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
NEW BAR, RESTAURANT & ROOFTOP 'HYBRID'
Sleuth sees plans are in for a ‘modern hybrid of café, bar and street food space, with a capacity to host live must and community events’, close to the Lass O’Gowrie just off Oxford Road, in the former Capes Dunn art auctioneers on Charles Street. The plans have been put forward by Rose Five Ltd, the owners of The Lock Tavern in Camden - a hip ‘tarted-up’ Sunday Roast-type boozer with regular DJ nights and rooftop sit-ins.
Scanning the planning docs, Sleuth sees plans include a small stage and bar in the basement; a large bar and kitchen space with long bench seating on the ground floor; a larger event space, stage, dressing room and bar on the first floor; a further bar and kitchen space on the second floor, along with a terraced area; and a glazed extension and an open terrace on the roof... plus a large synoptic survey telescope on the roof, a dog track round the back, and, of course, some tapas somewhere.
The plans
The former Capes Dunn action house (thanks to Skyscraper City for the images)
SLEUTH’S BIG FAT SLAP ON THE BACK CIDER TAP
This week Sleuth would like to give a big, fat slap on the back to the folks behind the Moss Cider Project, namely its founder Dan Hasler, who after five years, over 7000 litres of cider and an unsurprisingly lengthy licence application, have now opened their debut cider tap at 15 Windrush Millenium Centre close to Alexandra Park in Moss Side. If you don’t know anything about the community cider project, you can read about it here, but it's a proper worthy community project which pays its donators back in cider. Hear that Red Cross?
Moss Cider is now stocked at multiple bars, shops and markets across the region, and now at the tap, where you can pick up some local brew and even crack open a bottle or two on site.
Elsewhere, FC United are going to be offering free apples to fans when Hasler relocates up to 50 apple-bearing trees from Moss Side community orchard to the football club's surrounds outside the Boradhurst Park ground. The club states, on match days, fans can help themselves to 'the fruit bounty' on their way into the ground which will not only give them a handy vitamin hit, but can also be used to lob at unreasonable officials, opposing fans and team mascots.
"You wait 'til that Corby Town lot get here"
SLEUTH'S LEAST KNOWN NEWS OF THE WEEK
Everybody is scratching their heads wondering how they all missed the fact the EU referendum results will be announced in Manchester Town Hall. This will be a real historical moment and somehow it seems to have slipped under the radar. Although, as someone said to Sleuth, it could be a truly awful thing to have recorded under Manchester's name. Sleuth is comforted that around the great hour bell is text moulded there when it was cast. The words are taken from Tennyson's In Memoriam poem and read: 'Ring out the false, ring in the true.' Sleuth reckons Tennyson would have been a remain campaigner.
BORISCHESTER NOT
Sleuth is also intrigued why the Conservative government has chosen to have the results announced in such a solidly Labour city. Maybe, reckons Sleuth, because Conservative infighting appears distant here especially when Manchester seems such a long long way from Boris.
The Town Hall's Great Hour Bell
MEAN MR Q PARKS
Sleuth has been counting chimneys. It's what he does. There used to be more than 250 in the central Manchester and Salford areas of the conurbation. Sleuth reckons there are four or five left. So he went to the Q-Parks at First Street to take the lift to the top floor and take a picture of two of them. Sleuth knows all the best views are from multi-storey carparks in Manchester: the sky above, the city on all sides. And the best view from any of them is from First Street, but oh no, naughty miserable Q-Parks have locked the place down. You can only access the car park with the ticket you were given when you arrived in your vehicle. The interested pedestrian has been denied. Tear down the fences, unlock the gates says Sleuth, let the people in.
The few remaining chimneys
CONFUSED NORWEGIAN PLANNERS
Sleuth has been taking twenty Norwegian developers and architects around this week. At a meal one of them directed her talk to Sleuth. "We have really enjoyed your city, it's energy, its fascinating old and new buildings, the pace of development in Spinningfields, the University, around First Street and the Quays. But we don't understand Piccadilly Gardens." There was a pause, so Sleuth filled it. "We haven't got a clue either," he said.
Piccadilly Gardens: Bogland
SLEUTH'S BEST EXCUSE
Sleuth was annoyed this week when Confidential CEO Adam Wiseberg called an early meeting on Thursday then didn't show up. Wiseberg bounded in 45 minutes later, flustered and soot-faced. "Where the hell have you been?" quizzed Sleuth, keen to get back to a day's good Sleuthing. "Well," replied Wiseberg, "my car is on fire." "Yeah, yeah, good one," said Sleuth, "dog's eaten my homework, grandma has died..."
"No really," said Wiseberg, "Look..."
...and Wiseberg's shitty Saab was no more - anyone held up on Princess Road on Thursday morning is encouraged by Sleuth to direct their frustration to @Adam_ahw
SLEUTH'S READJUSTED FISTULA
Manchester Day organisers this week appealed for more volunteers to sign-up for a number of roles in the lead-up to the big parade on Sunday 19 June. Apparently the current lot are making a right fist of it...
Ouch
SLEUTH & THE PETRIFIED OLIVE OIL DIP
Sleuth had just plonked himself down for a lovely long lunch in San Carlo Fumo with a big glass of negroamaro and a basket full of soft, chewy foccacia when this happened...
AHHHH
Meanwhile on Deansgate, the petrified dip's cousin is still having a right old laugh at Will Alsops' proposed scheme for Great Northern Square... and the a-llama-ing alternative...
Alsops' design
A suggested alternative
...they're still laughing across the road
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