Now I maintain and I maintain most strongly that one of the best moments in the city, is in the early evening at that crossover point between the office and shop workers going home and the arrival of the night time visitors.
Add a warm summer’s evening into the equation and I think it is perfect.
Some bits of the city will be busier than others but whether it be Exchange Square, St Ann’s Square or Parsonage Gardens there is a quiet stillness, with all the expectation of the night to come.
In some places the day time groups still linger behind, choosing to have a drink with friends, waiting for the trams and buses to lose their rush hour travellers, or just trying to decide between home and the pub.
And so it was on Thursday when I wandered through the city from Exchange, and taking up residence by St Ann’s Church.
It is one of those things I have done ever since I first washed up in Manchester back in 1969.
Of course back then the landscape was very different.
There was no cafe/bar culture, coffee was brown, tepid and devoid of taste, the pubs pretty much hadn’t changed in half a century and interesting food was confined to very expensive restaurants.
And the observant will point out that Exchange Square didn’t exist. Since then the Corn Exchange has undergone a number of transformation from a home for quirky stalls selling all manner of bizarre things to a place of posh shops and now restaurants offering the cuisine of the world.
I don’t remember the area when it was a maze of tiny streets, but I do remember the time during the 70s and 80s when the area was drab and windswept.
It wasn’t a place to meet friends, sit and just watch passersby and definitely not a place to go for an early evening meal.
So I like this bit of town, especially on a warm summer’s evening in June.
Location; Exchange Square
Pictures; Exchange Square, and St Ann's Square, 2018 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
Some bits of the city will be busier than others but whether it be Exchange Square, St Ann’s Square or Parsonage Gardens there is a quiet stillness, with all the expectation of the night to come.
In some places the day time groups still linger behind, choosing to have a drink with friends, waiting for the trams and buses to lose their rush hour travellers, or just trying to decide between home and the pub.
And so it was on Thursday when I wandered through the city from Exchange, and taking up residence by St Ann’s Church.
It is one of those things I have done ever since I first washed up in Manchester back in 1969.
Of course back then the landscape was very different.
And the observant will point out that Exchange Square didn’t exist. Since then the Corn Exchange has undergone a number of transformation from a home for quirky stalls selling all manner of bizarre things to a place of posh shops and now restaurants offering the cuisine of the world.
I don’t remember the area when it was a maze of tiny streets, but I do remember the time during the 70s and 80s when the area was drab and windswept.
So I like this bit of town, especially on a warm summer’s evening in June.
Location; Exchange Square
Pictures; Exchange Square, and St Ann's Square, 2018 from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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