Bumping into stars of soccer and soap in the heart of Manchester
Date Published: {J}
They say the footballers of today are inaccessible prima donnas who live in ivory towers – well, a few of us were enjoying a few days in Manchester last week....and who did we bump into but Wayne Rooney?
Bumping into him is probably overstating it, to be honest – more standing in a queue to have him sign a copy of his new DVD, coupled with a quick pic and a whoosh out the door of the Manchester United megastore with your newly autographed purchase under your oxter.
For good measure, we then bumped into Martin Platt. When we last saw Martin, it was on the small screen and he was a nurse who was unfortunate enough to be married to Gail, the chinless wonder.
These days, Martin can be found selling his award-winning cheese at one of Manchester’s many Christmas markets. And so as not to muddy the waters between soap and reality, the cheese is the work of actor Sean Wilson who once played Platty but who now milks goats.
Whereas Wayne would sign just one item – to be more precise, a DVD once you bought it in the Manchester United megastore – Sean would pose for photos even if you told him you were lactose intolerant.You’d wish that he was the superstar earning two hundred grand a week instead of the striker who refused to sign a Man United jersey – bought in the megastore and with Rooney on the back – for a ten year old boy who had thought that life couldn’t get any better until his hero deflated his bubble for him.
Manchester is a happening place, full of students and shoppers, and with a beating heart that’s as compact as Galway. The Arndale centre – once blown to smithereens by the IRA – must be one of the biggest shopping centres in the world and Picadilly is a short walk away.
Just now, it is home to around eight different Christmas markets – all with that Germanic influence and packed with decorations, presents, food and the most potent of lager – illustrating just how a small pilot project less than a decade ago can grow into a major tourist attraction for an entire month each year.
It should give hope to those behind the market in Eyre Square that these things can take on a life of their own, and you only have to stand back and marvel at the numbers downing their litres of lager at lunchtime to see how enthusiastically the Mancunians have embraced the German tradition.
The shops at a Christmas market are, of course, a question of taste and you won’t be bringing up mini-Christmas trees or large plants. But there’s a terrific atmosphere as you wander through the streets and the quality of the jewellery and ceramics, for example, was top class.
If the daytime is about shopping, then the night is about the plethora of pubs and restaurants that will suit every taste. The Printworks is a maze of drinking and dining emporiums, all under one vaulted old roof and the area around Oxford Road – the student part of town – has enough pubs on its own to see you through a week’s break.
For the sheer novelty of drinking in a toilet – literally and not accidentally – try the Temple Bar on Great Bridgewater Street; it was previously an underground toilet and, although understandably tiny, it has the friendliest staff. Ironically, whatever they spent on converting the toilet into a bar 13 years ago, they didn’t spend much on doing up the actual toilet.
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.