THING OF THE WEEK

A GIANT EVENT… Liverpool’s giants made the headlines this week with the show taking place throughout the city and the Wirral, but it wasn’t so much the spectacular show itself that was the story, but what it shows us about the city. According to the organisers, it was the best-attended event in Liverpool’s history, with more than 1.3m people turning out to catch a view of the giants and to celebrate a decade since it was named European Capital of Culture. Organisers are now looking to gather your pictures of the event for a limited-edition book, so if you’ve got a good snap of the giants, then you can go here to put it forward to be included.

Big love for the hardcore dancers who didn’t stop until the lights came up at 3am #PlaceParty pic.twitter.com/g7LQJv0ENO

— Paul Unger (@paulunger) October 12, 2018

THANK YOU… Many a sore head this morning, not least amongst us at Place Towers, but first and foremost a big thank you to all 725 of you who attended Place Party last night. A particular salute – and we imagine, particular need for those sunglasses – for those who made it to 3am and beyond. Although as an observer to the early-morning dance floor, your author couldn’t help but notice a trend emerging: it’s the architects who like a boogie. Heroes from Falconer Chester Hall, BDP, Buttress, AEW and more were all busting shapes into the wee hours – we’ll leave it up to you to make a judgement on what that says about the profession…

Less MIB more aliens 👽 @giaupdates @PlaceNorthWest #placeparty pic.twitter.com/U6nTR98gYI

— Anna Walker (@AnnaLouiseWhite) October 11, 2018

MUSIC SCENES… The latest exhibition to hit Manchester’s Central Library is There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, a showcase of some of the city’s music history. Curated by photographer Jill Furmanovsky and the music writer Jon Savage, it runs through from the city’s 1970s punk heritage through to the 80s with bands like New Order and Joy Division, plus the 90s ‘Madchester’ era and on to newer bands like Elbow, Hurts, and more. Other bands featured include The Fall, Buzzcocks – pictured above – The Smiths, and The Stone Roses. The exhibition opened yesterday so if you fancy a whistle-stop tour of the city’s musical heritage, drop by Central Library – although as your author will attest, the greatest band to come out of Manchester is still 1970s prog heroes Van Der Graaf Generator… sadly not a view shared by many.

Manchester G-Mex by Michael Ashcroft

PAINT A PICTURE… Keeping with the exhibition theme, Manchester artist Michael Ashcroft is showing off some of his paintings celebrating the city’s iconic buildings and streetscapes. Due to be hosted at art space Contemporary Six on Princess Street from 1-14 November, the showcase will see paintings of the Beetham Tower, Manchester Central, the Northern Quarter, and Great Ancoats Street all on display. There’s also paintings of the artist’s favourite pubs, featuring the Smithfield Tavern and The Circus on Portland Street, famously one of the smallest in the country. Have a look here for preview of some of the works on display.

IS THIS THE WHEEL LIFE… Plans were revealed this week for what will be Europe’s largest ferris wheel on Newcastle Quayside. At 140m, it would be 5m taller than the London Eye, and would be a £100m investment in the city, but it’s not so much the wheel itself that’s attracted our attention, more the name: the Whey Aye. Yes, really. Although, it got us thinking, if we had such a wheel up in the North West, what would you call it? Answers on a postcard.

BAKERS OFF… The UK high street of 2018 is a cruel place to be for many, and this week cakes and coffee chain Patisserie Valerie reported some alarming stuff, admitting that it faces a winding-up order from HMRC over a £1m tax bill, this being part of a string of bad news leading up to last night’s arrest of the group’s finance director. This isn’t the sort of thing Cheshire West & Chester Council in particular will have wanted to hear, having last month trumpeted the securing of Patisserie Valerie as one of the tenants filling space at Barons Quay scheme in Northwich.