Manchester St. George’s Day Parade 2019
Click through for the album of St. George parade photos.
I also shot video of the scooters brapping past at the end of the parade.
Manchester
Sunday Morning Manchester Ride
I’ve been meaning to do this for a while. Today, I finally got around to it.
Getting up at 4am, I had a cup of tea, pumped the bike’s tyres up to a good running pressure, and headed into Manchester city centre. I videoed my ride around some random streets, and added some music, and here it is.
Okay, it’s no C’etait Un Rendezvous, but I had fun. If someone would like to lend me an electric motored mountain bike, and maybe some GoPros, I’d have a go at a point to point across the city centre, with a higher speed up the hills, and overall. (I might set out later, though. I hadn’t expected there to be so many people still around at 5am. Maybe at 7 or 8, the clubbers would mostly have made it home, and there’d be fewer cabs on the road.)
St Patrick’s Parade 2018
I’m focusing primarily on marching bands and tractors, this year, so I’m sorry if you were in the parade and I’ve missed you out of the gallery.
Paramount Books
Paramount Books is the shop I wish I bought more stuff from. If I had more money, and a lot more bookshelf space, I could happily go wild in this shop. As it is, I’ll pop in every so often to pick up a few old copies of Starblazer or similar sized cowboy adventures or romances.
It’s only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so you can’t always pop in on a whim. There was a worrying time, last year, I think, when it looked like it might be closing down. As it’s still there, I shall continue topping up my Starblazer collection.
Real Junk Food – A Writer’s Life 11
A rare escape from the flat this week, to have a quick look at a new cafe opening on Oxford Road.
What Is The City But The People
This year’s Manchester International Festival opened with What Is The City But The People? Created by the same guy who did the original Manchester Day, it was a wonderful slice of city life, weaving narratives around shared and separate experiences.
I had the camera in the phone on burst shots- five of everything- and I hope I’ve picked the best of them for the album.
Naked Bike Ride 2017
I’ve been quite busy since the Naked Bike Ride, and only just managed to get a few images edited and uploaded. Unfortunately, Flickr won’t let me embed the gallery here, because of the flesh. But you can visit it here.
Manchester Day Parade
The pictures aren’t in order of the parade. There’s a break where I switched to taking shots on my phone because my camera’s battery ran out.
The Great Get Together
Just a few photos from The Great Get Together event in Cathedral Gardens on Friday night.
Stickers of Central Manchester
At a loose end in the city centre yesterday evening, I decided to start photographing stickers I found on lamp posts and elsewhere. Sticker bombing street furniture feels like a relatively new development to me, but I’m probably wrong, and have only just noticed it.
I’ve added some older sticker pictures to the album, and there’s one legitimate, screwed down, sign that’s made its way into the collection as well.
Zipping around Ancoats and the Northern Quarter 1
I went out for a ride in the sun last Sunday, and recorded this trip through the back streets of the Northern Quarter and Ancoats. I’ve sped it up, to suit the bounce of the soundtrack I found for it.
Music- EDM Detection Mode by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1500026
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
I promise I’m only housing vampires in one of these towers
I’m not a big fan of all these plans to build higher and shinier and more expensive towers in the city centre. I can’t shake the feeling that more down to Earth developments, aimed at people on an average wage or below, and not backed by the super wealthy, would have a harder time getting planning permission. But I am a natural cynic.
Zombies vs Vampires got a big bit of inspiration from Gary Neville’s plans (even if I put my versions somewhere else by accident), and it feels like I may be tapping into something of relevance with my ‘1% lording it over the 99%’ narrative.
Take a look at some of the towers and skyscrapers which could sprout up around the city centre over the next few years
Source: 18 skyscrapers and towers that could transform Manchester’s skyline – Manchester Evening News
Marching Video
I’m not one of life’s chanters, so I turn up to take photos and shoot video. This one is from the impromptu march on Monday in Manchester. I shot footage at Saturday’s as well, I’ll work on that one during the week.
Marching Against Trump Again
You’ve got to give the man a little credit. He’s got a lot of us interested in being politically active again.
As on Monday, this march was also against the Conservative government, and their weak eagerness to make a deal with President Wotsit.
Manchester Day Parade 2016
Because of where I chose to photograph the parade, I was contractually obliged to include the Beetham Tower in almost every shot.
The viewer has cropped some of the photos. Click through to see the full versions.
A graffiti wander around Ancoats
There are a bunch of graffiti artists in Manchester this week, creating murals on the side of buildings in Ancoats and the Northern Quarter. I went for a wander and found as many as I could (and some other wall art).
Inside London Road Fire Station
London Road Fire Station opened its doors yesterday, as the developers showed off some of their plans for its future. I headed down to get a glimpse inside, after all these years, and take some photos.
I’ll put exterior shots into the same folder, if I ever find any that I’ve taken. I was positive I had some, but haven’t found them yet.
Petition · Trafford Council: Stretford’s Essoldo Should Be Compulsory Purchase · Change.org 1
I’ve always rather liked the curved frontage of the old Essoldo cinema in Stretford. I think it was a bongo hall when I first came to Manchester, and I believe it housed a roller rink at some point as well. Some of its original grandeur was lost to road widening in the sixties or seventies, and it would be a shame if what’s left of the building simply rotted away.
It’s not as great an architectural crime as doing nothing with London Road Fire Station for over twenty five years, but it is a waste of an interesting building, so I support this petition calling on Trafford Council to make a compulsory purchase and find a community use for it.
Source: Petition · Trafford Council: Stretford’s Essoldo Should Be Compulsory Purchase · Change.org
Chinese New Year
Against the trend of the month, yesterday morning was sunny, if windy. Which was good for the Chinese New Year parade. Here are a few pictures of dragons and other paraders.
After the parade, I needed a couple of coffees to warm up again. By the time I’d finished them, the weather had changed again, and there was hail coming down.
The collapse of the Biospheric Foundation
I visited the Biospheric Foundation a couple of times during the 2013 Manchester International Festival. It was an interesting project, taking first steps towards a self contained urban farm.
Sadly, it has gone bust, with over £100,000 in debts and tales of bad behaviour and rotten business practices from people who worked with it.
It’s a terrible shame, and it’s likely to put people off funding similar projects, which just makes it worse.