A Defining Me contributor whom I didn’t mention in my previous post is Bill Mather, because I thought his subject deserved a post all to itself. I was…
If Beetham Tower is a phallic landmark, then perhaps Alexandra Park is its yonic opposite. (I didn’t know the word “yonic” until I looked up “phallic opposite” just…
The title still impresses me. I must have read Alan Garner’s first novel (published 1960) in the late seventies, by which time I was already a Tolkien/C.S.Lewis veteran….
This month Word Of Warning flags up a series of small-scale performances called Domestic staged in an obscure local arts venue, Cooper House. “Sounds familiar” I thought when…
Barry Gibb visited my kids’ primary school yesterday… Oswald Road in Chorlton. He’s an ex-pupil. I’ve got 3 kids at the school but I only heard about the…
The Tamworth Estate tower blocks lie within the borough of Trafford, even though they share the east side of Chorlton Road (B5218) with Manchester’s Hulme, M15. Their ‘brutalist’…
When Sankey Soap opened in the mid-90s there was general excitement about this brave new venue popping up in Ancoats’ industrial hinterland. I was really impressed with the…
I first met Goths in 1982, although I probably thought they were “Punks” at the time… and maybe they did too. Their appearance was dramatic: pale faces, black…
The BBC began to consider proposals for a TV and radio headquarters in Manchester in 1953. In 1967, Manchester Corporation suggested the All Saints Oxford Road site and…
Hydes officially vacated Queen’s Brewery in Moss Side, this week, in order to move to a new premises in Salford on Kansas Avenue. The administration staff have moved…
It didn’t get off to a good start. Dave, Head of Security, wouldn’t allow my camera over the threshold, declaring its detachable lens “professional” according to Bouncer Law,…
Hosted by Alexandra Arts, One Day Wonderment was an ambitious art and film event in Alexandra Park, on the borders of Whalley Range and Moss Side, on Sunday…