Conference in Manchester today — this was the venue. I like taking architectural shots like this but am aware that without some crane or giant scaffold, the angles will forever be that little bit wrong. This can be seen here with the perpendiculars around the wedge of sky. Ah well.
The whole of Manchester city centre is currently a building site, has been for months, and is scheduled to be so for many more months yet. But it seems to be spreading beyond just the new tramline (the ostensible reason for the chaos) and into the associated demolition of various other locations — the building being torn down here was the one on the right on this shot, for example. Who knows what the final plan will be.
First day in Manchester for a while. Ominous clouds, but they passed over without molesting us. I like this shot — trips to deepest Africa notwithstanding, one of my favourite ones for a while.
And why not. It was a warm day, and a Friday. I felt the same way today, I must admit.
Sir John Barbirolli was conductor of the Hallé orchestra, the UK’s oldest extant symphony orchestra, from 1943 until his death in 1970. The Hallé now reside at the Bridgewater Hall, built in 1996, and this bust of Barbirolli sits outside the venue — as you can see. I hope to be doing a fairly big project here over the next couple of years so expect to see more of this place, if all comes to pass.
This passage between the Manchester Central Library and the Town Hall has been closed for years, literally, while the library was refurbished, but it does now seem to be open again — at least, at this end. So this picture can be considered the latest documentary pic in the ongoing reconstruction of what seems to be the entirety of Manchester city centre.
Hot and sunny in London yesterday it may have been, but in Manchester this afternoon it was neither of these things, particularly not when I had to walk all the way along Oxford Road getting soaked. At least this girl had an umbrella, even if, like me, she was otherwise dressed for rather nicer conditions.
Unfrequented alleys in Manchester city centre are typically called “Back Something Street”. Back Turner Street is right in the city centre but looks little changed from decades ago. In fact Clare has just stared at this photo for a while before saying ‘is that 1920s America or something?’. Which was the kind of vibe I was seeking with this shot, so I’ll take that.
Amazingly we managed to get money off the university this year to have an end-of-year dinner. Why this particular stone started shedding blood for the first time in my 10 years there, I have no idea. Dan (left, student) and Gary (right, colleague) wait to place our order in the highly distinctive surroundings of the old vault — check out those safety deposit boxes — in the former bank building which now houses Jamie’s Italian in Manchester (its second appearance on the blog, after this one 15 months ago).
The university bridge over Oxford Road is considered iconic (if only because it has the words ‘University of Manchester’ plastered on it in big letters on the far side of this shot). It’s also rather dingy — see this picture, for example. Anyway, it’s going soon, being demolished, and this week Oxford Road has been closed while they prepare for the big removal. It’s so much better to have a university campus without a big fat A road running through the middle of it. Would that it were like this the whole time.
Being 42 