who have a large branch in Spring Gardens just a few minutes away, or a smaller main branch (yet still bigger than this one) at the Town Hall, as well as many stores similar to this around the city. Understaffed store with slightly poor service and inflated prices are the big negatives, but overall being in the city centre, the location is good and they do offer basic/good services for drinks (despite the inflated prices), souvenirs and Post Office, in a really nice decorated store so I do feel it deserves a three-star rating, and it is in quite a handy location being the only store of its' kind in Exchange Square.

Crown Post Offices are a dying breed now - it seems almost every Post Office is now becoming a…read moresmall kiosk in a newsagents or similar style store, this is one of the few good remaining Post Offices remaining. This is a large branch, on Spring Gardens which is just off Market Street. It has a ticketed queuing approach, where you get a ticket and wait for them to call your number, I much prefer this to the standard queuing as it means you can sit down, relax without squabbling over your place in the queue. There is also a good number of self-service postage machines (These are great but not ideal as they don't include all services such as if the postage is pre-paid). The staff here are pretty friendly and service is quick enough, this is a huge benefit over the smaller Post Offices around the city centre located in Manchester Souvenirs and News stores, as it can be hit and miss whether you get served quickly or not - the staff always seem to take more care at this location too. It can be cheaper to pre-pay your postage online depending on the service being used. I don't understand the logic behind this, especially if you have to visit a Post Office anyway to post the parcel and/or generate proof of posting. 4* - A very good Post Office location, yet working on transparency between pricing through all payment methods and adding services to the self-service postage machines to make it quicker, and confusion-free would be a huge improvement again.

Hell hath no fury like central Manchester in the office lunch hour. I despair, I really do. And…read moreoften I found myself here having to post things off while I was working at Spinningfields, so once I'd jostled through the crowds the last thing I wanted was apocalyptic queues whilst standing like a lemon with my parcel. Thankfully, this is a particularly large post office. It sells what you'd expect - envelopes, stationery, stamps, the works, but with a great many kiosks it means you're never waiting a ludicrously long time to get rid of your items. The staff are helpful too, I was talked through the ins and outs of how many stamps I should put on a card to enable it to reach Fuerteventura, for instance. Its location just next to the Tesco Metro makes it a very handy stopping off point if you happen to be in town. I worked this out when I had to head here today to post off a box and a letter, both recorded delivery. I'm around a mile from a Post Office, no matter what direction I walk in. The shop opposite my apartment building closed down a long time ago, and now I'm at the mercy of Mocha Parade (gimme me flamin' giro), Soviet, sorry, Salford Precinct (Gorky Park) and this. This is my default. I'd like to take a moment to announce that I'm a dumbass as well. Ticket systems? Lost on me. I become like a doddering old grandmother that's been handed an iPod for the first time. Don't worry, this happens at cheese counters and in hospital queues too. Small ballots of paper bewilder me. Anyway, I realised that I shouldn't have sauntered past the friendly-looking bloke stood next to the ominous looking machine. And the lady who handled my parcels was super friendly. It's quick and easy. Worth a visit if you're parcel-sending this Christmas. Although by now you're probably too late... sorry, there was no need for that. I reckon you are though. Okay, I promise, I'll stop now.

in my job I work with Greater Manchester Police and without bias they are quick to respond to…read moreincidents across the city. the front desk staff at Bootle St are politeful and helpful.

Pants - and not just what's on display here…read more I was in a male toilet recently, enjoying a moment of quiet to myself, the problems of the world temporarily suspended offering a welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle of modern city living. Bliss. That was, until, I felt the door of the cubicle bash open into my back accompanied by a thick, Irish brogue telling me, in no uncertain terms, to hurry up for effin's sake. Who this Effin is I'm not sure, but it seemed he was in a desperate state and I was, somehow, responsible for it. In any case, I managed to perservere under intense pressure and finished the job at hand. I left the cubicle, scanned the room for the troublemaker and asked out loudly to all present, who it was that disrupted my chi flow? I think I identified the culprit - a robust gentleman in his 50's, with the look of the town drunkard - as he sheepishly looked at the floor and hurriedly disappeared, like a drunk Wil o the Wisp, into an adjacent cubicle. I digress. In any case, I feel I need to mention something here. I worked as a cleaner once in an office. I learned many a thing about humanity because of it. I learned for instance, that the state of a company can be gleaned by the state of it's toilets - if you have a job interview at a top company one day and you want to know if it's the place for you, don't bother with the cursory What's the company policy on.or the company philosophy? questions. No, instead, excuse yourself politely and go check out the state of the WC's. You'll know then, just what type of people you'll be working with should you get the job. And politeness - that charming quality that distinguishes men of greatness from the crass mass - is suspended in a male toilet. The law of the jungle prevails: We enter a room where we cannot escape the fact that, no matter what our social standing in life is and how well our portfolio is doing out there, a mirror is held up to who we really are - a creature that has to relieve itself, with all it's indignity and vulnerability. Messy, dirty, crowded and by Jove, smelly, I want you to spare a thought for those poor individuals who have to clean them. Last year I went to see the Calzaghe-Manfredo fight at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and I was horrified. Toilets everywhere, blocked and overflowing with human sewage - and all of this, caused by someone's husband, brother, son (a CEO here, a primary school teacher there).... It's ridiculous I know. But it's here that one is reminded that even on the highest throne a King, ultimately, sits on his ass. We must not forget that lesson.