SleuthSleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. He's several people all at once. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to publish. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows. Follow Sleuth on twitter @mcrsleuth
Pub For MediaCityUK
The Dockyard pub is to open at MediaCityUK on Thursday 12 December. The idea is to bring the hard-edged office quarter a neighbourhood boozer. Run by the team at the nearby Damson Restaurant there will be a strong food offer as well as space for the simple pleasures of quaffing and mulling. The opening event will see Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie of BBC 6 Music, cut the ribbon on the new venture. Since the BBC will form a large part of the customer base this is only appropriate thinks Sleuth.
Some Drinks For The Beeb
Sleuth reckons The Dockyard could create a special range of cocktails for the Beeb. The Executive Payoff would be where you get more drink than advertised or necessary. The Virgin would be a very small cocktail so you finish it quickly and get the London train back at the earliest opportunity. The Franchise will be a British drink but with a main if rather needless American element so it can be sold in the States more easily. The Strictly would be a very elaborately decorated drink that keeps falling over. The Cox will be a complicated drink nobody really understands and finally, of course, Nigella’s Christmas, just straight coke.
Old-fashioned Metrolink Ticket Bother
Sleuth got to Firswood tram station the other day and put his money in for a ticket.
Money was taken, but no ticket was delivered. He pressed the customer service help button on another machine about ten metres away. "Hello, can I help?” came the disembodied but pleasant voice. “Hope so,” said Sleuth, “I put in my money, but didn’t receive a ticket.” “That happens occasionally we don’t know what it is. Static maybe,” said the sympathetic lady in a control centre somewhere. “Just flap the door of the ticket machine a few times, that usually makes the ticket drop.” Sleuth laughed, “That’s it, I give the machine a bit of a slap.” “Just the door please,” said the woman.
So Sleuth did just that, rattled the door of the machine like a letterbox and hey presto the ticket appeared. Ah the joys of the twenty-first century transport system that is Metrolink.
Something Local And Sweet For Christmas
Sleuth loves these City Council posters from the 1930s. They feature places to visit in Manchester and the surrounding area. You can buy them here. The price is £18 for large A2 prints and £22 for jumbo A1 versions, the high quality posters are printed on premium 240gsm silk paper. And the odd slanty shape? Apparently this was the shape of the panel close to the bus driver’s cab where the posters were displayed.
Manchester Central Library
River Mersey At Chorlton
Something Mad For Christmas
Sleuth loved this man in Niamh Spence’s Inventory story. James Medd of Madlab has invented something very useful. He explained how an app on his phone connects to the internet, then via GPS works out how long until he’ll be home and then relays that message to a gadget called an Arduino to check how much water is in the kettle, so that said kettle can be ready and boiling as he gets home. That’s somehow genius thinks Sleuth, wondering if something similar could be performed with the opening of a bottle of wine.
Sleuth’s Council Report Of The Week
A company has been ordered to pay more than £7,500 for selling dangerous mobile phone chargers. HL Trading Ltd were fined £3,000 for each offence with £1,517.99 costs and a £120 victims of crime surcharge. Odd, but not as odd as the statement from Cllr Kate Chappell. Manchester City Council’s executive member for the environment said: “Anyone who bought one of these chargers could easily have got a nasty electric shock when trying to use it, which could have been very unpleasant for children or elderly people.” Sleuth reckons it could been very unpleasant for any age group despite the well-known middle-aged love of electric shock treatment.
Sleuth’s Deal Of The Week
Sleuth is very familiar with loyalty schemes. You know the ones: get your card stamped and the tenth coffee is free. He’s not heard of it with beer before. But in the Ape and Apple this is exactly what is happening - but after only eight beers. Good old Joseph Holt brewery.
Beer loyalty
Lost Buildings Of Manchester: Part One
Every seven days or so Sleuth is stopped in the street by policemen, concierges, Stuart Maconie, Mark Radcliffe, Metrolink customer service officers, beer, Cllr Kate Chappell and all the transport posters in the world and asked: "Where was one of Manchester's best buildings that got needlessly demolished in the fifties and replaced by something much duller?"
"Why," says Sleuth, "that would be the old post office on Spring Gardens, now replaced by an awkward concrete structure."
And to prove this he showed the policemen, concierges, Stuart Maconie, Mark Radcliffe, Metrolink customer service officers, beer, Cllr Kate Chappell and all the transport posters in the world, this picture.
The wonderful old post office - why would you demolish it?
