Sleuth 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
Man Tea - Something For The Chaps
Sleuth's good friend at the Deansgate Hilton, David Gale, has come up with a cracking cheese board that will be on offer between 4pm and 8pm in the bar area, details of which will appear in next week's Food and Drink Round-up. This was launched on Thursday and will be available in the bar area of Podium in the Deansgate Hilton. But for Father's Day there's going to be something very different launched in the Cloud 23 in the same hotel. This will be Man Tea, yep like afternoon tea, but devoid of cucumber sandwich triangles and dainty flutes of champers. Man Tea will be filled with crusty ham and pickle cobs, pork pies, heavy whisky cocktails and big mugs of strong tea. Sleuth laughed at this. Just the phrase Man Tea is amusing.
Cheeseboard with all the gubbins
View from Cloud 23 in the Deansgate Hilton
Snap Says Kevin
So Sleuth was taking a Norwegian film crew around the city with the editor on Wednesday. Sverre Krogh Sundbø, the presenter, pictured here at Manchester United, was quite a character, as was Kevin, the Geordie mini-bus driver taking us around. Turns out before being a presenter and after being a professional footballer, Sverre had been a professional poker player with sponsors shipping him all over the world. On one occasion he won the European Championship. "I finished after that," said Sverre, "I didn't want poker to become the only thing in my life, the sponsors were shocked, but I had just won £250,000 and thought it time to go." "You any good at Snap, I'll take you on," said Kevin, the minibus driver. "I don't what that is," said Sverre.
Norwegian presenter, Sverre Krogh Sundbø, tries to be Sir Alex
Women Break Into Stadium
While at Manchester United Sleuth spotted welcome evidence of football's crawl into the 21st Century - a special room to allow female referees and assistant referees to get changed in. Sleuth can confirm that rumours concerning Andy Gray and Richard Keys officially opening the room are wide of the mark
United door mentions women
Football Fans In Bad Sportsmanship Shock
While we were touring Manchester United we learnt that there are frequent hoax calls about bombs in the stadium. "This often happens during games," said a United insider, "usually when the away team is 2-0 down. It's not hard to work out the calls are hoax."
Sarah PointSleuth's Oh How The Mighty Fall Story Of The Week: Bashir Issa
Bashir Issa, developer behind several Manchester properties, has been convicted over his part in a £2.5m fraud scam to avoid tax by shooting a movie. He could face prison. His company owed more than £44m when it went into administration in 2008. Issa Quay and Sarah Tower have both been subsequently completed in the city centre, but Sarah Point on Great Ancoats Street remains an eyesore empty shell. The name Sarah was chosen to comemmorate Issa's wife. Now what do they say about pride...?
Sleuth's Inexplicable Lady In Red In Freezing Cold In Manchester
So Sleuth was walking the city centre. He intends to start 'The Confidential Beat' next week in which he'll be strolling areas of the city centre to learn what people are thinking, what stories they want to tell. Anyway this week he was walking up Lower Mosley Street when he saw this lady. It was a freezing day, the dress was so red, the incongruity so sharp. It made Sleuth understand once more why living in the city is so damned interesting.
Lady in red
This Is Snow
So Sleuth met some Singaporean students in Manchester on Monday. It was a bizarre day of blizzards and sunshine. The Singaporeans were squealing with delight and making snowballs. Most had never seen snow in their lives. "We have temperatures in the thirties all year with high humidity, this is so fun," they giggled. Of course they've never had to sleep in a car because the roads are blocked but their joy at the white stuff drifting out of the sky was infectious.
Snow and the tropics
Sleuth's Cute Car Of The Week Award
Sleuth was at Salford Quays walking towards the Lowry laden with bags from Booths at MediaCityUk. He passed this car winking at him. It was a Citroen, French of course, the saucy flirt. Before he could respond though she'd run off with a Range Rover. Tart.
Citroen flirting
Sleuth's FAQs
Every seven days or so Sleuth is stopped in the street by policemen, firemen, concierges, Norwegian poker players, Singaporeans, cars with lashes, bats for lashes, and female assistant referees and asked "Where can we find the best old-fashioned toilets in Manchester?"
"Why," says Sleuth, "some of them are certainly in John Rylands Library and are well over 100 years old. The women's toilets are even haunted, a ghost once chased an Australian psychic I had in town, out of the place. Very inconvenient."
And to prove the story he showed this picture to the policemen, firemen, concierges, Norwegian poker players, Singaporeans, cars with lashes, bats for lashes, and female assistant referees.
Loos And Other Stories
