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
Sleuth Desperate Valentine's Of The Week
This week Sleuth visited the Manchester Museum, which he likes to do every three hours or so, and was trawling through the museum’s impressive collection of weaponary when he happened across a children’s comments board. Amongst the usual heart-warming notes of ‘I saw an elephunk skelton’ and ‘I think guns should be banneded coz bows and arrows are betterer’, Sleuth spotted this: 'Profesisional, curvy, woman seeks loving, caring man with sense of humour and a nice bum'. This was followed by a mobile number which Sleuth for modesty does not include. That woman knows a thing or two about dating tactics eh? Cunning.
Cheeky Mother
New Restaurant Opens And Plugs Pickled Drinks Market
Reds BBQ has opened in Manchester in the old Livebait site on Albert Square.
Sleuth was sampling the fine nosh with Gordo - Schofield will be doing a full review for next Thursday, scores-and-all after purchasing himself a meal.
Scott, the owner, a chatty South African redhead (hence the name of the restaurant) came over with a tray. "Here's a 'pickleback piskey'," Sleuth thought he said. "Take a slug on this glass of Jameson's and then knock back the piskey," said Scott indicating the smaller of two glasses. The drink in question looked like cow's piss. "Is that cow's piss?" asked Sleuth but gamely did as asked.
Wow. Gherkins.
Sleuth said, "Gherkins are a lovely thing, pickled they are a delicacy of vinegary gooey delight. But that's me. And around two other people across the planet. For many people they are as vile as wading through raw sewage flowing through your flooded frontroom on Somerset Levels.
"Why has somebody thought to create a drink experience that tastes not just a bit like gherkins but exactly like pickled ghekins?"
"It's a unique selling point for Reds," said Scott. Certainly bloody is thought Sleuth.
Scott of Reds
Blues Go Large And Come Second
So Reds is open but what about the Blues? Well, Manchester City Council gave planning permission to Manchester City Football Club's stadium expansion with an added 14,500 seats on Thursday. This will make City's stadium 62,170. Still a fair way behind United's 76,000 but just ahead of Arsenal's 60,400. Thus, in a few year's time, Manchester will have the two biggest club stadiums in the UK. Good news all round and evidence again of Sheikh Mansour's commitment to the club.
The planning permission was perhaps never in doubt. Manchester City Council's leadership, Sir Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein are both Blues. Even the council's official Twitter account gives the game away @ManCityCouncil. No red-faces over this expansion proposal.
City expansion plan
Manchester Is Romantic - And Piccadilly Is Paris, Venice And Rome Combined
Sleuth and everybody at Confidential is passionate about Manchester but this press release from Man City Council this week was...er...optimistic to say the least.
'This Valentine’s Day Manchester will rightly takes its place alongside Paris, Rome and Venice as a must visit location for any romantic. From Friday 14 February Piccadilly Gardens will host the annual Valentine’s Market.'
Yes, romantic Piccadilly Gardens with its Concrete Wall of Love, its Muddy Lawns Of Lust, its Big Wheel of Passion and its Wetherspoons. Piazza San Marco eat your heart out. Sleuth knows where he's taking his paramour tonight.
As romantic as it comes: Picc Gardens
Sleuth's In Love
On this Valentine's Sleuth's fallen in love early. He's head over heels for a big peg in Spinningfields by Custom Landscape Design that's nipping the lawns. Sleuth is a massive fan of bananas public art and he loves the execution of this design and the lovely timber from which it's constructed.
Sleuth is also a collector of arts bollocks. Custom Landscape Design have said of the work and its relationship with the rest of Spinningfields' cultural activity: ‘The installation is very much a continuation of this synergy and will help to further enrich and animate the environment.’
Artists eh? Still the sculpture is a delight.
Lovely peg
However...
Sleuth thinks that the pinching peg of Spinningfields may have pinched a pinch too hard and made the turf all skeewiff. Either that or the landscape gardener spent all of lunch in the Oast House...
Wonky turf
Sleuth Goes To A Beautiful Old Pub
Every seven days or so Sleuth is stopped in the street by policemen, concierges, desperate mothers, gherkins, pegs, Parisians with flowers, Venetians with blinds, Romans with noses and 62,170 Manchester City fans and asked, "Because we loved Confidential's Lost Buildings of Manchester story last week we want to visit the cutest pub we've lost and stand outside it, hoping it might re-materialise so we can have a pint in pleasant surroundings: do you know where this might be?"
"Why," says Sleuth, "that would be on Greengate in Salford, five minutes from Harvey Nichols. Part of it was from the 1300s and it was very beautiful. It was demolished in the 1930s and is now a surface car park but Sleuth is pretty certain it's desperate to re-materialise and provide you with grog."
And to prove this he showed all the policemen, concierges, desperate mothers, gherkins, pegs, Parisians with flowers, Venetians with blinds, Romans with noses and 62,170 Manchester City fans, this picture.
The Bull's Head, Greengate
Greengate now: but where's the beer?
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