Trips & Adventures – 25 April 2019

This week’s trip was to the AMF Bowling at The Rock shopping centre in Bury; a modern ten pin bowling alley with 24 lanes packed with bowling fun, arcades, food, drink and activities! But first we popped into the Art Picture House, an early 1920’s cinema, exceptionally theatrical in its plan and decoration, but now converted into the local Wetherspoon’s pub.

Modern ten-pin bowling derives mainly from the German Kegelspiel which used nine pins set in a diamond formation. Some sources refer to an 1841 Connecticut law that banned ninepin bowling because of its perceived association with gambling and crime, and people were said to circumvent the prohibition by adding a tenth pin; other sources call this story a mere fable.

In any event, the enjoyment of kegeling by German peasants contrasted with the lawn bowling that was reserved for the upper classes, thus beginning bowling’s enduring reputation as a common man’s sport.

Although most of us had not bowled for years we enjoyed the afternoon and each of us scored a strike, knocking down all ten pins on the first roll of the ball. The “perfect” game is a score of 300, and although we didn’t quite manage that the winner reached a remarkable score of 127.

Lesbian Visibility Day – 26 April 2019

Lesbian Visibility Day, now embedded in the international LGBTQ+ calendar, is a celebration of the world’s diverse lesbian community.

Held on 26th April every year, Lesbian Visibility Day showcases women-loving-women, providing a platform for lesbian role models to speak out on the issues facing female sexual minorities.

The origins of the day remain mysterious, but is has been running since 2008. Having initially started in the US, Lesbian Visibility Day – thanks to the wonders of the worldwide web – is now celebrated internationally.

To mark the occasion, Out In The City will be visiting Shibden Hall (Anne Lister’s house) in Halifax on Thursday, 2nd May leaving Victoria train station at 10.20am.

Anne Lister (1791 – 1840) was an English landowner, diarist, mountaineer, and traveller. Throughout her life, she kept diaries that chronicled the details of her daily life, including her lesbian relationships, her financial concerns, her industrial activities, and her work improving Shibden Hall.

Her diaries contain more than 4 million words and about a sixth of them — those concerning the intimate details of her romantic and sexual relationships — were written in code. The code, derived from a combination of algebra and Ancient Greek, was deciphered in the 1930s. Lister is often called “the first modern lesbian” for her clear self-knowledge and openly lesbian lifestyle. Called “Fred” by her lover and “Gentleman Jack” by Halifax residents, she suffered harassment for her sexuality, but recognised her similarity to the Ladies of Llangollen, whom she visited.