October 2019

Black History Month takes place in October and is a nationwide celebration of Black History, Arts and Culture throughout the UK.

This year the many inspiring women whose commitment to society and future generations has proved invaluable to the UK are being celebrated.

Tony Openshaw spoke to Aderonke Apata – who has just reached the 50 milestone. Here she tells about her life and shows that age should not be a barrier to your achievements as she is set to become a barrister in her 50s and she also takes a look back on her achievements and what she has overcome before reaching half a century.

Read the article here

 

1 October 2019

The International Day of Older Persons is observed on 1 October each year following a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly.

It was first observed in 1991 and raises awareness about issues affecting the older generation as well as a day to appreciate the contributions that older people make to society. This year the theme is “The Journey to Age Equality”.

Pauline and Tony were interviewed on That’s TV Manchester and Pauline also did an interview on Gaydio.

Older people can have fun too!

It’s also International Coffee Day(!) – an occasion that is used to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events now occurring in places across the world. The first official date was 1 October 2015, as agreed by the International Coffee Organisation.

 

7 October 2019

A plaque was unveiled at Church House on 7 October 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of a meeting held in the offices of the Diocese of Manchester which began the modern equality movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. It’s now the 55^th anniversary!

The first meeting of the North West Committee for Homosexual Law reform took place in the Manchester Diocesan Board for Social Responsibility on Blackfriars Road in the then Bishop of Middleton’s Room.

In 1964 Allan Horsfall, a gay rights campaigner from Lancashire, became one of the founder members of the North West Committee for Homosexual Law reform (NWCHLr), which became the Campaign for Homosexual Equality.

11 October 2019

National Coming Out Day is an annual LGBT awareness day observed on 11 October. Founded in the United States in 1988, the initial idea was grounded on the most basic form of activism being coming out to family, friends and colleagues, and living life as an openly lesbian or gay person.

 

12 – 19 October 2019

National Hate Crime Awareness Week is 12 – 19 October 2019 – a week of action to raise awareness of hate crime.

Trips & Adventures – 3 October 2019

We travelled by bus to West Didsbury past the Dancehouse Theatre (previously two back to back cinemas – The Regal Twins), the Footage (previously the Grosvenor Picture Palace) and an Asian Supermarket (previously The Trocadero). We also passed what was previously The Cavalcade which used to be a gay pub in the 70’s, but only on a Sunday afternoon.

After visiting a couple of charity shops in Didsbury Village we arrived at Foster’s Chippy. This was previously part of the Foster’s chain of Fish & Chip Shops but now has a new owner and is independent.

I notice that I’ve used the word “previously” about six times, but what we have noticed as we get older and wiser is that if things don’t change they will stay as they are.

We enjoyed our meal and headed towards the Fletcher Moss Park and Botanical Gardens, but first we stopped at The Old Parsonage. It’s a Grade II Listed Building and is believed to be the oldest building in Didsbury after St James’ Church. It dates back to 1646 and several rooms are open to the public. In 1832 Sam Newell and his wife lived in the house. It is said that the house is haunted by the ghost of Mrs Newell, who had supposedly fallen down the stairs to her death.

In the hall, Ken lead us in a Square Tango (which was a bit rounded in parts), the Valetta and the Lambeth Walk. We relaxed in the calm atmosphere and also chatted with some ladies making lace.

Fletcher Moss Park has some interesting carved benches and a plethora of flowers and plants but we soon spotted the Alpine Café. It was much improved since John’s last visit (previously the coffee had tasted like sludge) and we all added compliments in the visitor’s book. We also saw two magpies (one for sorrow, two for joy), which was a good sign. Another great day out with good conversations, laughs and more laughs.

Trips & Adventures – 26 September 2019

“Where is everybody?” I muttered to myself. Whilst the other members of Out In The City were at Victoria Train Station heading to Harrogate, I was at Piccadilly Train Station planning to travel to Hartlepool. I was having a senior moment!

However, we made contact by telephone and met up in Leeds, where we changed trains to Hartlepool … I mean, Harrogate.

Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, whose motto is Arx celebris fontibus, which means “a citadel famous for its springs”. Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt, and there is a sign on the Royal Pump House advising “Not fit for human consumption”. The smell was truly disgusting!

We had a very good meal at the Harrogate Arms before taking a walk through the Valley Gardens – a large park which included the Japanese Garden and 37 wells. We met a gentleman at one of the wells who explained about magnesia water. It was gravity fed to a sump close to the outside wall of the rear of the building below the window, then hand pumped inside and sold by the glass or bottle. Visitors would sit on benches inside to drink “the cure” whilst an outside tap provided a supply free of charge.

Magnesia water is a mild saline sulphur solution and was considered to have excellent diuretic properties. it was taken as a remedy for many ills, including rheumatism, gout, obesity and constipation.

The town was hosting the annual UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) Road World Championships for bicycle road racing. The Championships consist of events for road race, individual time trial and team time trials. This meant most of the roads were closed and there were a lot of young men in lycra!

We also found an old fashioned sweet shop and purchased some sherbet lemons. Much to our disgust the sweets contained very little sherbet.

More excellent photos can be seen here

To find out more about our next trips click here

This is the 20th anniversary as Celebrate Bisexuality Day was first officially observed in 1999 at the International Lesbian and Gay Association Conference in Johannesburg South Africa.

This celebration of bisexuality in particular, as opposed to general LGBT events, was conceived as a response to the prejudice and marginalisation of bisexual people by some in both the straight and greater LGBT communities.

 

Trips & Adventures – 19 September 2019

We walked down the main high street in the village of Alderley, which is 15 miles south of Manchester, heading for the award winning Foster’s Chippy, but stopping at a couple of the charity shops on the way. We marvelled at the quality of the items on sale, which were quite exclusive.

Alderley Edge is known for its affluence and expensive houses, and has a selection of cafes and designer shops which has attracted numerous Premier League footballers (including David Beckham), actors and multi-millionaire businesspeople. It is one of the most expensive and sought-after places to live in the UK outside central London. We spotted Rolls Royce and Bentley convertibles with personalised number plates: “1 LET'” and “HAV 1T”. The Daily Mirror once referred to Alderley as “the fake tan capital of Britain”.

However, the chippy offers a very reasonable fish, chips, mushy peas and a drink for £9.00. It’s a simple but smart restaurant and we were amused by the slogans that the staff had on their t-shirts: “50 Shades of Gravy”; “Definately Gravy”; and “I Believe I Can Fry”.

One member of our group had a relative who had smashed the record in the Guinness Book of Records for eating the most fish and chips. It was either that or eating the most smarties in one minute blindfolded using chopsticks. I might have misheard.

There is very limited public transport in the village and we had no alternative but to take a taxi to Alderley Edge, which is the area’s chief topographical feature and overlooks the Cheshire Plain.

The view from the Edge and the woodland walk were magnificent which we thoroughly enjoyed. We ended up in the Wizard’s Tea Rooms for teas and coffees. We had to walk back about three miles back to the train station, but at least most of it was downhill.