Irwell Dreaming

I travelled into Manchester city centre mid morning, for a bit of a shop. Not Christmas shopping (I can’t face that at the moment), but I need some new walking boots and a new small rucksack, as well as other bits and bobs.

After visiting the cathedral and one or two other places I had a light lunch at the Royal Exchange - and left having bought a ticket for two matinee performances over coming months. My interest was piqued by a one line summary of a Caryl Churchill short play - “your partners died, could things have been different”. The musical about Viv Nicholson, the lottery winner, should be good.

Then into Waterstones, always fateful. I bought Orbital, the booker prize winner, and a collection of Adrian Chiles’s columns from the Guardian (which I always enjoy).

I took the photo as I walked into the centre, Salford on the right (a good view of “Eden”, the plant smothered office block, other new development, and the long derelict Mark Addy pub), Manchester on the left (the Peterloo mural on a blank facade of the People’s History Museum). Better light travelling in than out.