Did you know there’s a special way to get to the trendy foodie hotspots of Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard from King’s Cross Station? You basically get to walk through an arty light installation.
You may think of King’s Cross Station as somewhere to pass quickly through when catching a train and most of the time that’s all you’ll want to do. However, if you have a bit of time, or even just want to see something that’s a bit different and will make you go ‘ooooh’ then it’s worth allowing that bit of extra time here.
Just behind St Pancras Station there’s an old burial ground with lots of history and lots of literary connections. And a very macabre tree.
I’m off to Dorset at Easter. Mainly for a conference but, as it’s a beautiful part of the country and as I’m off work, it would be a wasted opportunity if I didn’t tag on a few days’ holiday.
Thinking of Dorset has made me think of Thomas Hardy.
Sitting beside Van Gogh’s bed, being surrounded by swirling stars and strolling through sunflowers are just some of the reasons why Van Gogh Alive is a must-visit experience.
When I first saw adverts for Van Gogh Alive I though it sounded … well, a bit silly really. And what would be the point of going to seeing replicas of his works when I’ve seen many of the originals, including having been to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam numerous times?
Then I started to hear the reviews and realised there might be a bit more to this exhibition than I’d thought. Finally I was convinced and booked a ticket for just before Christmas.
Is it worth visiting the RHS Bridgewater Garden, Manchester’s latest attraction, in winter? I went along to find out.
When the Royal Horticultural Society opened a new garden in Salford back in May it got a lot of attention and a lot of visitors. Spread across 154 acres of the grounds belonging to the old Worsley New Hall estate, it’s more than just a new outside space. The garden has been designed to aid the environment and the health and wellbeing of the local community as well as providing food for the restaurant.
The back of the visitor building – this is the side you see from the gardens
I got to make my first visit on a cloudy January day. There were far fewer people than there would have been in the summer, though it was still quite busy. For local people, it’s worth buying an annual pass which enables you to visit regularly and watch as the gardens evolve and change through the seasons. You can pop in for a quick walk or just for coffee and cake in the restaurant no matter the time of year or the weather.
But what if you live further away and so have to make a special effort to get there? And if you’re paying the £11.50 daily entrance fee you’re probably wanting to get more than a quick stroll for your money. So, if you’re not a local and you don’t have an annual pass, is it really worth visiting the RHS Garden Bridgewater in winter?
The nearest I’ll probably ever get to going to the moon.
I’d never heard of Jock McFadyen until the most amazing picture of a giant moon popped up as a Facebook advert.
I had to go to see the actual painting. Fortunately, the painting was part of an exhibition at the Lowry which is just a tram ride away. I hadn’t looked round the Lowry Gallery for years so was keen to spend a few hours in the gallery, revisiting the L S Lowry collection as well as seeing the Jock McFadyen exhibition (he’s the one who painted the giant moon, in case you haven’t guessed).
I managed to read 100 books in 2021. These 15 were my favourites.
I used to read a couple of books a week, which meant that over a year I would read around 100 books. It was easy. If I had to commute to work it would be on public transport giving me a couple of hours of reading time each day. My free time was spent reading. When I was travelling long-term I’d have days at a time where I’d be sitting on a bus, plane or train or hanging around waiting to get on a bus, plane or train. All extra reading time.
I thought it was normal to get through that many books a year. Then my lifestyle changed. I wasn’t travelling so much. When I was commuting I’d be driving. Now I mostly work at home. My free time is taken up with reading blogs, scrolling through social media and watching Netflix. My reading rate dropped to between 30 and 40 books a year. I’ve not been happy with this. I’m not so bothered about hitting targets as being frustrated that I have so many books to read and even if I live to be 500, I won’t get through them all.
This year, I decided to try to remedy it. I decided I was going to aim to read 100 books. I finished book 100 on New Year’s Eve.
A visit to Liverpool to see the Sickert exhibition at the Walker Gallery and a ride on a Big Wheel.
After so long with not really being able to see friends, it was lovely to have a friend come to stay with me at the beginning of December. We spent the Saturday in Manchester visiting the Christmas Markets and developing a habit of drinking coffee in posh hotels. On the Sunday we headed over to Liverpool to visit the Sickert Exhibition at the Walker Gallery.
2021 didn’t quite turn out the way we’d all hoped, but it wasn’t all bad. Read on for a review of my 2021 challenges and wins.
‘Happy New Year’ they said.
‘Thank goodness 2020 is over‘ they went on.
‘2021 can only get better‘ they proclaimed.
Well, we all know how that went!
It wasn’t all bad though. Despite some real challenges there were wins as well. Most of the wins wouldn’t have been classed as wins in any ‘normal’ year, but one of the pluses to living through a second year of a global pandemic is that you start to appreciate things you took for granted before.
When I look back over 2021 a few things really stand out. So here are my biggest challenges and best wins of the past year.
I went to explore the Manchester Christmas Markets to see what effect Covid had had on them and discovered a new hobby of drinking coffee in posh hotels.
I’ve written about the Manchester Christmas Markets before and I’ve always claimed they are the best Christmas Markets in the country. Ok, I’ve not been to them all, but I’ve been to enough to call it.
I didn’t get to go last year, because Covid, so was extra excited about them this year, especially as I was going to be taking a friend who had never been to them before. Of course, I was a little concerned they might not live up to my usual expectations, after all there’s the Brexit effect to be considered as well as the Covid effect, but I still held out a lot of hope. So, did they excite and delight? Or were they more of a damp squid?
Differences I wasn’t expecting about life in the time of Coronavirus.
This week I’ve been thinking about the things that are different. Not the big things that are obvious like not being able to go out to work and having to queue at the supermarket, but the little things.
