SLEUTH | St Mordor's Steps To Nowhere, Angry Gordo, Ugly Buildings, Disco Ball Head

Confidentials 21 October 2016

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. Sometimes Sleuth even gets serious @mcrsleuth

THE LAST SLEUTH ABOUT ST MICHAEL’S (MAYBE)

Sleuth has said many things about Neville Towers (St Michael’s) over the last month or two and is frankly boring himself. He’s bored of typing ‘black’, ‘bulky’, ‘monstrous’ and ‘shit’, and staggered that despite multiple consultation meetings and the weight of public opinion, absolutely sod all appears to have changed in the design (but then with Leese and Bernstein firmly behind it, why would they?)

But Sleuth had to chuckle at this conversation which supposedly took place between one of the St Mordor’s landscape team and Skyscraper.com user ‘Wub’ at the final consultation at Manchester Central Library on Wednesday. The pair were discussing the series of 60 ‘Spanish steps’ which cut through the public realm of the scheme towards Deansgate and seemingly end up nowhere.

Wub: Why would anybody walk up sixty steps to go to a restaurant or bar?
Him: Is Cloud 23 popular?
Wub: Yes.
Him: Why do you think that is?
Wub: It's exclusive, and it's high up with great views.
Him: Well this upper square will raise you above the city and give you better views.
Wub: How high is the upper square?
Him: 12m.
Wub: How tall are the buildings on Jackson's Row?
Him: Well, not views in that direction, I'm thinking more toward the south (waves hand vaguely over Peter Street).
Wub: Anywhere else?
Him: ...

So there you have it. You may not like the towers, but at least we’ll all get a cracking view of, er, Great Northern Tower? Well, a bit of it.

(Plans for the scheme, of which the council is a development partner, go before the council for approval next month)

The Square To Nowhere

GORDO GETS ANGRY

Confidential’s Gordo (aka The Fallen Man) got angry this week. He’d had a flyer from the council through his door in Didsbury.

Gordo: “…and this flyer was telling me how fantastic it was that the council were giving me a smaller wheelie bin and how much money they’d save.”

Sleuth: “A recycling initiative no doubt.”

Gordo: “Yes but how about all the money they’ve spunked on picking up the old bins, making new smaller bins, delivering those smaller bins and sticking these poxy leaflets through our doors.”

Sleuth: “Do you recycle?”

Gordo: “Yes, sometimes, not sure, but I tell you, this is exactly the kind of thing we should be writing about at Confidential, the council nicking our fucking bins… this is what The People want to hear.”

Sleuth: “Do you take out your own bins?”

Gordo: “No do I fuck, I have someone for that.”

Sleuth: “A man of The People indeed.”

And so taken aback was Gordo by the council's cheek that he fell right off the back of the stage...

PEEL IGNORE THEIR HERO

Sleuth had a shufty around the development site of Peel Group's epic Trafford Waters which gained planning approval last week. This involves creating 5,000 jobs and 3,000 homes (click here). The impressive site on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal lies adjacent to St Catherine's graveyard. The church has gone but the impressive tomb of Marshall Stevens remains, high above the Ship Canal and looking down upon it. He was the man who steered the Ship Canal to completion in 1894. Yet his tomb is a disgrace, overgrown, ill-tended and abandoned. The graphic for the Trafford Waters development shows the graveyard rescued. Yet the planning document merely talks of 'heritage opportunities' rather than certainties. Sleuth knows that if the unique Barton Aqueduct, the stunning All Saint's Church and the graveyard containing Stevens were tidied up they would immediately be one of the biggest tourist attractions in the North West.

Given Peel has £6.6bn of assets and that it was their acquisition of the publicly funded Manchester Ship Canal that bankrolled their success, Sleuth reckons they could make a start by at least tidying up the tomb of the man who most made it possible.

Disgrace

SLEUTH'S AFFECTED CONCEPT

Sleuth couldn’t help chuckling this week. Sleuth has been hearing a fair bit about Stockport’s food-lead resurgence, and in particular about chef Samuel Buckley’s upcoming restaurant, Where The Light Gets In.

Sleuth likes the look of this place, and enjoys the cut of Buckley’s new-age jib, particularly following this week’s profile by Deanna Thomas. Though Sleuth was somewhat surprised to see in a recent article published by a local newspaper Buckley’s technique referred to as ‘unpretentious’. Not that Sleuth thinks Buckley is pretentious, Sleuth's never met him and is sure he's a lovely fella. But 'unpretentious'? Come on now.

Here’s a few excerpts from the Confidential piece:

- ‘There is to be no published menu, only a set-price tasting menu at £65 with a matching wine flight for £35. Buckley refers to this as ‘Freedom from Choice’.’

- ‘He tells me about a Welsh farmer who raises black beef and feeds his cattle flowers when they’re sick.’

- ‘He unwraps some burnt pine for me to smell before talking about plum umeboshi, crab apples, foraged chestnuts and single variety native apples.’

- ‘They use ancient techniques for composting soil using deer bladders and things like that…’

Chef Samuel Buckley: 'Oh piss of Sleuth'

DOORSTAFF AND LIARS

Sleuth was wandering past the Liars Club and Crazy Pedro's Bar when he spotted this graffiti. A bad experience at the Liars Club? Or because it is called the Liars Club a lie and thus a compliment?

BUILDING UP AND FALLING DOWN MANCHESTER

The hectic building scene in Manchester is amusing Sleuth. But its interesting to note the demolitions as well. The old Odeon Cinema is presently being taken down on Oxford Street. This provided real glamour once upon a time with sixties bands such as the Hollies, Small Faces and the Walker Brothers playing in its main auditorium and premieres of films such as the Morecambe and Wise comedy vehicle, The Intelligence Men, in 1965. There's a Vimeo of the guests arriving for this although surely the true stars are the spectacular spectacles of the woman at 1'16''.

The once glamourous Odeon

The Odeon was ripped out and turned into series of small screens in the eighties so while the Art Deco facade remains there is nothing else left so Sleuth can regret but understand its demise. Some buildings are utterly without charm or value. So the demolition of St James' House on John Dalton Street by Fairhursts Group has caused no ripples. Sleuth had forgotten the existence of the nineteen-year-old building until it was being demolished. Bring on the next glass box.

The never glamourous St James' House

THE WINNER IS MAGGIES

Sleuth is pleased Maggies won the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Building of the Year. Confidential loves the building as described here. Sleuth was a little surprised to see One New Bailey, across the river from Spinningfields in Salford, included in the finalists. This sits on the site of the former New Bailey Prison which Sleuth finds apt as a prison is exactly what it looks like.