Out and about...

I finally have made it out of the house and into the city for the first time since before Christmas. When I was last here the streets were full of twinkling lights and the Christmas Markets were in full swing. But the morning was bright and sunny and I felt a little warmth when I was in the garden. So off I went. By the time I got into Manchester, the sky was grey, the sun had gone in and a cold wind was blowing. But I persevered. I'm pleased to report that the city is much as it was before Christmas with everything in its rightful place but it was interesting to see all the new building projects that have started or progressed.

I was trying to get back into the city to near the Cathedral from the massive Greengate development when I came across a street I'd never seen or been along before. Looking on the map it's called Gravel Lane. It must be one of the old streets that led out of medieval Salford. Maybe it's name is a reminder of what was brought along it from the river at its end.

Most of it is now under the viaducts that take trains in and out of Victoria Station. There were four altogether that must have been built at different times as the city grew. These viaducts almost surround the city centre. I've heard them referred to as Manchester's city walls.

There was a kind of grim beauty about them so I took some pictures. It was also kind of lonely and a bit forbidding but less than five minutes walk from St. Ann's Square, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and the like. I became aware of how cut off I was when a group of young lads appeared at one end of the tunnel formed by the viaducts. They may have been perfectly respectable of course. But if they were why weren't they in school on a Monday Morning? I had an expensive bag full of desirable technology so, discretion being the better part of valour, I moved on.