Here are some excellent pointers to help you find the best family activities in the area:

Alton Towers Theme Park, Staffordshire

Alton Towers is a couple of hours drive from Manchester and offers some truly insane rollercoaster rides. Oblivion, Nemesis, and Submission are some of the larger thrill rides, but there are costumed characters, family shows, and plenty of attractions for the little people too. The theme park encompasses beautiful gardens and landscapes, which are pleasant to amble around and explore.

Pleasure Beach Blackpool Family Theme Park, Lancashire

This exciting family-friendly theme park is located in Blackpool, just outside Manchester and offers some truly heart-pounding attractions. Some of the best rides include. Highlights of this family theme park include over 125 attractions, the unique Wild Mouse wooden rollercoaster, the family-friendly River Caves, the Valhalla, and of course, the Pepsi Max Big One (Europe’s highest rollercoaster).

Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry

This wonderful historic museum offers amazing insight into Manchester’s industrial and scientific past and future. You can view the world’s oldest passenger railway station, which incidentally, is housed within five listed buildings, and view stunning galleries and collections. There is something here to entertain and excite everyone for the whole day.

Hiking in the Lake District

Walking might seem rather dull when compared to the thrill of the Blackpool theme park, but no one can fail to be impressed with the stunning, picturesque scenery of this beautiful area. The whole family will enjoy hiking, chatting, and rock climbing if they’re feeling adventurous. The climbing ranges from easy to difficult, and for the brave of heart, there is the Scafell Pike Walk, which culminates with a view from the top of England’s highest mountain.

Exploring Southport Beach

Manchester’s expansive coastline is home to a wide variety of wildlife. For the budding bird watcher, there is ample opportunity on the marshlands of this beach. On clearer days, it is easy to see nearby Blackpool from the dunes, and there is plenty of parking available – which means less fetching and carrying to and from the car. After your walk, you might want to give Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach family theme park a try, and tackle Europe’s highest rollercoaster, the Pepsi Max Big One. If you’re too tired, why not get a true taste of Manchester at the local pub?

Manchester is packed with family activities, outdoor activities, and huge shopping centers. In addition, it is a friendly city where the locals are more than happy to point tourists in the right direction!

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Torrential rain, howling wind, thunder and lightning!

Needless to say, the Beetham Tower stood strong throughout the weather conditions! Nevertheless, as the tallest building within Manchester, the Beetham Tower is an obvious target for fork lightning!

Andy Cooper who is a video technician captured the dramatic at 9:20am as he had set up a webcam in his office window at Manchester University.

Did you see the lightning yesterday in the Beetham Tower?

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In February 2009, the Beetham Tower was featured on Channel 4’s Vertical City series. The latest news is that the Beetham Tower has been featured on the BBC’s Changing Cityscapes program which was shown on television in April 2009.

The Changing Cityscapes series has been compiled by BBC News. The series examines 5 cities across the UK and how the city landscape has been changing. One of the cities in the series has been Manchester.

Courtesy of the BBC, we have a couple of excepts from the program about Manchester.

Here is Dave Haslam sharing his opinion on how Manchester has changed over the years.

The Beetham Tower has played a key role in changing the skyline within Manchester. Within the BBC Changing Cityscape: Manchester program, Ian Simpon, the architect of the Beetham Tower was interviewed.

You can find out more about the BBC’s Changing Cityscape by clicking here.

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We were however surprised to learn that an increasing number of people have been comparing the Beetham Tower in Manchester to the ‘Citadel’ building from the Half Life 2 computer game.

Half Life 2 is a hugely popular science fiction first-person shooter computer game. According to GameSpy, Half Life 2 was one of the top 5 most played online game in 2008. Within the Half Life game, the enemy who are named the Combines have a headquarters on earth which is called the Citadel.

It is this headquarters of the evil Combine that many people say looks similar to the Beetham Tower in Manchester!

What do you think about this? We have our opinions! We wouldn’t be surprised if the Half Life designers were inspired by the Beetham Tower when creating Citadel!

Here are a few screenshots from the Half Life 2 computer game showing Citadel:

So what do you think? Was Citadel in Half Life based upon the Beetham Tower in Manchester, or are all the people talking about the similarities misguided?

If you would like to find out more about Citadel from Half Life 2, you can read more about it here.

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“Skyscrapers are not just tall structures – they are symbols of wealth, importance and power, and every major city has one.”

In the programme you will learn about how the Beetham Tower was built, some of the differing opinions about the tower and you’ll also see some of the wonderful views from the tower, which are the best in all of Manchester. If you are considering living in the Beetham Tower, this is definately a programme worth watching as is it a wonderful introduction to the Beetham Tower.

The Veritical City series is hosted by Charlie Luxton, an architectural designer and broadcaster. In the Vrtical City series, Charlie Luxton examines greatest skyscrapers in the world and discusses the stories surrounding each one. The Beetham Tower will appear in episode 6 which will be aired this Monday. Previous skyscapers discussed in the series have been:

• One Canada Square
• 7 World Trade Center
• Bank of China Building
• Turning Torso
• 375 Park Avenue

So, make sure you watch the episode on Beetham Tower this Monday!

You can learn more about the Beetham Tower episode on the Channel 4 website.

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Video Transcript

Ian Simpson Architects and the Beetham Organisation

My name is Ian Simpson and I’m a partner in Ian Simpson architects. We’re responsible for the design and creation of the Beetham Hilton Tower (that we are in now at this moment). We’ve worked with the Beethams over the last 8 or 9 years. We’ve just completed a large scheme in Birmingham, a hotel and residential tower, (not as tall as the Hilton tower), but we’re also working with them in London on number 1 Blackfriars which will be a spectacular building just on the Thames so we’ve a fantastic and very strong working relationship.

Inspiration behind the design of the Beetham Hilton Tower

When we thought about the design of the building it was quite simple really, we wanted a very elegant, very beautiful, very slender tower. And in that Tower would be the hotel rooms at the lower level and the building would step out and at the point we would then have what is now Cloud 23, the sky bar and above that point we have the residential. So the residential starts from level 25 going up to level 48 and the hotel sits below.

One of the exciting things about the design in my mind is the idea of entering the public realm; the hotel at ground floor level with its restaurants and bars and the public entrance and coming in and being able to look up and see the whole height of the building, going to a 170m to the top of the glass blade looking through the glass roof linking the entrance area. To the right as you come in we have the ballroom (a 650 seater), meeting rooms, restaurant and so forth and then the tower. So there’s a the clarity between the two elements and the reading of the building is very much about letting the residential step out and just that one 4 metre cantilever defines the separation between the hotel and residential elements of the building.

Manchester is an exciting place to live

There’s a lot of things going on in Manchester, it’s a fantastic place but the city is very much at the beginning of its transformation. The last 10 years has seen a lot of change in the city core, now we’ll see all the areas that are a few minutes walk away from the city centre starting to change with mixed use schemes: commercial, residential, retail.

So the building we’re in now will very much be at the heart of the city centre over the next few years and that’s an exciting place to be.

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20 Famous Skyscrapers Reproduced in Lego

Skyscrapers are striking examples of the accomplishments of modern man.

The lego versions of these famous skyscrapers may not be as high, but the attention to detail and the complexity of designs bear witness to the ingenuity of their creators.

These lego skyscrapers show how much can be achieved with humble lego bricks.

20 Famous Skyscrapers Reproduced in Lego

Skyscrapers are striking examples of the accomplishments of modern man.

The lego versions of these famous skyscrapers may not be as high, but the attention to detail and the complexity of designs bear witness to the ingenuity of their creators.

These lego skyscrapers show how much can be achieved with humble lego bricks.

1. Burj Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Lego Burj Dubai height: 18 feet (more info here)
Burj Dubai height: 2,684 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Tot Lug

2. Space Needle, Seattle, USA

Lego Space Needle height: 7 feet (more info here)
Space Needle height: 605 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Wunztwice and TracyO

3. Burj Al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Lego Burj Al Arab height: 3 feet (more info here)
Burj Al Arab height: 1,053 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Jared

4. Freedom Tower, New York, USA

Lego Freedom Tower height: 28 feet (more info here)
Freedom Tower height (planned): 1,776 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Toner Mishap

5. Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan

Lego Taipei 101 height: 5 feet 6 inches (more info here)
Taipei 101 height: 1,670 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Daweidranke

6. 30 St Mary Axe (aka The Gherkin), London, England

Lego 30 St Mary Axe height: 14 feet (more info here)
30 St Mary Axe height: 591 feet (more info here)

Thanks to J1A3L5 and Eztd

7. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Lego Petronas Towers height: 5 feet (more info here)
Petronas Towers height: 1,483 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Arthur Gugick

8. Sears Tower, Chicago, USA

Lego Sears Tower height: 8 feet (more info here)
Sears Tower height: 1,730 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

9. World Trade Center, New York, USA

Lego World Trade Center height: 3 feet (more info here)
World Trade Center height (when it was standing): 1,730 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

10. Fisher Building, Detroit, USA

Lego Fisher Building height: 7.5 feet (more info here)
Fisher Building height: 444 feet (more info here)

Thanks to DecoJim

11. CN Tower, Toronto, Canada

Lego CN Tower height: 10 feet (more info here)
CN Tower height: 1,815 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Apotome

12. John Hancock Center, Chicago, USA

Lego John Hancock Center height: 3 feet (more info here)
John Hancock Center height: 1,500 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

13. Terminal Tower, Cleveland, USA

Lego Terminal Tower height: 4 feet (more info here)
Terminal Tower height: 708 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Torgugick

14. Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco, USA

Lego Transamerica Pyramid height: 12 feet (more info here)
Transamerica Pyramid height: 853 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Arthur Gugick

15. Chrysler Building, New York, USA

Lego Chrysler Building height: 3.5 feet (more info here)
Chrysler Building height: 1,046 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Spencer

16. United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA

Lego United Nations Headquarters height: 1 foot (more info here)
United Nations Headquarters height: 505 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Arthur Gugick

17. Citigroup Center, New York, USA

Lego Citigroup Center height: 10 feet (more info here)
Citigroup Center height: 915 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Creator

18. Stuttgart Television Tower, Stuttgart, Germany

Lego Stuttgart Television Tower height: 9 feet (more info here)
Stuttgart Television Tower height: 711 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Holger Matthes

19. Trump International Hotel & Tower Dubai, Dubai, UAE

Lego Trump International Hotel and Tower Dubai height: 22 feet (more info here)
Trump International Hotel and Tower Dubai height: 1,181 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Jamd

20. Empire State Building, New York, USA

Lego Empire State Building height: 4 feet (more info here)
Empire State Building height: 1,453 feet (more info here)

Thanks to Sean Kenney

As of yet, nobody has created lego versions of the Beetham Tower in Manchester, London, Birmingham, Brighton or Liverpool. As soon as someone does, we will feature it here on BeethamTower.org.

If you are an avid lego creator, please do create the Beetham Towers in lego!

The post 20 Famous Skyscrapers Reproduced in Lego appeared first on Beetham Tower.

Those in favour of the congestion charges argue they will reduce pollution, help pay for expanding the tram system and increase the number of bus and train services. Those against the congestion charges say that congestion charges are not the solution and are furious that the council want to create the largest congestion charging zone in the world in Manchester.

It was announced yesterday in the Manchester Evening News that the designer of the Beetham Tower, Ian Simpson has officially put his weight behind the plans for introducing the charges.

Ian Simpson is part of the business group supporting the ‘Yes Campaign’ in Manchester which is called United City. United City has 161 members which includes property developers, lawyers, and hoteliers.

You can learn more about the congestion charges in Manchester on this FAQ article on the BBC’s Manchester congestion charges webpage.

The post Ian Simpson supports congestion charges appeared first on Beetham Tower.

So what are some of the names currently being used to refer to the tower that is going to be built at 1 Blackfriars Road?

• London Beetham Tower
• Jumeirah Tower
• Beetham London
• 1 Blackfriars
• 1 Blackfriars Road
• Blackfriars Tower
• Beetham-Mirax Tower

It will be interesting to see what the skyscraper becomes known as.

We know that regardless of the name, the Beetham Tower in London is going to be one of the most striking landmarks in the city because of its architecture and height.

The post What’s the name of the tower at 1 Blackfriars Road? appeared first on Beetham Tower.

The Beetham Tower is the highest residential skyscraper in the UK and it has received numerous awards for it’s striking design and architecture.

So who are some of the famous resients of the Beetham Tower in Manchester?

1 Ian Simpson, the designer of the Beetham Tower owns the 47th floor penthouse.

2 Shayne Thomas Ward, the winner of the second series of X-Factor has an apartment in the Beetham Tower.

3 Phil Neville, Everton footballer and England footballer is reputed to own a triplex apartment in the Beetham Tower.

4 Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United and Portugal national team player owns an apartment in the Beetham Tower. His apartment faces Old Trafford.

5 Gary Neville, Manchester United captain and England International footballer is also reputed to own an apartment in the Beetham Tower in Manchester.

It’s not a surprise that these guys have chosen to live in the Beetham Tower in Manchester because it is an attractive building to live in.

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