Statue to blind World War One returnees
On Tuesday morning, Shirley and I took a train to the city of Manchester. I had not been there in ten years, even though it is only thirty five miles from Sheffield. Between our two great northern cities there's a chain of hills - The Pennines - often referred to as "the backbone of England". Many Lancashire people never cross those hills and it's the same over here in Yorkshire. We are all northerners but somewhat disconnected.
We were mainly heading to Manchester to visit The National Football Museum and Manchester Cathedral but I agreed with Shirley that she would have some shopping time. She is not the only woman who loves to have a mooch round shops whereas I, like most blokes, view that activity as a kind of slow mental torture.
After leaving Picadilly Station we made our way towards the Arndale Shopping Centre but first we found ourselves walking down one of Manchester's most famous streets - Canal Street which is the epicentre of the city's "Gay Village". With its bars and clubs and eateries it is a neighbourhood in which gay people can be quite open and confident in their associations.
Ten years on I was impressed with Manchester city centre. It was buzzing and though it pains me to say this, it certainly felt like the northern capital. There has been a lot of upward building, more pedestrianised streets, more public art and for a Tuesday there were a lot of visitors - mostly I am sure from the Greater Manchester region which includes big towns like Oldham, Wigan, Stockport, Rochdale and Altrincham.
Then it was on to the cathedral which I had never visited before and nearby was The National Football Museum. In there I wore a virtual reality headset for the first time and played the part of a goalkeeper though the steward in charge told me not to dive as a proper goalkeeper does.
I also tried my hand at commentating on a "Match of the Day" game before watching the replay. I may have missed my vocation!
This city is home to the world's first proper football clubs - Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C. and Hallam's Sandygate Road ground is the oldest football ground in the world.. Furthermore the "Sheffield Rules" for football formed the basis of The English Football Association rules that followed later in the nineteenth century. The National Football Museum should celebrate these facts in my humble opinion but of course it is in Manchester.
Rather than heading back to the railway station at teatime we had drinks on Canal Street and then went to the Arnero Restaurant for a traditional North Indian curry meal.
Sounds like a very decent day!
ReplyDeleteWomen do like to shop. Some of us, at least. Not all. I like it in small doses. Perhaps it is the gatherer in us.
Perhaps it is the spendthrift in you.
DeleteManchester, like Liverpool, is a world.
ReplyDeleteA Very Decent Day as Ms. Moon said. Beer and Shopping ?
In Room at the Top, Simone Signoret talks of driving over the Pennines,
from Bradford to Manchester. The Pennines in the rain is my image of the North.
I'm glad Bob returned. I hope he sticks around. I like his blog.
My Dad would have seen no merit in Jim Kelman's repetition of the Bad Word.
Was your father a Presbyterian preacherman?
DeletePaw was a Papist with a very high regard for John Knox & the Prods.
DeleteJim Kelman said children should be allowed to use all the Cuss Words.
My father would have told him he had lost his mind or words to that effect.
I love Lowry! So long since I saw any. He often likes the view from above looking down. I went to Manchester Uni, but doubt if I'd know the city now. I hate shopping, so I'd have been with you, whatever you were doing.
ReplyDeleteWe could have got a room together.
DeleteWhat a fun day for you two!
ReplyDeleteIt was Deb. I was delightful company.
Deletepedestrianized. That's a new word for me. It just sounds right.
ReplyDeleteThe word is very well-known in British cities.
DeleteI just looked up Sheffield and Manchester in my atlas and am surprised they aren't further north. Every time you say "north of England" I think up by the Scottish border, or at least closer to it than the reality.
ReplyDeleteI would say that "The North" begins a few miles north of Derby which is definitely in "The Midlands".
DeleteFor years, I passed through Manchester every year on my way to and from Yorkshire, when I still flew in instead of using trains for the entire journey. Only once my sister and I stopped for a day in Manchester, and I believe we did see the cathedral, but I can not remember whether we went inside. What I do remember was that there was a power outtage in our hotel.
ReplyDeleteYou had a good day out, but I understand you being miffed about the murky lighting at the museum. It happens so often, doesn't it, that labels are hard to read because of the light or because of the way they are positioned, so low that you need to bend down to look at them, and the print too small.
Why bother giving us information labels if we simply cannot read them?
DeleteWith only spending one night in Manchester in a stinking hot hotel without air conditioning, we never saw much of Manchester, so through your eyes I have seen it. The city and its history has always sounding appealing, except for even worse weather than much of England.
ReplyDeleteI thought you would have been sprinting along to Canal Street in your rainbow-coloured cagoule.
DeleteSounds like a great day out.
ReplyDeleteCanal St first came to my attention via the TV series "Queer as Folk" which was kind of epochal at the time. Still think it was better than the more protracted US remake.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lovely day. Not the shopping, I loathe shopping, I walk into a store to buy clothes and if I see nothing I like in the first few minutes, I'm out.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you need to start a Sheffield Football Museum, Neil.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the little tour of Manchester. I've always intended to visit but I haven't made it there yet. If I'd known Pride was this weekend I'd have pulled together a visit then! Perhaps next year.
ReplyDeleteIf you had a cell phone you could have used the torch on the phone to better see the explanatory labels. Mind you, I had a smart phone for years before I realized this was an option. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThat statue of the blind soldiers returning from WW1 broke my heart. My god I am tired of humans killing and maiming each other.
Sheffield and Manchester aren't the North, they're just the fringe of the Midlands. What about the 'real' North - places like Newcastle, Carlisle, Berwick etc?
ReplyDelete'Our Andy' needs to get out of his southern mindset and come to the real North!
Given that homosexuality is now pretty much mainstream, why do we have to endure all of this banging on for gay pride and such like? If we have to have that, then it's about time we had similar celebrations for straight lifestyles?
My goodness I am exhausted from your day. I am not much for shopping, I am afraid. I have bred a shopper, though, and was dragged around by her when we were down in the Big Smoke recently.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Manchester a few times, but probably not enough. I think I'd avoid a football museum though, do they have a paint drying museum?
ReplyDelete