Trips & Adventures – 27 June 2019

Phew! It was the hottest day of the year! From Manchester Piccadilly to Preston to St Anne’s (via Moss Side) took an hour and a half by train and costs £9.90, £12.10 or £18.15 depending on what senior discounts you are entitled to. By chance we met up with one of Ken’s friends who was making her way to Lytham and joined us on that section of the journey.

Lytham and St Anne’s are two separate towns, which are often joined up as “Lytham St Anne’s” apparently much to the annoyance of the local residents.

We made our way to the Trawl Boat Inn and ate our meals outside as the sun was shining brightly and it was such a glorious day.

We then walked to the sea front. There were miles of sandy beaches as the sea could only be seen in the far distance. People were relaxing, boys were playing football and donkeys were giving rides.

We walked along the pier through a noisy amusement arcade, past a couple of cafes, to the end, but still the sea was far away. From the end of the pier we could see the “Big One” in Blackpool (the UK’s tallest roller coaster ride at an impressive 235 feet!) but not Blackpool Tower.

The pier had a notice board showing the history of the pier. This included a poster for the performance of a gay summer show with a brilliant cast called “Let’s Go Gay” opening on 28 June 1958 (61 years ago) at the Pier Pavilion, St Anne’s. The guest star was Russ Conway, a popular pianist who had 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart including two number one hits. He never came out as gay as, in those days, it would have been career suicide. The show also included The Gay Four and was presented by the Noel Gay Music Co Ltd.

Whilst others walked along the front, Walter and I sat down with ice creams, which cost the same price as a mortgage on a small house in 1958, and reminisced about Doris Speed who used to play pub landlady Annie Walker in Coronation Street. All in all, a great day out.

Friday, 28 June 2019

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which helped spark the fight for LGBT rights around the world.

Being gay or transgender was classified as a mental illness. Gay people were regularly threatened and beaten by police, and were shunned by many in society.

Even here in the UK, being gay was a crime until 1967.

But the Stonewall riots in 1969 were a landmark event in history, which helped to fight homophobia and campaign for equal rights.

On 28 June 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn – a bar in the gay area of New York, US. It was the second time that week the police had raided it. They threw 200 people out onto the streets and beat up some people.

The community were angry about the way they were being treated by the police, so they chose to fight back.

This event triggered a week of protests and rioting by people, who were fed up of being harassed by the authorities.

News of the riots spread around the world, and this inspired others to join protests and rights groups to fight for equality.

A month after the riots, the first openly gay march took place in New York, demanding equality.

 

The annual Great Get Together was established by the Jo Cox Foundation in memory of the late MP’s belief that “we all have more in common than that which divides us”. It seeks to bridge division and remind communities of how much they have in common by staging a series of picnics, events and meet-ups.

Several of us from Out In The City and Friends of Dorothy went to the event in Sackville Gardens, in the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village, on Sunday 23 June.

It also happened to be Alan Turing’s birthday – he would have been 107!

Since its launch in 2017, the Great Get Together has seen over a hundred thousand “get togethers” and almost a million people taking part. It has become a powerful symbol of national unity and community. The Great Get Together is now one of the UK’s biggest and most successful charitable projects, honouring Jo Cox by showcasing the values she championed.

There was also a line dancing demonstration on Canal Street.

 

 

Trips & Adventures – 20 June 2019

Is it in Greater Manchester? Do I need waterproof clothing? Where are we going for lunch? Are we going on the tram? Many questions were asked to find out the whereabouts of our mystery trip, but no clues were revealed until the day itself.

We set off from Church House and walked through St Ann’s Square to the Royal Exchange Theatre.

There we had a guided tour through the building – the largest theatre in the round in the country – including the Great Hall, production departments, backstage areas, dressing rooms and The Studio.

We learnt all about the fascinating history of the Royal Exchange building and the Theatre Company while offering real insight into the production process.

The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester city centre, which was heavily damaged in the Manchester Blitz and in the 1996 Manchester bombing. The current building is the last of several buildings on the site used for commodities exchange, primarily but not exclusively of cotton and textiles.

In the 18th century the trade was part of the slave trade in which African slaves were transported to America where the cotton was grown and then exported to Liverpool where the raw cotton was sold. The raw cotton was processed in Manchester and the surrounding cotton towns. Manchester Royal Exchange traded in spun yarn and finished goods throughout the world including Africa until trading ceased in 1968, and the building was threatened with demolition.

The building remained empty until 1973 when it was used to house a theatre company. The Royal Exchange Theatre was founded in 1976.

In 1999, the Royal Exchange was awarded ‘Theatre of the Year’ in the Barclays Theatre Awards, in recognition of its refurbishment and ambitious re-opening season.

After an interesting tour we retired to the local Wetherspoons for food and refreshments.

 

 

Trips & Adventures – 15 June 2019

Jim celebrated his 90th birthday with a wonderful party upstairs at the Mustard Tree. There was plenty of food, drink and laughter and we were treated to an exhibition of Jim’s artistic works – see self portrait:

There was music, speeches, birthday cake, champagne and more. Photos can be seen here

Trips & Adventures – 16 June 2019

We had a busy weekend as we also ventured to the Bridgewater Hall to hear Chineke! Orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority black and minority ethnic musicians. The orchestra was founded by musician Chi-chi Nwanoku and their debut concert was in 2015 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

The concert featured live music in the stalls bar, a pre-concert talk with Chi-chi Nwanoku and Wayne Marshall (conductor) about the orchestra’s work and aspirations and an afternoon concert. This included an attractively lyrical work by neglected black composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a lively new work by American pianist Stewart Goodyear and a stalwart symphony, Dvořák’s magnificent Seventh.

Dvořák himself was so impressed with the brilliantly successful performance that he climbed on stage and shouted “Bravo!”

Trips & Adventures – 13 June 2019

Unfortunately, the rain stopped our visit to Fletcher Moss Park and Botanical Gardens, but we had a Plan B!

We caught the bus from Piccadilly to Manchester’s LGBT+ centre, a thriving youth and community centre, based on Sidney Street in the heart of the city. It was the first fully publicly funded ‘gay centre’ built in Europe. It’s over 30 years since it opened, and we enjoyed fresh and affordable veggie food made from scratch, in a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

It’s only a two minute walk to the Manchester School of Art where the degree show “Everything Starts from Something” exhibited work by over 1,000 graduates in a range of disciplines including architecture, art, design and media.

We had a great time especially in the interactive room. There was so much to see, but we had a break in the Salutation Pub next door.