In the end, I didn’t get tickets for any of the concerts in Wythenshawe Park. I could hear Pulp from home, so I can only imagine how loud the show was in the park. A few days later, I went for a walk around the park and saw the damage that had been caused to the lawn.
The organisers were still dismantling the fences and us walkers wondered how long it would take for the lawn to recover from the tens of thousands of feet stomping on it for several days.
At Liesel’s suggestion, I invited a cleaner to come and help out at our luxury apartment. She did a good job cleaning up, but I did spend quite a while before she arrived, tidying up, picking stuff up off the floor. Booking a cleaner is a good way to focus the mind and help you notice the piles of detritus all over the place.
Go east, young man. I did. I visited Burrows Gardens near Ashbourne, Derbyshire, for a very pleasant afternoon in the Sun. I misread the info and thought it was an organised walk. Instead, people just wandered around, or bathed in the Sun. Drank tea and ate cake.
I imagine the gardens are more colourful earlier in the year, but there were still a few flowers in bloom.
I’m sure one of you gardeners or horticulturists will tell me what this really is: my botanical knowledge is a bit hit and miss!
I joined the group doing yoga. And let’s say, I’m no good at yoga. I can keep my balance standing on one leg, but only by wobbling about as if dodging a swarm of bees or something.
In amongst the plants, I espied a sundial. It’s a bit more hairy than most, and, I would suggest, since the pedestal is at a very jaunty angle, it’s not a very accurate timepiece.
But a peaceful place like this is fairly timeless.
Go east, young man. I did. I visited Saltaire in West Yorkshire. I saw Iona Fyfe in concert in Edinburgh recently. Then I found out that she was performing a few shows in England. This was the closest to me, so I booked it. Then, I found she was also performing in Bury, which is much closer. Oh well. I like Yorkshire.
Saltaire is a cute little place. And, like most places that aren’t Northenden, a little bit hilly.
I’ll probably return to this place sometime, but today, I didn’t walk down the road to Salts Mill. The old textile mill now houses an art gallery, shops and a restaurant.
I found the venue, The Live Room, a social club, easily enough but I was far too early. The ticket said 6 o’clock. Iona recognised me which, ridiculously, made my day!
I was tempted, but didn’t buy a Folk Yeah! t-shirt.
Also on the bill tonight was Birdvox, a group of four women also from Scotland. Their music was a bit different, with unusual instruments, good harmonies and while I didn’t know any of their songs, so I couldn’t ruin it for other people by singing along, I was tapping my foot, oh yeah.
I was tempted and I did purchase their much-anticipated debut album Shamming The Drama which wasn’t due to be released until the following week. Yes, I’ll be playing tracks from it on my WFM radio show very soon.
Because it was quite a long drive home, in the dark, I decided to stay overnight. After a good night’s sleep in a comfortable Premier Inn bed, I stuffed my face with a big breakfast.
I took time to look at the views on the way home but kept missing the parking spaces and lay-bys, so no photos. But the Peaks will still be there next time.
And what a busy week: into Manchester to donate blood, then a visit to the dental hygienist the following day. The Wednesday walk in Northenden was well-attended and the rain stayed away. I enjoyed the Thursday walk too, in Wythenshawe.
The shopping centre is being redeveloped, but while the (re-)building work is going on, all the shops remain open. I’m sure the place will be great when it’s finished, but meantime, all we locals can do is comment on the disruption.
Another trip into Manchester for another assisted stretch with Emily. And after this, I attended another meeting of the WFM volunteers in Wythenshawe Forum.
And to complete my hattrick, I joined the regular Friday walk in Wythenshawe Park.
The wind must have been in the wrong direction today. Either that or some of the childen’s nappies were badly leaking. Because the playground near the farm was incredibly niffy today.
Simone Reilly presents a show on Radio Manchester every afternoon from Wednesday to Friday. Today, her Top Manc contestant was me. I spoke briefly about Thrive Manchester’s Friday Walk, and then answered five questions. I scored 5 out of 5, tying with someone else from earlier in the week. Another few minutes towards my 15 minutes of fame! Of course, in the olden days, I would have won a CD or something just for taking part, but after the BBC got caught fixing/fiddling their competitions a while ago, they don’t seem to do that sort of thing.
And yet another trip into Manchester. This time, to see Holy Holy in concert. This has been advertised as their final tour. I hope not, but since the main players, Woody Woodmansey and Tony Visconti are both in their 80s, who knows?
O2 Ritz isn’t my favourite venue, and I was too far back in the queue to grab a spot at the front of the balcony. Instead, I stood near the front of the stage where I could see everyone in the band easily, except poor old Woody behind his drums, and Janette Mason behind her keyboard. I think most of the audience were in my age group, but it was nice to see some younger folks as well. The hubbub became quieter as the opening strains of Warszawa were played. Tony Visconti produced that record, an unbelieveable 50 years ago.
Very soon, we heard the first few beats of Five Years. And thus began two hours of David Bowie songs, performed by probably the best tribute band you could imagine. So here are the band members and the set list. (I have a few set lists at home already, so I let the 12-year old, enthusiastic young fan have the one I’d picked up.)
Five Years
Width Of A Circle
Lady Grinning Soul
Ziggy Stardust
Time
Quicksand
Changes
Ashes To Ashes
Eight Line Poem (this is the first time this song has been performed live, Bowie himself never sang it on stage)
Panic In Detroit (oh dear, Glenn Gregory forgot the words to the second verse. Luckily, the audience was here to help him out)
When You Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me
Drive-In Saturday
Space Oddity
The Man Who Sold The World
Every now and then during the show, the security guys brought around beakers of water, which I thought was extremely civilised. Especially for those of us who had a good spot and didn’t want to lose it by going to the bar!
Starman
Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide
Life On Mars
Moonage Daydream
Encore:
Where Are We Now
Rebel Rebel
I bumped into my birthday twin Sue afterwards. She was in Manchester for a girls’ weekend, taking in Holy Holy for at least the second time on this tour. Unusually, I didn’t hang around to speak to the band after the show.
My ears and I were buzzing well into the night and it took ages to get to sleep. I checked future dates for Holy Holy and reluctantly decided Birmingham and Hull were just too far away to see them again. My throat was a little hoarse from singing along, but that’s alright, I didn’t need to speak for a while!
A few days ago, some weird chemical reaction in my brain kicked off the neurons leaving me yearning for a National Trust pasty. I scratched the itch by visiting Quarry Bank Mill, where I had to tell the volunteer to scan only one membership card as I was on my own this time.
The curried cauliflower pasty was just as good as I remembered! And the bonus is, of course, I had a very pleasant walk around the grounds, not getting too close to the wildlife.
And of course it’s always uplifting to see colours, Autumnal or otherwise.
This dogwood’s leaves are changing colour but most of the trees haven’t really started yet. They definitely lost a lot of foliage during the recent heatwaves.
As I’ve said many times, I’m not a botanist. But I think this so-called swede looks more like marigolds. And very bright they are too.
The big event of the week, down under, was Keiran turning ten months of age. Yes, he’s in double figures already.
In Alaska, Liesel and her chums spent another night in Hope. I mean Hope the place: none of us are that hopeful for the future of the planet and the human race, but, ooh that got a bit dark suddenly didn’t it?!
Liesel and co did a 4-mile walk, not that technical but muddy, root, and rocky. So she didn’t see much around her, just looking down. There was a longish hill to walk up.
Liesel got up before everyone else as she wanted to get breakfast in the oven. Then she walked down to the coffee shop. Liesel is finding, like I do, that walking anywhere other than around Northenden is going to be hilly and challenging.
I enjoyed seeing the wildlife as I walked down to the river Mersey. A cat. Two squirrels and, rot13, n qrnq eng, lhpx. Best of all though was seeing a cormorant on the little island.
And a bee on a sunflower.
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