A river runs through them

The Guardian today ran a short piece about the move of BBC programmes to "Salford Quays in Manchester".  As you might guess from the name, Salford Quays is in Salford, not Manchester.

It's a common mistake. I've lost count of the number of times I've read "Salford, Manchester" and seen references to Coronation Street (based on a street in Salford) as a Manchester soap. I can sort of understand the mistake if people are not from the area.  But for a journalist on a national newspaper, the former Manchester Guardian no less, to make it is just sloppy.  It's as bad as saying the House of Commons is in the City of London.

Salford and Manchester have been separate cities since the 1200's.  Salford has its own university, cathedral and rugby league team.  And just to make the division clear, the two cities are separated by the River Irwell: like the other twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, you need to cross a bridge to get from one to the other.