• Thought that the city coat of arms signified the three rivers of Manchester? It doesn’t.

• Thought Rolls met Royce at the Midland Hotel? He didn’t.

• Thought the pillar box on Corporation Street was the one that survived the IRA bomb? It isn’t.

• Thought the council built a shelter to shield the public from atomic bombs? No. It was only for VIPs.

• Did you know Manchester was close to being the setting for only the second assassination of a British prime minister?

• Did you know The Smiths were named after the people who shopped the Moors Murderers to the police?

• Thought the design of Manchester Town Hall is original? No. It is based on a Belgian building.

• Thought the Midland Hotel was free of Russian secret service bugs? Huh.

• Thought L. S. Lowry was a kindly avuncular old gent? Not quite.

• Did you know the army bomb disposal team was only 2 seconds away from diffusing the 1996 IRA bomb?

Eye-opening guided tour.