Andrew's Blog

Tuesday, 7 August 2007

Walk into Manchester, 5 August 2007

On the weekend after the triathlon I decided to get a bit more oriented, so went for a walk into the city centre from Salford Quays, following the canal.

Manchester's tallest building, Beetham Tower, with the derelict Pomona Quays in foreground

Along the way I passed through Castlefield, situated on the Bridgewater canal. Opened in 1761, the Bridgewater Canal was the first canal in Britain to be built without following an existing watercourse. The Bridgewater Canal revolutionised transport in England and was the catalyst for the industrial revolution. It is hard to imagine now, as there is only the odd leisure boat on the canal, and the brick warehouses lining the canals have been converted into offices, apartments and bars.

Castlefield & Bridgewater Canal

The structure in the centre of photo below is what remains of Grocers' Warehouse, originally a 5-storey brick building built in the 18th century. The arches are the entrances to tunnels dug into the cliff face, which allowed barges to travel beneath the warehouse. Water-wheel powered hoists would then lift goods from the canal up to the street above. An ingenious piece of engineering.

There are some nice pubs in Manchester

Deansgate, one of the main shopping thoroughfares

St Annes Square, a more tranquil part of the city centre

Exchange Square (complete with giant Ferris wheel)

Marian and I had earlier had a ride on the Ferris wheel back on 9 July

World Cup Triathlon, 29 July 2007

The following day, Sunday, there was a World Cup triathlon held in Salford Quays, and the swim leg was literally right outside our apartment. New Zealand was well represented in both the womens’ and mens’ events, with Sam Warriner coming in second in the womens’ race.

Start of the Womens' Race

Women's Swim, taken from the bridge in front of our apartment

Half way mark of the swim, competitors have to climb onto the pontoon and dive back in

Mens' bike, taken behind our apartment building

Finish of Womens' Race

Old Trafford - "Theatre of Dreams", 28 July 2007

On Friday 27 July Matt, a friend and ex MWH colleague from Christchurch, visited from Edinburgh. On Saturday morning we all walked to Old Trafford (a 15 minute walk from our apartment, across that pedestrian bridge that goes up and down - see previous post).

We signed up for a guided stadium tour, which was really good value. The tour guide was a stalwart Man United man from way back and did a good job of giving us the ins and outs of the stadium and the history. We even got to go into the home changing rooms and run out of the players' tunnel to the roar of the crowd. He was paranoid about anyone walking onto the hallowed turf though.

Matt under Watchful Eye of Tour Guide in Natty Blazer

Me and Maz sitting on the reserves' "bench" - actually comfy Audi car seats

Monday, 6 August 2007

Salford Quays, 25 July

Marian and I returned to Manchester on Monday 23 July – hopefully to sort out somewhere to live. Upon getting back to work on Tuesday morning, I found that my trip to the Middle East had been cancelled - I was due to fly to Bahrain on Saturday. I was a bit disappointed at first, but it turned out well in the end because Marian stayed on for the weekend and we got more time to set up the apartment. Marian had found an apartment in Salford Quays back during her first visit in mid-July and we were waiting for the letting agents to confirm everything.

Thankfully the paperwork all went through in the end and we moved into our new apartment on Wednesday 25 July. It is on the 7th floor of one of three large apartment buildings called the NV Buildings. Our apartment is in the building nearest the bridge and our apartment has a nice view of the bridge and quay. It has two bedrooms and came fully furnished, complete with cutlery and crockery - very handy:

The NV Buildings - our apartment is on the 7th floor of the building on the right - the balcony is on on the back right of the building

View from the other side (our building is the right hand one)

Some optimistic fishermen

Below is the view from our balcony in the morning and at night. When the basin was a working port, the bridge could rotate around a central axis to allow ships to pass. Now it is fixed and is used as a pedestrian footbridge:

Salford Quays is about a 10 minute tram ride out of the city centre, and is, as the name suggests, a redeveloped part of the old quays. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this area was an industrial port, full of wharves and warehouses servicing the ships coming up and down the Manchester Ship Canal that links Manchester with the port of Liverpool. Now Salford Quays is a residential area with apartments and a large shopping mall, as well as the Lowry Centre, a theatre and gallery complex (kind of like the Aotea Centre in Auckland). It has nice walkways along the canal and quays, and is quieter than other parts of central Manchester, being away from the main roads and construction areas.

Part of the Quays showing some of the older apartments

Walkway in front of Lowry Mall - the pedestrian bridge in the background can be raised to allow ships through

Looking towards the same bridge and the Lowry Mall (our apartment building just visible at right of picture)

The Lowry Centre - Theatres, Art Gallery and Restuarants

Back in Ireland, July 21-23 2007

After two weeks of work I was ready for another holiday. So I jumped on the plane for the one-hour flight from Manchester to Knock. Marian was there to meet me and this time the weather was also welcoming - fine and sunny. So without further ado it was straight down to Old Head for a swim:

Old Head Jetty with Croagh Patrick in Background

On Saturday afternoon we took a drive west from Louisburgh along the coast, with Tom as Tour Guide, pointing out historic landmarks and recounting a little of the history of the area.

l-r: Tom, Maz, Me (self-timer shot looking north, Louisburgh in the distance)

Local families have been living here for many generations, and although the west of Ireland is largely rural and sparsely populated, the region has not been sheltered from the changes that have swept the country throughout the past 200 years. The effects of famine, emigration, tenant labourers gaining land ownership off the English landlords, and eventually independence from Britain are all evident, if you talk to a local such as Tom.

The roof of the church below was partially built using timber from a shipwreck that blew ashore in a storm. As Tom said, “its an ill wind…”