John welcomes us to the towpath of Manchester's Rochdale Canal...

"Just off the canal and up a few steps near the Castlefield Basin is the hugely impressive MOSI, the Museum of Science and Industry. The thing is that the city has an amazing scientific pedigree: Joule, Bohr, Rutherford, Geiger - they all changed the world, and it all happened here in Manchester. It's not something we shout about, and we should."

"The Rochdale Canal has obviously played a massive part in Manchester's industrial success story, but what's less obvious is that amongst the warehouses and factories, there is a whole swathe of wildlife if you know where to look..."

"The reason the Rochdale Canal was built in the 1790's was pretty simple - to the get things from A to B. It was the first major transport system to make its way into the city centre and with the world's first passenger railway station over on Liverpool Road at the Museum of Science and Industry, and the first canal coming into Castlefield Basin, it soon it became a hub for one of the most sophisticated rail, road, and water networks anywhere in the world - combined with our international airport, an integrated transport system before the phrase was invented..."

"I've left the Rochdale Canal, following this canal arm up past the fantastic Bridgewater Hall, in-front of Manchester Central formally known as the GMEX, and up on to Deansgate. Above me the majestic Beetham Tower glistens in the skyline, but its what's below which is really interesting: a subterranean world of tunnels under the feet of the busy workers and shoppers around me..."

"Manchester's musical heritage is as famous as any part of its history and culture. The Bee Gees, The Buzzcocks, The Fall, New Order, The Smiths, Simply Red, The Stone Roses Happy Mondays, Oasis any many many more, have all come from here and gone on to become world famous. But for every big name there has always been 20 smaller bands gigging away full of characters, untold stories and hope."

"One of the coolest things Manchester is famous for is a real tradition of political and cultural radicalism, promoting everything from free trade to vegetarianism..."

"The canal is fantastic place to come and sit or wander and there is a good chance you could come over all poetic as you take the sights in. We have a strong stable of literary high achievers from modern word-smiths like Morrissey, Shaun Ryder John Cooper Clarke and Lemn Sissay right the way back through to the Anthony Burgess and Thomas De Quincey author of one of my favourite books 'The Confessions of An English Opium Eater'."

"In this series we're covering all sorts from industry, poetry, science and the environment, I am just by Princess Street just behind the BBC and all around me are apartment blocks that have sprung up to cater for the new breed of urban dwellers, drawn in by the great shopping and nightlife on their doorsteps. From just about anywhere along the Rochdale Canal Britain's tallest residential building the mighty Beetham Tower, rises 168m into the sky. A little closer the ground, and a lot closer to the canal, property developers like 'Urban Splash' have transformed how we live in the city centre..."

"Pride is a word, which is well used when it comes to Manchester, particularly so when it comes to this part of the city. This is Canal Street the heart of the gay village and symbol of Manchester's vitality and its rich and diverse population..."