Blackpool Model Village

The Blackpool Model Village and Gardens is a tourist attraction featuring handcrafted models of buildings including a castle and a Tudor village in a garden setting.

The model village is set in a beautiful landscaped 2.5 acres of carefully tended gardens with paved pathways that provide full access for visitors. The rain fell during our visit, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. The fact that the book shop was owned by “Bess Sellars” made us laugh.

It was a fascinating visit and photos can be seen here.

“Our Proud Past” – Exhibition Launch

Our Proud Past: a photography exhibition celebrating the past, present and future of Manchester’s LGBT+ Centre was publicly launched on Wednesday 28 June at KAMPUS Garden on Aytoun Street, Manchester M1 3GL.

In 1988, Manchester’s LGBT+ Centre was constructed; it was the first purpose-built centre for the LGBT+ community in the UK (and possibly Europe).

In 2020, the single storey building was demolished, and a new three-storey Centre erected in its place.

The exhibition displays photos of the 1988 Manchester LGBT+ Centre and the community groups who have met or meet there, as well as photos of community groups meeting at the new LGBT+ Centre (which opened in 2022).

The aim of this exhibition is to make visible some of the more invisible members of the LGBT+ community. It also celebrates a year of the new Centre being open to the public and shares the outputs of research activities carried out as part of the ‘Documenting Demolition’ project.

The Proud Trust have worked in collaboration with Emily Crompton (an architect and researcher who has been working on the project for 10 years including archival research, architectural design and participatory action, and on the project’s board as a design expert and engagement advisor) as well as architectural photographer Sally-Ann Norman to document and record the demolition and re-building process of Manchester’s LGBT Centre, now known as The Proud Place.

We heard from several speakers including Paul Fairweather (the city’s first gay men’s officer), Caroline Topham (a previous trustee) and Charlie Lee (a young person who attended the centre).

My Gay Best Friend (and Other Unspoken Letters of LGBTQI+ Identity)

This show, funded by a Queer Arts Grant from Superbia, at The Kings Arms in Salford on 25 June was an interesting concept.

What one thing have you’ve wanted to say to your straight mates but never had the chance to? How much of our struggles and joys do straight people really know about the LGBT+ community?

Six letters, written and sealed by LGBT+ identifying writers, were opened and read by straight identifying actors live for the first time in front of an audience.

This was the start of what aims to be an annual anthology series in which LGBT+ identifying writers express their personal and political opinions that are often left unspoken. The result however was a mixed bag. Although the letters were honest and personal, the presentation varied sometimes from the humourous to the serious. Not all the letters kept my interest and attention, but on the whole it was a worthwhile experience.

Mens fashion ads from the ‘70s

For a long time, it was popular to disapprove of 1970s styles for men: big collars, high waists, and tight crotches had fallen out of fashion. But the trend cycle can’t be stopped, and these once reviled looks are back, and in a big, big way.

The ‘70s expanded on trends of the previous decades. They took the bright palette of the ‘50s and the long-haired look of the ‘60s and turned them up to 11, giving rise to a variety of iconic styles. From the tie-dye and bell-bottoms of the hippie, to the ruffles and bold colours of the so-called “peacock revolution,” to the androgyny and revealing cuts of the glam rocker, every aesthetic of the era was totally groovy, baby.

But what really sets the ‘70s style apart is the fit. Every outfit was tight in all the wrong places.

Now, in the 2020s, ‘70s styles like flared pants, loud patterns, and skin-tight tops are finally back in fashion (thank you, Harry Styles!). There’s no better way to see what’s in store for the future than to look back to the past, particularly the advertisements of the era. These ads, for everything from jumpsuits to bell-bottoms to underwear, are certainly eye-catching, whether you think they’re fashion faux pas or the epitome of style.

Now, take a look back at the ads of the era to see if you’re buying what they’re selling …

LGBT documentary: Gay, Old and Out (2018)

Meet the people who paved the way for LGBT rights. It has been a long hard fight to secure acceptance for the LGBT community, and the older people who fought the fight often get overlooked and forgotten.

This documentary follows the astonishing and moving stories of members of the Opening Doors London project – whose personal struggles and successes paved the way.