04/04/15 - Election! at the People's History Museum

With the UK general election looming at the beginning of May, there has been a lot of talk recently about voting and its relevance or lack thereof.  The People's History Museum's latest exhibition is tackling this issue head on and demystifying the political system in the process, which is something incredibly useful regardless of how politically aware you are.  Election! Britain Votes is an exhibition of two halves: the left hand side of the room details clearly the voting system, answering questions such as why we vote, moving all the way through to the exact details of forming a government; the right is a timeline covering the history of elections from the start of the twentieth century to the present day.  The beauty of such an exhibition and the reason it's so important is that it's a totally unbiased political lesson - the only 'agenda' it pushes is the importance of voting and of democracy.  

22/03/15 - Let's Talk About Sex at MOSI

Sex, pole-dancing and the Kama Sutra aren't topics that you would expect to find on my blog and rightly so - Belle de Jour I am not and I'd get no satisfaction from pouring those sort of details of my life onto the Internet.  However, when an opportunity arises to hear what science has to say about these things, you may well have my interest and curiosity.  Wellcome Collection's Sexology Season does just this, bringing lectures and events about taboo topics to a wider audience.  I headed to Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry to see what all the fuss was about.

Image courtesy of MOSI

28/02/15 - Scuttlers at the Royal Exchange

As an avid fan of The Royal Exchange, I like to keep track of all their productions. I'd seen adverts for their latest offering around Manchester and had been umming and ahhing over whether to get tickets.  The decision was made to go after stopping to read the positive reviews on a poster outside the theatre in St Ann's Square.  "It's really good, you should get tickets if you can."  Our comments had drawn the attention of a young man standing on the steps next to us.  After a brief conversation, it turned out he wasn't just an audience member who had enjoyed the performance - he was a member of the cast heading into the theatre to start work.  His enthusiasm, combined with all the good things we'd heard about Scuttlers previously, clinched our decision to make sure we didn't miss it.

22/02/14 - Richmond Tea Rooms

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which is one of my favourite children's books and one of the most celebrated of all time, with multiple adaptations of the story in various mediums and many of the references falling into everyday parlance.  And I thought it only right to celebrate this literary phenomenon in the most appropriate way I could think of; with lunch at the elegant Richmond Tea Rooms in Manchester.  I found this little gem in a book called Secret Manchester by Phil Page and Ian Littlechilds which is a wonderful read if you're looking for places to explore around the city that are a little off the beaten track.  There are likely to be several upcoming blog posts which have been inspired by this book, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

From the outside, the building doesn't look particularly special.  Tucked away down a side street near Canal Street, it isn't the easiest place to find.  But the wandering around was worth it because as soon as you step inside, it really is like going down the rabbit hole into a more magical place away from the dreary Manchester rain.