Manchester Weekender

I spent this last weekend back in Manchester visiting much missed family and friends. It was a fairly last minute thing, but thankfully the usual balancing act of family and friends seemed to work out pretty well this time. I got to see plenty of Penny and Mark, which was great… especially walking together barefoot on their freshly laid lawn! The family goodness continued in James and Caroline’s company as we devoured a super tasty brunch together on Easter Monday.


Meanwhile Manchester continues it’s incessant development, new buildings shooting up at an amazing rate. The juxtaposition of the old and the new in Manchester is quite a sight, especially on lovely sunny days like this weekend.


Castlefield is a great example of old industrial Manchester redeveloped. Jim (Jagger) and myself used to work here about five years ago, and the area has lost none of its appeal in the meantime; probably still holding the honor of being Manchester’s finest collection of outdoor watering holes!


The old...


…and the new.

Just a stones throw away on Deansgate, Manchester’s first skyscraper is being built. If we’re to believe the boastful Mancunian taxi driver we met, this baby is due to become Europe’s tallest building when it’s completed – true or not it’s quite a development and understandably the talk of the town.


Of course a sizable chunk of the visit was spent catching up with Chris, Genna, and Jim. Plus it was also a brilliant surprise to be joined by Tom (a childhood mate of ours I haven’t seen in bloody ages) visiting from Milton Keynes. We had a great time bouncing around the bars and pubs in Chorlton, Castlefield, Deansgate, and the Northern Quarter, before finishing it all off with a great curry in Rusholme.


Given that I’d talked this weekend up as a full-on party weekender, I really shouldn’t have been too surprised when Chris repressed his much loved role as expert SMS text cajoler including pearls like Sunday’s: “Rob, your hour is up! Did you fly all this way just to sleep?! Everyone’s out in town clasping hangover curing pints, don’t make me call you at vast expense to us both.”


So to wrap-up, as I sit tapping away over the Atlantic ocean, cheerfully returning to Ryn and Delilah, I’d say it was a pretty exhausting but totally soul nourishing weekend back in my hometown. Thanks for a wonderful time everyone, it was brilliant to see you all again!