A tale of two Traffords.

(From Newcastle Evening Chronicle)

DAVE MORTON and his family spent two enjoyable days and nights in the land of Fergie, Giggsy, Rooney, the Gallagher brothers, Roberto Mancini, Balottelli, Ken Barlow and Hilda Ogden - in short, Manchester MY earliest encounter with anything Mancunian was probably the dreary theme music of Coronation Street, as watched by my mother back in the day. Now, 30-odd years on, and Manchester is no longer regarded as a city full of gloomy back-to-back terraced houses, but rather a buzzing commercial, sporting, shopping and leisure metropolis.

Departing Newcastle Central Station mid-morning on a regular TransPennine Express service, we arrived at Manchester Picadilly by early afternoon.

The metallic grey skies, and light drizzle, very much a feature of this city in the shadow of the Pennines, didn't dampen our spirits, especially my nine-year-old son, who was looking forward to a guided tour of Manchester United's Old Trafford.

But first to our hotel which, interestingly, was housed in the other Old …