Manchester

All my bigger daughters are in Tuscany at the moment and Dan and Abi are with their mum, today, which left me at liberty to do just about whatever I fancied. However, an adventure with the Minx was out of the question as she'd signed up for a two day 'sewn book' course, but I travelled to Salford with her, anyway, and then struck out for the city centre on foot.

From reading both Peter Hook and Morrissey's autobiographies, I've picked up an impression of post-war Manchester. And by post-war I don't mean the late forties and early fifties, I mean the ten years after that. It seems that while other cities' war damage was tackled almost immediately, Manchester spent a long time wounded and untended. Was it the same in other northern towns, like Sheffield and Birmingham?

Even today, there are parts of Manchester that still seem neglected despite its double renaissance: firstly, in the musical explosion of the late seventies and early eighties, and then the full nuclear blast of the Madchester phenomenon. This photo seemed to sum it up for me. A blocked off road, which I enjoyed walking along, with wasteland either side but with the Manchester Hilton in the distance (making the city look a bit like Mega City One).

Once I was in town, I installed myself at the Nexus Art Café on Dale Street where I spent a happy time writing and drinking coffee before my lovely friend Kerry joined me for lunch and then we spent the rest of the afternoon nattering. Perfect.