Manchester used to be the most wonderful place to get a sense of Britain in its industrial heyday. I've spent many happy hours over the years tramping through Ancoats and Irktown, where disused mills stand lining the canals. The layout of the old back-to-backs can be traced from original maps.

But the truth is there's much less to see than there was 15 years ago. So much of Ancoats has been redeveloped, with the more central mills all turned into fancy apartments.

Take a stroll through the area south of the Oldham Road, though, and use your imagination...