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.