THING OF THE WEEK

FALCON… Oldham Council wants your help naming three peregrine falcons that hatched on Oldham’s Civic Tower. The chicks are currently nameless, as birds tend to be – unless you’re human-size and terrifying like Big Bird or Foghorn Leghorn – so the council is intervening. The authority is seeking suggestions with “creativity, charm, and a touch of Oldham spirit” – Falcon McFalconface the first, second, and third?

The Brit Awards will be held at Co-op Live. Credit: via We Are Indigo

BRITS… After the swooning that followed Chanel’s decision to host the Metiers d’Art show in Manchester in 2023, the city is this week celebrating bagging itself another major event. The Brit Awards will be held at Co-op Live this year, the first time the show has been hosted outside London in its 48-year history. It’s good, but it’s no Eurovision, eh Liverpool? The economic impact of having the event in Manchester is perhaps the biggest justification for Co-op Live’s existence yet. The venue got off to a rocky start and has its detractors, but would the Brits have chosen to come north if it did not exist?

Credit: via Michelle Rothwell

ULTRA… The property industry loves pain. THING often brings you news of various feats of endurance undertaken by the region’s developers and consultants and this week is no different. Jack Poxon, co-founder of Graphene Finance, completed a 100km Lake District ultra marathon this weekend in a little over 12 hours. Meanwhile, Michelle Rothwell, founder of Watch This Space and lover of long, lonely fitness challenges, recently completed a race she designed for maximum suffering. The Shelly Rothwell Round comprised of swimming the length of Windermere (10 miles and no wetsuit thank you very much), cycling 112 miles with 3,500m elevation, and running 66 miles, with a tasty 8,200 metres of elevation, including Scafell Pike. Utter madness.

The Urban Reform team and Till Asset Management team try out some of the equipment. Credit: via Space PR

HYROX… Not everyone has the time to plunge themselves into a multi-day endurance race, but the growing cohort of companies at Exchange Quay in Salford now has no excuse for not being in shape. A studio offering Hyrox classes has opened up at the campus providing those with a penchant for midday misery the chance to sweat away the stress of the morning and wear themselves out to such an extent that they won’t care what happens in the afternoon.

Dean Ashton of Urban Reform, the company behind the studio, explained why one might want to get involved. “Professionals often have busy schedules that limit their social interactions, but training groups and racing events such as this provide opportunities to connect with others who share similar interests,” he said.  “This sense of belonging can help improve mental health and provides valuable social support.

“Regular physical exercise is essential for stress management, critical to busy professionals facing increasingly high work demands, as well as great for increasing endorphins, reducing anxiety and improving sleep quality, which combined contribute to better physical and mental wellbeing.”

Credit: via LCRCA

OBILISK… Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has announced plans to reinstate the Queensway Tunnel monument at the Liverpool entrance to the tunnel. Its Wirral counterpart is still standing, but its twin on the other side of the Mersey has been missing for almost 60 years having been removed in the 1960s when the road layout was overhauled. You would have thought someone would have had the sense to bubble wrap it and put it in storage somewhere, but nobody seems to know where it has gone. As a result, a replacement will be fashioned.

The club is driving ahead with expansion plans. Credit: Visual Architecture

GOLF… Plans are afoot, and indeed lodged, for a bit of work at Houghwood Golf in St Helens. Working with RJG Architecture, the thriving Crank Road venue is now seeking consent for extensions and alterations to the existing clubhouse, plus conversion of the upper floor into a 14-bedroom boutique hotel, while relocating the bistro/restaurant at the ground floor level.

These plans follow an earlier submission for the full clubhouse, in which a very similar massing and footprint for an event suite with changing rooms below was approved, but never included in the first phase build. The adjusted plans include a small club gym at basement level and also a feature roof terrace above the event space. The club is now ready to also implement a previously approved additional 50 car park spaces. On the news beat, Place sees more than its fair share of golf courses going over to housing around the region, so good luck to Houghwood making a go of it. Fore!