Blog archive June 2017
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19.06.17 / 01 / tp bennett weekend in manchester
In 2017 the tp bennett weekend away was June 16-18 in Manchester, where the practice has an office. Some people were dissatisfied that we weren’t going abroad, and of course it was a bum deal for the Manchester staff (they might have been offered something else later). But I like Manchester and hadn’t been for years. The city is very different now, the red brick and brutalism replaced by glass and skyscrapers, the city centre apartment blocks, the trams giving a European feel, general prosperity and renewal. Photos here. You see that I wasn't much interested in the new stuff - I didn't have the time to go to the Lowry and Imperial War Museum.
However there are a lot of rough characters on the streets causing a slightly edgy feel. One of our party was mugged and you have to watch where you walk at night. Many of these characters appear to be rave victims who fried their brains in the 90s - the drugs and squat lifestyle seems cool in your 20s, but then you find yourself in your 40s with no stable job or place to live, physical and mental health problems and no way back.
Our hotel was out at Strangeways. I had worked on the famous jail in the mid-80s so I went over to look. Most of my work was demolished after the 1990 prison riots - no great shame there. The original buildings resemble a cathedral inside, or the Natural History Museum by the same architect. Much of my work was in the original gatehouse, now no longer used. I added a visitor door in the prison wall adjacent, in a matching Gothic style - the only thing I did before 2000 that I would still show to anyone. When I went over to see it it had gone - the wall had recently been rebuilt. I had no photos, so the only images I have are from Google Streetview.
Sunday was Manchester’s annual civic parade, but this year it was only a month after the Arena bombing, so it was a show of civic solidarity, inclusivity and pride. The floats were from a huge variety of ethnic, cultural and LGBTQIA groups which felt particularly like a statement in the face of extremism. Manchester has a passionate sense of itself as a family. It was heartwarming - and the only parade I’ve seen where the police and emergency services got the biggest cheers.
