THING OF THE WEEK

MOONAGE DAYDREAM… Not content with securing its first project in Manchester at St Michael’s, architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has unveiled its concept for the first permanent human settlement on the moon, in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The “Moon Village” would sit on the Shackleton Crater on the moon’s south pole, which gets continuous daylight, providing solar power to sustain life-support systems and infrastructure. Of course it all seems a bit space-age, and THING had to double-check the date just in case it had slipped through from 1 April, but the designs are certainly interesting – pressurised modules can inflate and expand to provide additional living space if necessary, as well as protecting ‘colonists’ from the worst the moon has to offer. Which will get built first though: this, or St Michael’s…?


Chester THING

Image from Chester FC

FOOTBALL FOLLY… Many commiserations to the good folk at Euan Kellie Property Solutions, match sponsors for Chester FC’s 6-0 home drubbing by Stockport County this Tuesday. The result is the first time lifelong Chester victim fan Euan Kellie has witnessed such a heavy defeat at home, and as match sponsor was left with the unenviable task of picking a man-of-the-match. Rest assured he didn’t pick any of the defenders. Or the goalkeeper. Or the striker. Or even the central midfielders. Thankfully for some Chester fans, the club’s under-18s returned the favour the day after by beating County’s youth team by the same scoreline.


Ecuadorian Embassy THING

An image of the embassy from Google

ARRESTING SAVINGS… Julian Assange has hit the headlines this week with his arrest, being unceremoniously dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy yesterday. According to flat share platform Ideal Flatmate it’s not all bad for the Wikileaker, as he saved a tidy £150,000 in rent whilst holed up in the embassy for the past seven years. Apparently, the average rent for a room in Kensington and Chelsea is £1,928 a month, meaning that by living rent-free, Assange has saved himself a tidy £148,381. Although, as Ideal Flatmate’s co-founder Tom Gatzen rightly points out: “While Julian’s saving has been notable the harsh restrictions around leaving the property and the immediate eviction process that he underwent probably weren’t worth it.” Probably putting it lightly.


Elm Grove Sale THING

The builders’ yard sits at the end of Elm Grove, seen here on Google Maps

TRAVIS PERKINS DEPRESSED MY CAT… Can a builders’ merchant lead to a feline becoming depressed? Not a question THING ever thought would be posed by anyone, ever, but apparently the answer is yes, according to Sale resident Wendy Snell. Snell has put up a banner claiming just that outside her house, which sits next to the Travis Perkins site on Elm Grove, off Cross Street. She argues her cat Wilf “doesn’t get to hunt anymore” because of the builders’ yard’s expansion, which was given the green light by Trafford Council last year. Your author can attest to the yard’s impact on Elm Grove, having looked at a suspiciously cheap house along the road only a few months ago. Best wishes to Wilf in the hope that he can recover from his malaise.


 

TAKING THE P… One here to largely post without comment from one of THING’s favourite pizza eateries in Manchester and Liverpool, Crazy Pedro’s. Thieves have been at it again with their lettering, but as they say, good job they took the P.

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