It’s the first day of Winter today according to the meteorological calendar. The older I get the quicker the time flies by and the more rubbish my memory becomes; this is one of the reasons I started a blog – to record what was happening around us, in the garden, days out and what adventures we got up to. It’s certainly done that, I’ve rediscovered my love of photography. It also gives me a chance to see how the garden changes from day to day and year to year. But, I really do sound like a broken record mentioning often what odd weather we’ve had this year – it’s been very, very mild, temperatures often 10-15 degrees – and not getting anywhere freezing overnight. Here beside the Bridgewater Canal, in Monton, in Salford, quite a few of my plants still haven’t realised it’s December. Usually, the garden in December would be looking rather leafless, bare sticks and trees, the odd evergreen plant and a basket or two of winter violas and pansies – with frost and cold, wet soil. Instead, there a couple of plants flowering that really shouldn’t be…
1.Margarite – ArgyranthemumFrutescens
yellow margarite
I have three of these plants in pots, in the front garden, and they are still flowering – they’re proper sun lovers. I love daisy style flowers, so I have many different plants – dahlias (Bishop styles), Leucanthemum, these and cute alpines. Continue reading →
It’s Lancashire Day today 27th November. The day commemorates the first day the county was represented at Parliament in 1215; Lancashire is a wonderful county, so much to see and do here. I live in Eccles, which started out in Lancashire, but is now in Greater Manchester, but most people consider themselves Lancastrians.
I thought I’d tell you about my visit to Burnley in the Lancashire hills last weekend; I was invited by Burnley Social to the #BigBurnleyClothesSwap to cover the event (free of charge). Burnley Social are working to promote Burnley as a great place to live, work, study and visit.
They ran the event to support students and young people to #recycle and #reuse while supporting the local Hospice (www.pendleside.org.uk) – and have a bit of fun too. They’d laid on hairdressers and makeup artists, and a photographer – and music.
Boohoo supported the event by donating ‘samples’ for the event – thanks Boohoo 😊
Why I love Clothes swaps #recycle #reuse
These are great ways to refresh your wardrobe – all you do is bring some clean, good quality items and swap for items from other people. When you get to a clothes swap event you’re usually given token or coloured raffles tickets corresponding to the same number of items you’ve brought (swapping like for like). So a raffle ticket for tops means you can choose a top, accessories for accessories etc.
I’ve been to a few clothes swaps at my WI. If you’ve not been to one – please try one out or get together with a group of friends yourselves. You’ll be surprised what you find – and swapping with real people means they have suggestions about what you should try that you’d never pick up.
I got a lovely checked shirt for my husband to add to his collection and a new party dress for me (under wraps for the moment)
Everything was well organised at #BigBurnleyClothesSwap and I saw people choosing some beautiful things. Thank you Burnley Social 🙂 I hear there’s going to be another clothes swap in 2019.
We were out and about in Manchester City centre early on Saturday morning mostly running errands around the Northern Quarter. It was a bright, cold but sunny day – it’s been the first morning with frost in the air. My pals who live in the hills around Manchester said it was trying to snow… Winter is coming…
I thought I’d take some photos and tell some stories for my Six on Saturday.
Silver Birch
There are many Silver Birch trees dotted around the centre of the city – some mature and some, like this one, planted by new flats built a few years ago. There is no sign of the leaves turning yellow as Autumn has been mild until this week. Look at that blue sky though! #nofilter
2. Special Acers
These are two of the 22 dwarf
Acers in huge black iron containers in memory of the Arena attack victims placed around the city centre. In May 2018, they were covered in messages and hearts – the containers have bees on them too. The city council are planning a permanent memorial.
I don’t think I need to tell you how much impact this terrible act had on our city and its people but we are resilient – #strongertogether
3. Urban re-use – Mackie Mayor, Swan Street, Manchester
The North part of Manchester city centre around Oldham Street and Great Ancoats Street is now called ‘Northern Quarter’ but in the 19th Century it was the market area of Manchester.
Only two of the market halls remain and are still in use.
Manchester Art and Design Centre
The Craft Centre was founded in 1982 and is run by Manchester City Council. It was one of the first buildings to help the regeneration of this part of the city since the 1980s. It had fallen on hard times, with seedy shops, red-light areas and a great deal of poverty. It’s very different around the Northern Quarter now – trendy restaurants and bars, creative arts and designers, etc.
It is housed in the former retail fish market building (opened in 1873). The Centre is home to many artists, crafters and jewellers – do visit if you’re looking for gifts. It has an excellent vegan cafe too.
My Chap and I went last year to make our wedding rings with Charlotte Verity (www.charlotteverity.com). I need to write about this wonderful experience.
Smithfield Market (the meat market) was opened in 1856 at the height of the city’s industrialisation and growth in the population, who all needed food. It was a market until 1972, after which it was used as storage facility, a skateboard park but mostly shut despite it being Grade II listed. Most people worried it would be knocked down or fall down.
It is named after the Mayor of Manchester who opened the building in 1856.
The refurbishment was done by the team behind Altrincham Market and Market House. It is a stunning building containing businesses selling coffee, burgers, fish, beer, pizza, oriental food. It’s a wonderful place. Here is their ethos.
It seats 500, there are no reservations! BTW It is closed on Mondays.
Do visit if you’re in the area 🙂
When you look closely plants are all around us in city centres – not just in window boxes. At Mackie Mayor, these trolleys are packed with plants.
A stunning poppy, coreopsis and nasturtiums.
It was far too cold to sit outside but this area is heaving with people in the summer.
5. Bees are everywhere in Manchester
We do out bit for the bees too – there are hives on the roof of the Arndale Shopping Centre and Manchester Art Gallery. The worker bee is the symbol of Manchester – it was given to the city in the 19th century to reflect the ‘industriousness’ of its people and is part of our civic crest. There are bees in stonework, floors, windows, bins and plenty of stickers and street art.
Halle St Bee-ter’s A Chorus of Industry – No 3401 – #beeinthecity
£1.1m was raised from auctioning off the bee statues to support We Love MCR Charity’s Stronger Communities Fund, which provides grants of up to £2000 for initiatives that bring communities together to celebrate diversity and build stronger relationships.
The bees inspire so much creativity – a story for another post.
Street Art in the City Centre
Stephenson Square is probably the centre of the Northern Quarter street art. The gable ends have ever-changing art overseen by #outhousemcr. Artists come from around the world to paint our street art. It often has sharp social commentary. There are probably more than 30 street art paintings on buildings around the northern quarter. I need to go on a sunny day and take more photos.
I take photos of this substation/building and the art every time I walk past – the art has been changing about every three months since 2010. It’s overseen by @outhousemcr. Stephenson Square is also home to the ‘Northern Quarter Makers Market’ – 2nd Sunday of the month.
The green roof on the disused toilet block was planted by Manchester City of Trees a few years ago www.cityoftrees.org.uk. It has a mix of wildflowers but only the poppies are still flowering. City of Trees aim is to plant 3million trees around Greater Manchester – one for every person.
Stephenson Square was a tram terminus so it’s actually rectangular – it’s home to Fred Aldous art and craft shop (founded 1886). Emmeline Pankhurst held rallies here in the Square for votes for women – she was born and lived in Manchester – founding the suffragette movement in her home on Nelson Street. This is now the Pankhurst Centre (which has a lovely garden too) – it has limited opening times (check the website).
I am proud that there will be a statue of Emmeline unveiled in the city in St Peter’s Square in December. She’ll join Queen Victoria as the only other female statue in our city. The statue will be unveiled on 14th December 2018 on the hundredth anniversary of the first election where ‘some’ women could vote.
I’d been thinking for a while that I haven’t taken many photos or described what’s happening in our garden – so I looked around for a linkup to prompt me to join in, and found Six on Saturday – hosted by thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com (participant guide) who lives in Reading, Berkshire. That’s where I went to school, though I’ve lived in Manchester for over 20 years – so it’s a small world sometimes. I’ve been following various contributors and, as usual, been inspired by the plants they grow and what they write about – but hadn’t got my act together to take photos on a Saturday.
So I’ll be covering what’s been happening around our garden, the locality in Monton, Eccles, Greater Manchester, the North. Mostly gardens and places we visit with an emphasis on plants. Knowing me, I doubt I’ll be contributing every week as time runs away from me, but I’ll try my best 🙂 I hope this post covers the Six on Saturday brief. Continue reading →
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
2. Special Acers
