Usually on holiday, I would buy some supplies such that breakfast can be taken at my apartment before I leave. However, on this occasion I will be moving from city to city, making such an arrangement trickier. After careful consideration I did buy some eggs, butter, ketchup, tea, and milk, and resolved to carry these items with me given that the weight of the rest of my luggage was not onerous. This purchase allowed to make myself scrambled egg on a ciabatta roll. This I enjoyed before leaving the apartment mid-morning.
My destination was to be the People’s History Museum, in the area known as “Left Bank”. This establishment hosts a number of exhibitions relating to various political struggles over the years, but focussed very much on trade unions, worker’s rights, and the Labour movement. I enjoyed learning about various important historical markers that I had not previously heard of, and was pleased to note the extent to which this area featured in many of them. It seemed very much that Manchester can be considered a major player in terms of social progress. This tied in with my impression that this is very much a “working city” where my presence as a tourist is perhaps more unusual than in many other cities I have visited. This is not to “knock” the city in any was as I have enjoyed my time here and found plenty to entertain myself with, that I would recommend to others.
At the museum, I was particularly taken with the banners I was particularly taken with the various banners on display, many representing unions of various industries be they mine workers, railway workers etc. The artwork in these items is beautiful, and the imagery complex. Certain motifs are common; for example the beehive to represent industry, and the eye representing the all-seeing eye of God. It struck me that this latter motif may also represent the all-seeing-eye of the organisation itself, with secrecy leading to the possibility of betrayal, and members being conscious of the potential consequences of this being discovered.
I would not consider myself ever to have been involved in banner making but the mention of these items being made by Sunday Schools sparked a memory. Indeed, there is a banner hanging in St, James Episcopal Church Penicuik that I was part of the making of, as quite a young child. I was pleased to note my own place in this aspect of history, as well as my own contributions to the LGBT+ movement, featured extensively in the gallery.
On exiting the museum, I was on a mission to buy a new pair of shorts. I only had the pair I was wearing with me, as my others were either damaged or to recently washed to be portable. To this end, I ventured into the shopping area of Manchester and frequented a branch of “Marks and Spencer”. While successful, I was conscious of potentially being “fleeced” by the high prices charged but resolved that it was this, or traversing the streets in underwear. £30 seemed a small price to pay to avoid this particular indignity.
in Canal Street I enjoyed a pint of “Stonewall IPA”, a brew I had partaken of during my 2022 trip to New York City. I took the opportunity to rest my feet as while my travels are wonderful and illuminating, there is a lot of footwork involved.
The evening was spent at my apartment in the company of some Korean fried chicken, and a bottle of wine. Some episodes of the Netflix series “Bridgerton” were enjoyed.
