Manchester

Extract from The New Travel Book -
North of Watford Gap - John Brown

 It was Saturday 15th June 1996 (Father's Day) when a 3,000lb IRA bomb exploded in Manchester. The blast injured more than 200 people and ripped into the fabric of the city's main shopping area. Thanks to several coded warnings to newspapers and radio stations, police had already begun clearing the suspected area some 40 minutes before the blast. Unbelievably no one was killed. The nearest thing to a fatality had occurred, when some 30 minutes before the actual explosion, a rather zealous parking attendant had placed a fixed penalty notice upon the screen of the explosive-laden truck, I suspect this person is still in therapy.