I’ve noticed that contrary to what many say Manchester does attract a fair bit of sunshine. However, I’ve also noticed that it tends to be in May rather than in the more “normal” months of June, July and August.

I remember coming to Manchester for a University entrance interview and seeing a completely cloudless blue sky. When I took up the offer to study in Manchester I was very lucky to be here during the heat waves of 1975 and 1976. And in fact even the following years were agreeable.

When I got married (in May, quite a few years ago) the weather was very breezy,  but a lovely sunny day with an amazing blue sky. Remember last year? Lovely blue skies in May. In fact maybe those skies prompted the forecasts of barbie weather all summer from the unfortunate forecasters!

Speaking of forecasts…

I was listening to the weather report from the BBC today and it mentioned that the north  and north midlands would be overcast. I can report the weather has been superb, proper lovely sunny, great to be alive weather.

Now, here’s something I’d like an answer to…

Why does Manchester always seem to be missing from the weather maps? And yet plenty of other smaller places are shown. Is it a conspiracy or maybe the weather people can’t bring themselves to put down a name with the politically incorrect word “man” it it? Which do you think it is? Or maybe there’s a really good reason that I don’t know.

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The Pirates of Penzance is probably the most famous operetta written by the Victorian equivalent of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice. They are of course, WS Gilbert And Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Even if you don’t know any Gilbert & Sullivan I’m pretty sure you’ve heard people say “a policeman’s lot is not a happy one.” That’s a song in the show.

The Pirates of Penzance we’re producing has a bevy of beautiful maidens, a gang of bloodthirsty, but as the same time rather nice, pirates and a rabble of comic policemen. Sprinkled in amongst this comic collection of characters is the Sergeant of Police, a Major General, The Pirate King and assorted hangers on.

The plot is typically G&S and there are some great songs in it. Wait for the beautiful rendition of “Hail Poetry” or even better “Poor Wandering One”, or maybe the very fast “I am the very model of a modern major general” or the swashbuckling “For I am a Pirate King.”

The song that all the Pirate gang loves is “With Cat Like Tread.” And if you come along to the show you’ll see why. It’s absolutely brilliant to sing and act in. I can’t wait for the performances to begin! We want everyone to enjoy it as much as we enjoy performing it.

And yes, the months of rehearsal are finally paying off. Because the production which is being put on at the Royal Northern college of Music starts on May 5th at 7:30 and goes straight through to May 8th.

Come along and see us because I can promise you that you’ll see a cast who love doing this show and have all the joie de vivre of a bunch of students. Mainly because most of them are students, from the University of Manchester.

Invest in a good time by getting your tickets from the RNCM box office either though the RNCM Web site or their Box Office Phone Line on 0161 907 5555.

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Well actually they’re not ace at all, they’re a severe irritant. I say this because I’ve been clocked by one doing 39 in a 30mph zone. The thing about this road (Blackley New Road) is that it doesn’t have permanent speed cameras on. But it does, every now and then, have a camera in a van.

So why do they have a van on a quiet road mid morning on a Monday?

Because the people who are running the cameras know that Blackley New Road goes downhill, it’s a nice wide road and it’s incredibly difficult to keep the speed at 30 without dropping into 3rd and wasting petrol and destroying the ozone layer more rapidly.

So it becomes a trade-off between being green or going green in the face because you’ve got a speeding fine.

And just when you thought that was it on the speed camera front, I noticed that the M60 (junction 19) near the Three Arrows pub and the Middleton turn-off has average speed cameras installed (not in use this morning).

I’m hopeful that they’re only there for the roadworks that seem to afflict the M60 and will be removed when they’re finished. I’ll let you know. If anyone else had any news about it let us know too.

And lastly the average speed cameras placed strategically along Victoria Avenue appear to have been playing up and not coining the revenue in for the “Greater Manchester Casualty Reduction Partnership.” I noticed the workmen digging bits of pavement up around the camera gantry near St. Clare’s church earlier in the week. Although it looks as though work is finished and money can start spilling into council coffers.

Interestingly Swindon took all their cameras out and found there was no change in the number of accidents.

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The White Room in Manchester has launched a free course aimed at helping 18-24 year olds start in the media sector by designing original iPhone applications.

The course is backed by Manchester Council, The Cornerhouse and Manchester Metropolitan University. And it will also teach a range of business skills

Over $3bn worth of mobile phone apps were downloaded in the last 2 years. So ideas for unique apps stand a good chance of making money.

To get on the course you need to live within Manchester council boundaries. You can be a recent graduate, unemployed or a part-time or full-time workers.

A training bursary is available and, even better, no technical ability is required.

Phil Birchenall, The White Room’s project director says: “What we need is plenty of enthusiasm and ideas, that’s all. We are looking for people that really want to start a career in the creative sector – we believe we will be nurturing some of the stars of the future.”

The App School is at www.appschool.co.uk and Phil is on 0161 446 2991. The school is also on Facebook.

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Well, it’s a done deal. Heaton Park will have a new sports development.

Of the 3 councillors I contacted 1 replied immediately and one after they’d attended the planning meeting.

As to what they said…

Both councillors made the point that the development was part of the Restoration Masterplan for Heaton Park agreed by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund some 12 years ago. 

“This part of the park was designated as a Sports Zone in 1998, at the behest of English Heritage Lottery Fund as a condition of providing a substantial grant for renovation of the park to bring it back to its original condition. This included the removal of bowling greens and tennis courts from within the view of Heaton Hall, to be relocated to this site. The bowling greens were established there with a clukbhouse from funds for the Commonwealth Games and this latest application completes the promise to provide tennis courts again.”

One of them also noted that they’d visited Heaton Park for over 50 years and…

“would not tolerate any ‘eating up chunks of land’.  The Council are mindful of the prestige of the Park and indeed are the very ones who care for and look after the Park.  The Council would not tolerate any misuse of the land.”

As to the objections the councillors said,

“I have to tell you that I have received more comments in support of this application than opposed to it. Most of the objectors come from the Prestwich area of Bury, despite their own Council supporting the application on the grounds that they need increased facilities of this nature in their area.”

“For information, Planning only received 14 objections for Hr Blackley residents.”

Obviously, if people aren’t aware of how to complain that tends to reduce the number of objections. However, it’s perfectly clear that the time to object was in 1998 when the original agreement to renovate the park was made. Would we have objected then? I think the answer is probably not.

The only problem I see is whether my definition of “misuse” of the park would be same as the councillors.

So, let’s see what happens with the park and whether the councillors, and future councillors, follow the line they say they will.

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Heaton park is still under threat as the Manchester Town Hall planning committee meet to rubber stamp the recommendation by the town planners to allow the go ahead of a sports complex at Heaton Park.

This is the continuing struggle of the council in what seems to be a concerted effort to use the green space they have stewardship for on the behalf of Manchester residents.

And to me stewardship doesn’t mean taking what belongs to me and then giving it back to me smaller than when I originally gave it to you.

It seems as though the council may be thinking of all the business rates they can get in from the complex, rather than the green lung that Heaton Park has always been for Manchester residents.

The council agreed to let flats be built within the Heaton Park perimeter a few years ago. OK there was already a building there, but it was low rise – not several floors to spoil the view. And recently of course there was a strong pressure to move King David’s school to the park.

Now the sports complex.

Is it any wonder that the Manchester residents, me included, really think that the council aren’t interested in maintaining the Heaton Park green space for current and future residents of Manchester?

Do you really believe that the sports complex is the only development that is going to be allowed in the park? What happens if it becomes successful? More football pitches, more parking, more food outlets needed?

What about future planning applications? They’ll have even more of a precedent to allow development to continue in Heaton Park. Does this mean Heaton Park would no longer be the largest municipal park in Europe? What then, it becomes the largest park in the UK? Further development and it becomes the largest park in North Manchester? All because the council was too short-sighted to see the future.

And why build the development on Heaton Park anyway?

There are massive numbers of brown field sites that could be used to put sport complexes on. May I suggest that the Manchester Town Hall Planning Committee seriously consider the importance of the park to the Blackley, Cheetham Hill, Crumpsall, Moston, Middleton, Prestwich and Whitefield communities and to all Manchester residents who currently come over for concerts and events and for just simply taking a lovely walk somewhere that seems to be outside Manchester while still being in reach.

If you want to make your voice heard email your councillors (see www.writetothem.com to find your Manchester councillor) and let them know your feelings.

If you can get out of work for a while there’s a meeting in front of Manchester Town Hall at 1:30pm and people are going to go into the planning meeting with a spokesman to put the pro-Heaton Park voice forward.

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Speed cameras for a road that sees very little traffic seems very strange.

For some months we’ve been driving up Victoria avenue, from the Heaton Park end, and seen the huge poles that look like fat lamp posts. Then overnight they were transformed into camera gantries with an arm extended over the road way with 2 cameras on it. One cameras is aimed in one direction and the other in the opposite direction.

There are actually 3 gantries over Victoria Avenue, although one has no cameras on it yet. And just for good measure near the lights with the intersection of Rochdale road there’s another pair of cameras on a more normal size camera stand.

The cameras all seem to be the average speed type. And interestingly enough there is a stretch near a school that has a permanent 20mph speed zone which is going to make a lot of income for the camera operators because people will think it’s 30mph outside school hours.

There’s been an enormous investment in cameras for one short piece of road.

There haven’t been large numbers of accidents, as far as I’m aware, that were caused by speeding drivers.

The traffic volumes seem quite low and I use the road every day and at different times of the day too. For instance, after about 8pm the whole road goes very quiet anyway.

It does make you wonder whether some of the money that comes in from other speed camera schemes has to be spent on road safety. And therefore this is one way of spending that money, and at the same time getting more revenue.

Just so you know the first speed cameras are at the bottom of Victoria Avenue on the left hand side as you head up it.

The second set of cameras are also on the left, near St. Claire’s School and opposite Thompsons chip shop and the third gantry is opposite Boots.

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This last week has been great fun. I’ve had the privilege of building a snowman with my children and having snowball fights with them.

Later in the week my eldest took my two youngest sledging. And they came back cold, damp and filled with glee.

And even the fact that I’ve had to clear my drive 4 times and still struggle to get the car off the drive hasn’t quite managed to dampen my winter spirits. Even watching the cars not moving on the main road outside our windows didn’t make me gloomy.

As I said it’s a privilege to take part in memory moments with your children and I hope they remember this as I will when they’re a little older. And if they don’t I’ve the video as evidence!

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Father Christmas made his grand entrance on a horse and cart waving to all and sundry at Clayton Hall last Saturday.

So Christmas has arrived! My children were roped in to assist Santa Claus dole out presents to excited children. And part of the package (at an astoundingly low price) was to have your photo taken with Santa himself.

Santa was nicely situated next to the chimney in the loving refurbished dining room which was laid with a sumptuous Victorian Christmas feast.

Once they got their prezzies the children went upstairs where the proud parent could choose the photo they wanted printing. Then it was off to the craft room to make a card frame decorated with snowmen, Father Christmases or Christmas trees.

Plus if they wanted they could make snowmen decorated carry bags for carrying home the decorated frame. And also colour in some rather attractive tree ornaments. Even I did a rather jolly little Father Christmas decoration.

So yet again the year draws to a close at Clayton Hall. And we’re all eagerly looking forward to further rooms being opened to the public so that they can see how a Victorian family might have lived. If they lived in a Hall surrounded by a moat, that is!

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There’s still feverish activity at the new Clayton Hall Museum as everybody finishes the painting, adjusting the pictures and placing the food in the most artistic way they can.

The Clayton Hall Museum is obviously going to be an ongoing project with furniture added and changed. Room dressing changed from time to time. Maybe even the guides will take turns! It’s certainly expected that more rooms will be opened up for the museum as time goes on.

There’s a unique opportunity for you to see the results of months of hard graft when Clayton Hall Museum actually opens on Saturday 28th November at 1pm until 4pm for viewing. There will be people on hand to answer questions and tell you something about the rooms.

I’ve been asked if I could help man the event. Is that called volunteering?

Anyway, I will be there. So look out for a slightly sleep deprived person who will still to do his best to answer your questions as intelligently as possible!

The museum itself is half of Clayton Hall and has been dressed to show the Halls’ Victorian period. The other half of the Hall has residents, some of whom are apparently ghosts,

Clayton Hall is one of the few remaining moated manor houses in England and you reach the hall over a nice little bridge.

I look forward to welcoming you to the Clayton Hall Museum Victorian experience on Saturday, for one day only (at least from me anyway).

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