THING OF THE WEEK

BOWLED… The unique geography of Offerton Cricket Club has been presenting issues for several years. Being surrounded by trees, next to a river, and located at the bottom of a hill in the Goyt Valley makes for a rather damp environment. As a result, the club’s pitch often resembles a bog after just a few games each season. Documents lodged with Stockport Council accompanying an application to replace the grass pitch with an artificial one, state that the playing surface can become “very waterlogged, muddy, and slippery”.

“This is highly inconvenient for both Offerton Cricket Club and the visiting teams both of which are known to either complain or cancel matches. This therefore threatens the very existence of the club”, the documents state.

Having had the pleasure of playing at Offerton Cricket Club, this reporter can confirm the Amazonian conditions make for a hostile environment in which to perform, especially when one is required to don a helmet, thick pads, and is quite bad at cricket to begin with. Replacing the grass pitch with an artificial one may well mean fewer postponements but it could also signal the end of one of the great joys of amateur cricket – namely the fear of not knowing whether the ball will grub along the deck or whistle past your ears from one delivery to the next.

Credit: via Harrison Stringfellow

MICRO MUSEUM… A new museum in Liverpool could reasonably make a claim to being among the smallest in the world. As part of the ongoing regeneration of its estate, National Museums Liverpool is planning to convert the Hartley Hut, a small watchman’s cabin, into what it has dubbed a “micro-museum”. The plan, drawn up by architect Harrison Stringfellow, is to make various tweaks to the listed building to make it suitable to host exhibitions.

While the project makes good use of an otherwise underutilised asset, the Hartley Hut will win no awards for being the tiniest museum in the land. Although there are many who claim that honour, the smallest museum in England seems to be a phone box in Calder Valley, which is home to artefacts relating to the history of the village of Warley.

Anyone for all you can eat sushi? Credit: via planning documents

SUSHI… Over recent years we have seen several popular London restaurants set up shop in Manchester. Blacklock, Flat Iron, and Sexy Fish, to name just three. But it is not just the capital where eateries are flocking to the North West from. Leeds’ best restaurant, according to the British Restaurant Awards 2024, Blue Sakura is eyeing up a unit at No8 First Street, which has been vacant since the building completed.

Diners can expect all you can eat Sushi for as little as £29.95 but the restaurant is at great pains to ensure nobody who should not be is ordering the kids menu – “KIDS [are] CLASSED AS 140CM OR BELOW AND AGED 12 AND UNDER” the website says – come hungry and bring your tape measures.

Credit: via Andrew Rogers LinkedIn

RUNNERS… We enjoy the weekly updates from JM Architects’ Andrew Rogers and Progressive Living’s David Fairclough, who are the main protagonists of a Wednesday morning property run club in Manchester. The club meets on the steps of Central Library at 7am sharp for a jog around the city – what better way to start hump day?

This week, Fairclough formed his own splinter group having missed the 7am departure time. Not that he was too fussed. “That’s what happens when your so-called mates don’t wait for you. At least I had some peace and didn’t have to listen to Andrew Rogers talk all the way round,” he (half) joked.

FETTLE… Fettlers is the new name for a development changing the face of Wigan town centre. To accompany the rebrand, the council has commissioned the video above, which explains the rationale behind the name. A good idea – to the uninitiated, a fettler could easily be a type of rodent, someone who collects hats, or, according to one Place North West reader, “a Victorian disease”.

The explainer video has it all – a run through of the borough’s rich history, a spotlight on its famous exports – Rugby League and Uncle Joes Mint Balls – and a narrator with about as strong a Wigan accent as you could hope for explaining what it means to be a Fettler. Enjoy!

GRAND NATIONAL… It simply would not be Grand National weekend without Euan Kellie Property Solutions’ annual card of planning-themed runners and riders. Every year, the planning consultancy draws up a list of horses that would be saddling up if the RTPI ever organised an annual jump race. This year, Proximity Principle is the clear favourite, while Obviously Grey Belt is also in with a shout after a successful start to the year. Statutory Consultee is a long shot at 50/1.