Day 3 Over the top
Manchester appears in the valley before us, as I said earlier it used to be a little grimy but these days it is all bright and shiny, steel and glass, the Lowery centers, Castlefield the trendy place for the young rakes to be seen these days and the remodeled city center devastated by a rather large IRA bomb once again a thriving hub of activity. There is a building which stands out these days a Hilton hotel built in the shape of one of those Tetris things like the upside down “L” Completed in 2006 at a cost of £150 million, the Beetham Tower in Manchester, is the highest building in Manchester, the tallest residential building in Europe and the 7th tallest building in England it is 168.87 metres high, has a total of 47 floors. I am not sure if it is a monstrosity or something wonderful to behold. I think if it had been a different color and not had the slate gray appearance I might have found it more endearing.
I wanted to point out the Manchester music scene which bears closer interrogation to redress the myth that Liverpool was the center of English music. Well it certainly was once but were you aware that Manchester is the starting point for the following groups.
The Bee Gees, Oasis, Take That, The Smiths (inc Morrissey), Buzzcocks, 10cc, David Gray, Hermans Hermits, James, Happy Mondays, Joy division, Davy Jones (The Monkeys) need I go on, surely not my friend. You probably have at least one if not more of these artists in your vinyl collection or maybe you iPod or whatever you use. Manchester was also served as the venue for Madonna on her first performance in the United Kingdom, on 27 January, 1984.
So today’s Manchester is very different to the town of my youth except of course it is the same place.
We are on route to visit one of my brothers (John) fresh back from Spain and therefore unable to join our little reunion over the weekend. Given this is an adventure (of sorts) we decline to warn people we are coming however when we arrive we are treated as if we had just nipped down the road for a newspaper. He is busy adding to the decking at the end of his garden which a little energetic and I decline the offer to assist as he looks like he knows what he is doing.
We explain our trip so far and that we intend to travel to Conway (North Wales) to visit Auntie Zita who will have got back home by then. On their insistence we take the keys for a caravan John & Brenda have located in the same area, an offer we find too good to turn down as I have not yet booked a hotel. A couple of happy hours spent updating everyone one recent events and we are on to the next stop.
We spend some time with one of my daughters Joanne where we spend a relaxed hour recounting the trip we took in March to Florida with other members of the family. (Not sure where we will end up next year maybe the same place) as ever we need to keep moving and tonight we are booked into my favorite “Novotel” in Worsley.
A place I have used possibly 25 times in the last 10 years. Even though I believe I am a frequent guest they still insist on taking all of my details every time I arrive and explaining the workings of the hotel. Where the rooms are and what time breakfast is etc etc. I should have kept a record of the rooms I have used as I must be close to completing the whole of the first floor by now. They have an interesting lift which clearly announces “Front doors closing” as it starts to ascend. You might thing that this indicated there are doors at the back but not so there is only one door so why it needs naming I don’t know but there is something familiar about it which always makes me smile.
Dinner is in the “Ellesmere” pub which like all inns in the UK now has to serve food to survive. Around 3250 pubs closed in 2009 and the number continues to fall as attendance declines, many suggest the smoking ban is the biggest contributing factor but to be honest I think it is more a change in peoples attitude and to the different types of entertainment available these days. There are so many TV, Internet options that more and more entertainment is found at home rather than out in the community. You can make your own conclusions as to what the cause and effects are.
We choose local favorites for dinner and opt for a walk around Worsley afterwards as it is very familiar area to Jo and I. We used to attend the “Sea Cadets” which was a little like a junior version of the Navy. Not exactly why we did but at one point there were five of us attending something which even the local newspaper felt worth four of five inches of column space including a picture. (fame is so fleeting anyway)
