When I first went to Salford Quays in 1988, its last cargo carrier had sailed down the Manchester Ship Canal only five years previously.

The site was rundown and looking every-inch a depressed, northern post-industrial scene.

Still, there were glimmers of hope. Hotels and offices were being built. These pioneers sought to revitalise this place which was once Britain's third busiest port.

Those glimmers have turned into a dazzling showcase of steel, glass and brick that has seen this former dockside transformed into one of the north's most vibrant destinations.

My wife and I stayed a 10-minute walk from the Quays in the home of another Manchester landmark, the Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground. Our room overlooked the pitch, and although out of season, it was easy to imagine what a perfect spot this would be to watch the summer game.

Our walk to the waterfront took us past another field of dreams, indeed another Old Trafford. This time the home of the football team, it is an impressive sight, dwarfing a canal that runs by at the foot of its terraces. Dennis Law's raised arm was welcoming mostly Far Eastern tourists who walked beneath his statue on the weekend I visited.

At the heart of the Quays are some stunning buildings, none more so than Imperial War Museum of the North. Designed by the renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, IWM North is one of the most iconic buildings in The Quays skyline. Clad in aluminium, the museum aims to tell the story of war and its impact on the people who fighting war and are caught up in war.

The exhibits relate in a simple and powerful way the experiences of ordinary people. One has a Bosnian woman mourning the loss of Mostar's historic bridge in the Yugoslavian civil war. Further on is a chilling public information film on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. In tune with the stark beauty of the building, some of the exhibits are simple and unsettling. The massive fragment of the World Trade Centre, destroyed on 9/11 is especially affecting. I was unsure what the piece was - it looks like the rusting fragment of a bombed bridge perhaps. But when bending to read the caption, the horror embedded in this massive chunk of metal becomes plain.

But a timely exhibition brings the story to a setting closer to home. Called ‘From Street To Trench’, it told of the thousands of people who came from the city and went to fight in the First World War or who worked on the home front. There are stories of the young men from the tight streets who left Manchester for the first time to fight in theatres across the globe. But there are also tales of women working long hours in munitions factories preparing the millions of shells that would be hurled into the mud of the Western Front.

The terraces where these men lived found their champion in Manchester's most famous artist - and the life and work of LS Lowry is celebrated across the water. Famed for his paintings of 'matchstick men' against backdrops of terraced houses and chimneys, Lowry painted his city from the end of the 19th century until the 1970s.

With more than 400 works, the Lowry houses the largest public collection of paintings and drawings by LS Lowry in the world. There are in the collection, 57 of which are oil paintings.

The stunning Lowry Theatre and gallery was designed by Michael Wiford, its metallic cladding complements that of its partner, the IWM across the Manchester Ship Canal.

The gallery also shines a light on lesser-known areas of his work; the delicate seascapes and the intimate portraits of people and scenes. A print of one of these, the Organ Grinder, depicts a clutch of people in a small terraced 1930s street. The corner house is picked out in vibrant colour, bringing sparkling life to an everyday scene.

Diverse exhibitions of other people's art are held in the gallery. A fascinating show of photographs of world-famous actors, includimng Robert de Niro, Sir Ben Kinglsey and Michael Caine is curreently on display. Called Behind the Mask, this large collection's visit to the Lowry is its first outing outside of London.

Choosing where to eat wasn't easy, such was the choice of restaurants; but we opted for a stylish Italian in the Media City area. A further expansion of the Quays, it has seen the BBC move much of its programming here and they have built a striking HQ for their northern operations here. ITV too have chosen to come here and the MediaCityUK development is framed by the incredible Salford Quays Lift Bridge, designed by Carlos Fernandez Casado, which has become a prominent backdrop to many shows filmed here.

There is more to do here that we could do justice to. Opposite the gallery and theatre is the Lowry Outlet boasts more than 80 shops including designer names, offering up to 70 per cent reductions from the high street. Visitors can take a cruise on the canals and former docks and see the story of Salford Quays and the Manchester Ship Canal unfold.