THING OF THE WEEK
ARISE… David Beckham got the Knighthood he has always yearned for this week but he was not the only person to be honoured by the King. Urban Splash founder and chairman Tom Bloxham was also at Windsor Castle on Tuesday to pick up a CBE for services to culture. While Beckham wore a suit designed by his wife Victoria, Bloxham, every bit the style icon himself, donned a tie for the occasion, which is something you do not see everyday. But then again, it is not every day one gets an audience with the King.
Bloxham said: “It was a huge honour to visit Windsor Castle and receive this award, a moment that marks the culmination of my long-standing passion for arts, culture and the creative industries. It’s been a privilege to work with so many talented people over the years who share that same belief in the power of culture to shape places and change lives.”
Credit: via THG
SMASHING… Sprawling conglomerate THG has launched what is surely the UK’s most tech-enabled padel court. In partnership with Google Cloud, THG has developed SMASH, “a fully immersive padel court that provides real-time creative advertising opportunities and a visual backdrop for creators and influencers” the company said. It sounds impressive but the “built-in technology to measure player performance”, might serve as a deterrent for those who would rather not have their new hobby ruined with analysis of all the things they’re doing wrong. If you want to check it out, SMASH launched at THG Studios in Altrincham this week.
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MAN-FORD POWER… If you had an influential friend to vouch for your development proposal, you would probably call in that favour. That is what happened in Cheshire East this week when comedian Jason Manford cut short a family holiday in Wales and drove three hours to speak in support of his friend’s riding school in Knutsford.
Cheshire East Council was considering whether to grant retrospective permission for the complex, which is already operational and offers riding lessons for children with special educational needs, or refuse it. Manford, who is used to making his audience laugh, made the scheme’s objectors squirm has be lambasted them and labelled them entitled. His appearance did the trick, as the proposal was given the green light by the committee. What a stand up guy.
The bridge has had a significant impact on traffic in the area. Credit: Google Earth
BRIDGE… It is eight years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened connecting Widnes and Runcorn across the river.
The idea behind the bridge was to ease congestion on the Silver Jubilee Bridge located to the west, which has been operational since the early 1960s.
So has it been a success? At a cost of £600m, you would certainly hope so and, according to a report published this week by Halton Council, it has.
The newer bridge has reduced traffic on the older one by 80% according to the report. However, at only three pages, the report is light on detail and does not provide an update on when the cost of the bridge will have been made up through toll payments.
Credit: Jefferson Vinluan on Unsplash
CAT CAFE… Earlier this year cat lovers across Manchester got all hot under the collar when news of the return of the Cat Cafe was announced. Having closed its Northern Quarter venture in 2021 – it is now home to Gooey – Cat Cafe revealed it would be popping up in Barton Arcade. Now, eight months after that announcement, plans for the redevelopment of the unit, which was most recently home to Classic Football Shirts, have now been lodged. Fantastic news for lovers of hairy food.
