Manchester Victoria was significantly less populated at 8.15pm this evening than it would normally be on a Wednesday. In the end though, the reason was obvious. But I did make it home in time for the second half.
Having managed to avoid going to work in Manchester for several days (a run that is not over yet), I nevertheless concocted a reason to go there on a Sunday, to ‘get out of the house’ — go figure that one out. I did not regret this, but it was a day on which the city lived up to its reputation for a certain dampness of climate. It’s not obviously coming down in this shot, but you can just feel it, can’t you?
This was one of two photos that I took today which I like despite their technical deficiencies. I was more or less trying for this effect. My third day in a row in Manchester (and blog-wise that’s the first time that’s happened in 2024), but I was not there to work, nor, like the great majority of the people in the city centre, to shop. Instead I was going to the football and just passing through on the tram, nicely insulated from the rush — and the rather poor weather — outside, at least for 45 minutes or so.
The apostrophes appear to be compulsory in any reference to this place, or the suburbia that surrounds it — the hinterland between Manchester and Bury. Can you think of a more ‘northern’ name for a public transport terminus? I am struggling. Why was I here at 9pm on a Wednesday evening? The usual reasons…. walk, football, etc.
Here I am still going into Manchester a couple of days a week, largely because it gets the step count up. I will try not to get symbolic and just observe that I like this picture because of the various chunks of detail, which seem to lay over one another like a collage, particularly on the right hand side. And the pigeon which sneaked itself in.
So what’s in the carrying case? Inquiring minds want to know.
Manchester Victoria station passes by through the windows of a Metrolink tram. Why was I on a Metrolink tram going through Victoria, the place where I normally catch my train home? Because there weren’t any bloody trains from Victoria this afternoon, were there. Tram to Rochdale instead, three-hour journey home, welcome back to the 2015 commute indeed.
More a documentary photo today than any claims to artistic quality. This is where they’re currently at with the rebuilding of Manchester Victoria station. The tracks are the Metrolink (tram) line, still working (you can see a tram in the background) but the stop is closed. So the commuters can trundle through and watch lots and lots of men hanging about while dressed from head to toe in fluorescent orange.
Being 42 