THING OF THE WEEK
SPRING IN YOUR STEP… Who is your favourite female author? She may be making an appearance in Spinningfields as a part of an installation designed to look like a stack of novels on the steps in The Avenue, Spinningfields as part of International Women’s Day and World Book Day. Are you a Sally Rooney fan? Or do you prefer Maya Angelou, Roxane Gay? Unfortunately, there isn’t room to accommodate everyone’s favourite but it is a step in the right direction.
Photo Credit Andy Jonathan, @andyjonathan
HULKING… It may look like a super-food smoothie but we wouldn’t recommend getting down on your knees and taking a slurp. Many of us spent the weekend wondering what exactly had caused the Rochdale Canal in central Manchester to turn green. Could it be an early St Patrick’s day gimmick, or perhaps something all together more sinister? Minds were eventually put at ease by the Canal & River Trust which explained it had used a green dye to check for leaks.
GREEN FINGERED… Is your life being made miserable by an excess of vegetables? Would you like to drink away your vegetable-related worries but can’t afford to do so? We may have a solution for you. The Hare & Hounds pub in Bowland Bridge in the Lake District, opened by Formby-born Chris Hannon, gives punters the opportunity to get sozzled while simultaneously ridding themselves of superfluous veg. Simply take your produce to the pub where it will be taken as currency in exchange for a refreshing pint, problem solved!
LEGGET AND GROOM… Watch out Ant and Dec, there is a new double act in town. Word has it that Mulbury’s Nick Legget and architect Tim Groom are plotting world domination, but not in a way that you might expect. Having unveiled proposals for three schemes in New Cross this week, as well as putting the finishing touches to Excelsior Mill in Castlefield, the collaboration between the pair appeared to guests on an entertaining tour of the latter as if it was about to reach new heights with the launch of their own chat show, covering topics such as sleepless nights over brick selection and the perils of rusty fire pits.
GATEWAY DRUG… Being environmentally conscious is a slippery slope. One minute you’re begrudgingly separating your cardboard from your plastic, the next you’re charging around your local supermarket, foaming at the mouth, demanding to speak to the manager about the excessive packaging on the cherry tomatoes. Bruntwood’s director of strategy Jessica Bowles summed up this phenomenon when she spoke at the BDP Manchester Net Zero Carbon Summit describing her reusable coffee cup as a “gateway drug” and predicting that it was only a matter of time before she found herself driving an electric car.
BLUE BOYCOTT… News has reached us of a subversive plot by Evertonian property professionals to boycott screenings of the Liverpool v Atletico Madrid fixture at MIPIM. The back room at Chez Freddy was booked and 15 of the region’s finest were said to have stuffed Everton shirts in their luggage. Plan B is now a pub near Ormskirk. “Can’t be too close to Liverpool,” says our source. “We’d get lynched.”
