Bridgewater Hall Concert

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Trips & Adventures – 11 April 2019

We were given free tickets for a mid-day concert at The Bridgewater Hall featuring Emily Nebel on violin and Alexey Pudinov on piano.

The performance was Elgar’s Violin Sonata in E minor Op.82 and Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major. The duo was formed in 2014 and has gained recognition for its unique sound and creative programming. They have received several awards and scholarships. We all enjoyed the concert tremendously.

We then went on to Wagamama, a gay-friendly restaurant in St Peter’s Square. The restaurant not only has a rainbow decoration on the outside, but has a special rainbow table inside. It was now mid-afternoon but was still quite busy.

The menu contains popular Japanese and Asian cuisine in many popular categories, such as ramen, teppanyaki and curry dishes. We sampled several dishes including a range of tasty deserts and green tea (which is “on the house”).

We had planned to visit the “Leonardo Da Vinci: A Life In Drawing” exhibition at Manchester City Art Gallery, as it is the 500^th anniversary of his death. However, we decided to give it a miss due to the approaching rush hour traffic. The exhibition is free of charge and is on until 6 May 2019, so we still have time to view it.

Bolton

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Trips & Adventures – 4 April 2019

We arrived in Bolton and made our way to the infamous Olympus Fish & Chip Restaurant for lunch – the menu features a varied selection including “Pensioner’s Specials” – but most of us settled for the Olympus Fish Special which includes cod or haddock (all obtained from sustainable sources), chips, mushy peas, white or brown bread and a pot of tea or cup of coffee.

The restaurant features a Schimmel grand piano but unfortunately there was no live pianist today.

We then walked down the precinct to view the Fred Dibnah statue. Fred Dibnah MBE (28 April 1938 – 6 November 2004) was an English steeplejack and television personality, and is a revered son of Bolton.

In mid-2000, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Technology for his achievement in engineering by Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and on 19 July 2004 he was made an honorary Doctor of the University by the University of Birmingham.

Dibnah was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year Honours for services to heritage and broadcasting. He said “I’m looking forward to meeting the Queen but I shall probably have to get a new cap. And I’d like to meet Prince Charles because we share the same views about modern architecture.”

On 7 July 2004, Dibnah went to Buckingham Palace to receive his award from the Queen. He initially planned to drive his traction engine into the palace grounds, but was refused as the Royal Parks Agency feared that its weight would damage the surface of The Mall.

The main purpose of our visit to Bolton was to see the exhibition “Desire, Love, Identity: Exploring LGBTQ histories” at Le Mans Crescent, Bolton. The Bolton Museum is the only Northern venue to host this touring collection from The British Museum.

I was fascinated by the “secret museum”. During the 19th century, museums were one of the few places where members of the public could openly and respectably view representations of the naked human body. Some objects relating to sex and sexuality, however, challenged cultural sensibilities.

From around 1830 The British Museum had a restricted collection of objects relating to sex in its “Secret Museum”. This ceased to operate actively in 1953 and it no longer exists. Its objects were gradually absorbed into the main collection and displays.

If you would like to see some of those objects look at our photo page here.

Transgender Day of Visibility – 31 March 2019

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International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual event occurring on 31st March dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society.

The day was founded by US-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall of Michigan in 2009 as a reaction to the lack of LGBT recognition of transgender people, citing the frustration that the only well-known transgender-centered holiday was the Transgender Day of Remembrance which mourned the murders of transgender people, but did not acknowledge and celebrate living members of the transgender community. The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was held on 31st March 2009.

This is a day to elevate the voices of trans people and raise awareness about the challenges they face.

To mark this date four amazing YouTubers share their experiences of being trans in different parts of the world.

Check out what they had to say!

Bakewell

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Trips & Adventures – 28 March 2019

What a fantastic day in Bakewell – although we didn’t solve the question about pudding or tart. References to “Bakewell pudding” appear earlier than the term “Bakewell tart”, which entered common usage in the 20th century.

Bakewell pudding or Bakewell Tart?

One of the earliest verifiable examples of a Bakewell pudding recipe comes from The Magazine of Domestic Economy issued in London in 1836. Eliza Acton published a recipe in her 1845 work Modern Cookery for Private Families and Mrs Beeton published two recipes for Bakewell pudding, one which used a pastry base and one which used breadcrumbs, in her book The Book of Household Management in 1861.

We had a fantastic lunch in the Red Lion – we all agreed the chips were the best ever!

Deep in concentration

Homity pie with chips

The Bakewell Old House Museum is a hidden gem at the top of a very steep hill. We were greeted by the receptionist: “Have you got your breath back yet?” We explored the Tudor building’s eleven beamed rooms, with wattle and daub screens, great open fireplaces and massive beamed ceilings.

The building and objects tell the story of life in rural and industrial Bakewell. The eclectic collection includes medical equipment, historic toys and games, antique cameras, colourful ceramics and an elephant’s foot! Sadly, the elephant escaped from a visiting circus and was shot. We found the Tudor toilet:

As usual we found an opportunity to try on a few items of clothing. The day was finished with a rummage round some of the second hand shops, an excellent award winning ice cream and some Bakewell tart (or is that pudding?)