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. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious @mcrsleuth
SLEUTH'S WEEKLY NEW BAR BOMBSHELL
This week it's the turn of Manchester Happy Hour merchants The Liquor Store over on Blackfriars Street. Bosses of the bar have just submitted an offer for the unit at the back-end of the Q-Park multi-storey car park within Manchester's new £80m First Street development - see below. If successful, the new bar will form part of First Street's fledgling food and drink scene including the restaurant and bar at HOME, a new Indian Tiffin Room, Street on First at the Innside Melia and, er, Starbucks and Pizza Express. And it started so well...
NEW MEXICAN TAQUERIA
Taquería: a Mexican restaurant specialising in tacos. Sleuth's heart leaps. Yes Sleuth hears another London-based Mexican street food joint, Lupita, has designs on Manchester after hearing how easily Wahaca have slipped in with their pedestrian effort. Lupita trades in the usual; burritos, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas... Sleuth will bet his grandmother there's churros in there somewhere. Sleuth loves this line from the Lupita blurb: "The team at Lupita are also proud to offer diners the opportunity to taste some of Mexico's hard-to-find beers including Pacifico and Modelo Especial..." Hard to find unless, of course, you shop at Asda...
Some obscure Mexican beerEDITORS AND BITCHES
Sleuth was with the Editor at Large taking Guardian and Observer bigwigs around town. They went to Chetham’s Library and swooned for the beauty of the place. Here they are with the first ever Manchester Guardian (which became the Guardian in 1959 ). Katherine Viner, the current editor, is holding the paper, with three to her right at the back, John Mulholland, editor of the Observer. They were much amused that the first four words of the Manchester Guardian on 5 May 1821 were 'A Black Newfoundland Bitch'. Don’t worry these refer to a labrador that had been found and the person who found wanted a reward.
The Manchester Guardian and the people of The Guardian and The Observer IDENTITY MATTERS
Sleuth was talking to Katherine Viner about cities around the country and how they think of themselves in terms of a sense of identity and pride. “Manchester doesn’t have a problem with that,” said the Guardian editor, “it brims over with identity and pride. You can feel it as you walk the streets and talk to the people. It would be good if other cities had it too.”
SLEUTH’S QUOTE OF THE WEEK
While doing research ahead of the Guardian’s visit Sleuth came across this magnificent quote about ‘news’ from 1921 and a book by William Mills called The Manchester Guardian: A Century of History:
'In our times news is as saleable and merchantable a commodity as soap. It is the only valuable thing in the world which grows everywhere of its own accord. There is not a monarchy or a republic in the world in which it is not being produced day by day and every day; nor is there a street or a house about us in which it might not spring up suddenly in wild profusion/ It is at once as common as the sands and as valuable as fine gold. It is a kind of mineral wealth, and progress has consisted not so much in creating as in unearthing it. Morning by morning and week by week there was quite as much to be told about the world one hundred years ago as there is to-day. The coal was always underneath the valleys, and we have merely sunk the shafts. Journalism, also, has developed on these lines; it has bored through to the Antipodes. It lifts out of the invisible and the inaudible the fuel and nourishment of an enormous universal curiosity. It has become one of the great providing industries of the world.'
SLEUTH’S DEAD PERSON IN CONCRETE OF THE WEEK
There’s a digger on top of Hugh Hornby Birley in this picture. Or rather on the concrete raft that sits over the vault of St Peter’s Church. Under the concrete Birley has lain since 1845 along with his wife Cicely, who had died two years earlier, and a three year old son Edward, who had died in 1839. Between the vault and the Central Library is where a child, William Fildes, was killed by charging yeomanry, commanded by Birley during the event that came to be called the Peterloo Massacre. Fildes’ name is commemorated in the new Library Link building, Birley’s grave is unmarked. Soon it will be out of sight too. History has vengeance.
Unmarked graveMETROLINK'S EXTREME MEASURES
Metrolink recently revealed that fare-dodgers are costing Manchester's tram service millions of quid a year. So, in an effort to catch the rascals who do a runner, Metrolink bosses are putting their ticket inspector's through a gruelling new training regime which includes: 1. How to hop fences like a boss. 2. How to hang like a bat until one passes beneath 3. How to mimic a lamp post by standing on your head. 4. How to somersault karate kick one of the little scamps in the head...
SLEUTH’S WORST DISH OF THE WEEK... POSSIBLY YEAR
You may remember in previous weeks Sleuth giving London-based retro American diner outfit, Ed's Easy Diner, a hard time. The 50's Americana chain planned to move into the former Monsoon building on King Street and Sleuth didn't care for it. After some wrangling with the council Ed's opted instead for Debenham's on Market Street, opening this week, and serving Sleuth one of the worst dishes he's had this year. This sweaty, sludgey pink tubelet was so foul even the bread staged an escape. Woeful. Sleuth recommends you avoid at all costs...
Grim... and £8 bloody quidSLEUTH'S CUTE SIGN OF THE WEEK
Sleuth laughed to see what the receptionist is called at Timpson’s (the shoe repairers among many other things) at their head office in Wythenshawe.
SweetSLEUTH'S ABSENT INTERN
Sleuth's seen a fair few interns come and go at Confidential, some are deft young bucks, some are half-pied, some couldn't write an 'IOU'... some are just plain cranks. Confidential welcomed an intern on Monday that arrived, said three words ('where's the bog?') and left at 5pm. He didn't show Tuesday. "Not fancy it today?" emailed the editor on Tuesday afternoon. "I forgot I had to take my dog to the vet," replied the intern, "but I'm available for paid freelance." "That's good to hear," replied the editor. "But our accountant's just been hit by a meteor..."
SLEUTH’S MOST AMERICAN THING OF THE WEEK
Sleuth met a charming American film crew this week. They were called Darley (the presenter), Chip, Chad and Brad. “Wow, names straight from central casting of an American sit-com of the 70s or 80s,” said Sleuth. Our transatlantic cousins looked confused.
Darley Newman, presenterSLEUTH’S 2ND MOST AMERICAN THING OF THE WEEK
As mentioned above, Sleuth was in Manchester's dire new Ed's Easy Diner in Debenham's this week. A chirpy young American waitress skips over, "Hey can I take your drinks order?" says waitress. "Yes, I'll have a vanilla milkshake," says Sleuth (through gritted teeth having spotted the £5 price tag). "Ok that's great," says the waitress, "while you decide on food let's get that shake shaking..."
Shake it up baby now...SLEUTH GOES SLEUTHING
Now Sleuth can't be sure, but Sleuth reckons the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, might have been staying in The Lowry hotel last night. Sleuth knows this because Sleuth was blocked from walking over Trinity Bridge last night. "It's not like this when One Direction stay," muttered Sleuth.
