Victorian Vessels

Manchester. I love you.

Last week I stared beloved nostalgia in the face. I went back in time to days gone past – to my old university hunting grounds in the city of Mancs. I am writing to you all to share my love of the ‘Milan of the North’: a hub of culture, nightlife, the arts – a place where no man or woman can experience boredom or idleness. The bain of productive students, and the abode of the night owl and the party animal.

I would like to give you a brief taste of its appeal. To wet the appetite, nothing more.

To start, the city is blessed with an array of Victorian canals, due to its prominence as the world’s first industrial city. Their beauty is more implied than anything else – a result of 20th Century neglect. However nowadays, they have been restored to their former glory. Something I have previously tried (perhaps in vein) to replicate through the medium of photography.

These canals are part of a greater raw urbanity, which a lot of the cities in northern England possess. The rugged edges which act as seams of excitement – something more or less absent in most southern cities (bar London, in places). Manchester exhibits this in many aspects, but one are articulates this the most: the Northern Quarter.

Some people associate this place as the abode of hipsters and eccentrics. When it actuality, it should be seen as the Soho of Manchester. Full of jazz bars, real ale pubs, record stores, independent and vintage shops and Afflecks ( Camden Market all squashed into one). It is brimming with culture, in the midst of a deluge of chain store and the generic greyness that Manchester is sometimes accused – the aftermath of post-war gloom.

Manchester is the home of Lowry, The Smiths, sport, a fantastic nightlife, some brilliant museums, the railway, the entire Victorian era… need I go on. It is part of our national history, of all varieties, and continues to exhibit its innate dynamism. I was thrilled to be able to return, and to share the experience with a fair virgin to the urban lust of this superb city. Manchester is gorgeous in both photo and print, but it longs to be experienced.

Fair tidings Manchester. Until our next meeting…

Derelict Factory

Manchester Prologue

Just uploaded the first of hopefully many pix from my trip to the glorious city of Manchester. First world urbanity at its most raw and handsome.

I even managed to add my own watermark with GIMP, which proved to be a pain in the ass.

Stay tuned for a new written entry of the trip and more photo fun.