Tag: Manchester

Turn the Car Around

I was driving around the other day, it was cold, grey and generally typical Manchester weather.

I’d struggled getting up, I had a hectic day ahead and wasn’t really in the best of moods. Then I saw it. Nestled down one of the side streets, a beautiful, colourful, wall mural. I loved it!

Did I pull over to get a better look? No. I drove straight past. Pretty much on autopilot I drove probably half way down the road before questioning what I was doing.

Here was something that made me catch my breath. Here was something that made me smile, brightened the morning, made me feel and I was driving right past it.

When we were in Calgary, I was so excited to spot street art everywhere. The Manchester Bees had me following an art trail around the city. Yet here I was, ignoring something so beautiful on my doorstep.

I turned the car around. I went back and I parked up in front of the painting. As I got out of the car, I realised that there was a second piece of art on the opposite wall. If I hadn’t have gone back, I wouldn’t have realised the other artwork existed. I wouldn’t have taken the time to see the detail and my morning wouldn’t have gotten a little brighter.

Manchester is Buzzing

The bees have arrived in Manchester!

Last weekend, I was trying to come up with something exciting to do when I realised, the long awaited Bee Trail had arrived in Manchester and as the sun was shining, a treasure trail to find as many bees as possible was on the cards. So I roped Wandering Beeb into the trip and the hunt was on!

The Bees in question are part of the ‘Bee in the City Trail’ – 101 bees decorated by artists, communities and celebrities as part of a public art trail. The bee symbol has taken on a more prominent role in Manchester after the Arena attack and the designers of the art trail have recognised this in their giant bee sculptures.

Dotted across Manchester, the bees are all over the wider Greater Manchester area and part of the fun is finding them. A £1.99 app provided a trail map and information on each bee – proving a handy way of keeping track of the ones we spotted.

Whilst the art work involved in each bee celebrates different aspects of the city’s culture and history, I found the most beautiful thing about the bee trail to be the way it provided a route to exploring familiar parts of the city.

Walking around the trail, we found ourselves spotting other pieces of art in the city that we’d never noticed before. It’s easy to walk about a familiar place without actually taking notice of the surroundings.

Brightly coloured wall murals, changes to familiar artwork outside often frequented bars and subtle sculptures all sprang into life around us – usually hidden and forgotten.

We spent around four and a half hours walking around Manchester, following well-trodden paths that our boots could describe blindfolded. At each turn, we spotted something new, visited cafes and shops that we wouldn’t usually notice and stopped to watch an impromptu jazz performance, left over from the recent jazz festival. It reminded me of the walks I used to take as a kid, eyes wide and soaking up the movement of the city around me. It reminded me that we can quickly loose our sense of wonder and adventure in our home town, however we can find it again with a little push.

This Is The Place

Travel is not just about visiting new places. It’s about experiences, sights, people and connections. Sometimes, it’s about re-discovering a familiar place. Sometimes, it’s about standing together and having pride in where you live.

Manchester is our home. We know it’s streets well. We know the people. We know it’s struggles and it’s successes.

This week was the anniversary of the Manchester Attack. The anniversary of one of the most difficult times our city has ever faced.

Despite the heartache and the pain that people were facing, we came together. We chose to unite as a city, as a people and in defiance of hate.

The choirs and those watching in the audience sang together in one voice and we found a new view of our city. I can’t say it better than these words from Left and Leaving.

As the eyes of the world were on our city, we stood proud, showing how we do things differently here.