THING OF THE WEEK
DIG IT… Certain to stand out in a crowd, this rainbow digger will be at Manchester’s Pride parade tomorrow representing Building Equality, the LGBT construction working group. It is the first time the group has marched in a Northern Pride parade. The digger was supported by Mace, Balfour Beatty, Flannery and A-Plant. Representatives from 13 companies across Manchester including Mott MacDonald, Kier, and Carillion will also be marching. The parade will weave its way through the city centre leaving at 12.30pm from Liverpool Road. It will make its way through Deansgate, Peter Street and Portland Road, before finishing in Fairfield Street.
MEALY MOUTH… Quite what an evening meal is supposed to be called will often divide a dinner party, tease at teatime, or even surprise at supper. Bolton Food & Drink festival will seek to answer the age-old question this Bank Holiday weekend: just what is the correct name for the meal we eat after 5pm? The festival wants to hear from foodies with their answers through a social media campaign. Those with Instagram accounts can upload a photo of their tea/dinner/supper and tag @Boltonfoodfest, with #Instascran and either #tea, #dinner, or #supper. Location preferences should also be enabled, so the festival can compare differences between UK areas. Elsewhere at the festival, Ainsley Harriot and Simon Rimmer will be among celebrity chefs making an appearance, and events include a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, beer and pasty tasting, and live music across the four-day event. For the record, it’s definitely dinner.
LEAST SURPRISING LIST… The most popular postcodes for people applying for discount passes to cross the new Mersey toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes, were Runcorn and Widnes. In the first month since registration for Merseyflow, the toll system, opened, more than 29,000 vehicles have been registered by more than 24,000 people. Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 areas for registrations so far, reflecting commuter patterns at this part of the Merseyside and Cheshire boundary:
- Runcorn
- Widnes
- Liverpool
- Warrington
- St Helens
- Prescot
- Chester
- North Wales
- Cheshire
- Wirral
What is perhaps more unusual is that Merseyflow data shows people from Plymouth to Aberdeen have registered. The precise date when the bridge will open has not been confirmed, but it could be as early as mid-September.
HUMOURIST MAP… Reminiscent of those creepy ads that show women smiling at yogurts or alone with a salad laughing their heads off, this happy snap reached us from Chester Attractions Partnership to convey a new map for visitors to the fine city. Quite what the happy couple, Peter Rosenfeld, chair of the Chester Attractions Partnership and Nicola Hesketh, director of customer services at hotel group the Know Collection, found so hilarious was beyond us. Are there side-splitting gags on the reverse of the map?
A special birthday today. Therefore, the ideal opportunity to reminisce over some of my previous incarnations. Please do enjoy. pic.twitter.com/EveOOVHcxt
— Euan Kellie (@euankellie) August 22, 2017
BIRTHDAY BARNET… Faced with such a smartly suited-and-booted property industry, it’s fun to get a peek at some of our professional acquaintances’ more varied style choices from their younger days. Hopefully these revelations by planner Euan Kellie, of Euan Kellie Property Solutions, will inspire a few others to break out the photographs of their imaginative, or perhaps dubious, barnets from across the years. Happy Birthday Euan, please bring back the blonde?
FUTURE IS NOW… Trials of the first self-driving trucks in the UK have been given the green-light today, with convoys of lorries set to speed onto motorways by the end of this year. Don’t worry, the vehicles won’t be wholly autonomous just yet, with a human driver in the front-most truck, guiding the others by a wireless connection, a system known as platooning. Commentators are divided as to the likely success of the scheme; many think British roads aren’t suited to large convoys, while the Government is asserting that the system could cut down on carbon emissions. President of the AA, Edmund King, has pointed out that platoons may be a bit of a visibility issue for other drivers, stretching to longer than half of the length of a Premier League football pitch. Only time, and testing, will tell.
