I'm typing this between raucous bouts of coughing fits. I think since the 2nd January I've had a series of 'tag team' colds, one after a-blinking-nother.
It appears that most other people are falling like giant, shaven flies with the flu period (which has a government sponsored extension this year...perhaps down to a leap year, or the fact that the country has run out of money and everyone's on a downer). North, East, South and West I hear whoops of coughs cascading down the wind-stream. At least if helps alleviate my one eared tinnitus for a bit, but it's an environment akin to Brian Wilson throwing sledges at the Wu-Tang Clan.
I had a wander around Withington the other day, which on a good day is good place to live. I've been here long enough to just about bump into someone I know on each trip outside my front door. Whether it's the lollipop lady, the eastern European Big Issue seller, the local head-teacher at my daughters school, parents of my daughters friends, the colourful smack heads - I now have a whole host of them residing inside my memory brain. In occasional dreams, these characters bump into each other in the same space but different situations and roles.For example 'Crab' (name changed to protect and all that) the 'user-man' with regulation beard and limp has been transposed to head of my daughters school. Instead of prayer and clap hand songs in the morning, the school kids are instead asked to design bong wear made from old shoes and school dinner pans. Afterwards, instead of mouth piping 'We've got the whole world in our hands' they instead get to replicate Captain Beefheart's 'Trout Mask Replica' on modern, vertical radiators and discarded monitors and the works of Kraut rock band Can on spare post modern guttering. Inside and outside of dreams this is a fine primary school run really well (a recent Ofsted 'outstanding' report confirms this). A wide collection of cultures colliding and bouncing idea's off their absorbent craniums.
The lollipop lady becomes the butcher and instead of a giant traffic lollipop he has an enormous lamb shank to facilitate his new occupation.
The Bukowskiesque barfly/drunk finds himself flown from his gin perch and placed behind the desk in the library. In place of the silence common in libraries 'Bookowski Man' instead pipes Tom Waits long players through the audio system (an old version of iTunes on an archaic PC via flapjack sized speakers). He'll recommend books till he is blue in the face...it's quite hard to get away but you leave with a sense 'Bookowski Man' really loves his subject.
You can do all this to pretty much any town/village/city in the country although some towns in England are so paranoid about life these days that all shutters are permanently down and folk are intravenously linked to sky images and Morrison's ale and ultra refined cheese breads...I don't wish to name them. It'll help on those bored moments or insomnia driven headaches. Try it.
Back in the real world (although it's increasingly difficult for me to discern between dream world and 'real world') I stood on the corner of the entrance to Withington from Didsbury. To say this part has seen better days is like suggesting crack is bouncy. I dunno - I've never flung the product against a brick wall. It's a little run down doggy with ears made from two-tone vinyl records. However, at the other end of Withington High Street (as you head towards central Manchester) is being 'refurbished' then so is this. Pleasure Bar (which I always enjoyed in visits) is now closed due to demolition and a rebuild by local architects MBLA (who are superb as it happens - they created the Siemens building on Princess Parkway) has planning permission; a six storey apartment building with ground floor retail. Directly across the street is the large Victorian boozer 'White Lion'. This resembled a dodgy youth club/crack den towards the end...whether is was run into the ground for spurious reasons I cannot comment. I hoped this would be refurbed and turned into a decent gastro pub/restaurant akin to the Metropolitan in West Didsbury. Unfortunately instead, this will be turned into an apartment building (it's listed so it ain't going anywhere thankfully). Hopefully (and I believe this is part of the plans) there will be room on the ground floor for a couple of bars/cafes.
Completing this triangle will be the demolition and rebuild of CineCity. The oldest cinema in Manchester and third oldest in the country, this is being knocked down as we speak. A real shame it couldn't have been rescued and remain a small cinema (sister to the cornerhouse), although I'm extremely grateful a 'large UK pub chain' haven't got their mitts on it...that would've been a disaster for the village. I can imagine Withington resident and future Hollywood star Robert Donat (he of Goodbye Mr Chips and the original Hitchcock version of 'the 39 steps) becoming inspired by the movie world in this place and perhaps the same with John Mahoney (who played Frasier's dad Martin Crane in....Frasier!) amongst others.
This too is set to become a new apartment block with 'A4' retail opportunities. It would be great to see an independent coffee shop cum deli in this end of the village. I've only seen a small jpeg of the intended apartment block, but I can't say I'm overly impressed. Perhaps MBLA could've masterminded this 'triangle' of redevelopment?
Still, exciting times (despite the reservations from certain residents - perhaps content to see the place fold in on itself towards the marshland from whence it came).
On the way back I spotted the Vicar of Didsbury hurling abuse at the pavement as she waved a family sized bottle of white lightening at passing faces, although this could've been a dream...
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