The Wheel of Manchester was a transportable

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...

installation at

Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...

, Manchester, England. The wheel was originally a smaller installation based in

Exchange Square Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...

, first assembled in 2004. The wheel's size was increased to in 2007, and plans existed to increase this further. However, these plans were never submitted. The wheel was dismantled in 2012 to make way for

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

celebrations and Metrolink construction work. In 2013, a new wheel was installed in Piccadilly Gardens. It was dismantled in June 2015.

History

2004–2007

The first wheel was first installed in 2004 which was a success and consequently a larger wheel was erected in May 2007.

2007–2012

The wheel returned in May 2007 and was sponsored by the

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

. A larger wheel was initially planned for 2008, but it was never installed. In 2010,

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

proposed a wheel, to be operated by World Tourist Attractions, as a replacement for the existing transportable installation, with

the possible site and completion expected by Christmas 2011. The installation was later taken over by

Great City Attractions Great City Attractions Limited, also known as Great City Attractions Global, was a company engaged in the operation of large transportable Ferris wheels. Based in Sutton Coldfield, UK, it was incorporated in 2008. It went into administration in Jul ...

when World Tourist Attractions merged with

Great Wheel Corporation Great Wheel Corporation was a company engaged in the development, building, financing, and operation of Ferris wheels, which they often termed "observation wheels" or "observation platforms". Great Wheel Corporation, registered in Singapore as GW ...

. In 2011 it became known as The Capital Wheel of Manchester, through a sponsorship deal with Capital FM. Although plans for a larger wheel were not publicly rejected, they never materialised. The wheel was removed in April 2012.

recommended to move the wheel to another area of the city such as

, but this was rejected with the Council airing concerns about the wheel limiting space in Piccadilly. Manchester City Council stated that they thought the wheel had "probably run its course in terms of an attraction" since its opening in 2004. The Council also added that space in Exchange Square was required for a number of reasons, including public viewing space for the

and space for adjacent redevelopment projects, such as

Exchange Square Metrolink station Exchange Square tram stop is a stop in the City Zone of Greater Manchester's Metrolink light rail system, in Exchange Square opposite the Manchester Arndale shopping centre in Manchester city centre. It is part of the Second City Crossing ( ...

, the Metrolink second city crossing on Corporation Street, and the renovation of The Triangle. Following its last day of operation on 15 April 2012, it was dismantled and moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The removal of the Ferris wheel was welcomed by some who believed the wheel had run its course as an attraction.

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder of ...

, one of Manchester's most famous cultural patrons, hated the Ferris wheel stating: "It ruins a perfectly good square and it's a poor imitation of something London's done a lot better. We shouldn't be doing it."

2013–2015

In 2013, a new wheel returned to Manchester to replace the original for New Years celebrations. However, this wheel was located at Piccadilly Gardens. A disagreement between Manchester City Council and the owners

Wheels Entertainments Wheels Entertainments, sometimes referred to by the press as Wheels Entertainment, is a company engaged in the operation of large transportable Ferris wheels. Based at Shenstone, in Lichfield, Staffordshire, it is the UK operations arm of Dubai-ba ...

arose after the licence to run the attraction ran out in April 2015.

References

{{Coord, 53.48433, N, 2.24310, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Transportable Ferris wheels Tourist attractions in Manchester Buildings and structures in Manchester 2012 disestablishments in England 2015 disestablishments in England Piccadilly Gardens