Trips & Adventures – 10 January 2019

The day started well – the Northern Rail train arrived early (!) – and the day continued well. We travelled comfortably from Manchester, enjoying some refreshments, and arrived in York at about 11.40am.

Peter had been a resident in York when he was a student in the mid-1960s, so he acted as our guide. We headed for the York Arms that, back in the day, used to be a gay pub (apparently only on a Wednesday when there was an R in the month).

The York Arms is a traditional pub and we settled in one of the back rooms with an open fire and without muzak. The food came in super-sized portions and was served on large plates. It not only tasted great but was very reasonably priced. The sticky toffee pudding tempted us but we had to admit we were too full.

We posed for photos outside the York Minster before making our way to the Yorkshire Museum to view the Jurassic World Exhibition. There were some hands-on exhibits and Peter impressed us with his expert knowledge of ammonites and crinoids (sea-lilies). The largest ammonites have reached over three metres across. We handled a bone from the neck of a pterodactyl which was possibly 130 million years old! The greatest fun was putting on the virtual-reality glasses and feeding tree branches to a dinosaur.

We also viewed the various exhibits from Roman times when York was known as Eboracum to more modern times, as well as the library and reading room. We always take an opportunity to dress up:

Our final stop was Bailey’s Tea Rooms where we managed a cake as well as our tea and coffee.

Trips & Adventures – 3 January 2019

We were heading to the Odeon cinema to see “Bohemian Rhapsody”,  the story of the life of Freddie Mercury (lead singer of pop combo Queen), but we stopped off at one of the oldest pubs in Manchester.

The Briton’s Protection has stood proudly on the corner of Lower Mosley  Street and Great Bridgewater Street since 1811 and is famed for its enormous whisky collection. The pub grub was also pretty good and was washed down with a pint of Yakima Gold – they also house an extensive range of real ales.

This is a conversation pub – there is no “background” music – and we reminisced about pubs with flagged flooring, spittoons and sawdust. We debated the big issues in life like why there was no apostrophe in the pub sign – “Britons Protection” – and we resolved to correct this iniquity.

In the corridor leading to the larger rooms at the back of the pub, there is a mural of the Peterloo Massacre. This is the only place in Manchester to commemorate the 1819 protest for parliamentary reform, in which 15 demonstrators were killed and 700 more injured by the sabre-wielding cavalry who charged the 80,000 strong crowd.

It’s not hard to see why The Briton’s Protection has been voted Best Pub in the Pride Of Manchester Awards for two years on a trot.

It’s only a short walk (but unfortunately up a lot of steps) to the cinema, but we found comfortable seats waiting for us and we settled down to watch the feature. The film was fabulous. Farrokh Bulsara (Freddie Mercury) was depicted as a talented showman and perfectionist but the film didn’t shy away from showing his arrogance and extravagant lifestyle.

We learnt a lot about Freddie but the biggest surprise was that one member of our little party came out of the closet as the owner of all the Queen albums on CD!

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.

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.

World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.

In 2016, a campaign was started to rename World AIDS Day to World HIV Day, putting the emphasis on social justice issues and the advancement of treatments.

Today, medical advances have come on leaps and bounds, and ending HIV transmission in the UK is finally within sight.

The first step is understanding … Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus which causes damage to the immune system. Your immune system protects you from illnesses and infections. Early diagnosis and starting treatment means someone with HIV can stay well and live a normal lifespan.

Undetectable = Untransmissable (U = U)

The viral load is the amount of HIV in the body. It is measured by a blood test in copies/ml and can range from over 1,000,000/ml (very high) to fewer than 20/ml (undetectable).

An undetectable viral load does not mean there is no HIV present or that it has been cured – HIV is still there but at levels too low for the laboratory test to pick up.

If someone is on effective HIV treatment and has an undetectable viral load it has been scientifically proved that they cannot pass on HIV.

The red ribbon is the universal symbol of awareness and support for people living with HIV. Wearing a ribbon is a great way to raise awareness on and during the run up to World AIDS Day.

The answer to the question in the title is actually in the question itself: The World Health Organisation (WHO) chose 1 December to mark World AIDS Day.