Overview

Manchester Town Hall is a grand city hall with outstanding architecture and art works, yet it is wheelchair accessible and disabled friendly. A tour is brilliant way to explore a fascinating building with a great history. The Sculpture Gallery Café is an individual and welcoming place for lunch or amazing afternoon teas.

Transport & Parking

We travelled by public transport, using train from Crewe and the Metro tram in the city centre. Wheelchair assistance is bookable and We've always found the staff at Crewe very helpful. The trams are all wheelchair accessible and we made the change at Piccadilly Station which has lifts and flat access. Blue Badge disabled street bays are available on nearby Mount Street and Manchester City Council has a section on their website giving locations and maps of disabled spaces www,manchester.gov.uk .

Access

We took a privately booked tour to get the most out of our visit and we had a really good guide, who took an easy pace, knew the building thoroughly and accessed lifts and good routes throughout the building. Access via the Lloyd Street entrance is flat and wheelchair accessible. Lifts to the first floor, no steps or thresholds to the rooms to negotiate. Floors are smooth stone and mosaic and easy for wheels. We were standing for most of the time, for about 1 hr 30 mins, but there were seats in most rooms for a quick rest.

Toilets

There are no toilet facilities for visitors in the Town Hall, except for wheelchair accessible toilets. However, on Lloyd Street is a public toilet with a Changing Places toilet with full facilities cords. This needs a RADAR key to access. In addition are good clean disabled toilets, with grab rails, alarm cord, raised toilet and wheelchair height washbasin as well as good, clean ordinary male/female toilets. All free! Our guide warned us of all of this before our visit, so we came prepared. One of our number needed to use the disabled facilities in the Town Hall and this was accessed quickly.

Staff

Our tour guide was excellent and she prepared us thoroughly for the visit, gave a relaxed pace and responded to our needs. We were a small group and she was both well informed and very helpful throughout. The Town Hall Staff were welcoming and helpful, especially when we entered a room and when we needed to go against the flow of traffic. The enquiry desk on the ground floor was staffed by helpful and smiley people. The staff in the Sculpture Gallery Café were welcoming and really helpful. Service was quick and efficient.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I would visit again and intend to take a group from our local MS Branch where several people use wheelchairs and all sorts of aids. It is a unique building and fascinating as a piece of architecture and for its history. The Café is able to cater for different dietary needs, but this must be booked ahead. the range of food is good, reflects the local area,( you can get a Manchester Tart, and Eccles Cake which reminded us of schooldays) and provides lunches and snacks. The staff take great pictures too. The tour was booked through Manchester Guided Tours, who do a range of guided tours, both public and for private groups. Our guide, Pauline, was just great and so informative. Find out more at www.manchesterguidedtours.com