Bluebell banks

The last day of the sunniest, hottest April I have ever known in the UK, and the last of the daffodils give way to banks of bluebells at Dunham Massey, with the lovely Orangery in the background.

Lyme Park, Cheshire

An early April snapshot of the many gardens in the grounds of the mansion at Lyme Park.

The estate was granted to Sir Thomas Danyers in 1346. It remained in the possession of the Legh family until 1946 when it was given to the National Trust. The house dates from the latter part of the 16th century. Modifications were made to it in the 1720s. Further modifications were made in the 19th century, especially to the interior. Formal gardens were created and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house, gardens and park have been used as locations for filming and they are open to the public.

Montpellier in Manchester?

On a sunny day like today this suburban house reminds me of the south of France, with its pastel colours and shutters.

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra is based at the BBC building on Oxford Road and this is its studio. In this photo young Tim is trying out their Steinway piano - and very good it sounded too ;-) 

The BBC Manchester team is moving this year to an exicting new complex called Media City, across the River Irwell at Salford Quays. They will be joined by various television and radio departments currrently based in London, including BBC Radio Five Live and BBC Children's TV.

I plan to jump on a tram over to Media City to take some photos in a couple of weeks, so watch this space.
http://www.mediacityuk.co.uk/

On the streets where I lived (1)

The quaint cottages by Chorlton Green, one of which I once lived in, many years ago.

Ancient hostelries ~ Wellington and Sinclair's

Two ancient Manchester public hostelries - The Wellington (middle, brown timber framed building) and Sinclair's Oyster Bar (black and white timber frame), located on Cathedral Gates, near Manchester cathedral, swarming with Bank holiday drinkers.

The building in which the Wellington pub now resides dates back to 1552 whilst Sinclair's Oyster bar goes back to 1720.

More details on the chequered history of both can be found at the very good blog on Manchester public houses:
http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.com/2010/05/68-wellington-new-shambles-square.html
and:
http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.com/2010/05/despite-superb-location-and-potential.html

Happy Easter!

I bought these wooden Easter decorations when spending Easter in Czechoslovakia in 1991. A lovely eastern European tradition that we always maintain here in north-west England- a branch from the garden adorned with symbols of new life. 

19th century red brick meets 21st century glass, Peter St

The Great Northern Railway warehouse (right) is now a shopping centre, surrounded by modern buildings, including the Watson Street Apartments.

Cuba Cafe Bar ~ Port St, Dean St. and Faraday St.

Cuba Cafe is a small, fun club, located in Manchester's Northern Quarter since 1998, well before the area achieved its bohemian kudos. 

Cuba Cafe prides itself that “it is really like being in Cuba with all its old radios, pictures and instruments from the 1940-50s” www.cubacafe.co.uk

Public gardens

Where would a city be without some organised and well tended beds and gardens?- this spring display is down by Castlefield.

Castlefield conservation area is bounded by the River Irwell, Quay Street, Deansgate and the Chester Road. It was the site of the Roman era fort of Mamucium or Mancunium which gave its name to Manchester.

Castlefield was designated as a conservation area in 1980 and the United Kingdom's first designated Urban Heritage Park in 1982.

Piccadilly Approach

Visitors arriving in the city centre from Piccadilly train station

A bridge too far?

A Manchester Youth Hostel (purpose-built in 1995) is flanked by tram, train and pedestrian bridges, down at Castlefield Basin.

Flower, tower

In Trumpet Street, and on this occasion the hanging baskets steal the limelight from the Beetham Tower on the right.

Hale war memorial in the spring

It's 0700 hours at the well kept World War I and World War II memorial in Hale. The veteran soldier atop the plinth is camoflaged by spring foliage. I am always impressed that the wreaths and wooden crosses placed here on Remembrance Sunday in November remain untouched and unsullied all year round.

A view from Beeston Castle, Cheshire

Beeston Castle near Tarporley, Cheshire is perched on a rocky sandstone hill 500 feet above the Cheshire Plain. It was built in 1220 by the 6th Earl of Chester.

King Henry III took it over in 1237 and it was used in 1643 in the civil war.  In the 18th century it was used as a quarry.

Today it is preserved by English Heritage and makes a nice half day trip, with a visitor centre and plenty of atmosphere, giving great views across Cheshire.

Lunchtime revolution

A liquid lunch or plotting a Manchester revolution? The workers enjoy a sunny lunch hour at Revolution vodka bar, underneath the railway arches on Deansgate Locks.

Walking in the clouds ~ First Street and Albion Street

One of the five stick people figures at First Street walking in the clouds, or at least between the trees. These statues were publicly funded at a cost of £150,000 in 2010. Personally I love them and will show close ups of others in future posts.

Yuri Gagarin visit to Manchester July 1961

Photo of Yuri Gagarin laying a wreath at Manchester Cenotaph, St. Peter’s Square (Credit:  RIA NOVOSTI / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)

To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s inaugural space flight on 12 April 1961, instead of using one of my own photos in this Mancunian Wave blog I'm borrowing one from Gagarin’s visit to Manchester in July 1961.

It was only the second country he had visited outside the Soviet Bloc, going to Helsinki in Finland, then Manchester and  London on the UK leg of this tour.

He was driven in an open top car through the streets from Manchester Ringway Airport and visited the Foundry Workers Union (Yuri was once a foundry worker himself) in Moss Side, the  AEI works at Trafford Park, before going onto Manchester Town Hall. He also met Bernard Lovell from the Jodrell Bank Space telescope in Cheshire and thanked him for the assistance Jodrell Bank had given the Soviet space programme in tracking their early launches.

A friend of mine born in London in 1963 was given the first name of Gagarin in his honour, although everyone knows him as Yuri!

More on the Manchester visit of Yuri Gagarin at: http://www.wcml.org.uk/contents/international/cold-war/yuri-gagarin-in-manchester/

http://yurigagarin50.org/history/gagarin-in-britain/gagarin-in-manchester

Granby House, Warehouse District

Granby House, built in the Edwardian period (1908) presumably another one of the many warehouses in this part of the city, built for the textile trade. Manchester History Net states it was designed by the architectural practice of G. H. Goldsmith. "Red brick with Portland stone dressings and Art Nouveau motifs." In the 1980s it was one of, if not the first, city centre building to be converted to apartments.

Basin in bloom

Lock 92 at the Castlefield Basin, where the Rochdale and Bridgewater canals meet, in spring colours. Started in 1761 the Bridgewater was the first canal in Britain.

Named after its owner, Francis Egerton the third Duke of Bridgewater, the canal was built to carry coal from his mines at Worsley to the industrial areas of Manchester. 65km/39 miles long, its nickname is the Duke's Cut, hence the canalside pub here being called Duke's 92. (partially visible on the right of my photo).

More on the historic Bridgewater canal at: http://www.bridgewatercanal.co.uk/