If we can start with a confession, mine is that I love anything to do with our industrial past.

The idea of Britain as a world leader in the 1800s because of the population’s toil in mills and factories – which would now be deemed illegal – struck a chord at school.

So it was with the excitement of that slightly swotty 16-year-old that I set off for a weekend at Manchester Quays.

This is the land and water-based areas around the Ship Canal in Salford which is now turning into a cultural and leisure hub.

Opened in 1894, the waterway links inland Manchester with the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, allowing it to boost textile and tramcar production, but its heyday was over by 1970.

When the quays was chosen as the site for the Imperial War Museum North (IWMN) its transformation was sealed.

In the last two years the BBC moved into Media City Studios there and a new Coronation Street set is soon to be unveiled.

One of the best ways of seeing it all is to take to the water.

Manchester Cruises, a newly-formed company, offers 45-minute tours of the Ship Canal and the River Irwell, with commentary and very friendly staff. The boat sets off past the shiny new buildings, before puttering towards the edge of Trafford Park and giving people a view of Manchester United’s impressive stadium.

Two essential visits are the IWMN and the Lowry Gallery.

I’m already a fan of London’s war museum of the same name, but its northern brother smashes any conception of what such a place should be like.

The first thing that greeted me was the remains of a car blown up by a suicide bomber in Baghdad in 2007. Admittedly, I went the wrong way after the entrance and should have been at the First World War exhibitions, but that didn’t matter.

The building, created by Daniel Libeskind, is designed to disarm you, with walls jutting out at jaunty angles into a vast exhibition space.

The reason becomes clear when a moving picture show is projected onto the walls detailing the experiences of those involved in conflict.

And what other museum offers a 100ft viewing tower, where you can see the ground through mesh under your feet? I bowled up to the lift and remembered too late that I hate heights. But getting on with it was definitely the way forward.

The other must is the The Lowry art and entertainment complex which houses bars, a theatre and the gallery dedicated to LS Lowry and his famous industrial landscapes featuring hunched workers. Another temporary exhibition space showed a fun selection of memories of Manchester’s music scene throughout the ages.

You get the back story of how his art changed when he was forced to move from an affluent area to the slums – and nurse his dying mother.

The quays boast a selection of bars and restaurants to sit back and take stock, while The Lowry Outlet offers discounted shopping.

Mary Graham’s trip was funded by the quays and travel from London was courtesy of Virgin Trains.

The quays factfile and useful links:

My base was a very comfortable room at the Old Trafford Lodge, situated within Manchester Quays. The hotel overlooks Lancashire Cricket Club and as soon as you open the curtains you are looking straight out onto the pitch and stadium.
The hotel, in Talbot Road, Old Trafford, is offering a weekend break for £49 per room per night. Minimum stay is two nights, up to four people can stay in the room and the offer includes breakfast. Details from 0161 874 3333 or www.lccc.co.uk

The Virgin Trains service from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly is the quickest way to reach the city and the journey is just over two hours. Fares start at £12.50 for a single Book at www.virgintrains.co.uk

An overview on the area is at www.thequays.org.uk

A Manchester Cruises trip costs £9.45 for an adult and the boat departs from Media City. See www.manchestercruises.com

The Lowry Art and Entertainment website is www.thelowry.com and contains details of forthcoming shows. Admission to the gallery is free.

Admission to the Imperial War Museum North is free. More details at www.iwm.org.uk

More on cut-price shopping at www.lowryoutlet.co.uk