Ingenious Oasis fans PLUS Stockport’s NQ AND A moving day at the museum
Hello,
Desperate to escape the heat, I made the split-second decision to visit Manchester Museum over the weekend.
I jumped off the bus – a space too hot for even Lucifer himself – and rushed inside the museum, convinced I would find cool air in its neo-Gothic halls and corridors.
Most people will remember this attraction from school trips and summer holidays. My own predominant recollection is of the massive Japanese spider crab, which sits in an exhibit case peering out towards Oxford Road.
The Japanese spider crab at Manchester Museum
The museum reopened to the public after a £15million revamp back in the spring of 2023. But life and lethargy prevented me from visiting until now. How wrong I was.
It’s an absolute treasure trove housing everything from a vivarium of amphibians to a gallery dedicated to South Asian diaspora communities.
Unsurprisingly, it’s the Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery that captures the imagination most deeply. And you can actually have your wedding beneath a cast of Stan the T-Rex.
A huge chimpanzee skeleton surrounded by primate skulls was one of the more striking exhibits. And I do wonder if the toddler who was accompanying me will file that sight under ‘horrifying formative moments’.
But despite this nightmare fuel, there are also some surprisingly moving moments.
On show at the museum(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
As I traversed the South Asia Gallery and Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibit I was directed to think about the impact of British colonialism.
Museum bosses have already returned a number of cultural heritage items to Australia’s Northern Territory. They’re now consulting on whether the body of an ancient Egyptian woman should continue to be displayed.
It’s the kind of earnest effort that some might brand ‘woke’ – but you’d be a bit of wally to even balk at the debate.
I visited last weekend simply to beat the heat, but left with a cultural experience that opened my eyes.
‘Ooh, you’re gonna have a good time’
As we mentioned yesterday, Gallagher Hill – the Heaton Park spot used by ticketless Oasis fans to view the stage from afar – has been closed off.
But some fans still found a clever way to see the screens from outside the gig last night.
A few brave souls – who presumably haven’t seen that famous scene in I’m Alan Partridge – stood on the spiked metal fencing to get a better view. They then used their mobile phones to zoom in on one of the stage screens to see it clearly.
And fans still gathered near Gallagher Hill to enjoy the band, bringing deck chairs, picnic blankets and drinks with them.
Despite the warnings of serious travel disruption, it sounds as though it was fairly plain sailing for most heading to the gig.
Those with tickets turned up in town early to soak up the atmosphere. Among them was Eri Fukamachi (pictured above) – who travelled from Osaka for the show and was sporting a custom-made Oasis kimono.
Tickets for these once-in-a-lifetime shows have cost hundreds, but fans are sanguine about the outlay. Superfan Megan told our reporters: “If I had to sell a kidney to watch them again I’d do it. I’ve still got my kidney but I’ve paid over the odds for this.”
Our snappers Jason Roberts and Sean Hansford were out and about getting some great images of the fun.
The sun-shyyynne-o-meter
The word cloud for Definitely Maybe showed some surprising preferences
What’s the most used word in Oasis songs?
Contrary to popular belief, it’s actually NOT ‘sun-shyyynne’.
In the name of science and silliness, my esteemed colleague David Dubas-Fisher humoured me and fed all of their lyrics into an artificial intelligence app to find out which words came out on top.
This is what we discovered.
Stockport’s Northern Quarter
The Underbanks in Stockport town centre
It’s a town on the up where loads of people want to live.
The centre of Stockport is seeing massive changes take place as new apartment blocks and offices are being built. Yet one area of the town has stood out as different from the rest and is building its own creative community.
Stockport’s Underbanks gets its name from the location – based below the market hall in the historic old town, near the River Mersey.
The conservation area traces its origins back hundreds of years and has a bright future ahead, with trendy independent bars and restaurants mixing with its shops, and an explosion of street art on the walls.
But opinion is divided about whether the changes are what Stockport needs.
Local democracy reporter Declan Carey has been talking to locals about this gentrified part of town.
A Greater Manchester export
In a city in Japan sits a replica of the first co-operative shop ever created at Rochdale’s Toad Lane.
More than 9,000 miles from the original shop of 1844, a charming diorama shows 15 little men sitting outside a tiny shop front.
In the town of Kobe the origins of the worldwide co-operative movement are celebrated.
Seeing this recognition of Greater Manchester’s ‘biggest export’ was an eye-opening moment for Rose Marley.
She heads up Co-operatives UK – the voice for the UK’s thousands of independent co‑ops – and has been talking to me about an egalitarian concept that has become so popular it’s been embraced by more than 100 countries across the globe.
But here, it’s a bit of a secret.
Headlines
Problem: The Beal Valley & Broadbent Moss scheme would bring 1,500 new family homes, parks and sports facilities, an industrial estate and a whole new town centre to Oldham. But locals say there’s one big problem.
First step: A new footbridge at the Bury Metrolink stop will mark the first step in plans to create a new £80m transport interchange in the town centre. More here.
Disturbance: Concerns have been raised about whether measures to stop anti-social behaviour in Salford Quays are working. It follows a gathering of 150 to 200 young people, arguing, ‘smoking cannabis’ and jumping into the water. Details here.
In plain sight: The ‘blueprint’ for new Manchester neighbourhoods has a 10-acre park surrounded by affordable apartments, high-end offices and food and drink spots. And it’s been hiding in plain sight next to Mancunian Way for seven years. All the details are here.
Weather
Friday: Cloudy changing to sunny intervals by lunchtime. 24C. But are we dealing with the St Swithin’s Day curse?
Roads: A577 Mosley Common Road, Astley, in both directions closed due to roadworks between B5232 Bridgewater Road and A572 Chaddock Lane until July 22.
A6 Chapel Street westbound, Salford, closed due to long-term roadworks from A6041 Blackfriars Road to A34 New Bailey Street. Until January 19.
A5067 Chester Road westbound, Old Trafford, closed due to roadworks between A5014 Talbot Road and A56 Bridgewater Way. Between 9.30am and 3.30pm Mondays to Sundays until October 31.
Worth a read
(Image: M.E.N.)
At 4.07pm on January 27, 1975, a man with an Irish accent called the Manchester newsdesk of the Press Association explaining that a bomb was about to explode in the city’s largest department store.
The evacuation of Lewis’s on Market Street was ordered. But, just 16 minutes after the threat was made, and with dozens of people still inside, a 3lb incendiary device hidden in the basement exploded.
The blast was so big it blew a huge hole through the reinforced concrete ceiling. When the dust settled some 19 people were injured, two seriously.
At the time it was the IRA’s largest attack on Manchester. But unlike the 1996 bomb, in which 200 people were injured, it has been largely forgotten.
Damon Wilkinson has been looking back on that dark day.
