101 Embankment....

On the day that marked the 20th anniversary of the IRA bombing of Manchester, I found myself in one of the half finished buildings that punctuate the city's skyline at the moment. The city seems to be going from strength to strength at the moment with more and more building projects starting up.

I took the picture inside 101 Embankment which is one of the new office buildings going up across the river from Manchester Cathedral. I'd already been on site at No 1 Spinningfields. It's an organised week when the public are invited in to have a look around. There were a few of us on Spinningfields and they kept us well away from all the fun. But it was just me at 101 Embankment so the site manager knitted me up with hard hat, high vis et al and I had a personally guided trip right into the building. It was good fun.

The building is going to be handed over to its tenants in September but there's a lot of work still to do until the men and women in Armani and Chanel can be allowed in. Tim told me they are starting the sister building to this one soon, and three more are going to be started by Christmas all being well. And another 130m skyscraper has just been started here this week.

I'm looking towards the Cathedral and Harvey Nichols. The staining is the dirt of the windows and if you look carefully you can see me reflected, dressed as Bob the Builder.