GHOSTLY TOM'S TRAVEL BLOG…..

Didsbury is an affluent suburb of Manchester about 5 miles south of the city centre. It is probably the wealthiest part of the city inside the core city boundary. The people in this part of the city lead an enviable lifestyle in their trendy apartments and tastefully restored Victorian houses on their tree lined streets, which they guard jealously, keeping out influences that they think will spoil their suburban idyll. So huge TESCO superstore ~ no way! Nice little Marks & Spencer food store ~we’ll have one of those!

The people of Didsbury, educated and comfortably off financially, tend to be left leaning politically and have a social conscience, caring for the poor and dispossessed of society. Of course they don’t meet many of the poor and dispossessed of society as the house prices in this part of the city keep them well away from their leafy avenues. And if any of them should appear in this most fortunate of suburbs to buy some artisan cheeses in the Cheese Hamlet for example or check out which owner of one of the nicely appointed properties, filled with tempting goodies, has left a convenient window open, they will be quickly sent back from whence they came.

They do march to the beat of their own comfortable, privileged, educated, wealthy, politically correct drum and wish the rest of the world was like them. And having drank a bottle of wine (well, more than one) outside several of their restaurants and bars on a warm summer’s evening (or even under a patio heater on a cool Spring day but, please, don’t mention the inconvenient truth about CO2 omissions from patio heaters to them), I can see their point.

Well it seems that I’m not the only one to have noticed the distinct Didsbury lifestyle and seen the humour and the inconsistencies in it (how can you bang on about global warming when you use your 4 wheel drive to ferry your little darlings to school 200 metres away, blocking the roads for everyone else?). This little video has appeared on YouTube. Check it out, even if you don’t know Didsbury you will know a suburb near you that it could be applied to. You might even live in one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxID33Bh5f0

Some choice lyrics…

‘Children behave,

That’s what mums say in the Cheese Hamlet,

There’s no duck pate,

Well, I’ll have a brie and rocket sandwich.’

On Didsbury men…..

‘I think we’re in Didsbury,

There doesn’t seem to be any real men,

I think we’re in Didsbury,

They’re making patchwork quilts and they’re learning zen.’

On the 4 wheel drives that were designed for mountain terrain but, in Didsbury, ferry small children to violin and junior zumba classes….

‘Stop climate change.

That’s what I write on TWITTER,

I feel so ashamed,

I’ve just bought a 4 wheel drive,

And I park it right outside the school gate,

Blocking up the only fire escape,

I don’t give a f**k,

Cos I’m running late and I’ll miss my Swedish massage and my frothy cappucino in the Met.‘

On the property prices…..

‘A tiny, one bedroom flat costs a million pounds,’

Celebrity cook, Nigella Lawson is their domestic goddess role model…

‘I think I’m Nigella,

I’m making chocolate torte in my dressing gown,’

On their political correctness…..

‘I really hate racists (I’m liberal),

But I’ll still cross the street if I see a black man.’

OMG!!! This is me……

‘I eat at the Lime Tree (Lime Tree)

I order pink champagne and I sit outside,

I hope people see me,

I need them all to see how I love my life.’

Tucked away behind the beautiful Palace Hotel, the viaduct that takes the trains from Piccadilly Station to Oxford Road Station and then to the western suburbs of the city and on to Liverpool squeezes itself between the buildings and the River Medlock. It’s a forgotten piece of the city centre and I got the feeling it wouldn’t be a nice place at night. There was evidence that the city’s forgotten people come here at night to sleep.

Among it I spotted this little piece of  art and poetry/philosophy.

Eventually the team turned up on their open topped bus to rapturous acclaim from the crowd. It was over all too fast as the buses made their way along Deansgate towards Exchange Square and the Royal Exchange where more people were waiting patiently.

Below, front and centre is Sergio Aguero, beaming, who scored the winning goal in the dying seconds of Sunday’s game gaining God like status in the eyes of the blue half of the city. What the red half thinks about him hasn’t been put in print yet.

To his left, and behind, is manager, Mr. Mancini, in his trademark cashmere coat. He loves the team and the city but, being from Italy, he’s never got used to what we call Spring and Summer in Manchester. As I post he’s probably on a plane heading to Italy for a well earned rest.

Vincent Kompany (captain) is holding the trophy. No one’s seen it out of his hands since he was given it on Sunday afternoon. An aside; he does have THE most stunningly beautiful wife/girlfriend of any player in the entire Premiership.

Below, with the red shirt wrapped about his neck is Joe Hart, Manchester City’s and England’s ever popular goalkeeper. Apparently Manchester United passed up an opportunity to sign him. Sir. Alex admits that was a HUGE mistake and there will be no chance of luring him over to the red half of the city. He won’t be taking a cut in wages. Joe will have missed his chance to hook up with Mrs. Hart as he was looking at our side of Deansgate and she was on the other.

Behind him (looking skywards and in shades) is Manchester City’s controversial striker, Carlos Tevez. He spent most of the season playing golf in Buenos Aires instead of playing football in Manchester. Eventually he saw the error of his ways and returned and played so well that the fans accepted him back. Never far from controversy, after he passed where I was, a fan passed up a homemade sign saying ‘R.I.P. Fergie’, a jibe directed at Manchester United’s Sir. Alex. He held it up to the crowd and managed to annoy the red half of the city, embarrass the rest of the team with the world looking on, and insult a person who Manchester (regardless of the colour of team you support) respects. He will be back on a plane for Buenos Aires by now I guess.

We wondered how much money was riding on this bus through the city centre. We tried to add it up and got lost about £250,000,000! On Radio 4, this morning, they were talking about just that. Since Sheik Mansour took over he has lavished no less than £900,000,000 on the team to win this piece of silver! With the building of their state of the art training facility at their stadium in Eastlands that will cross the billion with ease.

The huge banners across the front of the Town Hall. Did they rush them to be ready in the 24 hours since the win? Or were they done weeks ago in readiness? And were a set for Manchester United made if they had won? The huge banner looks too big to have been rushed through in a day.

I thought leaving the city after the parade would be difficult. There was a HUGE crowd at the St Peter’s Square tram station and I was resigned to walking back to Chorlton or at least until I could get to a part of the city where I could pick up a bus. But as I arrived a Chorlton tram arrived. Lots of the people would want the Media City, Altrincham and Eccles trams so I half ‘excused me’ and half elbowed my way through the crowd and jumped on the tram just as the doors were closing.

The tram was full with City fans heading out after the parade. It was noisy as well as some had had several glasses of sherry more than was good for them and had brought along the horns they had bought to sound off at the team as they went past. The team was somewhere the other end of Deansgate by now but that didn’t stop them blowing their horns on the tram (wait this gets worse!). Near me was a happy City fan who had one too many BOTTLES of sherry and was entertaining the people around us with various tunes on his horn ( I kid you not, close your eyes and you would have thought you were at a Halle Orchestra concert at the Bridgewater Hall). At one point he presses his horn into my chest (told you it got worse) and then removes it and gives my nipple a good tweak! Obviously drunk and straight, this is the kind of behaviour you don’t see on Canal Street, but straight, drunk guys do it to each other all the time. Except I was stone cold sober at the time. No pictures of this incident unless someone on the tram….

Estimated extra business brought to the city by the Manchester City Parade yesterday ~ £4,000,000. Estimated extra business brought into the city in the coming year by having two of the world’s top teams based in the city (well one actually in and the other as near in as damn is to swearing) ~ £1,000,000,000!!!!

I had plenty of time waiting for the team to appear to watch the crowds  which were building up all the time. Every possible vantage point was taken so people could get a better view. I discovered last year at the other parade when the won the FA Cup, that if you stood back from the barriers you saw more and didn’t get crushed so that was my plan last night.

The statue of Chopin, where Brazenose Street reached Deansgate was covered with little guys trying for a better view….

I wondered how many guys a bus stop roof could support. More than this is seems…..

These two guys looked effortlessly cool, hands in pockets, the guy on the left checking his emails, even stood on a window ledge…..

I spotted this little cutie sitting on top of a red post box having some light refreshment….

I thought Mr. Balotelli was supposed to be on the bus but here he is, feet against the railings and back up against the wall of the John Rylands Library looking cool and happy to wait…..

Mrs. Hart? I doubt it…… Ever…..

After 44 years of waiting Manchester City has, at long last, won, in the most dramatic end to a season ever, won the Premier Championship. Last night there was a civic reception at the Town Hall in Albert Square followed by an open topped bus parade of the team through the city centre under City blue skies.

100,000 people turned out to cheer the team and the streets were as blue as the skies above. No red in sight. All at home crying into their beer I suppose. I had some tutoring to do so left my car in Chorlton and caught the tram into the city centre to take some pictures. The trams wee stopping at Deansgate as the press of people in the city centre was already making it difficult and dangerous for the trams to get through the city. So I got off there and made my way to Deansgate. People were pouring in as its the widest, longest street in the city centre. I managed to get down it as far as John Dalton Street near Kendal’s but then gave up as the crowd was too dense. Instead I headed back up Deansgate and found myself a spot outside the Armani store and Australasia where the sinking sun was lingering and made a warm patch. I was in shorts after all.

The crowds grew and grew. There was singing and chanting and lots of banter and good humoured fun fuelled, in some cases, by the odd glass of sherry having been imbibed in the local hostelries during the afternoon. We all settled ourselves in for a long wait.

I have never seen so many helicopters in the skies over the city at one time. It was like the opening credits to M.A.S.H.

The Lass o’ Gowrie is an old Victorian pub not far from the Palace Hotel in a quiet street behind the old BBC Manchester HQ. It used to provide a pleasant watering hole for the BBC types but now they have decamped to Media City I guess they are not in there much. I’m not sure how their business has been affected. Hopefully, not a lot and that it can hang on in there until the old BBC site is redeveloped. It should be able to as it is popular in the city and not far from the University so can cater for that.

It’s an old Victorian ‘boozer’ covered in glazed tiles that they used to keep buildings clean in old, smoggy, industrial Manchester. It’s in the are called Little Ireland where the poor Irish immigrants who built the Manchester Ship Canal, other Victorian engineering works and the great Victorian buildings like the Palace Hotel, lived in great poverty. One of their releases from the grinding poverty would have been alcohol and so this pub was built. It was set up by a Scots immigrant to the city who named it after his favourite poem, ‘The Lass o’ Gowrie,’ by Scottish poem, Lady Carolina Nairne. The poem is on the side of the pub.

It was built on the last remaining ‘pissotiere’ in Manchester. More common in France, this was a public urinal for men that, when used, barely covered your modesty while you went about your business. In a poor area like Little Ireland, it might have been the only place where you could relieve yourself in an appropriate place as none of the houses would have had internal plumbing. I suppose that many men didn’t bother visiting it when caught short and the area must have stunk. There’s a plaque on the side of the building celebrating the pissotiere. Now, I can vouch for the excellent indoor plumbing to be enjoyed in this pub!

The pub has moved with the times. It is no longer just a drinking den. It serves up good food as well. In the evening they have comedy nights and live music. In the cellar of the pub, there is a micro-brewery making beer on the premises that you can enjoy in the pub. It is delicious.

I noticed a stencil of a face on the side of the pub. Older readers will recognise it is Ena Sharples who was a character in ‘Coronation Street,’ the world’s oldest TV soap, made in the city to this day. She was a formidable character, an old Lancashire woman who stood no nonsense and had little time for people who she didn’t approve of such as her arch nemesis, Elsie Tanner, who lived across the street from her and had what could be described as ‘loose’ morals! Ena is so ingrained in the life and mythology of Manchester that she is almost regarded as a real person who lived in the city. As well as here, she is remembered in Cloud Bar in the Hilton Hotel where you can drink a cocktail named in her honour, the Ena Sparkles. Idon’t think she would have approved!

Some pictures of the pub and a link to their site.

http://www.thelass.co.uk/

Yesterday was the last day of the football season and the day that would decide which team was the champion for the 2011-12 season. Usually it’s all done and dusted by now, with one team (usually Manchester United) so far in front that no one else can possibly catch them. But this year it was going right down to the line and, as it worked out, the dying seconds of one of the games.

Whoever turned out to be champions, the trophy would be staying in Manchester with Manchester City and Manchester United vying for the honour. Both teams have been good with Manchester City out in front at Christmas but losing form in the new year so that Manchester United caught up and went 8 points in the lead a few weeks ago. Then Manchester United lost form and Manchester City crept back up, going on top when they beat Manchester United three weeks ago. Both teams were on the same points in the table but City have scored more goals so were top.

At that point Manchester City need only keep their nerve and the title was theirs. Last weekend they went up to Newcastle United (good team fighting for a place in Europe) and beat them convincingly. Manchester United won as well so the positions stayed the same.

It was going to go down to the last match of the season. Manchester United were going to play a mediocre team called Sunderland in the north east of England. Manchester City were going to host a London team, Queen’s Park Rangers. They were facing relegation from the top rank of English football which is difficult to take for the fans and a financial disaster for a team used to access to all the TV money that swills about in the English Premiership. Both Manchester teams should have won their games but teams facing relegation are tricky.

Both games kicked off at 3pm, give or take a few seconds. Rooney scored for United in Sunderland in the 20th minute so, at that point, the title was United’s. Back in Manchester, Zabaleta scored in the 39th minute so the title was in City’s hands. After half time the games resumed and Cisse scored for QPR in the 48th minute. This was bad for City as a draw or loss would gift the title to United. There was then a mad 5 minutes where QPR captain Joey Barton (well known hothead and once player for City) had an ‘incident’ with Carlos Tevez that was so bad he was sent off and QPR were not allowed to substitute him. A 10 man QPR should have been easier to beat but Bothroyd scored again for QPR in the 77 th minute. City were losing with 13 minutes to go and the title was in United’s cupboard for a 20th time.

I was VERY despondant then and as the game reached full time I switched off as I knew they would switch to Manchester United supporters celebrating their latest win and trophy at the expense of their rivals across the city. How stupid was I???

The 5 minutes lost because of the Joey Barton incident had to be played in extra time after the usual 90 minutes. In the 92nd minute Dzeko scored for City levelling the score. Great but not good enough to win the title. Up in Sunderland the game finished in the 93rd minute of City’s game and the United fans began to celebrate their winning of their 20th title. But back in Manchester Aguero slammed a 94th minute goal into the back of the QPR net and the title was Manchester City’s! Cue disbelief on and off the pitch in Sunderland and ecstatic celebrations in Manchester.

Manchester City haven’t won this title for 44 years. They did it in their usual way of tormenting their fans and putting them through the wringer of every emotion possible. There was a pitch invasion and massed crying from the supporters in the stadium. The bars and pubs of Manchester were either ecstatic or incredulous depending on the colour of the shirts they wore.

I noticed that Aguero was booked the same moment he scored!! I suspect it was because he whipped off  his shirt in celebration and they like to keep that kind of stuff off the pitch (bedrooms in the Lowry, Wayne!)

Here’s a couple of YouTube videos of the last minutes. You see the deciding goal, the whipping off of the shirt that got him booked, goal keeper Joe Hart celebrating at the other end of the pitch and manager, Mr. Mancini, usually calm and composed, letting himself go on the touchline and having a little celebration himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8b8RNCwbhY

This second one is from a foreign station (they think 1 billion people watched this game yesterday) who have linked the end of both matches in Sunderland and Manchester so you can see how people reacts. You may not understand the words but the body language says it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5Ar8l9Nj4M

Some pictures from the game as well…..