THING OF THE WEEK
COWABUNGA… Drivers on the M62 yesterday were both disturbed and delighted by delays, when a baby cow got loose on the highway. The stretch of road between Birch services from junction 18 for Simister Island to junction 19 for Heywood was closed while motorway police wrangled the wiley beast back into the safety of the farmyard. The incident certainly provided drivers a refreshing change from roadworks.
CHRIS-CROSS… Local lad Christopher Eccleston went out and about in the one bit of glorious sunshine we had this week, in Manchester’s Heaton Park. However, it was definitely not just a walk in the park for the actor, as he posted a sweary video of himself to his instagram bemoaning the litter. “It’s one of the most beautiful parks in the country, and I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. It really is a beautiful place, and it’s covered in s*** by people who have picnics and leave their coke bottles and their wrappers… I tell you what, I hope nature takes its revenge on you, every single one of you that leave s*** on the floor, and in parks… I hope the planet turns round and s**** on you.” That’s one Timelord you don’t want to cross.
NAME GAME… The pub with the longest name in the country has re-opened this week. The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn closed three years ago for refurbishment, but the Stalybridge staple is now back in business, giving competition to the next-door-but-one pub, the Q Inn, which in turn holds the prize for the shortest name in the country.
PIE… Royal Albert Dock Liverpool has attracted many food and drink operators down the years, but not all of them have made THING sit up and take notice like The Pie Port, which opened this week. This is because it’s a venture by Joe and Sarah Wills, owners of legendary Crosby pork pie purveyor Satterthwaites, an icon in the north of the city. The Pie Port will be offering a hearty menu of freshly baked savoury pies with mash and gravy from the Dock’s Anchor Courtyard. If they stock the Satties’ Bavarian slices as well, THING is moving in.
Alan Turing Banknote, @bankofengland
Mathematician, father of computer science, and former Manchester university lecturer Alan Turing was revealed earlier this week to be the new face of the £50 note. The note features a binary wave, one of the first computers ever built, and a quote from Turing: “This is only a foretaste of what is to come and only the shadow of what is going to be.” Turing was largely unrecognised in his lifetime, despite his work on famed WW2 codebreaking at Bletchley Park, due to the work being classified during his lifetime, but also because of his homosexuality for which he was prosecuted in 1952. Turing is now considered an icon, in both scientific and LGBTQ+ fields, so THING will be particularly pleased to see his face on the fifty, in the unlikely event we’re ever lucky enough to hold one.
