Places to go

It’s been a while since we’ve been to an author’s event, so it’s time to fix that. Before going into the venue, we visited the Long Bar, just down the road in Bramhall. Pre-show cocktail? I don’t mind if I do.

Amongst the fellow guests in this emporium was comedian Jason Manford. When, a couple of days later, Liesel told one of her WI mates that we’d seen him, she said, “Oh, yeah, I used to teach him.” Small world isn’t it?

Liesel and I joined about 16 other folks in Simply Books to see and hear Emma Hinds talking about her new book, The Quick and the Dead. I was one of just three blokes, and one of the others was a friend of Emma’s.

It was a fascinating chat, the story taking place in 1597. It’s funny how most of the historical novels we read are about the Tudor period. I look forward to reading Emma’s book and I said I’d catch up with Elle’s soon too.

It’s finally happened. The door of the dishwasher is broken, kaput. For years, we’ve had to lower the door by hand because the spring keeps breaking. Now, it only opens halfway. Time to invest in a new one. So I’ll be handwashing the dishes for a week or so.

I’ve been listening to Tony Blackburn for 60 years on the radio, and in his own words, he is quite sensational. Not just because he was born in the same hospital as me, Mount Alvernia in Guildford. He was the first DJ to read out my name on the radio, during his Radio 1 Breakfast Show. The slot was called School Salute, and even though my class, 3F, requested a Bee Gees song, he played Here Comes the Judge by Pigmeat Markham, but the disappointment was outweighed by the excitement of hearing our names on the radio. I wonder what happened to Ian Cordery, Howard Heather and all the others? The only one I’m still in touch with is Andrew Webb. Hello Andrew! This week, for the first time, we saw Tony on stage, in the flesh, at Bridgewater Hall. He hosted a show based on his long-running Radio 2 programme, Sounds of the 60s. The all-star band and the two vocalists performed about 100 songs from the 1960s, insterspersed by some of Tony’s best/worst jokes. The musical director and sax player was Leo Green, whose Dad Benny I used to listen to in the early days of Jazz FM.

Before the show, we dined at a different venue, HOME, and as we left, we told the server where we were going, and he said everyone seems to be going there tonight.

The venue was pretty much sold out, and as Liesel observed, we’ve never seen so much grey hair in one audience.

I chatted a bit with the old chap I was sitting next to. As we were leaving, he asked if I watched Corrie? Never seen a whole episode of Coronation Street and I’m not about to start now. Then he told me, he was a regular extra in the show, and has been for years.

As you can see from the photo, we were way up in the Circle, and, on the way down, I captured another Manchester Bee.

The plaque next to the bee told us about the bust of Sir John Barbirolli, and didn’t mention the bee itself. But we’re very grateful to Sir John for reviving the fortunes of the Hallé Orchestra during the 1950s.

Everyone was looking forward to seeing the blood red Moon, a partial lunar eclipse, just before sunrise. I got up, looked out, noted the 100% cloud cover and returned to my pit.

We debated whether to go by train but in the end we drove to Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s an interesting place and a nice halfway point between Manchester and London. Our friends Trudi and John are visiting from Hawaii along with their niece Haylee. They came by train and we met at the station. I’m sure they noticed the cold north wind welcoming them to England.

John and I walked to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage while Liesel drove the ladies there. We’d not been to this venue before, but the guide was informative and the house itself very interesting.

We had lunch at The Dirty Duck, in the Actor’s Bar, which is adorned with photos of many actors from stage and screen. One of the few I could immediately put a name to was Richard Burton.

Of course, we had to visit Anne Hathaway’s husband’s birthplace, which is situated on the main street, very handy for the shops.

There’s more of an exhibition here too, celebrating Shakespeare’s plays, sonnets and life. Playwrights were the rock stars of the time, said one of the hosts, quite wealthy, some of them.

Again, I regret not taking more photos of the visitors, but here they are.

For dessert, we visited Prospero Lounge. With a name like that, I thought there might be some Shakespearean theme, but there wasn’t. The sticky toffee pudding was fabulous though.

I was quite happy to walk from venue to venue while Liesel drove all the others, even if it was a tight squeeze in our little car. We said our farewells back at the station, having spent a really nice (if cold) day with our delightful buddies.

As on the journey to Stratford, the drive home was easy, no hold-ups at all on the M6 which is most unusal.

Did I mention the sticky toffee pudding? Well, that meant we didn’t need much to eat when we got home.

Liesel, her Mom and I drove into Manchester for a very funny comedy night.

Another great night’s entertainment from two comedians, only one of whom I’ve seen before. Yes, they are wearing the same shirt. I won’t repeat any of the jokes here, some of them are not suitable for a family audience. Luckily, mother-in-law was sitting behind me, so I can only imagine the look on her face, knowing that Klaus would have been laughing like a drain. Do drains laugh?