Trips & Adventures – 30 August 2018

We heard that hundreds of kids were expected at Portland Basin Museum due to heavy advertising on the radio … so we decided to postpone our trip. Our change of plan was to visit Cloud 23 – Hilton hotel’s smart cocktail and champagne bar on the 23rd floor of the landmark Beetham Tower. We took the private express lift to soak up the sleek and sophisticated surrounds.

It’s a unique venue located at the highest point in Manchester and is well worth a visit. The windows are floor to ceiling and offer spectacular views. Cloud 23 is an experience which we will not forget. A magnum of Louis Roederer Cristal Brut costs £1,000 but we settled for Birra Moretti, an Italian beer at a mere £6 and Americano coffees at £4.

Years ago, a friend of mine used to say “I’m on Cloud Ten” when she was excited, but we were on “Cloud 23”! The view from the toilets was equally breath taking as there was a transfer picture of a man diving off the building.

We took a short walk to Castlefield and enjoyed a pub meal in the White Lion – a cosy, traditional olde-world pub with one of the weirdest menus you’re likely to see anywhere. Basically, the food on offer is a mixture of traditional English pub fodder, Caribbean food and Chinese.

We moved on to Castlefield to admire the canals and locks before taking the canal towpath back to the tram stop. Another enjoyable day out.

Trips & Adventures – 23 August 2018

We had a local trip to the People’s History Museum, after quenching our thirsts and filling our stomachs at the Moon Under Water. The Moon Under Water was formerly the Deansgate Picture House Cinema and I remember watching “Myra Breckinridge” there featuring Raquel Welch and Mae West, back in the day. The film is based on the book by Gore Vidal where Myron Breckinridge (Rex Reed) flies to Europe to get a sex-change operation and is transformed into the beautiful Myra (Raquel Welch) … you can guess the rest … and yes, it is outrageous!

We then walked to the People’s History Museum where there were temporary exhibitions as well as the permanent works on display. These included: Represent! Voices 100 years On – an exhibition reflecting on those who campaigned for better representation; and The Women Who Said “Yes”! – the extraordinary stories of the 17 women who stood for Parliament in the 1918 general election.

There was an opportunity to wear sashes and to vote on four major topics: Should the voting age be lowered to 16?; Do you feel that you are represented in Parliament?; Do you think voting in general elections makes a difference?; and Is it ever acceptable to break the law in protest?

We were also very impressed by the sculpture of Dr Erinma Bell OBE, a Moss Side activist who has been hailed for her work against gang violence in south Manchester. The sculpture is made from melted-down shotguns and will take pride of place inside Manchester town hall’s sculpture hall – the first-ever sculpture of a woman in the building – once the town hall re-opens after renovation. (She is also one of Stuart’s colleagues on the Diversity Panel at Granada TV).

Finally, just outside the exhibition space was the Alan Turing bee. If you don’t know a colony of decorative, super-sized worker Bee sculptures are all around Manchester bringing fun and fascination. The happy hum of creativity has become the biggest buzz around town and is bee-yond belief.

Trips & Adventures – 16 August 2018

We met at Victoria train station and travelled to New Brighton via Liverpool Lime Street. There were not many people on the train so we travelled very comfortably.

The purpose of our visit was to see the group show bringing together for the first time the New Brighton pictures of internationally renowned British photographers Martin Parr, Ken Grant and Tom Wood. Showing in the town from which the pictures stemmed, this exhibition records three decades of New Brighton through the eyes of the photographers as they lived and worked there.

However, we wanted to eat first and by chance found the Queen’s Royal Hotel. Between us we sampled most of the items on the menu: scampi, steak and ale pie, cheese and onion pie (with three cheeses), salmon as well as beer, lager and cider!

Somebody said “Five queens in the Queen’s Royal”, but I don’t know who could have made such a statement?

We decided to sample the sweets and although the cheesecake was a big hit, the apple dish created a mumble and a grumble as it wasn’t a genuine crumble.

We then made our way to the exhibition, showing as part of Imagine Wirral and Liverpool Independents Biennial, at The Sailing School, Marine Point, New Brighton.

There was a fantastic view of the Mersey and we spotted container ships travelling into Seaforth as well as Crosby beach. The photographs were fantastic as well bringing up nostalgic memories from the mid-80’s.