Media City

I'm very taken with this part of Salford in its modern reincarnation, with the canals so clean that people swim in them - we saw them here yesterday - and children learn to paddle canoes in their deep water. You can make out the lettering telling you where the BBC have their northern home, and the set of Coronation Street is just round the corner.

I took this on the way to pay a return visit to the fascinating Imperial War Museum North. The sun was shining on the water and the silver of the buildings, the air was warm and fresh and there were no cars for most of the route. City living with a difference - I could almost get used to it ...