Stardate: 7 May 2019 - "Ooh yer daft 'apeth," as they say in Manchester...

...where we were earlier today.  And an excellent outing it was too.  A bit over an hour in a 2-carriage train to Manchester Piccadilly station (excellent lavs at this facility!) and then a free hop-on-hop-off bus that circumnavigates the CBD. 

We chose to hop off at the Manchester Town Hall,  an incredibly ornate, high-Victorian edifice that is regarded as one of the finest interpretations of Gothic revival architecture in the world.  With such an extraordinary exterior, we were keen to see the interior.  But alas, no.  It's currently undergoing a major renovation costing 330 million pounds and will not re-open to the public till 2024.

Manchester CBD has some exquisite Victorian buildings - lots of less attractive, more recent ones as well but it's mostly pleasing to the eye.

After Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert Saxe Coburg Gotha died aged 42 in 1861, this enormous monument to him was erected outside the town hall and the area was renamed Albert Square.

The mercantile classes of Manchester had money to burn and lived very high on the hog so this sort of extravagant tribute to a deceased royal consort was considered money well spent.

Manchester was a small market town until the Industrial Revolution made it a major hub for the textile industry in the early 19th century.  Cotton, the major textile, was imported from American slave plantations and we learned today that the city's early wealth was directly attributable to both the labours of enslaved Africans and also the labours of the Mancunian working class.

Peterloo massacre survivors in 1884, 65 years later.

We then walked to the People's History Museum and it was fabulous.  2019 is the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre in Manchester's St Peter's Field.  I vaguely recalled hearing of it in about 3rd form history, but suspect I missed most of its significance due to nipping out for a Stuyvo or two.  I certainly caught up today.

In August 1819, over 60,000 people, including women and children, marched to St Peters Field to protest their lack of parliamentary representation.  They had endured famine, high unemployment and poor working conditions.

Part of St Peters Field is now Manchester Central train station.

Although a peaceful protest, various arms of the military were called in and without provocation, began attacking the protestors with sabres.  18 died on the spot and 700 were injured.  Many of those 700 later died of their injuries. 

While it did not achieve anything immediately, the Peterloo massacre did sow the seeds for subsequent protest resulting later in improved working conditions and a better standard of living for the working classes.

A final note on the Peterloo massacre (and I do apologise for the 3rd form history lesson) a Manchester journalist of the time was so appalled by it that he started his own newspaper - the Manchester Guardian - the fore-runner of the global news outlet some of us know and love today.

And finally on a completely different note - Mr Tartan Pants is watching Pointless while I labour away here.  Question:  Name a country that competed in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.  1st answer:  Kazakhstan.  2nd answer:  France.  3rd answer:  Greece.  Honestly, I thought Mr Pants would have a heart attack.  What daft 'apeths!

***

Manchester is thought of as the world's first industrialised city.  It was obviously once quite beautiful architecturally, and still is in places, although it's clear that much of it has been demolished and replaced by typically ugly 20th century edifices.  In this regard, I think Edinburgh and Glasgow are superior.  Worse still, some of the earlier buildings that have survived have been converted into fast food restaurants, lowbrow shops and, worst of all ...

... betting shops.  The photo doesn't show it clearly, but the corner is now a Betfred.  I kid you not.  And if this isn't bad enough, it's diagonally across the road from the magnificent Town Hall.

But I don't want to be thought of as dissin' Manchester.  Quite the contrary.  It's great, and we loved the People's History Museum, as Anne says.

In addition to the Peterloo exhibition, which would have been worth the price of admission alone (especially considering it's free), there are permanent exhibitions on activist movements throughout British history.  There are numerous posters and banners on this theme.  Here's one that we particularly liked.

And here's another.  We heartily agreed.

Returning to the the bus to take us back to the train station, we saw a number of gems that we'd missed on arrival.  This is the Manchester Library.  Yes, with the Town Hall in the background. 

Even allowing for our disappointment that the Town Hall is closed (only for another 5 years, mind), we have to say it's heartening to see that they're prepared to put the effort (not to mention the 330 mill) into restoring it, rather than just letting it rot.  Or maybe turning it over to McDonalds, Starbucks or Sportsbet.

All in all, an excellent day.  There's heaps more to see and do in Manchester.  The biggest museum is an Industrial Revolution commemoration, devoted to Science and Technology, which we didn't have time to do justice.  And that's before you even get to the numerous monuments to Manchester sport (Manchester United, Old Trafford museums, etc. etc.)  

The train to and from Buxton was efficient, if not looxurious, and the free bus to and from Manchester Piccadilly station was great.  Tomorrow we're off to Chester, a much smaller but nonetheless interesting town, rich in history from Roman and medieval times.