The Big Picture

These Mono Monday challenges are ..... a challenge !

Today lacked hills or mountains, wide open spaces, big skies .... I almost did not bother !

But the big picture is not just about space (and a visual thing). It is also about time. To look at Salford Quays and understand the big picture, you need to know it's history. 

This area was the second location of the Manchester Racecourse (after Kersal Moor, and before it moved to Castle Irwell). Buffalo Bill Cody had a show camp here, with a group of 100 Sioux Indians in 1887 some of whom stayed (bizarre as that may seem). And then from 1895 it became the Manchester Docks, at the end of the Ship Canal. It's current reincarnation as the Quays and Media City,  a place to live, do business, and visit, would have seemed astonishing to the dockers who worked here up to the 1980's.

This is part of a public art installation that celebrates the Dock's history and the men (they all seem to be men) who worked here. This roundel commemorates Willian Robert Barlow who worked on the Docks from 1921 to 1966. A small picture illustrating part of a bigger picture.

And thanks to Trisharooni (who has posted a really good Big Picture)