Americans React to Manchester Libraries: Portico, Chetham's & John Rylands 

Take a look at Central Library in Manchester, can’t believe they didn’t show it, it’s round building, I did a lot of studying there when I was a student. Manchester is very proud of Rylands library! Robert Peel set up one of the world’s first ever police force.

Robert Peel was a Prime Minister of the UK in the early 19th Century. He created the police force (which is why they are sometimes called "Bobbies" or "Peelers") and repealed the Corn Laws, which made imported food available to the industrial cities.

John Rylands library was renovated and extended in the early 2000's and at that time I worked with stained glass and I got to work on pretty much all of the lead lights and the two large stained glass windows seen in this video in the main hall. It truly is an amazing place

The main central library has a really cool giant circular reading room upstairs with a fantastic domed ceiling. Worth a visit as well if you're here in Manchester. The pub underneath the Portico was a favourite for a while.

Having lived in the Manchester area for decades, it's sometimes easy to forget when life gets on top of you that you're surrounded by such beauty.

The town with all the book shops is Hay on Wey, on the English/Welsh border. It also has a yearly book festival, & contains numerous bookshops. Robert Peel, founder of the Police force. That is why they are called 'bobbies'. A cathedral of learning. Cotton money, from slave worked plantations in the Americas. Manchester worked the cotton into cloth, which then was sold to the world. Many Georgian/Victorian buildings etc in the UK were created because of the wealth of the British Empire. The John Ryland's is Victorian neo-Gothic of c.1900. As a university library access may be restricted to students, or to certain times/days. There are likely to be several local libraries around Manchester, though many around the country have closed in recent times through lack of resources, pandemics, the cost of living & energy price rises etc. Hopefully these important regional libraries can keep going long into the future, even though young people today have turned away from books in favour of screens, perhaps they will be retained as curiosities in the future.

I live in an old cotton mill town just outside Manchester. There is so much history in the UK and we take it for granted often because it’s on our doorstep so thank you for reminding me with this video ❤️ x

I'm Manchester born and I have never been in the Portico library. So thanks for reminding me that I need to go. Glad you enjoyed learning about the great libraries of Manchester.

Hay on Wye is well known for second-hand bookshops.

Steve, we actually have the main central library ( if you look on Google maps it's the round building next to the town hall) operated by our council as well....so there are "Four" libraries in the "city centre" here in Manchester

In my small village on the ashdown forest we have changed the disused red phone box to a mini library. Only one rule,take a book out, replace it with another!

New York City was actually built to model Manchester. A lot of movies set in New York are actually filmed in Manchester, for that reason.

I'm from North Manchester and would also mention the Central Library (as some others have). It is much newer (built in the 1930's) but has a very impressive Great Reading Room. One thing I should mention if you are thinking of visiting Manchester any time is that much of the city centre is very modern/renovated - you won't find many really old buildings. I am 69 and I can remember the city in the 1960's. At that time it was still quite industrial and most weren't the sort of buildings that you would preserve so they got demolished. There is still plenty to occupy you for a couple of days and it is a great base for exploring North Wales, the Lake District, the Peak District and lots of National Trust properties in the North West. BTW Steve don't feel bad about your first pronunciation for Chetham's Library. The library is next to the very famous Chetham's School of Music and guess what? The school has always preferred the name CHETham's School of Music (sounds like CHET Atkins) but the Library has always used the version that sounds like "CHEAT"ham's and there is a district in North Manchester called Cheetham Hill (pronounced like the library). I have always wondered how Humphrey Chetham pronounced his own name. Also BTW; Victorian industrial development doesn't have to look as depressing as some of the mills did. Have a look at some of the images from Crossness Pumping Station. This was built to pump sewage from London into the treatment works and is amazing. Lindsay. on a library-related theme - I don't know if you use Twitter/X but if you do then follow Orkney Library and Shetland Library. These are the best Library Twitter accounts in existence.

Chetham’s Library has been in continuous use as a public library for over 350 years. It is housed in a beautiful sandstone building dating from 1421

If you guys ever come to visit the UK you need to check out National Trust properties. You'd love them based on your reactions to old buildings.

Lindsay, you mentioned old book stores as well so I wonder if you have seen the 1987 movie 84 Charing Cross Road with Ann Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins? It’s a wonderful, gentle story about an American lady and her love of literature who contacts a book shop in London and their relationship through letters that builds over the years. Curl up with a cup of tea and Cadburys bar of chocolate one rainy afternoon!

Daughter was at Chethams from age 8 until 18 as it is a music school. Studied Vocal, flute and piano. You can go to concerts there and they now have their own new performance place too attached. Its famous in Manchester known as Chets.

I'm with Lindsay, if you have so many books you need a special ladder then you've made it in life!😄

Something else in Manchester that's great for British cultural history is the museum of Science and Industry, It's great for a day out and the little one would love it with tonnes of interactive things for her to do

I live in Manchester and I've visited all three libraries. They are even better than they look here. You can feel the history, you can smell it, it's incredible. If you ever manage to get to England, you must visit them, and you will be gobsmacked by their beauty.

Chetham library bought me to tears and as a person who comes from England I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of it, something I'm going to have to visit.Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention ❤️

I could see Lindsay getting so immersed in these libraries that her whole time in the UK could easily be spent there and Steve wandering round looking at all the architecture. This is why people always say the UK may be small in size, but boy we are packed to the rafters with things to visit, see and do. So including Sophia, it is going to be interesting how you are going to plan and choose where to go and what to see, which may mean more visits to the UK 😃😃😃

This is one of your best videos. If you love books, and you love old buildings, then these kinds of libraries are just magical. I love seeing people who really appreciate this stuff, and you two certainly do.

Hi Steve and Lindsay, thanks again for a brilliant reaction it makes my day when you two pop up on the screen because I know I'm in for a treat. Manchester is my home town and was the heart of the Industrial Revolution, the city has so much history it's a must visit. I'm actually going to John Rylands and Chethams next week I'm taking a friend from Yorkshire who has never been, we are also going to the Museum of Science and Industry which is amazing and houses the oldest passenger railway station in the world. If you can find a video of the Museum it would be a great reaction. There are a lot of videos on RU-vid that show Chethams and John Rylands in a little more detail so that you can see a lot more before you visit. If Linsay wants to come with us next week I'll pick her up from Manchester airport 😂 xx

Hi. The town with over twenty bookshops is Hay on Wye in Wales

As a Mancunian this video makes me happy. Thank you for reminding me of the treasures on my doorstep 😊

if I ruled the world, god forbid, I would make it a criminal offence to damage any book. When I moved out of my one bedroom flat to a house, after working overseas the removal company said that they had never seen so many books in a one bedroom flat and had to arrange for a larger lorry to move them. When I returned to the UK, after 10 years the removal company remarked that they did remember me for all the books

My dad was a member of a very similar library in Belfast - I tragically forget the name now - but in his later days he went their practically daily, and the staff all knew him. It had the most amazing atmosphere and made a huge impression on me as an early teen.

So glad you did this, I've always been pushing for you to this. Central Library is a also a wonderful building. Chethams Library is where Karl Marx and Josef Engels first met to lay down the basis of the communist manifesto after witnessing the poverty in Manchester and you can see the reading desk they sat at, It is also home to the world renowned Chethams School of Music. All these places are within 15 minutes walking distance from each other, including Central Library and are free to use. Manchester has a proud history of philanthropy.

I love Manchester, I'm a Manc, and loved growing up there and love going back up there. Haven't met a person who has been and not loved it.

Rylands was built in nine years 1889-1900. It cost £200,000 at the time. In late 2023 numbers, thats £21,675,514.84. Which is $27,586,818.26 USD. I used the 1895 year for this calculation.

You can easily walk around the library and see books from the 13th century all behind a locked bookcase, it is a magical place, and for our American friends, across the road is a statue of Abraham Lincoln and a plaque with the reasons why it is there.

Many local libraries in the UK have been closed due to underfunding. The library I grew up with in Crouch End, Hornsey Library, is a small library, but unique in its somewhat brutalist design. Nearby now here in Telford, thankfully we still have several libraries in most of the areas.

liverpools central library has a grade 2 listed Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library along with 15,000 rare books, its an old yet modern library i think is worth looking at

A library is a cathedral of knowledge. If you visit a church why not a library. As for the devils foot print, your doing scientific experiments no doubt with an open flame and burn the table, wouldn't you blame a demon? Especially if Elizabeth I is involved as she was capable of extreme ruthless cruelty...

It is very timely that you show these Manchester libraries, since my partner and I are planning a visit to Manchester in the next month, including Chethams and John Rylands. Chethams Library actually does do out-of-hours evening tours, including the secret parts. Their night-time tours offered in December, just before Christmas, unfortunately our schedules just didn't align. So we are looking forward to February 2024!

BTW if you liked that ceiling 5:40 you'd like the pub at Manchester Victoria Station

I walk past these libraries every day. The John Roland’s library is magical.

All three of those libraries are fairly close together, right in the town centre. Being as Manchester was a major manufacturing centre, communications hub and even a sea port during the 40s, you can imagine that area got heavy attention from the Luftwaffe - one reason why a lot of the surrounding buildings are so modern. It's a minor miracle that all three of those buildings survived.

Love your reactions to our wonderful libraries. Manchester was the cradle of the industrial revolution and at the forefront of so much innovation. There's so much to ser and do.

Lovely video. You will learn that the some of best old time British culture is found up north- London and and the West Country are brilliant in their own ways but there is such a warm feeling in our northern towns and cities. Old buildings, extremely friendly normal people but still exciting pubs, restaurants and things to do.

I live in Manchester and these libraries are wonderful. You have to book to look around Cheethams library, but the other two you can just turn up and enjoy. The Central library is our main lending library and is another outstanding building

The town you were thinking about was probably Hay-On-Wye Lindsay! I have been there on holiday to stay several times now, and it is just a book-lovers _heaven_ ! It is also where my love of antique maps was born as a child when I first visited the antique map store in Hay-On-Wye! A charming town, wonderful old book shops, and sat right on the border between Wales and England with beautiful parts of each country within easy reach! I hope you can both visit there one day!

Hiya guys,,so glad you checked out the Rylands Library here in Manchester UK the city I was born and still live in today. A city full of history, the home of some of the biggest football teams in the world, the best music and bands. Check out the beautiful Manchester cathedral and believe it or not some of the most amazing countryside and nature reserves and canal walks. Thanx again for your reactions, take care, Tony ❤

It took ten years to build John Rylands, it was completed by 1st Jan 1900. There are many architecturally beautiful buildings in Manchester

I have lived here for 15 years and thought that the building was abandoned. Didn't realise it was a library. Must visit this Portico.

As well as Hay-on-Wye (in the Welsh borders), the other town to visit if you like second-hand bookshops is Alnwick (pron. Annick) in Northumberland, north east England, which has the renowned Barter Books in its old disused railway station, and is a real treasure trove for the connoisseur bibliophile.

I work in Central Manchester and John Rylands is my favourite place to spend lunchtimes. It takes you away from the stresses if modern life. We have some wonderful libraries , art galleries and museums but don’t tell the southerners....they think its grim up north 😂

The Chetham's library building was built in 1421 and became a library in 1653.

What I really love is how you choose some really interesting places to look at. I’ve lived not too far from Manchester all my life and never been in any of these, but I think a trip into the city might be in order.

The main thing I take from watching these reaction videos is just how little I know about the country I live in. It’s like i become almost blasé about all the magnificent and historical sites on my own doorstep. It encourages me to get out and witness these places myself. FYI Robert Peel was a prime minister of England and best known for forming the police force in our country. He also came from my hometown of Tamworth.

I love following you guys, and now you're in MY city! I am ashamed to say I have these treasures in my doorstep and have never been in. The John Rylands Library houses two ancient papyrus fragments that are of interest to me and that I want to see: one is a fragment of an ancient papyrus of St John's Gospel, and the other dates from the 3rd century and bears the text of the earliest known hymn to the Mother of God, which is still in use today. There's also Manchester Central Library, which is very grand and circular. It was completelty refurbished a few years ago. There must be videos about it if you want to check it out. It is a 3-minute walk from the Portico Library.

I've lived in Manchester for over 50 years and never seen inside any of these, thx!

Im not sure if you've already covered this, but the Natural History Museum in London, is a magnificent building. The architecture is stunning, in fact ive often said that i would pay to go inside, even if the building was empty. Interesting for Sophia too.

I think you hit gold with this selection. I am British, live in London, and did not know about Manchester’s historic Libraries.

Hereford Cathedral is worth a look if you can find a video on it. It has a chained library and the mappa mundi and possibly a copy of the Magna Carta, although I don't think that was there when I visited. The mappa mundi is amazing.

I was born and grew up in Manchester. It's a great place. But there are some amazing libraries in other cities too. Oxford, for instance,has The Beodleian, for instance.. Oh Robert Peel founded the Police Force in Britain, and early cops became known as Peelers.

Brilliant video. Loved your reactions. Thank you for reminding me of the beautiful libraries of my university city ❤

Well-remembered, Lindsey, the Welsh town is Hay-on-Wye!

The British museum London has a lovely library. For me to go to a library and find a good book is like food for the brain.

Hay on Wye, is the town in Wales, for books.

Hurray, my hometown! Manchester Central Library is also a magnificent building.

There is also a library in London dating back to 1425 . Guildhall library . I'm really interested in looking into it's history now I've just looked it up thanks to you guys 😊.

That's my Town Manchester 🤗 I live there and yes we are extreamly lucky to have our wonderful libraries, you should visit 🤗

The town in Wales with all the bookshops is Hay-on-Wye. If you come to Wales the National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru) in Aberystwyth is also worth a visit! It’s not far from the Ceredigion rain forest area if you wanted to combine the two. If you visit London there are a lot of secondhand and antique bookshops in the Charing Cross Road area, along with Foyles bookshop which is huge (and used to be the world's largest bookshop). If you visit the Scottish Highlands Leakey's Bookshop in Inverness is Scotland’s largest secondhand bookshop, the building was once an old Gaelic church, so as well as the books the architecture is beautiful.

Chethams School of Music is connected to the library and is well renowned in the music world. You can book a tour of John Rylands Library and they show you some if their most prized possessions, we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls for example. I can’t understand why the Central Library was left out, there used to be a small theatre inside but that has been removed to make way for a cafe and gift shop.

I don’t know if you have independent coffee shops which are also book shops? We have a few in the villages where I live in the south east. They are heavenly for book lovers. Picture it - large leather sofas, fresh Teas, coffees, smoothies, hot chocolates, homemade biscuits.. the smell of books and walls dressed with all different genres of books📚 it’s a rainy day outside, there’s a fire crackling in the corner and you get lost in your latest book. One of my favourite things to do when I get an hour to myself.

I worked across from John Rylands library and looked out onto it every day. Spent many of my dinner hours wandering around it

I live in Manchester I have to confess i e never been to the Portico library. It does look amazing so i should definitely go in the near future . Central library is one of my favourite places and worth a mention as well. It was opened in 1934. It's one of the largest lending libraries in England. The building is circular and very beautiful in my eyes they even have a theatre downstairs. Manchester is a great vity with so much to do and see.

Hay on Wye which where the bookshops are, near the Welsh border is also close to Glastonbury which is as pretty a place as you can find, a bit new agey lovely little shops, and the famous Glastonbury Tor, a nice walk up to one of the finest views in England. Down again in the town there are beautiful cathedral ruins to explore, and little windy streets with shops and cafes. I think you would both love that area, which is also close to Bristol where many American ancestors would have left from, lots of welsh castles, and loads of country pubs, if you could drive then you would have a really lovely time in the south west. But plan on returning at some time because you can never do the U.K. on a whistle stop basis, there is just too much to take in.

Great video...Lindsay is a great contribution to the channel.. Here in the UK, we also have 'pop' up libraries be it in bus stops or old telephone booths...

I grew up on a street with a library 200 yards from my house... the weirdly intelligent librarian who was at my local library at age 6, recognised me 30 yrs later when he had moved to the central library.. obviously he saw me as I developed into a teen... but that was some memory to remember my name!

As you was wondering there are 24 public libraries in Manchester.

I have a funny feeling that Lindsey is going to be receiving hundreds of books in the PO Box in the coming months 😂

Regularly used for filming film & TV. It cropped up a couple of times in Peaky Blinders. Which, if you haven't seen it, is AMAZING! Best show/series I've ever seen.

The town with the bookshops you mentioned is probably Hay on Wye. They have a literary festival every year. It's a long way from Manchester bur convenient for exploring the rivers Wye and Severn.

Great video again guys! I live in Manchester and have visited John Rylands and Chethams they are stunning. Quite emotional to visit actually.

I live in Manchester check out the Manchester Central Libary video another great library we have here in Manchester. I used to go here with my Dad when i was a child back in the 1960s great memories.

I love Public Libraries, my Great Grandmother ensured I could read before I even started school. Im eternally grateful to her. A research subject perhaps The Great Improvers of the industrial revolution, men of character who invested in their employees conditions, housing, etc. Similar aporoaches were taken by some employers in the US.

I can't believe I overlooked this upload. I'm from Manchester....born and breed. I'm happy you had a look at my city. We have those three big libraries and smaller libraries in each of the zones of the city.

I've actually got a photo of me reading in the reading room of John Rylands. I live about 10 minutes walk away 🙂 Portico and Chethams are beautiful - as is our round Central Library. So lovely to see your reactions to my home town. Oh and John Rylands, you can just go in but sometimes you have to wait if they are busy. Also, if you love old buildings, check out Chatsworth House which is not too far from Manchester either.

Hey guys. If you want an awesome library, check out Birmingham Library with its roof terraces and Shakespeare Room. Guarantee you’ll love it

I studied in these rooms when I was at university. I took it totally for granted and although I still live in Manchester I’ve never been back. I think I might do now though.

Steve and Lindsey, because of you fantastic variety of interests in the UK I got to thinking. If you guys truly want to visit all the things that you've already seen on RU-vid, I think you will need a vacation of around a year or more! Enjoy!

i worked next to Chethams and it is a world famous music school teaching talented music students for the next orchestra .

Did you know that Manchester was the first industrial city in the world? It’s a very historical city in this respect. John Ryland’s is supposed to be the first public library.

I do like watching Americans appreciate the history of England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 😊🙏. We don’t think about it much until you watch videos like this , the fire place in my village pub dates back to 1070 , it’s part of an old monastery. Amazing when you think about it .

Born and bred.47 years. and im ashamed to say ive never been.. and yet i love to read and i love old clasic buildings and architecture.. i must make more of an effort

Your such a wholesome lovely couple. Keep it up❤

Love to your family from Manchester England, love your video's x

Doctor Dee, a man who has inspired me so much on my translations of old occult works.

I worked in Manchester and never knew they had these libraries. I’ll have to visit.

There's more than three libraries in the city centre, considering you have to take libraries for the three major universities, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and University of Salford. I'd say it would be a stretch to include University of Bolton but that is within Greater Manchester. You have to ring a bell for the Portico as there's a pub under the floor below 😅 I took a Harry Potter obsessed Girlfriend who wasn't from the city to John Rylands. She felt like she was in Hogwarts lol

Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway in SW Scotland is another small town full of bookshops. Well worth a visit.

You'd love St Paul's Cathedral's whispering gallery both beautiful and fascinating how you can whisper into the wall on one side of the dome and hear it like they are talking right beside you on the otherside. Britain has some amazing architecture and the most stunning and amazing often shows in these smaller overlooked but intricately detailed buildings

The town in Wales with all the secondhand book stores is Hay on Wye. Not far from where I live. It’s worth a visit, and you can reach it by driving over the picturesque mountains with wild ponies and sheep. Tricky roads, but beautiful!

Having to take a 50 minute train ride (followed by another 5 to 10 minutes on the tram) to access all the wonderful historic stuff like this in Manchester is one of the few things I regret about leaving a near city centre house to live in the Derbyshire countryside. There is so much historic 18th and 19th century things to look out for in Manchester.

You barely scratched the surface, guys. There are 24 public libraries in Manchester, including the famous Central Library in St Peter's Square. That might be the most famous and is definitely worth checking out.

Hi from the UK Steve, here in Liverpool Merseyside we have 18 Libraries but each town in the country has one of two libraries for any resident to use. Robert Peel created our first national police force.

Hello there, Steve and Lindsay. There are many other libraries in Manchester, and the largest - Manchester Central Library is also remarkable and magnificent. Anyone can go to the Portico and to Chetham's, but the Ruylands is part of Manchester University and is primarily for study and research as a collection of many of the world's rarest books. You need an appointment to get in and need to be registered, although they do have public tours. Of the larger cities in Britain outside London, Manchester may be the one most worth visiting; a genuinely exciting vibrant place - and there is an American connection which was mentioned at the Rylands. The extraordinary growth of Manchester and the surrounding towns in the 18th and 19th centuries was built on cotton - grown in America and shipped to Manchester to be woven into cloth. Indeed, the Mayor of Manchester used to be known as 'King Cotton'. There are lots of smaller cities in England which are obviously fascinating for the tourist and for lovers of history, culture and architecture; York, Bath, Chester should definitely be on your list. Then there are dozens of glorious smaller towns. And this is before even mentioning Scotland, Wales (the greatest proportion of castles in the world) and Ireland.