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A Day In Manchester – 2018

A Day In Manchester: Manchester isn’t everyone’s idea of a holiday destination, but it is a place with many largely happy memories for my wife and myself. We met there and lived there on the upper floor of a small house in a working-class area for the first two years of our marriage. Since then we had passed through it a few times but had hardly been back for almost 50 years when we decided to book a hotel and revisit the city in for a few days in August 2018,

All of these pictures were taken on one day – Thursday 2nd August 2018 – and show a little of what we found – and you can see many more pictures from the day and a couple of others we were there on My London Diary. As you can see it was a very full day.

Manchester: City Centre

New Islington, Whitworth St, Castlefield

After breakfast we walked into the City Centre aiming to view the memorial to Alan Turing and then go on to the the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology. Our route took us past Piccadilly Village, Manchester’s tallest building Beetham Tower and a number of interesting late Victorian buildings.

This memorial to Alan Turing is in Sackville park, Fairfield St, close to where I worked for several years. He committed suicide in 1954 with an apple containing cyanide after being hounded for being gay. His work in Cambridge and later from 1948 to his death at Manchester University made him recognised as the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence.

Manchester is still full of interesting older buildings. Medlock Mill was built in 1801 as a cotton warehouse. From 1982-2011 it housed Percy Brothers – The Hotspur Press

The Great Northern Warehouse connected the railway, roads and the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal which ran underneath it.

But there is also a great deal of modern architecture, including Manchester’s tallest building, Beetham Tower.

More examples in the pictures on My London Diary at Manchester: City Centre – Thursday.

Manchester: Science & Industry Museum

Liverpool Rd

Manchester Liverpool Road station opened as the terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in September 1830 and it only finally closed in 1975, although passenger services had ended in 1844 with the opening of Manchester Victoria station. It was still connected to the main line until 2015, and a few heritage services ran into it until then.

After it was sold by British Rail the station and its goods yard were used for a short time by Granada Television, who filmed some scenes of Coronation Street there, but in 1978 it became a museum. It is now part of the Science Museum, with the space to display some of the exhibits which could not be shown in its old building in South Kensington, and is a model of what a science museum should be.

We had come to see a special exhibition of the world’s first stored program computer, ‘Baby’, built at Manchester University, which ran its first program on 21 June 1948. We did finally see it, but only after we had walked past the area it was in and explored much of the rest of the museum – which was photographically more interesting. But we had to leave before we had time to really go around the museum – to which we returned later.

More at Science & Industry Museum.

To Stockport & Bramhall Hall

Bramhall Hall

We had only intended a short visit to the museum as we had planned to visit Bramhall Hall, a fine old building now owned by Stockport Council. Somehow we had spent years in Manchester seeing buses going past with the destination Bramhall but had never gone there to visit it.

I’m not a huge fan of visiting stately homes though I’ve been to plenty, but this one turned out to be rather more interesting than most and I recommended a visit if you’ve never been. But we made a bit of a mess of the bus trip – the buses were then sorely in need of a Greater Manchester mayor to lick them into shape.

Many more pictures at To Stockport & Bramhall Hall.

Manchester: Canal walk

We returned to Manchester and our hotel for a short rest and then went out for another walk by some of the canals, hoping to find a pub where we could have an evening meal.

*H A Howard & Sons Ltd – Gileric Gowns – Ducie St*

The walk was fine, but we didn’t like the look (or perhaps it was the menu) of the first pub we tried; the second bar looked interesting but then we found it didn’t serve real meals; another pub looked promising, offering ‘home cooking’ but when I went in to ask I was told they only served food at lunchtimes.

Eventually we gave up and made for one of central Manchester’s Wetherspoons on Deansgate. It’s in a splendid former cinema, worth a visit to view its interior, and the food, if not exciting is dependable and certainly cheap.

After relaxing with food and drink we enjoyed a leisurely walk – more canals – and made our way back to the hotel.

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End Austerity Now & Class War – 2015

End Austerity Now & Class War: On Saturday 20th June 2015 I sent to photograph the march organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity from the Bank of England to Parliament Square. Class War came to protest calling for direct action rather than marches which changed nothing and after photographing them in the City I went with them to Downing Street – and they paused for a brief protest at the Savoy on the way.

End Austerity Now at Bank

Bank

Large crowds gathered around the Bank of England for the start of a massive march against austerity organised by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity and supported by many groups including CND, the Green Party, People’s March for the NHS, Global Women’s Strike, Basic Income, Revolutionary Communist Group, Clapton Ultras and many other groups and individuals from around the country.

So many were being affected by the cuts which had forced down incomes, cut benefits and the welfare state, cut education, destroyed youth services, made massive cuts to the NHS and public services while supporting the bankers whose actions had led to the crisis.

The programme of austerity introduced by the coalition government and continued under the Tories had seriously harmed the country and slowed its recovery from the financial crisis and seemed to be a punishment for the crimes of others, which had been made possible by the changes to the banking system introduced under Thatcher in 1986.

As usual estimates of the number of marchers varied hugely, with the organisers claiming a quarter of a million, while the BBC contented itself with ‘”thousands”. From the time it took and the density of the crowds I think it was at least a hundred thousand. Parliament Square was well filled with others still arriving, but like many others I went home rather than listen to the speeches.

More pictures of the marchers at End Austerity Now at Bank and in Class War and End Austerity Now.

Class War at End Austerity Now

Queen Victoria St

Class War had come to the protest to call for end of A to B marches to rallies and call for direct action. They succeeded in diverting several hundred of the marchers to make their way to protest at a squatted pub near the Elephant which Foxtons want to open as an estate agents.

Class War had brought several banners including the ‘Political Leaders’, a new version of that seized by police at a ‘Poor Doors’ protest, the ‘Lucy Parsons banner with its quote “We must devastate the avenues where the wealthy live” and ‘We have found new homes for the rich‘, with its rows of crosses on graves extending into the distance which police were then still pressing charges against Lisa McKenzie over.

Lisa was there along with the others including Adam Clifford who stood for Class War in the Westminster constituency, today wearing a top with fake exposed breasts and holding a fairly lifelike looking baby. As well as those above the protest others protested on the side of the street below.

Many marchers raised fists and shouted in solidarity with Class War as they passed, though some shook their heads, while others tried to ignore them. This wasn’t easy as they made a fair amount of noise and let off several smoke flares.

Around 30 police gathered around them at one point and it looked very much if they were going into action, but after a discussion between several senior officers on the scene, most rapidly walked away.

I stayed in the area either with them above the march or down below on the densely crowded wide street for around an hour, making many pictures both of Class War and the marchers.

*They sit in the pub and police wait for them outside*

When the end of the march appeared to reach them they joined in for a couple of hundred yards then peeled off to go to the Olde London pub on Ludgate Hill

More pictures at Class War and End Austerity Now.

Class War at the Savoy

Strand

*Class War insist on the right to protest outside the Savoy*

After a rest in the pub Class War walked down towards Westminster with their police escort to carry out more protests.

Approaching the Savoy Hotel some broke out into a run to get ahead of their escorts but found that there were more police already waiting there.

But they unrolled their banners again and briefly blocked the entrance with ‘New Homes for the Rich’ and ‘Lucy Parsons’ banners. After minor scuffles and arguments with police they marched on.

More pictures at Class War at the Savoy.

Class War in Whitehall

Whitehall

*A woman talks to Adam Clifford of Class War holding a baby and a banner outside the gates of Downing St*

Class War continued their protests in Whitehall, displaying their banners, setting off flares and dancing with others to a sound system which joined them briefly.

They then moved off towards Downing Street where they posed for photographs with all three banners – and threw a flare over the gate.

Their protest continued there with short speeches and more dancing. People were still coming down the street to join the People’s Assembly Against Austerity protest in Parliament Square and some stopped briefly to join in.

Eventually Class War decided it was time to roll up the banners and leave before police intervened – and it was time to go to the pub again. But for me it was time to go home.

Many more pictures on My London Diary: Class War in Whitehall.

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People’s Assembly & Class War Against Austerity

People’s Assembly & Class War Against Austerity – Saturday 20th June 2015 saw a massive march through London from Bank to Parliament Square in the People’s Assembly End Austerity march against the savage and destructive cuts to the NHS, the welfare state, education and public services.

The march was supported by groups from across the centre and left, and my pictures show Clapton Ultras, CND, the Green Party, Labour MP Dianne Abbott, Focus E15, Left Unity, FRFI, People’s March for the NHS, Netpol, Socialist Worker, Global Women’s Strike, Union branches, and others on the march.

Class War was missing. They were calling for an end to A to B marches to rallies and called for direct action, diverting several hundred from the march to support a squatted pub at the Elephant & Castle which Foxtons want to open as an estate agent. Had I heard about it in time I might have followed, but instead I went to photograph a Class War group holding banners on a footway above the march.

They showed several banners, including a new version of one that police had seized (and then lost) showing political leaders, as well as another that police were then charging Lisa McKenzie for displaying with rows of graveyard crosses extending to the far distance and the message ‘We have found new homes for the rich‘, along with the Lucy Parsons banner with her message ‘We must devastate the avenues where the wealthy live.’

Two of Class War’s candidates from the previous month’s General Election were also there, Lisa and Adam Clifford, their Westminster candidate, today wearing a top with fake exposed breasts and holding a fairly lifelike looking baby.

*Adam invites people to feel his breasts*

The protest was massive, filling across the wide street and taking well over an hour to pass Class War, many raising fists and shouting in solidarity, clapping and otherwise showing approval, with just a few shaking their heads or trying hard to ignore it, though this was difficult, especially when they were letting off flares which sent blue smoke across the march. The organisers claimed 250,000 marched though my rough estimate was perhaps a little less than half this. The organisers claimed 250,000 marched though my rough estimate was perhaps a little less than half this.

I went down to street level and took many more pictures of the marchers going past, some with Class War visible in the background.

*RMT banner with John Reid (left) and Steve Hedley (centre right)*

I watched as around 30 police gathered behind Class War and thought they were about to take action. But charging the group on a wall ten foot above the street would have been highly dangerous for both officers and protesters, and after some lengthy discussions between several senior officers the police rapidly moved away.

*Class War discuss how to continue their day in the Olde London*

Class War joined in at the end of the march before leaving it to search for a pub, but few City pubs open at the weekends when the area is largely deserted. Eventually the found the Olde London on Ludgate Hill, and went inside, with a large group of police waiting for them outside as they relaxed and then planned further action.

Police followed Class War at a discreet distance as they made their way towards Westminster, rushing forward and forming a line to protect the Savoy Hotel as Class War stopped to protest, blocking the entrance road for a few minutes.

Eventually there were some rather heated arguments as police threatened them with arrest and slowly forced them away. They grabbed one man who had tried to stop a taxi entering, and when a taxi driver got out of his cab and threatened to assault the protesters they seemed far more interested in protecting him from the protesters than in taking any action over his illegal threats.

*A woman argues with Adam Clifford at Downing St*

Eventually the protesters moved away and on to Whitehall, followed by several police vans. Here they met a sound system and stopped to dance in the road for a while before going on to protest outside the gates to Downing St – and to throw a smoke flare over them. Here there was more dancing and a few short speeches and some of the marchers who had made it to the rally in Parliament Square came back to join them. Eventually Class War rolled up their banners and went off to another pub, telling me they would continue their protests later – but I’d had enough and went home.

Much more on the day on My London diary:
End Austerity Now at Bank
Class War and End Austerity Now
Class War at the Savoy
Class War in Whitehall