Smells is this month’s City Daily Photo theme and there were
many aromas in the air yesterday on the Manchester May Day March. As the scents
of the last blossoms of spring in All Saints Park faded, the spring showers of
sleet and rain gave a freshness to the air, detracting briefly from the usual acrid
polluted smells of the Oxford Road corridor.
As the hundreds of us assembled
and then marched, the waft of food smells mingled in the air. From the
wholesome heartiness of On The Eighth Day past the artificial chemical smells
pumped out of fast food stores along Oxford Road. Bellowing bus and van exhaust
fumes sprayed out on the other side of the road to the march and the occasional red flare was
set off – the latter causing rather a pleasant smell in fact.
We marched, drummed and chanted our way to Sackville Gardens
where we were greeted with gazebos and tents all set up for the day of entertainment,
education and campaigning. The coffee stall aroma was welcome and warming
(and free to the first hundred people in recognition and solidarity) and, in
sunny spells, we enjoyed the smells and tastes of great veggie and vegan stalls,
donating what we felt was a fair price for the food fare.
So there's a May Day march in April?
ReplyDeleteI know!...
ReplyDeleteQuite a mix of smells along the way!
ReplyDeleteThe hammer and sickle emblem on display I see.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't march with people who are proud to display the emblem of one of the most murderous and totalitarian regimes in history, one that repressed people and denied them rights to free speech, free elections, free trade unions, a free press and other democratic freedoms.
You can tell a lot about people from the company they keep.
Looks like a well attended event.
ReplyDeleteThey were only one day off! It's hard to keep track of all the different interest groups these days.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos Chrissy!
To Pete- The hammers and sickles of the Stalinist era are not being approved by the use of the hammer and sickle by the CP and RCP here. In the same way that use of union jack flags by the far right in the UK is not necessarily condoned by other users of the union flag.
ReplyDelete