Manchester – Page 3 – Mick and Liesel's Antics

Magic moments

Congratulations again to Helen and Brent! Not quite married but we had a lovely day celebrating their impending union. They are having a series of parties all around the world to accommodate friends and family in several continents. Slight exaggeration there.

Dressed in white, Helen illuminated The Ivy in Manchester where thirteen of us met for a fantastic, long lunch. It was lovely to see our former hairdresser and Helen’s friend Tracey and her family after their six-hour drive from Somerset.

The food was great, the company was marvellous, the service fantastic, all the staff were very attentive and friendly. Oh hang on, this isn’t Trip Adviser is it?

Martha and William enjoyed building their own ice cream sundaes. Well, they enjoyed gorging on the various components.

Later on, we all met up at Jenny’s for a party with more friends and family. Magician Matt and Amy were there: we’d not met since Jenny and Liam’s wedding two years ago.

It was a gorgeous day to sit around in the garden, drinking, chatting and ‘plane spotting.

The more formal part of the day was Martha and William acting as joint celebrants, conducting their own marriage ceremony, and a very good job they did too.

Despite appearances, the certificate was not signed on the desk in a mobile phone and cuddly toy shop.

Even after a huge meal at The Ivy, we still found time and space to enjoy the various snacks, thanks to Jenny, Liesel and Una. Yes, for the first time in quite a while, I felt that I’d eaten too much.

Evening entertainment was provided by Matt whose warm-up act was Martha. She managed a conjuring trick perfectly.

Matt got Helen and Brent to choose numbers from an apparently random set on a board. When added up, the total was, as predicted by Matt, 111,124. Which, by coincidence, we believe to be the chosen date for the actual wedding, 11/11/24. Spooky.

Many of us suggested questions to ask Helen and Brent. They sat back to back, each holding one shoe of their own and of of their partner’s. The questions were answered by each raising the shoe belonging to whoever they each believed satisfied the question best. And yes, we were still sitting outside well after dark.

A good night’s sleep was had by all, I’m sure.

After breakfast, Martha and William came over. We looked after them for a few hours while Jenny, Liam, Helen and Brent spent some time together. We picked some litter… no… We picked a lot of litter while walking from our place to the playground in Riverside Park. In the end, we left two full bags to be collected by the contractors. Still, it was a nice day for litter-picking, and the children had fun in the playground too.

Fun, yes, but exhausting. Poor old William!

The walk home via a coffee shop was uneventful, until it very suddenly got dark, started to spit and then, whoosh, a torrential downpour soaked us. How we laughed!

It was lovely to meet up with Helen and Brent for lunch before they continued their tour of the UK and Ireland. I took a bus to Greens, Sale, the first time I’d been there. The food as always was great, but I did have to take some excess patatas bravas home for Liesel!

Martha and William returned to school and Helen and Brent drove off to Snowdonia for a few days to complete thir British adventure.

I’m still having all but daily medical appointments, consultations, examinations, check-ups, but you know, mustn’t grumble.

Liesel and I had a night out. Laughterama in Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl. Outside. And I’m so glad I wore a long-sleeved shirt, a coat and long trousers, as it did get quite cold and windy towards the end of the evening. All five comedians were very funny. One in particular was very rude, and we learned the BSL sign for a word that we’ll never use in real life.

Jen Brister, Stephen Bailey, Janine Harouni, Rhys James and Dara Ó Briain

Dara commented that he likes Manchester because of all the theatres, especially the ones with roofs…

I went for a walk on what must have been one of the hottest days of this Summer, although I didn’t realise that when I set off. I visited a few shops. Liesel and her Mom have been out a few times with the WI ladies for coffee. And we’ve been watching far too much TV: la Vuelta, the Paralympics and the Tour of Britain (Men) started this week too. I checked, but my eyes haven’t gone square like my Mum said they would.

Socks and tiles

Several thousand words omitted describing Mick’s medical emergency and its aftermath. More medical appointmets in a week than there are atoms in a water molecule. The worst thing is, training for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics has been on hold, so there’s some catching up to do.

But slowly, slowly, Mick climbed back through the treacle to a more resonable, stable landscape. Just in time too. Writing in the third person because it all seems like it was happening to somebody else, over there, and I was merely an observer.

Some lovely friends from Germany paid a quick visit to Manchester and we three, Mick, Liesel and Leslie, enjoyed entertaining them for a few days. I last met Fe a couple of years ago in Anchorage, but this was the first time I’d met her mother, Gabi, and her 10-month old daughter Charlotte.

We caught a bus into the city and Charlotte kept us entertained on board.

Our first destination was The Whitworth Gallery. Liesel and I have been before but it was fun to act as guides for our guests. As if we knew what we were talking about! Charlotte wasn’t bothered by the artwork, but she did like to move around a lot.

The exhibition of Carnival pictures was alright but I think we were all too busy talking and catching up on family news, I didn’t take many pictures. I was feeling much better, but still nowhere near 100%.

In fact, after lunch in the café, I went home for a nap while our visitors wandered around some other Manchester sights and sites.

The weir in Northenden is broken, no idea how that happened, but it means that the annual Northenden Boat Race was cancelled.

To be honest, I needed a nap at home too, but in the evening, we all met up for a meal in Albert’s, a restaurant just along the road from Fe and Gabi’s b&b: what are the chances? Lovely, sociable Charlotte made friends with everyone, including the serving staff. She can just about walk, as long as she holds on to one or two grown-up fingers, and she and I circumnavigated the restaurant a couple of times.

We all returned to Manchester for another full day of sightseeing.

Our guests admired the architecture of the Midland Hotel, and all I could think of was the very small cup of coffee I had in there once when I visited with my other mother-in-law, many years ago. And, we were reminded that Manchester Pride is imminent.

I think they could have made this statue of Abraham Lincoln even taller if they’d given him his stovepipe hat. John Rylands Library is always good to wander round, look at the books, and the architecture. Liesel and I joined an organised tour a while ago, but they no longer run these. Someone asked, did the building used to be a church? No, but it was designed to resemble a church. And it was good to see thet we weren’t the only overseas visitors today.

We continued our tour of the city at the Museum of Science and Industry. Disappointing that the loom wasn’t in operation today due to lack of volunteers. On the other hand, it’s quite a noisy machine and maybe a bit too loud for Charlotte’s little lugs.

But Charlotte did enjoy time in the soft play area, even while being a bit discombobulated being pushed round and round in an oversize cotton reel.

We paid a visit to nearby Castlefield Viaduct too. Gabi and I climbed the stairs, and that was almost too much for me, on this occasion. Fe and Liesel pushed the buggy the long way round since the lift is still out of commission.

The various gardens on the viaduct are a wee bit unkempt right now, maybe the volunteer gardeners have been enjoying a nice, lazy Summer. Still, it was interesting to see and hear Gabi’s take on some of the plants, I wondered whether she was a herbalist (a witch?) in a previous life.

Royal Mail offer a very different service in Manchester, as we discovered on our walk back to our bus stop.

Fe and Gabi’s visit came to a sudden end. We paid a return visit to Albert’s for a farewell meal, thank you very much, after which we wandered back to their b&b for a quick glass of wine. It was quite late in the evening, but Charlotte showed no sign of needing to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, what’s Helen been up to? We saw her briefly when she arrived from Aus, but since then she and Brent have been on an extensive tour of the UK and Ireland. Lake District with Jenny and the family. Edinburgh for the Festival Fringe, Ireland for a wedding, Brighton to visit Amy and then to Kingston for a meal at Riverside Vegetaria, celebrating its 35th anniversary.

I came into our living room and saw this apparition. Don’t worry, it’s only William. You can tell by the odd socks on his odd feet.

When we were at the Museum of Science and Technology, we saw there’s a room full of old video games, and we thought Martha and William might both enjoy this. They both play games on parents’ phones, after all. The adventure started with a tram ride into Manchester and I met up with everyone at the Museum. Why didn’t I travel in with them? Sod’s Law, innit. The last few weeks, our Ocado delivery has arrived at about 9.30, or even earlier. Today, because we’d planned to go out, he didn’t arrive until an hour later. Of course he didn’t.

Anyway, while I was excited to come across a working BBC Microcomputer, I was very disappointed that I couldn’t remember enough to help Martha write a BBC Basic program.

I like this photo because we have a very similar one featuring young Jenny programming my own, original BBC micro.

While she and William were playing with Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokémon, I did manage to insert a single line of code which I hope later visitors will appreciate.

The children spent a few more hours at the museum, playing these video games but also exploring the exploration area, causing earthquakes, studying viscosity, playing with magnets and much more. But William delighted us by persevering and building a Soma cube from seven differently shaped pieces.

And then Martha and I played a game of Jenga with some very sticky tiles. The tower was precarious and guess who made the final, fatal move?

I had the first of the week’s three medical appointmets in the aftrernoon so, after lunch, I departed, leaving Liesel and Leslie in charge.

And here’s little Martha relaxing in the cotton spool recently vacated by little Charlotte.

A couple more medical appointments later in the week that encouraged me to walk in places I’ve not wandered before. I like a bit of street art but I just wish the artist would arrange things so that I could get a decent photo of the whole thing without having to clamber up a drainpipe and balance precariously on someobody’s wall. So this picture is a bit distorted.

And yes, I must be feeling a little bit better, more myself, but nowhere near 100%, because I let Liesel persuade me to join her and Leslie on the regular Friday morning Thrive walk in Wythenshawe. It was alright although I was aware of walking more slowly than I usually do. I was glad to take a load off in Costa afterwards.

Yes, I can see the irony in me feeling a bit down at the moment thanks to a, hopefully temporary, impairment in my abilities, while, at the same time, watching and admiring the Paralympians on TV living with, coping with and even overcoming their permanent disabilities. They are amazing.

Letters and numbers

One more week of Olympics kept us entertained, up to but not including the Closing Ceremony. No, we didn’t wait up for the speeches.

Jenny, Liam and the children sent us some sunshine from Menorca.

Our own travels took us as far as Northenden. Leslie and I joined about 15 others for the regular wander through Kenworthy Lane Woods. After taking Leslie home, I caught the bus into Manchester for another walk, starting at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International. I looked around for familiar faces, but saw nobody I knew. I decided sit and wait and while browsing Instagram, I saw a message telling me this walk had been cancelled. Well, I thought, that’s disappointing. So, had a nice cup of coffee, enjoyed the music being played in the background before setting off on a walk around town.

I didn’t have a route in mind but I saw a couple of birds waddling along and decided to follow them. And then, around the corner, I came across a whole gaggle of them, leading me all the way to Castlefield.

There are some activities that I haven’t enjoyed since I was a child, and I was delighted to relive some memories this week. Our fresh veg box included peas and my mission, which I chose to accept, was to pod them. I used to pod my Dad’s home-grown peas while sitting on the back doorstep. Today, I just sat on the sofa, indoors, enjoying the feeling and the scent of fresh peas.

Liesel, Leslie and I joined the regular walk through the woods and parks of Wythenshawe, followed by a nice cup of coffee. Except today, I had a mango and passionfruit cooler instead. Well, it was a warm day and even hotter inside the café.

Shelling peas qualified me for another job at home. Martha and William enjoy making bracelets with beads and some of our beads have letters, so they can spell their names and the names of some school friends. My mission, which I chose to accept, was to sort these letter beads in order to determine which letters we are now short of. And what a fiddly labour of love that was.

As you can see, unlike old Letraset sets from fifty years ago, there is no shortage of letter Ds here.

Another major achievement this week was, after several months of trying on and off, completing the 2048 puzzle on my phone.

2048 is a single-player sliding tile puzzle game. The objective of the game is to slide numbered tiles on a grid to combine them to create a tile with the number 2048. When you slide tiles up, down, left or right, neighbouring tiles of equal value merge into one, Two 2s become 4, two 4s become 8 etc. Each move also results in a new tile appearing in a random location, with a value of 2 or 4. Hours of fun.

Watching TV late on Thursday afternoon, suddenly I felt really cold and shivery. I went to bed and turned the electric blanket up to 11. This was the start of a more than week-long illness, during which time, I have not left the flat except for a couple of medical appointments. First thought was flu, but no. And the covid test was negative. Sordid details on request only, in triplicate and countersigned by a member of the aristocracy.

Gooses and Mooses

The family have been having a wonderful time at Disney World, enjoying the rides, the food and the exciting weather, thunder and lightning in between all the glorious sunshine. So here are a couple of final pictures from their trip.

Oh hang on, no, that’s not Disneyworld. That was Didsbury Festival. I’m sure there are no copyright issues here, and I am aware that Disney do have a team of very good, very expensive lawyers.

I should have walked over but in the end, I drove to Didsbury Festival and had a good look around. Apart from fairground rides, there were very many food and drink stalls. Several national organisations such as Greenpeace were represented, but I was more fascinated by the local groups. I said hello to Liesel’s WI mates. And I did think this group might have more calls on their time in Anchorage:

Liesel visited Talkeetna for a couple of days: it’s a long drive north of Anchorage. When we married, eighteen years ago, we had a party at Talkeetna Roadhouse. It’s tradition to leave a bottle top there on a door frame, and I’m pleased to say our Freixenet bottle top is still there, although our hand-written legend is faded.

Last year, there was no Women’s Tour of Britain Bicycle Race, but I’m glad to say it’s back, and I’ve been following it this week on ITV4 and via a podcast called On Yer Bike, hosted by my old friend Sanny Rudravajhala. The fourth and final stage took place in Manchester so I had to go along and support the riders.

I went by public transport, hoping to see the start and the end of the race, even if I didn’t witness the more challenging terrain along the 99 km route.

This picture shows how we dress for Summer in Manchester this year. Very few people in shorts and t-shirts, which would be my default dress code in June, which is supposed to be warm, after all.

Anyway, Manchester public transport. I left in very good time, but I still missed the start of the race at the National Cycle Centre. I heard the announcements from way over there, but I didn’t see anything. The bus got held up as a direct result of the roads being closed for the race, and the driver was reluctant to open the door and let us off. Jobsworth.

I did enjoy the musical entertainment though, provided by a group of drummers.

In fact, I recorded their rhythms and beats and I think this might become my new ringtone.

Oh well, I had plenty of time to get to Leigh to witness the end of today’s race. In fact, I had so much time, I thought I’d spend some of it in the Central Library. I wasn’t allowed in because it was closed, due to ‘an event’ which you had to book. What event? I have no idea. But, every cloud… I visited the café in the Art Gallery instead where I enjoyed one of their Cheese and Marmite scones.

As time went on, the rain worsened and I felt bad for the riders. The bus ride to Leigh was interesting. Part of the route takes the bus along a Guided Busway. What’s to stop cars driving along this former railway line? There are car traps, big holes, at road junctions.

I’ve never been to Leigh before, but I don’t suppose it’s always this cold and wet and miserable. Hooray, it was good to take shelter inside Spinning Gate shopping centre, but in a very British move, on a day when a big event is taking place in town, I noticed the public toilets were closed, as they always are, on a Sunday.

After the long, wet walk from the bus station to the sports centre, Leigh Sports Village, it was good to see so many spectators here. I found a spot 125 metres before the finishing line. I watched the race on the big TV screen but I was ready for the riders. Again, yes, I should have had a real camera.

The leading group were racing right up to the line, and in the end, it was quite a while before we discovered who’d won the stage. I think the announcer was building up excitement and expectations, but it worked, many of us, despite the downpour, stayed to watch the presentation ceremony. Ruby Roseman-Gannon won the stage and World Champion Lotte Kopecky won the overall Tour. Lizzie Deignan was Queen of the Mountains. I’m sure we’ll see all of them again at the Olympics.

Officials from British Cycling presented some of the awards, and they received a modicum of applause from the audience. Dame Sarah Storey takes the prize for the most support from the crowd, very loud cheers and lots of applause as she presented the prize to the Best Young Rider, Eline Jansen. Representatives from the sponsor, Lloyds Bank, well, they probably only expected half a dozen claps each from the crowd anyway.

Later on, I watched highlights of the race on TV and I was surprised and delighted to see my hat onscreen. Another small contribution to my fifteen minutes of fame.

News from abroad now. Jenny, Liam, Martha and William enjoyed their final day in Florida before returning home for work (boo) and for school (hmmm).

Meanwhile, in Alaska, Liesel was spotting some wildlife. By the lake in Talkeetna, a Mommy moose was looking after her twin calves.

I’ve known my friend Ruth for just about fifty years now, and it was lovely to meet up with her for the first time in at least a decade over at Quarry Bank. We had a good catch-up and a very pleasant walk. It was tempting, but neither of us were brave enough to pick the strawberry.

There were a few other visitors here today, but I think most of the other people we saw were gardeners, loads of them, all very busy. Lots of foxgloves too, but they weren’t doing much other than looking pretty.

Ruth went off to RHS Bridgewater and I returned home. I hope we can meet up again before another decade passes!

I scored a hattrick this week, attending all three of the regular Thrive Manchester walks. It was nice to see the old faces again, and some new ones.

Oops, I did it again. I left home in very good time with a view to catching a bus to one of the walks. A funeral procession held up traffic, including my bus. So I arrived late. But then so did Chantel, the leader, so I didn’t feel too bad!

In Painswick Park, it was hard to avoid all the goose guano on the path, and nobody can walk on tiptoes for that long. On the other side of the pond, we were approached by a herd, a swarm, a veritable gaggle of goslings.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, I set off on an adventure. I took a tram from Wythenshawe to the airport and then caught the bus back home. Why? Well, I’ve never done that before and I wanted to see how convenient the public transport option is at the airport. Will we travel by bus or tram with luggage? Very unlikely.

A schedule of Wythenshawe Radio shows is posted at the Forum. My show now goes out on Wednesday morning and I am described as ‘inimitable’.

I’ll take it as a compliment but… why the quotes? And no, I didn’t mention it at the volunteers’ meeting where it was nice to see some old faces and some new ones.

The theme of my show this week was Red Things. You can listen to over two hours of fabulous music right here on Mixcloud.

And we’re off again

With just a few days to go before our epic trip to Australia and beyond, it was time to do all those last-minute jobs. Checking visas, finding passports, seeking out Aussie dollars left over from last time, and, of course, packing. For the first time in many years, even I am travelling with a large case, not just a backpack. So, one of the LMJs was to retrieve that case from the storage facility. We managed to consume most of our fresh fruit and veg before passing on the last few onions and spuds to our neighbour Ravi. The most exciting chore, though, was buying snack food items for Helen and her friends and for my sister Pauline, who’ll be joining us from NZ in a couple of week’s time. Lovely, tasty food items such as Hula Hoops, all flavours, Mini Cheddars, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Galaxy Minstrels, Twirls, Maltesers, Marmite, chocolate Buttons and chewing gum. Mind you, I visited six shops in Northenden before finding plain Hula Hoops.

We collected Martha and William from school. William proudly waved his wrist-band at us: “I bashed my head today” it said. He was alright though. We walked to the playground having said we’d buy them an ice cream in lieu of the normal snack. Upon seeing that the ice cream shack was closed today, William burst into tears. Thank goodness the nearby café sold ice cream and was still open. The children had ice cream, Liesel and I had carrot cake. The café was meant to close at 4pm, but the guy said the place would remain open for longer as it was such a lovely day. And it really was a nice day. Later on, both the children were running around in short sleeves. We said hello to the ducks as we passed by.

At the end of a school day, William especially has loads of energy to burn off. We ran around the playground, some of us faster and for longer than others. He climbed a lot and used the slides and swings. Martha had a good time too, and spent some playing with her friend Katie.

Somebody lost a friend today, let’s hope they’re reunited soon.

One unexpected surprise was seeing this newly married couple posing for pictures in the park. Very elegant and with gorgeous outfits and yes, I did ask permission before taking some pictures. Unexpected surprise? Isn’t that a tautology? Oh well, too late to edit that now.

Congratulations and best wishes to this happy couple

For the second week in a row, we had to return the children home quite early, as we had tickets for another gig in Manchester. This time, we didn’t even consider taking a tram.

After parking up, we looked for somewhere to eat. Lots of options, and the first venue we tried was full: we’d have to wait half an hour. I suggested hijacking a Deliveroo driver, but Liesel vetoed that idea. Eventually we found a pizza place, Noi Quattro, which I think is Italian for Northern Quarter, and that’s funny because it is actually located in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. The pizza here is possibly the best we’ve ever had. Highly recommended.

And then on to Gulliver’s, tonight’s venue. Sadly, we had to stand for the whole show, and that’s not something either of us enjoy doing any more. Support was Nathan Ball, who was with Martha last time we saw her, in Bath.

We enjoyed Martha Tilston’s set as usual, but she has such a large repertoire of songs now, she doesn’t always sing our favourites. And while I enjoyed her covering Kate Bush and Portishead, it seemed a wasted opportunity: she could have performed a couple more of her own songs!

The drive home was straightforwrad, thank goodness, straight to bed, and up early for the start of our new adventure.

The taxi was on time, and for the first time, we flew out of Manchester Airport Terminal 2. Check-in and security were no big deal. Singapore Airlines is probably our favourite at the moment. Although we’d forgotten to order vegetarian meals, two of the stewardesses in particular went out of their way to make sure I didn’t go hungry! As I told Liesel, my next wife will probably be a Singapore Airlines air stewardess.

Both of us had aisle seats and unoccupied seats next to us. My near neighbour was flying to Brisbane and then taking a cruise up to Cairns. I thought, we should do that one day too.

For a 13-hour long flight, it wasn’t too bad. I managed to watch three whole films, two for the first time: Oppenheimer and Barbie, both being on my ‘list’ since realeased last Summer. The third was Chocolat which I don’t think I’ve seen since it was released 24 years ago, and the book itself is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. I thought I’d watch it again because right now, I’m reading another novel by Joanne Harris, Gentlemen and Players, and I thought, well, I’ve seen it before, so if I do nod off, it won’t matter so much. Reader, I stayed awake.

Watching the flight progress, I was quite excited when we flew the length of Malaysia, past some of the places we’d visited a few years ago…

In totally unrelated news, it seems I am practically related to JRR Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. How so? Well, before we left England, and before our subscription to the service expired, we watched the biopic Tolkien on Disney+. In this film, John Roland Reuel Tolkien’s wife Edith was played by Lily Collins. She is the daughter of Phil Collins, the musician. I was born at Mount Alvernia Hospital in Guildford, and so was Lily Collins. How do we know? Because at the time, Sarah was working at Mount Alvernia Hospital, and she told us that Phil Collins’ wife was having a baby there. That baby must have been Lily. Possibly born in the maternity ward where I first saw the light of day a few decades earlier. And she ‘married’ the renowned author. I can’t work out how many tenuous degrees of separation are involved here.

Bikes, Boxx and a Beatle

It was a nice surprise being invited to babysit one night, when Jenny and Liam visited an Escape Room. I had to reassure Martha and William that of course, Mummy and Daddy would be home later but at the back of my mind was: suppose they don’t manage to escape from the Escape Room? Spoiler: they did.

William in particular wanted to stay up until midnight, so I’m grateful that he can’t quite tell the time yet: midnight arrived at about 7.30pm.

Martha’s been learning about the state of the planet at school, and in addition to a bedtime story, she told me about plastics in the sea, and microplastics, and how they get into the food chain. Good night, sleep well!

While they should have been winding down, it was necessary to perform some acrobatics on their beds. Run and jump. Martha had to jump onto William’s bed though, she couldn’t quite manage the height of her own, bunk, bed.

I joined Kyle and the Wythenshawe Star Gazers one more time, but again, it was too cloudy to see anything interesting in the sky. The Moon tried to peek through and I attempted to capture it.

I don’t know whether I’ve mentioned it at all, but we’ve had a lot of rain recently. The ground is totally saturated, so even the (rare) shortest of downpours now results in huge puddles. They make for interesting, challenging walks around the neighbourhood.

Some of the other walkers were talking about wearing wellington boots, or waders, and who knows, sometime in the future, we might have to wear life jackets on these organised walks.

Some bad news now. Even though it was raining (what a surprise) I took the car in to be washed and valeted. It all went well until the guy hoovered up our National Trust car parking sticker from the window. Now that’s a powerful vacuum cleaner!

And so my hundred years of solitude came to an end. I collected Liesel from the airport and managed to drive straight home, without missing a turning and going home via Chester or Edinburgh.

Anchorage is still colder than here but the snow is beginning to thaw. Somehow they have more hours of daylight than we do in the UK at the moment.

Liesel had 24 hours to get over the jet lag before we went cycling. Not actual cycling, but we went to Manchester Velodrome to watch a session of the National Track Cycling Championships. We met up with the family there, and after being ejected from the seats we’d wrongly occupied, we had a good time.

The cyclists hurtled towards us down the back straight for about four hours, in various races, sprint, pursuit, keirin, scratch race and a very exciting women’s points race: overall, a much longer session than anticipated. Martha and William were really good though, and they went home suitably decorated.

We look forward to seeing some of today’s winners, champions all, as their careers progress. Look out for Lauren Bell, Jenny Holl, Hayden Norris and Sam Fisher in particular. It was fun to see Jody Cundy in action again, and the children were pleased to see him too: they know him from Strictly Come Dancing.

As I said, the session was longer than we expected, so we decided to dine out in the evening. Wagamamas, since you ask. The sky was obscured by clouds but again, the Moon peeked through, albeit shattered.

It’s funny how we can book tickets for events really far in advance, and then they all arrive together. Like buses. Two days after the cycling, we went to see Seth Lakeman in concert, in Manchester.

It was our turn to collect the children from school and this time, we took them to a bookshop, with the idea of buying a book each. And what a lovely shop it is too. If you’re in the area, drop in at Simply Books, Bramhall, fantastic ambience with friendly and helpful staff.

Martha and William chose their books, after which we took them to Gusto for a pizza.

After dropping the children back home, we thought we’d go into the big city by tram. Huh. Given the local traffic conditions, it would take us nearly as long to drive to our chosen tram stop as it would to drive all the way into Manchester. Ridiculous, but that’s what we did: drove into Manchester. It was worth it though. Seth always puts on a good show, and this one was celebrating the twentieth anniversary of his second solo album Kitty Jay, and the first half of the show was devoted to that set of songs. Did we sing along? No, not as much as usual. Did we dance? Again, not so much, at least not until he told us to get up. But I was fidgetting in my seat quite a lot, not necessarily in time with the music, but trying to find a comfortable position to ease the discomfort of my sciatica. Still, mustn’t grumble, eh!

No disrespect to the rest of the terrific band, but those pictures are, as my Chemistry teacher used to say, nbg.

It’s cold. There, I said it. I even said it out loud this week, it did feel cold outside. But the Spring flowers aren’t deterred, they’ll always cheer us up.

After the Thrive walk, we visited Boxx 2 Boxx for a coffee as usual. I didn’t realise at the time, that we would become part of the Instagram marketing campaign for this little coffee shop.

I enjoyed what will be my last Thrive walks for a while, despite it being cold. The Sun came out briefly, yet it’s still cold out. It’s not my birthday for a few weeks, but Jenny and Helen had plans for me. Liesel and I had to keep March 1st free but until we arrived at the venue, The Plaza in Stockport, I didn’t know what we were going to see.

I think the last time I saw a stage show about the Beatles was with Sarah in 1975 or so, a superb production called John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert. Barbara Dickson performed all the songs on that memorable occasion.

Tonight though, Daniel Taylor told us George Harrison’s story, and performed the songs. The band was good, and after the show, I felt I should go back and listen to George’s albums again. They played a couple of songs from The Travelling Wilburys too. Some folks believe that to be the greatest ever supergroup: George, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.

Thank you Helen and Jenny for the early birthday present! Did I sing along? Sotto voce, yes. I can recommend Something about George if you’re at all interested in the so-called quiet Beatle.

Speaking of George Harrison, he famously gave his ukulele to Sam Brown, who now conducts ukulele lessons in Oxfordshire. Well, that’s too far for Martha to travel, but so far, she is enjoying learning the instrument. She already has a couple of chords in her repertoire.

Since the last proper post here, I have sent two Wythenshawe FM radio shows out into the universe. The themes of the shows are Doctors and Wales, respectively. Set aside 4 hours for some marvellous music.

I don’t often write about the books I’m reading, but I do have to recommentd one that I have just finished. I’ve been a fan of Kerry Hudson since she came to Manchester Literature Festival a few years ago to talk about her then new book Lowborn. Well, the follow-up to that has recently been published. Newborn is just as personal, honest and moving as its predecessor and you can’t help but wish Kerry and her family all the best for the future. Highly recommended.

Books, Bats and Bikes

As part of my regular wanders around Northenden, I sometimes check up on the little library in Riverside Park. I really didn’t think it would work this well, but it is great to see it being used. It’s full of books, adults’ and children’s.

I keep meaning to fix the door locking mechanism, but I need to remember to carry tools with me, a sonic screwdriver or something.

Speaking of which: I have reached the episode of Doctor Who that brought me nearly to tears when I was a young 14-year old. The one in which companion Zoe Heriot left the series, and was returned to a point just before she set off on her travels with the Doctor. The Time Lords erased her memory of these adventures, and I found that incredibly sad.

I’d forgotten that this episode was also the last one with the second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton who was replaced by Jon Pertwee. It was also the last one in black and white. The third Doctor’s stories were shown in colour, but of course, I didn’t know that, it was a couple of years before we had a colour TV at home!

I don’t spend all my time watching classic Doctor Who, honest. I’ve also been catching up on Planet Earth 3, something that Liesel doesn’t really get on with, especially when the animals catch and eat each other, although there’s not a lot of that.

There was time for my own adventures too. When I give blood, every few months in Manchester, I go by bus. I’d rather not drive because, if I were to feel faint after the session (although this has never happened) I would be unable to drive home.

So I went out and stood by the bus stop. I was surprised and delighted to see a new litter bin there. There’s always been one on the other side of the road, but not by this particular bus stop.

Sod’s law dictates that whichever bus I’m waiting for, one travelling in the opposite, wrong direction will appear first. And so it was today. I thought it was strange that the sign on that bus said it was was going to Manchester Piccadilly. Weird, I thought. But as it pulled away from the bus stop, I suddenly realised: I was waiting on the wrong side of the road. I should have caught that bus. What a prat.

Now, of course, I’m concerned that I’m going to be late for my appointment. But I wasn’t. I gave my name at precisely 2 o’clock. Not on the list. They only take platelets on a Monday, not full blood. Monday? I thought it was Tuesday. So, rather than being late, I was a day early. What a plonker.

As I said to someone, I’m glad I wasn’t trying to donate my brain, nobody would want that particular organ today, it really wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

Twenty-four hours later, I successfully donated, enjoyed a small packet of Bourbons and a small packet of digestives and was about to grab some custard creams when the nurse took the trolley away.

Still, it was good to see the first signs of Spring on the local village green: crocuses and snowdrops here, and a couple of daffodils elsewhere.

I was sad to learn of the death of Christopher Priest. He was one of my favourite science fiction writers in the 1970s and ’80s. I met him once, when he came to our Science Fiction Society meeting when I was at Queen Elizabeth College, so nearly 50 years ago. He was a top bloke, very generous with his time. I still treasure the email he sent me after I got in touch wih him after he wrote an obituary for Harry Harrison. Who, by coincidence, was another guest speaker at our SFSoc all those years ago.

Reading Chris’s obits, I discovered that he was born in Cheadle and attended Cheadle Hulme School, a mere stone’s throw from where Jenny and the family now live.

Wythenshawe Star Gazers provide opportunities to use other people’s equipment to view the night sky. I went along this week, despite the 99% cloud cover, and we were able to just about see Jupiter through a telescope, not in any detail though thanks to the more local clouds.

Plan B is to have a talk indoors, and Kyle spoke to us about the planets. Dave was there with some great photos that he’d taken, despite living so close to the airport with its bright lights.

Let me blow my own trumpet and say that the leek and potato soup I had this week was the best I’ve made in a very long time. So glad it lasted two days.

Jenny and Liam went out for a meal with friends Matt and Amy, and I was delighted to be asked to look after Martha and William. We played a couple of games, Uno and Furious but best of all, we watched a few episodes of Bluey on TV. Don’t tell Mummy and Daddy, but they stayed up a little bit later than they were meant to, shhh!

I don’t want to know what Martha was doing to this poor old teddy.

It was, as always, fun to watch the children swimming too. Martha had been kick boxing earlier while William was playing football. I can only imagine the complexities of the speadsheet that helps their parents coordinate all the children’s activities. I joined the family for lunch after which, we spent some time in a park in Gatley.

For the first time in many years, I played tennis. Five minutes of that exercise was enough for this short-of-breath old fart. William and Martha had cycled to the park, and they proceeded to ride around the skateboard park too.

What else did they bring apart from bikes and tennis racquets? Well, the remote controlled car and cricket bats, of course. In the end, we didn’t play cricket. but it was a full-on afternoon. Thankfully, the car stayed in one piece despite William’s efforts on the skateboard park. And, it was a surprisingly warm afternoon, hence Martha’s decision to remove her coat.

The car survived, OK, but the radio show this week was about Breaking Things, breaking up, breaking down, breaking out. You can pass or waste two hours by listening here.

(10+(9+87)6)5+4321

I was hoping the the cough I’d been suffering from would clear up before Liesel returned from Anchorage. But it didn’t. It persists even now, a week later, although it is much better. It’s not Covid, so you’re not going to catch anything too bad by reading this, if you need any reassurance.

The river was high and flowing fast and at least one local golf course was completely submerged. The greenkeepers were definitely feeling below par.

At home, I could have fed the 5,000, if I knew that many people. Purely from the crumbs I managed to shake out of the toaster. What a messy process that was.

Liesel’s flight landed early at Manchester Airport, and I parked the car nice and early too. The grey Manchester murk was very welcoming, although Liesel did admit that it was much warmer here than in Anchorage.

Both of our sleeping patterns were less than ideal this week. Liesel’s jet-lag didn’t help, but then, neither did my nocturnal coughing fits.

Knowing I had to get up early to go the the airport, I had an early night in bed. Compare with our grandchildren who were both very excited to stay up until midnight to welcome in the New Year: Martha told us several times that they didn’t get to bed until ten to one!

It was a bit of a wrench dragging my carcass out of bed early on a second occasion, I must admit. But it was worth it. Liesel and I travelled into Manchester by tram and we met the family in the foyer of Aviva Studios in good time. We’d all come to see Lost and Found, the magical stage show of Oliver Jeffers’ story, adapted by renowned children’s TV and theatre producer Will Brenton. We also enjoyed original music composed by Gruff Rhys, guitarist and vocalist from Super Furry Animals.

What would you do if a lost penguin rocked up at your front door? You’d help him by taking him home to the South Pole, right? That’s what the boy in the story did, too. At one point, his boat was breached on a sandbank, so a volunteer from the audience was invited to help. William’s arm was up faster than a Tory minister giving a lucrative contract to a BFF.

On stage, Liam tried and failed to push the boat, but young William showed us how it was done.

He was very pleased with himself. It was a very good, entertaining show, Martha and William both enjoyed it.

We ate lunch at Albert’s Shed, which isn’t a shed, but a restaurant built on the site of a shed once owned by a popular local man, named Albert.

The excessive rain recently also affected the local canal network. Lock 92 on Rochdale Canal, in Castlefield, was overflowing copiously.

From our flat, we can see when the car has misted up inside, even though there’s nobody breathing in it. We’re both upstairs and unless someone’s squatting in our vehicle, why would it steam up like that? Well, Liesel went out one day and sent me a message: The car was misted up inside because the rear window was cracked. How did that happen? Did I slam the back door too hard onto a suitcase or something? Had someone driven into the back of the car? How big a crack, I hadn’t noticed?

But no, Liesel didn’t mean the glass was damaged. What she meant was that of the rear windows was very slightly opened, letting cold air in. It’s easy to blame the children, they often wind down the rear windows, but we usually check afterwards and close them. So, even after all these years, Liesel and I can still have linguistic misunderstandings. Separated by a common language, as they say. Cracked ≠ cracked open!

I would like to describe our lovely, long, Winter walks in Northenden and beyond, but the new year has begun in a much more sedentary manner than we would normally enjoy. In other words, we’ve pretty much stayed indoors.

In the radio show this week, on the occasion of what would have been David’s 77th birthday, I played two hours of songs by people who have worked with or who have been associated with him. Happy birthday David! Celebrate with David here.

The good news is, there are now over 100 Mick’s Music Mix shows on Mixcloud, so you can spend over eight days listening, without interruption, without sleep, without food, at the end of which you might not feel very well but at least you will have achieved something.

Techno, heck, no

Cold but sunny seems to be the way forward. I wear a sunhat usually, but when it turns chilly, I replace that with a beanie hat to cover my ears. Cold ears are bad enough, but if cold wind blows into the lugs, I turn into a raging Hulk. But the trouble with a beanie hat is, there is no brim. So, while I welcome the Sun, I’m aware of squinting at it as I wander about, especially as it’s also lower in the sky at this time of year. So what I need is a hat that keeps my ears warm and also has a brim. So I’m hoping someone gets me a deerstalker for Christmas.

Our friend Sue joined Liesel and and me and we walked along the river to Didsbury. It was crunchy under foot, but a very pleasant walk.

Sue and Liesel joined the regular WI group in the Metroplolitan while I sat all alone, on my own, at a separate table, with my solitary cup of coffee while solving a puzzle on the phone. I could have walked the six feet over to the bar to order another cup of coffee, but no. I scanned the QR code on the table, downloaded the app, and ordered a coffee online. And a couple of minutes later, a nice young lady brought it over for me. Isn’t technology great?

Isn’t technology awful? We have a smart TV and the sound quality isn’t that good. So Liesel purchased a soundbar to go with it. Both items are made by Samsung so it should be easy to connect the two, right? Wrong. Even though it’s quite new, our TV set isn’t modern enough to have Bluetooth. Bluetooth is apparently the best way to connect to the soundbar. It didn’t come with a cable, of course. And trying to discern what sort of cable we need has proved very difficult. I can see why some people transition into technophobes.

But we did have a good time at William’s 6th birthday party. Lots of food, balloons, presents, family and, best of all, cake.

In other exciting news, Martha and her class dressed up as stone age men and women for a day.

I accompanied Liesel to Altrincham for her hospital appointment. And we paid a visit to Hobbycraft. I think we were inside for twenty minutes at the most. But in that time, the nasty, sub-karaoke versions of Christmas songs drove me nuts. I’m so glad I never had to work in a place like that.

I think a lot of people have a background project on the go, known as ‘sorting out the photos’. Well, when I started that a few years ago, I noticed some omissions. I wondered whether the missing pictures had been erroneously included with the boxes of stuff we left with Jenny when we moved house over five years ago. This week, I spent time looking through some boxes. Sadly, I didn’t find the photos I was looking for. Happily, I did find the portrait made by 3½-year old Jenny of her then brand new baby sister, Helen.

The cold continues and the pond in Painswick Park was frozen over. I think the geese and the moorhens were taken by surprise, or maybe they just enjoyed skating.

But look, the sky is a beautiful blue, the Sun was bright, and I still didn’t have a brim on my hat.

While I was walking around Wythenshawe amongst a group of nine, Liesel was walking with her WI group from Sale Water Park to and around Chorlton Water Park and back again.

Staying with the WI, they enjoyed a Bunco session. I was unfamiliar with the game, so I looked it up, and decided it was a game of pure chance. I even had an argument with Chat-GPT about what strategies could possibly be used. It claims you can roll the dice more or less vigorously depending on what numbers you want. I don’t think it’s as intelligent as it claims. But it was all good fun, a nice social occasion, and that’s all that matters, really.

Liesel has decided to go home to Anchorage for a few weeks to help her Mom navigate the stressful process of moving house. Mom is moving to a smaller place, an apartment nearer the city centre. I think we’ll all be glad to see the back of the steep drive at the old house. Recently, both a car and a Mom have slid down the icy drive. I’m not joining Liesel on this occasion, for a number of reasons, none of which is that I want to watch more classic Doctor Who on TV. Honest.

Martha and William have swimming lessons every Saturday morning and we have been to watch them on a few occasions. Not this week though. Instead, we picked them up straight afterwards, drove to Didsbury, took a tram into Manchester and walked to The Stoller Hall for a concert. To keep William occupied on the tram ride, I let him play with my phone.

Yes, he enjoyed the ‘Fun’ options within the camera app, with some ridiculous filters. But he did lose interest in my phone when he found out that it doesn’t have any games on it, just a few puzzles.

We’d come to see Peter and the Wolf performed by students from Chetham’s School of Music. The narrator was Carla Henry who did a great job for the best part of an hour, considering probably half of the audience was young children. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but I did sneak one of the orchestra. Before they turned up.

Last time I heard Peter and the Wolf performed live was when Sarah and I took young Jenny and Helen to London’s South Bank. The narrator on that occasion was Johnny Morris, yes, him from Animal Magic and Tales from the Riverbank.

After the show, we wrapped up in our coats and hats and gloves again and visited the world famous Christmas Market in Manchester. As did everybody else. The place was heaving. Martha and William homed in on the stall selling sweeties.

We found this bee from the old Bee in the City trail, right beside the cathedral.

I’m sure there was a lot of fun stuff on sale, but my main focus was on not losing too many of our grandchildren. But they were very good, holding our hands when required.

We spent some time in Waterstones, where we also had a coffee and a babyccino. When we left the shop, it was just beginning to snow, which William and Martha loved, catching snowflakes on their tongues.

The children were tired, well we all were, so we took them to Gusto for our evening meal before returning them to their parents. And so the week ended as cold as it begun.

Speaking of Cold, that was the time of this week’s radio show. I also spoke to singer songwriter Chris Tavener earlier in the week and this chat was the main part of the show this week. If you missed it on Wythenshawe Radio WFM 97.2 and DAB, you can listen here on Mixcloud. In fact, the Mixcloud edit is longer than the original broadcast, so if you did hear it broadcast live, you should listen again for all the extra songs!

Earlier in the week, while doing something important on the computer, I was distracted by Excel. I wanted to see which musical artists I have played most often on the radio show over the last three and a bit years. I knew who would come out on top. But to produce the top ten or twenty from a spreadsheet listing all 5000+ track that I’ve played wasn’t straightforward. I spent far too long coaxing Excel to achieve this, learning new functions that will all be useful, I’m sure. Actually, they probably won’t. Anyway, here are the top 100 most played artists in order. Yes, 100, since I went to all that trouble!

David Bowie
Beatles
Mary Hopkin
Jessica Lee Morgan
Bee Gees
Paul McCartney
Tasmin Archer
Nina Simone
Dolly Parton
Elton John
Eddi Reader
Kirsty MacColl
Neil Diamond
Elbow
Bic Runga
Queen
Martha Tilston
Ella Fitzgerald
Abba
Pink Floyd
Prince
Carpenters
Elvis Presley
Jim Reeves
Frank Sinatra
Denise Johnson
Simon and Garfunkel
John Lennon
Erin McKeown
Rolling Stones
Kate Bush
Hollies
Blur
Kinks
Alice Cooper
Oasis
O’Hooley and Tidow
Who
Dusty Springfield
Rosanne Cash
Madonna
Duran Duran
Van Morrison
Joni Mitchell
Sam Brown
Julia Violinista
Frankie Archer
Johnny Cash
Paul Simon
Snow Patrol
Beach Boys
Doves
Seth Lakeman
REM
Lulu
Sheryl Crow
Sinead O’Connor
Killers
Inspiral Carpets
Cara Dillon
Catatonia
Bjork
Unthanks
Monkees
Fleetwood Mac
10cc
T Rex
Taylor Swift
Paul McCartney and Wings
Gordon Lightfoot
James Taylor
Nana Mouskouri
ELO
Crowded House
Stevie Wonder
Tom Hingley
Spizzenergi
George Harrison
Lou Reed
Steely Dan
Duffy
Billy Joel
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Louis Armstrong
Amy Winehouse
Mick Ronson
Iona Fyfe
Tom Robinson
Clash
Harry Nilsson
Petula Clark
Andy Stewart
Lily Allen
Slim Dusty
Terra Naomi
Glen Campbell
Lee Ann Womack
Nat King Cole
Tori Amos
Minnie Riperton
Kylie Minogue
Tom Jones
Elvis Costello
Cat Stevens
Deep Blue

And I have seen 36 of those acts live on stage over the years, wow!

Berries and Monsters

Liesel and I went our separate ways on Saturday morning. I went for a short walk near home and visited the bread shop in Didsbury. Even though the queue was out of the door and round the corner, I waited patiently because the almond croissants here are delicious.

Meanwhile, Liesel went into Manchester where she encountered some monsters. Scary stuff. (Said the monsters when they saw Liesel 😉 )

Liesel joined a group of people for a long walk starting in Mills Hill near Oldham, a part of the world that we’d never visited before. And what a nice walk it was, with a friend and a lot of strangers.

We did go out for a few walks together though this week, we weren’t really trying to avoid each other.

Burnage Rugby Football Club car park was flooded. There is a massive drainage issue here.

But this was the meeting point for a walk along the Mersey towards Stockport and back. Along the river, so it was flat, no undulations to speak of. The Autumn colours are pretty but the sign for Heaton Mersey Bleach Works seemed a lot less romantic. We stopped for a break within sight of the Stockport Pyramid, something we’ve not seen for a few years, although we had driven by it on many occasions.

The return walk was maybe a bit more leisurely: it’s funny how you notice different things. And have time to take more photos.

One day, maybe, we’ll walk the whole of the Trans Pennine Trail, but meanwhile, seeing short segments from time to time will have to do.

Back at the rugby club, we had a cup of coffee and some of Gwyneth’s delicious cake.

The walk from Poynton to Bramhall was good too, and not only because we had to catch a train. It was a cloudy day, but the threatened rain didn’t materialise.

I didn’t even know there was a lake at Poynton, but there is, and we all went skinny dipping.

No, we didn’t, that would have been a cold, horrible experience. Similarly, none of us were brave enough to cross the stream on these stepping stones.

In the evening, I was one of just a few special people who attended an event organised by Thrive Manchester and Factory International. It was a discussion about AI, taking its cue from the film The Matrix and the show we saw last week, Free Your Mind. In the process, pictures were generated of Jeremy Corbyn riding an elephant and the Pope smoking a joint. That’s what AI was invented for.

As I walked to and from the venue, I passed by several Trick or Treaters, some in really creative outfits. Further afield of course, Martha and William dressed up scarily too.

And then back at home, I enjoyed Jessica Lee Morgan and Christian Thomas poerform some spooky songs online.

I think we’ve been to Formby at least once every year since we’ve lived up north. But not this year, until now. It was another Walkaday walk, and involved more train rides, after a drive to Southport.

This was where we caught the train to Formby. From where we walked to Freshfields, and then took the return train to Southport. The walking route took us to the beach, along the beach, over the dunes and through some woods where we hoped, but failed, to see red squirrels.

Whenever I go to the seaside, I still find it exciting to see the sea for the first time. Coming out of the woods though also exposed us to seemingly gale force winds. Storm Ciarán was battering the south of the country and the Channel Islands, but it was also very windy here.

The wind turbines were spinning a lost faster than usual, and we watched a couple of tankers fighting the ocean waves.

Fortunately, we walked along the beach from south to north, with the wind at our backs. The tide was high, the sea was rough. So we all went skinny dipping. No, of course we didn’t. Nobody would be daft enough to go in the sea today, surely? Well…

The grass was holding the dunes in place, mostly, but there are a couple of bald patches that I don’t recall seeing before.

It was still windy when we stopped for our lunch break and while Liesel and some others remained standing to eat their picnics, I and a few others decided to sit under the boardwalk by the lifeguard’s station. That was a big mistake on my part. Yes, I ate in relative calm but there were longer term side effects.

I managed to get a grain of sand in my eye, right at the last minute, just was we turned off the beach, out of the wind, to walk over the dunes and into the woods known as Squirrel Walk. I tried to rinse out the object, but the public toilet that we found didn’t have proper wash basins nor mirrors. All I could do was try not to rub too much.

After catching a train back to Southport, the drive back home was long. It was dark, we passed a couple of accidents, there was a lot of ‘rush hour’ traffic. And when I got out of the car at home, I realised my back was in a bad way. Probably from crouching and contorting under that boardwalk, just to shelter from the wind for a few minutes. I think that was the hardest, longest walk up the stairs since we moved here. Despite that, I had a shower, trying to rinse what felt like half the beach out of my eye. It didn’t work. All I could do was go to bed, lie down, close my eyes and feel sorry for myself.

Next day, my eye felt better but my back was still not right. Once I find a comfortable position, I just want to stay there forever. And even though I know that, probably, going for a walk will be good for me, I didn’t leave the flat for the rest of the week. Liesel went out for a couple of walks though.

Some good news though: Wythenshawe Radio is now broadcast on DAB across south Manchester, Stockport, Tameside and parts of Cheshire and the High Peak. So if you’re in those areas, and you have a fairly modern DAB radio, not old like ours, please tune in!

The theme for my show this week was Occupations. If you missed it, you can catch up here on Mixcloud.