THING OF THE WEEK

HERE BE DRAGONS… It’s no secret dragons are the coolest animal, real or not, so what could be better than a philanthropic dragon? Maybe a philanthropic dragon that behaves itself? Peel’s Liverpool Waters dragon boat race not only raised money for Claire House Children’s Hospice which helps seriously and terminally ill children live life to the full and support their families, but brought joy to spectators when Peel’s own dragon boat bucked, twisted and turned, ultimately dumping its team into the watery depths. This marks them as the only team to have fallen in, which is an accolade at least. THING is sure you can picture the scene accompanied by some Craig-Charles-from-Takeshi’s-Castle-style commentary… You’d think Peel would know the waters by now, seeing as it owns it…

MATE… The North has always had a reputation of being friendly, at least in our minds, and the ‘top 50 friendliest cities’ survey by Big Seven Travel, has proved us slightly right. As one of the only two English cities on the list, Manchester has broken through as the 32^nd because of its “exuberant vibe and a multi-cultural mix of residents.” London was the other English city on the list at 40^th, but those damned friendly Canadians topped the list with Vancouver taking the crown for its “extraordinarily friendly residents and amazing multicultural community who band together to make visitors feel welcome and safe at all times.” There’s always next year to prove them wrong.

Photo credit @pdjohnson on twitter

CAR FREE… When Extinction Rebellion shut down parts of Deansgate at the end of last week, it brought disdain from drivers and delight to pedestrians. The delight was enough that people want to keep the busy main road free of cars in a campaign started on 38Degrees called ‘Prioritise People not Cars’, and since Monday has amassed over 1,600 signatures. The council has responded saying that they would think about it – potentially – if they could reroute the buses, so we’ll have to wait and see if people will continue to play dodgeball with cars on Deansgate in the upcoming years or not.

Just some of the directors taking up full-time residence at Norfolk House

BLUE MONDAY… Next Monday marks the day the combined happy family of Manchester’s Avison Young employees will all be under one roof. The last lot of staff will be moving in to Norfolk House, finally bringing How, GVA, and WHR into one building for the first time, albeit under a different name. By THING’s count that’s two lots of planners, a duo of industrial agency teams, two lots of office agents, and plenty more besides. Can one building contain that much productivity, or that many pinstripe suits? Or will it be a case of too many cooks? We’ll find out next week…

RALLYING AROUND… One for the gearheads amongst us: Llandudno will play host to the World Rally Championship in the first week of October with all of the championship rally teams to be based in the seaside town. The Wales Rally runs between 3 and 6 October, and is the twelfth round of the wider World Championships; this year, all of the teams taking part in the race will be based in Lladudno, with some parking up along the promenade. Toyota, Citroen, and Ford teams will be next to the Venue Cymru with Hyundai situating itself in the Mostyn Broadway Coach Park; this is the first time all the teams have been based in the town centre, with the teams previously basing themselves at the Deeside Industrial Park in Flintshire. The race zooms around hills, mountains, and forest in North and Mid Wales, before the teams head for a final-day blast around the Great Orme.