The John Rylands Library

When it comes to drinking, I'm an all or nothing kind of guy, which is a real pain in the backside. What I'd like to be is a moderate drinker, the kind of chap who doesn't drink every night and can be satisfied with a glass or two and not the whole bottle. 

I mention this because Friday was my last day drinking until the marathon, with the exception of the school awards evening and Dan's birthday. It usually takes me a day or two to switch from drinking to teetotal, hence a late swim and early night, last night, to get me through the first evening.

Today, though, once the radio show had been recorded* we were going into Manchester so the Minx and miniMinx could do some shopping. My knee-jerk reaction was to think I'd take my book and find a nice pub to sit in but, of course, that was not on the agenda. Then I remembered reading that the John Rylands Library has a Delia Derbyshire collection.

I've never been to the John Rylands before but once we'd parked up and said our au revoirs I popped it into Maps and followed my watch's directions. It wasn't that far to walk and as it came into view, I realised why every search I'd made had results including the word Gothic. 

I've calories to spare as I'm not drinking, so I started my visit with some coffee and a cake while I started work on 'Vinegar Girl', which, so far, is not as funny as the quotes on the front cover suggest ('Her funniest book to date' - The Daily Mail).

After that, I left the modern reception, shop, and café extension and went into the library proper, which, while impressive from the outside is absolutely stunning within. I took quite a few photos but, really, none of them did the stonework and its various corridors, arches, staircases, and rooms justice, although I did like this one of the stained glass windows.

I didn't get to see the Derbyshire exhibition, by the way. The lady on the desk said I need to become a 'reader' there, so she gave me a bookmark with the details on and I'll return in a couple of weeks with my two forms of identification. 

On the way back home we were wondering where to have dinner and on a whim, we decided to go over to Saint Anne's. Maybe six years ago, I took Dan and Abi to Blackpool Pleasure Beach only to realise, on arrival, the extent to which they rinse you for not booking in advance. Instead, we went to one of the piers and spent a couple of very happy hours (and a fraction of the money) playing the old fashioned arcade games. 

After that, on the recommendation of my late Twitter friend LilyThePurr we went to a restaurant in Saint Annes for fish and chips. This evening, we managed to find the same restaurant and it was still just as fantastic. It made me feel a little sad to think of Lily. She was so funny but also quite a private person. We kind of said our goodbyes but I still miss her sometimes. I don't think she'd have liked today's Twitter but she was everything that was good about how it used to be. 

*You can hear some of the episodes on the Cando FM mixcloud page, if you do a bit of judicious searching.

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Reading: 'Vinegar Girl' by Anne Tyler.