One of the themes on my Instagram account is to show bent and damaged street furniture in Northenden, along with the caption: Northenden welcomes careful drivers. It’s not quite a weekly occurrence but… So it was a lovely surprise to see a nearly horizontal signpost in Manchester city centre, recently.
As you can see, this is in Manchester’s Chinatown. The shop window displays Chinese characters that translate to Whale Fresh, which I think just means fresh seafood or agrocery market. At least, I hope they’re not selling fresh whale meat.
I was in the city for another assisted stretching session with Emily. I can highly recommend this service, although there are only three branches of the parlour at the moment, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. By the time I had been severely manipulated, the authorities had attempted to repair the damage, or at least, make it a little bit safer.
Recently, Martha and Will watched a live recording of the TV show Gladiators. Now it was time for them to have a go.
What a great way to wear the children out and prepare them for a good night’s sleep!
I returned to the big city for Manchester Pride. I missed the Parade and because I’d not planned very well, I missed all the specific events too. It didn’t help that buses into Manchester terminated several stops earlier than anticipated, so we had to walk into town. It had been raining of course, so everything was wet.
She’s done very well has Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell. Of course, she wasn’t a Dame nor a Professor when I knew her at Queen Elizabeth College over half a century ago. Our paths crosses at the Sunday night Discos but otherwise my Maths and her Physiology studies never overlapped. Later on, she became President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester. So, technically, she was my daughter Jenny’s boss. Small world, innit!
In Manchester, visually impaired folks need their feet washed. At least, that’s the conclusion I came to when I saw this tactile paving at a street crossing, inches deep in rain water. It still amazes me that in a place where it rains a lot, the drainage infrastructure is just not up to the job.
‘Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo’ is a perfectly acceptable English sentence of course. But I didn’t expect to see a buffalo in Manchester.
It’s promoting Żubrówka vodka outside Motley bar and restaurant, a venue I’m very unlikely to visit.
Some fun entertainment was taking place in the family area. Two astronauts in silver suits and reflective bubble helmets kept the audience engaged even though it felt like it might start raining any minute.
I heard music from various venues, pubs, and coming through windows, but I only saw one chap out in the open playing the piano.
Chopin visited Manchester in the year before his death, at the early age of 39. On Monday, August 28th 1848 a gravely ill Fryderyk Chopin gave a Gala Concert before a rapturous audience of 1200 at the Gentlemen’s Concert Hall, which was situated at the corner of Peter Street and Lower Mosley Street. Despite serious ill-health he insisted that he would perform, a fact which has forever endeared him to Mancunians and music lovers everywhere. I remember it well.
And here’s the regular fix of young Keiran.
Thunderstorms had been forecast a lot recently, and for the first time, I heard rumbles in the distance. I tried to photograph any lightning but we just had the odd flash of sheet lightning in the clouds. What a shame about the weather though on this, the day of the annual Northenden Boat Race. An event that I totally forgot about on the day.
And suddenly it’s September. I’m assuming therefore, no more heat waves. September. Back to school, and even though I left over 50 years ago, the thought of it being the Autumn term and having to do cross-country runs every week still fills me with dread. Martha and William returned to school and they look very smart in their uniforms.
The regular walk in Wythenshawe this week attracted more people than ever, as far as I can remember: there were 13 of us, including a couple of folks I’ve never met before. I wore my jacket but it soon came off, just a bit too warm to justify it.
In the afternoon, I caught the bus into Sale where I had a lovely chat with Chantel over coffee. I’d not seen her since she left Thrive and that was three months ago. Yes, three months, I checked. It was great to see her looking well.
These colourful tree yarn-bombing installations were (I think) created by local artist Wendy in Stanley Square, Sale town centre. She’s a very talented lady, and they brighten the place up beautifully.
As if meeting Chantel wasn’t enough of spending time with good people, I returned to Manchester in the evening to watch former Prime Minister Gordon Brown giving a talk. He was promoting his new book, The Future Starts with Us. Since leaving politics, Gordon Brown has been about public service and contributing to long term thinking. He spoke about the importance of community organisations providing social cohesion all over the world, as an alternative to naked individualism, and social isolation. Such a positive message and a complete repudiation of Thatcher’s ‘There is no such thing a society’.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce (screenwriter, novelist, 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony) had a quick chat and asked some questions from the audience. A surprise guest was Ann Cleeves (Vera and Shetland) who was ‘invited’ up from the audience to join the main speakers on stage. She spoke about the importance of libraries being perfect centres of local communities.
I was hoping to get better pictures at the meet-and-greet afterwards, but instead, the audience was ushered out of the building pdq.
In Victoria Station, I was delighted to come across another Manchester bee.
According to the description: It was at the Manchester Mechanics Institute in 1868 that the first meeting of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) took place. Fifty years later, in 1918, the Pankhursts led a victory that was meant to mark the beginning of the end of a war for gender equality. Sylvia Pankhurst, a suffragette born in Manchester, was imprisoned on numerous occasions. Interestingly she came to see the campaign for women to have the vote as just one strand in a larger struggle for equality. The 70th anniversary of the NHS in 2018 is also celebrated.
Also in Victoria Station is a memorial for those who died in the terrorist bombing at Manchester Arena in 2017. I can’t imagine what it’s like for your child to go out for a good time at a concert and to not come home afterwards. The contrast between the hatred of the perpetrators of this atrocity and the ultimate optimism of Gordon Brown for the future was the difference between a clenched fist and a welcoming, open palm.
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