Tag Archives: Manchester

Nov 19 2016
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Daily Post, Urban scene

View from my office (improved)

Friday 18th November 2016, 1.05pm (day 1,912)

Office view, 18/11/16

Back in the foul summer of 2012, 29th August to be precise, the blog featured a photo of this building (the headquarters of AQA, the examinations authority) with a heavy storm brewing behind it. At that time the office from which I took the picture was occupied by an admin colleague, while I was stuck in a cold and dim room on the north side of the building, without a view, that I never liked and never felt at home in, which is why it never featured on the blog (I think only two pictures were ever taken in there). Happy to say that this summer I moved, and my view is now much better — although the weather looks much the same on this shot (but it’s November, rather than August, so we’ll let it off somewhat).

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Nov 17 2016
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Daily Post, Urban scene

By the slip road

Thursday 17th November 2016, 8.10am (day 1,911)

Mancunian Way flyover, 17/11/16

An early start this morning. This slip road leads up to the flyover under which I cross the Mancunian Way each time I walk to the office.

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Nov 16 2016
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Daily Post, Transport

A bus swarm

Wednesday 16th November 2016, 9.55am (day 1,910)

Bus swarm, 16/11/16

Anyone unfamiliar with Manchester might imagine for a moment this pic is Photoshopped, but no, you really can see upward of 11 buses in a row on Oxford Road at certain points in time (not to mention the two or three more that were just to my left as I took this). On the one level this kind of phenomenon amuses me, but on the other hand I can’t help thinking of the other communities out there (like Sabden, Shap) that might benefit from having a spare bus or two now and again.

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Nov 12 2016
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Princess Street

Friday 11th November 2016, 9.10am (day 1,905)

Princess Street, 11/11/16

Well, I did say a few days back that there were likely to be a lot of Manchester urban scenes over the next few weeks, as that’s where I’ll be spending most of my time. Got to work now and again, I suppose. It’s an attractive enough city, at least, the bits I walk through are.

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Nov 09 2016
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

Samuel Alexander Building

Monday 7th November 2016, 9.10am (day 1,901)

Sam Alex building, 7/11/16

Apologies for the delay in posting. Mac fell into a coma on Monday morning. But some TLC from the Genius Bar has restored it to full health. Back on Monday, it was another lovely day in Manchester. Here’s the relatively monumental Sam Alex building (as most people on campus call it), named after a former professor of Philosophy at this august institution. I like the rim-lit shadowy figure to the right.

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Nov 03 2016
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Daily Post, Transport

New tram lines, St. Peter’s Square

Thursday 3rd November 2016, 9.05am (day 1,897)

Tram lines, 3/11/16

Another shot of Manchester’s slowly developing transport infrastructure — but I’m in Manchester a lot this month, so get used to it. Anyway, I like this one, particularly as I didn’t have to crop it at all, so got the symmetry just right when the shutter was pressed. A kind of ‘played for and got’ moment.

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Oct 18 2016
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Circle Square rises

Tuesday 18th October 2016, 9.40am (day 1,881)

Circle Square, 18/10/16

Point one’s camera in almost any direction in Manchester these days and one will hit a building site. This particular one — to be known, once complete, as ‘Circle Square’ (you have to cringe just a little bit) —  is on the site of the old BBC building. Creative destruction….? Something to record, at least.

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Oct 06 2016
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Under the viaduct, Charles Street

Thursday 6th October 2016, 4.25pm (day 1,869)

Under the viaduct, 6/10/16

Well, the weather’s still very pleasant, that is undeniable. I told my students today, most of whom are from overseas, “you do realise that it’s not always like this, don’t you?”. But these things happen, in 2013 I think I got about the best two weeks of autumn weather that New Zealand had had in recent memory. It’s hard not to just sit down and chill out in it. It won’t last…

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Oct 03 2016
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Art and architecture, Daily Post

On Portland Street

Monday 3rd October 2016, 9.40am (day 1,866)

Portland Street, 3/10/16

I have been meaning to put this building on the blog for a while and today it gets its chance, partly because not much else happened (I spent all day in my office, and it was a nice sunny day too), and partly because of the coincidence of the sun taking out the upper floor window. How did it end up like this? If it was built on its own, why so much taller than its neighbours? On the other hand, if it was once part of a longer terrace, how come it survived when the others were demolished and rebuilt? Someone must know….

POSTSCRIPT: See http://www.theskyliner.org/82-portland-street/ for more info. Apparently it is a newer building than its neighbours, so was deliberately built like this, but no one really knows why. Maybe the builders just had a narrow plot and decided to maximise the floor rentals they could acquire from it (like the tall houses of Hebden Bridge). Thanks to Katie Carina Homer for this link.

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Oct 01 2016
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Daily Post, Urban scene

Booth Street and scaffolding

Friday 30th September 2016, 9.00am (day 1,863)

Booth Street, 30/9/16

September 2016 has been characterised by pretty good weather throughout, and its final day continued the theme — at least until the afternoon walk back to the station when I was dumped on by a thunderstorm. The morning closed out the working week pleasantly, however. For once, I don’t mind the vehicle on this shot.

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