Whatever!
Printworks, Manchester
Yesterday I ventured into town for the first time since January and the lockdown to meet up with Eddie ‘Rainman’ Coulson. In fact, the last time was to meet up with Eddie.
Since lockdown, Mrs R has been working from home and decided to cancel her reserved parking spot in town as parking is a nightmare in Manchester, not to mention costly! So, I became an Inbetweener for the day on the buses. Protocol dictates the wearing of a facemask on public transport and although I'm not opposed to this, the experience was strange to say the least. But, better get used to this as its going to be the new norm. Getting on I was slightly relieved to see every other passenger wearing facemasks... nothing worse than turning up to a party in fancy dress only to discover no one else had bothered. Social distancing rules had made eyeing a vacant seat quickly a desperate search so I cut my loses and heading up stairs. Only two other passengers and both had bagsied the front seats!
I settled into a bank of seats ear marked for four with three tapped off. The journey only takes 40 mins so I thought I’d use the time to see who was up and about on our WhatsApp group... Geoff, Terry, Muddy and even Pete was up! It was a long-winded conversation but here are the edited highlights...
Lancashire vs Yorkshire
Nikon vs Canon
Beer
Curry
Compulsory insults all-round, but mainly heading in the direction of Yorkshire.
I got off on Bridge St and decided to walk across town to meet Eddie at the Corn Exchange tram stop. In all the years of going into Manchester I’ve never encountered it so quiet... if I had to describe the atmosphere, the nearest I could get would be to describe it as the worst bank holiday Sunday with dull grey skies in the days when the shops weren’t allowed to open. This was mid-morning, no real traffic to speak of, very few business folk on their way to appointments and even less shoppers... I felt like Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky walking the deserted streets.
Meeting Eddie, we headed for the first coffee stop of the morning for a catchup and in-depth analysis of the pandemic and its repercussions. Afterwards we headed around the local haunts – St Peter’s Sq, Piccadilly Gardens, Market Street and back to the Corn Exchange. Photography wise there wasn’t much happening so we amused ourselves with selfies (see Eddie’s offering). Still, I hate to take my camera out and not come away with something, even if it just marks the day.
I’ve gone for the mono look just cos it reflects a typical Manchester dull grey day and the colour popping... with all the government messages for Coronavirus, is anyone seriously taking notice anymore. I waited for this message to scroll round but did anyone bother to read it or follow the guidelines. I estimated well less than 10% of the people on the streets were wearing a facemask. Today they become compulsory in shops and supermarkets although some shops have said they will not enforce it... more the case of not turning a sale away from the door!
Whatever!
Printworks, Manchester
Yesterday I ventured into town for the first time since January and the lockdown to meet up with Eddie ‘Rainman’ Coulson. In fact, the last time was to meet up with Eddie.
Since lockdown, Mrs R has been working from home and decided to cancel her reserved parking spot in town as parking is a nightmare in Manchester, not to mention costly! So, I became an Inbetweener for the day on the buses. Protocol dictates the wearing of a facemask on public transport and although I'm not opposed to this, the experience was strange to say the least. But, better get used to this as its going to be the new norm. Getting on I was slightly relieved to see every other passenger wearing facemasks... nothing worse than turning up to a party in fancy dress only to discover no one else had bothered. Social distancing rules had made eyeing a vacant seat quickly a desperate search so I cut my loses and heading up stairs. Only two other passengers and both had bagsied the front seats!
I settled into a bank of seats ear marked for four with three tapped off. The journey only takes 40 mins so I thought I’d use the time to see who was up and about on our WhatsApp group... Geoff, Terry, Muddy and even Pete was up! It was a long-winded conversation but here are the edited highlights...
Lancashire vs Yorkshire
Nikon vs Canon
Beer
Curry
Compulsory insults all-round, but mainly heading in the direction of Yorkshire.
I got off on Bridge St and decided to walk across town to meet Eddie at the Corn Exchange tram stop. In all the years of going into Manchester I’ve never encountered it so quiet... if I had to describe the atmosphere, the nearest I could get would be to describe it as the worst bank holiday Sunday with dull grey skies in the days when the shops weren’t allowed to open. This was mid-morning, no real traffic to speak of, very few business folk on their way to appointments and even less shoppers... I felt like Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky walking the deserted streets.
Meeting Eddie, we headed for the first coffee stop of the morning for a catchup and in-depth analysis of the pandemic and its repercussions. Afterwards we headed around the local haunts – St Peter’s Sq, Piccadilly Gardens, Market Street and back to the Corn Exchange. Photography wise there wasn’t much happening so we amused ourselves with selfies (see Eddie’s offering). Still, I hate to take my camera out and not come away with something, even if it just marks the day.
I’ve gone for the mono look just cos it reflects a typical Manchester dull grey day and the colour popping... with all the government messages for Coronavirus, is anyone seriously taking notice anymore. I waited for this message to scroll round but did anyone bother to read it or follow the guidelines. I estimated well less than 10% of the people on the streets were wearing a facemask. Today they become compulsory in shops and supermarkets although some shops have said they will not enforce it... more the case of not turning a sale away from the door!