Morning in Manchester

I had a morning in Manchester before my gig, starting off from Cuddington village station where I met two blokes who had just bought their tickets into town only to find that the cricket test had been called off due to covid. At least i didn't have that problem.

I just wandered around pretty aimlessly enjoying the contrast between modern developments and teh city's Victorian heritage

My main target was to visit the Manchester Art Gallery. Once this was a very fine gallery, but sadly its the last time I will visit. It is utterly contemptuous now, seems to have been taken over by the students union of a particularly low grade polytechnic. It is really hard to enjoy the remaining quality art work now they have introduced modern works of zero quality with sound installations so you can't concentrate on the good stuff. Like going to a gallery and finding they have a stripper in the room to teh backing of a disco beat, although that would still be better than the tripe here. For some reason in a gallery with no modern works of art they have acquired a poster which has no artistic merit - just a slogan in block capitals, and with no costumes on display they have introduced one, a grotty old CND t-shirt. you could ignore the rubbish if it wasn't for the noise of it.

Still, one thing one learns is that the gallery is very well financed so it has too much money to spend on art so that it has to splash out on the non art matters. But you would like to think the environmental budget could be better spent on scientists than a bunch of bored arts graduates.

One of Manchester's finest buildings is the city hall, but that is under a very serious amount of restoration!

 

Bulkeley Hill Woods

New Oder gig over it was time for more rural pursuits. A walk along the Sandstone Trail in Cheshire, through Bulkeley Woods, a National Trust owned bit of woodland. Starting through cornfields.

This is an old railway of the industrial kind, used for the copper mines up here, long closed. Very steep.

Poppy was very excited. Dave did well to prevent her going down the steep sides!