Trips & Adventures – 17 May 2018

We met at Piccadilly at noon and headed towards Ancoats, stopping off at the Tib Street Tavern for lunch. Tib Street is named after the River Tib, a minor tributary of the River Medlock, and runs entirely beneath Manchester City Centre. A notion is that the river was given its name by homesick Roman soldiers after the River Tiber but with the word shortened to reflect the size difference between the two rivers.

Tib Street used to be known for pet shops and sex shops but is now part of the trendy Northern Quarter. The sex shops remain but there are now trendy bars as well.

We made our way to Ancoats stopping at Anita Street (apparently the most photographed street in Manchester) where we took some photographs and then onto the canals at New Islington. The area was so calm and peaceful you would not know you were in a city centre.

The only noise was the swan claiming its territory by flapping at the Canadian geese.

We had a relaxing coffee / tea in the Royal Mill cafe. The Royal Mill was constructed in 1912. It was originally called New Old Mill but was renamed following a royal visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1942.

On heading home we spotted this image on the side of a building. It was created by a South African artist and shows two men kissing!

 

Trips & Adventures – 10 May 2018

This is the trip we had all been anticipating – to see the China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors exhibition at the World Museum in Liverpool. An interesting fact is that the Terracotta Warriors are made out of terracotta.

Ten members of the group travelled to Liverpool but as our museum booking was not until 1.30pm we had refreshments in the cafe at St George’s Hall – a Grade I listed building in the Neoclassical style. In January 2008 when Liverpool started its tenure as European Capital of Culture, the Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr played on the roof of St George’s Hall.

This was followed by lunch in an alcove at the Lime Street branch of Wetherspoon’s, before making our way to the museum.

For more than 2,000 years, an underground army of life-size terracotta warriors guarded the tomb of China’s First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, until a chance discovery in 1974 unlocked the secrets of a vanished empire. This was a once in a life time experience.

This landmark exhibition told the story of the Han Dynasty’s golden age through exquisite objects from royal burial sites, and will remain in our memories as a really special event.

I wonder which one is the oldest exhibit?

Trips & Adventures –  3 May 2018

It was a short train journey to Knutsford (as a child, I thought Rupert Bear came from Knutsford – but in fact Rupert lives in a cottage in Nutwood village with his parents, Mr and Mrs Bear).

Knutsford is a pretty town in Cheshire, 14 miles south-west of Manchester and features a market hall where we had refreshments and watched home made sausage rolls being prepared. But there were no taxis in sight, and we had to call Altrincham to arrange for a taxi to take us to Tatton Hall. The entrance to Tatton Hall was quite close but the attractions were over two miles down a long drive through a deer park where over 900 red deer and fallow deer were present.

We dined in “The Stables” cafe (venison was on the menu!) after a short walk in the deer park and before visiting the Mansion House.

The Mansion House was a highlight and well worth the visit.

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Age UK Policy and Research Department have recently undertaken research on wellbeing.

They used a rich data source (the Understanding Society Survey), combined with state-of-the-art statistical techniques, to construct Age UK’s Index of Wellbeing in Later Life.

The full report can be read here: creative and cultural activities wellbeing

 

 

Trips & Adventures – 26 April 2018

We caught the Cityzap Bus from Chorlton Street Bus Station at 10.05am. The new Cityzap route between Manchester and Leeds has top spec buses fitted with zap-nav so the driver can pick the quickest route and dodge any congestion. There is wi-fi provided and leather seats – each seat has a USB point so phones can be charged up en route.

After a quick peek at the outdoor market we made our way to Leeds Minster, or the Minster and Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, a large Church of England foundation of major architectural and liturgical significance.

The next visit was the pub next door – the Lamb & Flag – highly recommended before we walked to the Corn Exchange and then the Henry Moore Institute and the Art Gallery.

Stuart and Tony had a sit down with a hot drink and a slice of millionaire shortbread (because we’re worth it) while the others looked round the art gallery, before joining us.

     

It was another great day out – we finally got back to Manchester about 6.00pm.

Trips & Adventures – 19 April 2018

We caught the train at Victoria to Smithy Bridge and walked to Hollingworth Lake where our first stop (as usual) was the cafe. Most of us opted for the Senior Citizen’s Special – fish, chips, bread and butter with a drink and followed by ice cream.

Hollingworth Lake is a 130-acre reservoir at Smithy Bridge, in Littleborough — part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, and we decided to walk off our lunch by walking round the lake, a distance of 4kms (or 2.5 miles in old money). Half way round we found the Pavilion, and as it was such a hot day we couldn’t resist having another ice cream!

The lake was originally built as the main water source for the Rochdale Canal, but developed as a tourist resort from the 1860s, and became known as the Weighver’s Seaport. Hotels were built around it, at least two had outdoor dancing stages with gas lighting. Tourism was helped by the arrival of the railway in 1839, which brought day-trippers and weekend visitors from Manchester, Bradford & Leeds.

The lake was used for training by Captain Matthew Webb, before he became the first man to swim the English Channel in 1875, and was used for the “World Professional Mile Championship”, a long-distance swimming event, in the 1880s. It is home to the Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club, which has been in continuous existence since 1872.