Trips & Adventures – 7 November 2019

Our expected train was cancelled due to a break down, but we found an alternative train, direct to Mossley Hill, from Oxford Road Train Station. Our destination was Sudley House, a historic house in Aigburth, a district of Liverpool.

The house and the art collection are unique and were bequeathed to the city of Liverpool in 1944 by Emma Georgina Holt. Although she never married, she had some close female friends. Sudley House is now managed by National Museums Liverpool. Art UK described the house as being “the only British collection of its kind still in its original setting”.

We visited the cafe and tried the home made leek and potato soup and various sandwiches before meeting our guide, Tim, in the library.

There we were treated to an informative talk about the history of the building. Tim was very knowledgeable and gave us some real insights into the paintings on display by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Landseer, Millais, Turner amongst others. Our favourite was:

Tim also recounted the story of Mickey the monkey. Liverpool Zoological Park was a short-lived affair, only open from 1932-1938. The star attraction was a chimpanzee called Mickey. Not just any old monkey, Mickey was billed as “The World’s Cleverest Chimpanzee”. His cleverness manifested itself in such ways as being able to light his own cigarettes, which he would also smoke.

In a copy of The Mirror newspaper of 1937 there is a small article about an escaped chimpanzee in Liverpool, “Escaped ape attacks and bites two men,” says the headline. In 1938, Mickey escaped again. This time he escaped into a schoolyard, mauled some of the children and was eventually shot dead. Poor Mickey was stuffed after he was shot, still on display even after death. He ended up exhibited in Lewis’s Department Store in Liverpool until the shop was badly bombed in the 1941 blitz.

George Melly, the jazz singer, critic and famous bisexual, was related to the Holt family. In his autobiography he described aspects of life at Sudley House during his various childhood visits in the 1930s.

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Trips & Adventures – 31 October 2019

I told everyone that the train from Piccadilly to Shrewsbury was 10.38am when in fact it was 10.31am, but disaster was averted as we all arrived in plenty of time.

The journey took just over one hour to the historic town of Shrewsbury (Amwythig in Welsh). It’s a market town whose centre is largely unspoilt with over 660 listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries.

We made our way to The Bull for lunch, which was fine except that the chips were served ten minutes after the rest of the food and there was a mix up over one meal, which was entirely of our making!

I’m eating my sweet.

I’m still waiting to be served!

What? No chips!

I’m also eating my sweet!

Not much gluten free on the menu

We didn’t have time to visit the Castle founded in 1074 or the Abbey dating back to 1083, but we did see the Museum and Art Gallery. There we learnt that the town is the birthplace of Charles Darwin, where he spent 27 years of his life.

The town centre still retains its medieval street pattern and many narrow passages. Some of the passages, especially those that pass through buildings from one street to the next, are called “shuts” (the word deriving from “to shoot through” from one street to another). Many specialist shops, traditional pubs and local restaurants can be found in the hidden corners, squares and lanes of Shrewsbury. Many of the street names have also remained unchanged for centuries and there are some more unusual and gay-friendly names, such as Grope Lane, Bear Steps and Pride Hill.

At the bottom of Grope Lane, we found a Costa and we were given complimentary gingerbread men with our refreshments. When we were enjoying a coffee, someone said to me: “You’ve got a big one!” It wasn’t true – I had a medium Americano.

Trips & Adventures – 24 October 2019

We met at Piccadilly Train Station and headed towards Platform 13. Tony tripped at the end of the moving walkway (fortunately into my arms) and we laughed: “Now we’ve had the trip, we are looking for the adventure!” Incidentally, Mr Essoldo was looking very dapper in his Harris Tweed matching jacket, waistcoat and cap.

We arrived at Davenport in less than twenty minutes and then took bus 378 to Bramhall. Bramhall Hall and Park are set in extensive grounds with landscaped parkland, lakes, woodland and gardens.

The Hall is a superb Tudor manor house with origins dating back to medieval times. The manor of Bramhall was first described in the Domesday Book in 1086, but the spelling was “Bramale”.

Of course, we made our way to the cafe and enjoyed Shepherd’s pie, fish, chips and mushy peas, steak, soup and chips. The portions were huge, but we managed to clean the plates

The Hall, one of the most beautiful treasures of England, is of great national importance. The magnificent 16th century wall paintings, striking Elizabethan plaster ceiling, the Victorian Kitchens and Servants’ Quarters give this Hall its unique charm.

The Hall offers unique insights into the families and servants who lived and worked there. It stands in about 70 acres of parkland designed in the Victorian Romantic style. It offers woodland walks with intriguing glimpses of the Hall itself and of the brooks and lakes.

The framework is constructed with oak timbers, joined together using mortise and tenon joints and held in place with oak pegs. Wattle and daub (interlaced twigs crudely coated with clay) or lath (thin narrow strops of wood) and plaster were used to fill the spaces between the timbers.

Mr Essoldo checking the pottery

Mr Essoldo checking the fireplace

Mr Essoldo checking the cinema listings

There is a lot to see and after visiting the house, we admired the landscaped parkland and lake before heading back to the cafe for coffee and cake!

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Trips & Adventures – 17 October 2019

Some of our readers (and I think you know who you are) will be delighted to learn that this report is all about food.

Fifteen of us travelled by tram and bus to The Three Seasons restaurant at Bury College. In the photo below, Mr Essoldo is holding a personalised signed copy of the 7-inch single Rebel-Rouser by Duane Eddy. It is a rock and roll instrumental (either that or Duane Eddy forgot the words). It appeared on Eddy’s debut album Have ‘Twangy’ Guitar Will Travel and was released as a single in 1958, charting at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

We arrived at Bury College just after 12 noon and made our way directly to The Three Seasons. The college restaurant serves a wide range of meals from bistro style to gastronomic delights, all of which are prepared and served by the catering students and supervised by experienced professional catering staff.

This is a little something I prepared:

The truth of the matter is that the students had only just started their course a month ago and were a little nervous. One young man served me a glass of wine, but unfortunately managed to pour two glasses of wine all over me. I was soaked through and had to change my shirt and don a catering uniform.

All in all we experienced quality dining in a vibrant commercial restaurant at competitive prices (£7.95 for a three course meal including tea or coffee and just £2.00 extra for a glass of wine).

The college also has a Hairdressing Academy, but I don’t think that was necessary for most of the male members of Out In The City.

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Trips & Adventures – 10 October 2019

Red Button Alert: The BBC are stopping the red button service in early 2020 … if only there was another way to get the news. Well the good news is that Out In The City is keeping the red button! We shall bravely continue to bring you a weekly email with regular Red Button Alerts.

This week we travelled to Esholt via a train from Manchester Victoria and a bus from Bradford. The name “Esholt” indicates that the village was first established in a heavily wooded area of ash trees.

The manor house, Esholt Old Hall at Upper Esholt is medieval in origin, probably 16th century, and possibly once had a moat. It is well-preserved and has Grade II listed building status.

But that’s enough history. The only reason we went to Esholt was that from 1976 to 1996 it was used for outside location shots for the Yorkshire Television drama series Emmerdale Farm. The series relocated to a purpose built set based on the layout of Esholt on the Harewood estate in Leeds.

Red Button Alert: Victoria Jane Binns is an English actress, known for her two roles in the two veteran ITV soap operas Emmerdale and Coronation Street respectively. In Emmerdale she played the part of Ollie Reynolds for four years from 1999 to 2003. Well, believe it or believe it not, Vicky’s Binn’s grandmother is Walter’s cousin! A member of Out In The City is related to soap opera royalty!

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