A City within a city

Well, that's the Easter holidays almost done for another year.  We wrapped ours up in a less than obvious way, as it was off to Salford and an overnight stay at MediaCityUK.  What a truly magnificent place it turned out to be.

Most people will be aware that the BBC moved a load of jobs to Salford Quays a few years ago.  BBC Sport is now based there together with BBC Breakfast, 5 Live, CBeebies, CBBC and various other strands of the Corporation's output.

What's less known is that ITV has a major operation there too, alongside around 250 mostly digital businesses.

Coronation Street is now filmed there, as well as other familiar programmes such as Countdown for Channel 4.

We stayed at the on-site Premier Inn, which had a great view from the seventh floor.

(Jamie was hoping to bump into local hero Liam Gallagher).

Later we clambered onto the tram...

...and journeyed the short distance into Manchester to pig out.

It seems that not all MediaCityUK employees are local, with many BBC staff heading back to London every weekend to eat tofu.  The deserted multi-story car park - which was jammed on Friday - served as evidence of this when we left yesterday morning.

If you get a chance for a visit and a look around, take it.  The Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry and a top notch shopping outlet are there too.

We will definitely return for another nosy.