Trips & Adventures – 6 December 2018

Before we report on the visit to Altrincham markets, I would like to thank Sonder Radio: we had a special event on Wednesday, 5th December – a taster session called My Story, My Music. Like the radio show “Desert Island Discs”, we shared songs and explained why they were meaningful to us. They will come back on 27 February 2019 to play back some of the recordings which will have been turned into a podcast.

Tony recently attended a week’s radio course and here is a short video:

Altrincham is eight miles south west of Manchester city centre and was established as a market town in 1290. It is now an affluent commuter town with a number of great shops and was winner of the Observer Food Monthly Best Market Award and a finalist in the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards.

Old Market Place, Altrincham

As usual we looked for the local Wetherspoon’s pub for lunch. The Unicorn pub takes its name from one of Altrincham’s old inns – The Unicorn Hotel. An original Saxon settlement stood on this site. More recently, it was a stopping point for coaches. Its wayside inns included the long-gone Red Lion, where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s troops came in 1745, and The Unicorn Hotel. The Unicorn was originally built by Lord Delamer, in 1849, as Altrincham’s first town hall.

After dining, we spotted Tasty Records, an independent vinyls record shop which opened in April this year, just across the road from the thriving market area. Having had our foodie fix we decided to fill our vinyl boots with purchases of Joan Armatrading, The Eagles, The Monkees and Junior Delahaye.

Following a visit to the market we were spitting feathers so headed for the Old Post Rooms. Unfortunately, they were being renovated and only sold kitchen cabinets and dresses, so we ended up at Gran T’s Coffee House, which had very cosy armchairs, and where an egg timer is provided to time the perfect brew. Quite delicious.