Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Theatre goers gather before a performance at Manchester's beautiful Royal Exchange Theatre in the vast marbled hall that houses the modern theatre pod. The building was formally the cotton exchange in the city where prices were set and the cotton bought and sold that made the city rich. The room where the movers and shakers of Cottonopolis gathered was the largest in the world when it was built. Bombed in World War II, it was reduced in size to how we see it now. As the cotton industry moved to the Far East and Manchester declined as a centre of the cotton trade, the Exchange was closed. It was due to be demolished but someone came up with the idea of turning it into a theatre. It is now one of the most renowned and respected theatres in the country...