One of those places was Altrincham. With the advent of the Trafford Centre, and the resurrection of Manchester City centre in the aftermath of the bomb, Altrincham has suffered. A walk down the main (pedestrianised) drag in recent years showed a lot of empty shop units. Perhaps this is true of many town centres these days.
Gel and I went there yesterday for a trip out. The bus station / tram station has had a fairly substantial facelift, but what surprised me is that Rackhams - the local department store - is still going. The main Post Office has moved out of its own building, and is now part of WH Smith. It is open until 5:30 on a Saturday, which is something I guess they couldn't cater for in the old building.
The main drag has been renovated a bit up at the Rackham's end, but the big change is Altrincham market. It was like being in Spitalfields. More acres of beard, and tweedy jackets, that you can shake a stick at. There are two sections. The Market Hall building:
This is now a large eatery. Big wooden tables across the centre of the space, and trendy food outlets around the perimeter. We didn't eat there this time, but are planning a trip one Sunday.
The other section is the covered market:
Where are number of interesting stalls - butchers, bread, jewellery, knitted works (a woman with three foot long and two inch thick needles), vintage clothes, photographs etc - and more tasty looking food outlets.
If you've not been, then I'd recommend a visit. It's a nice treat, and it's nice to see a town centre having a recovery from what looked like a terminal decline.
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Watched Utd v Sheffield U last night.......oh dear. It doesn't seem to getting any better.....although the optimist in me thinks that at least they've strung a couple of wins together now......
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GLORIOUS morning for a ride this morning. And I remembered to switch my app on so it's a real ride, not a phantom one.
If you are nerdy enough to check out my times, and I suspect that I'm in a group of one in that regard, then you'll see that today's time was significantly longer than usual. That's because I helped a lady find a house on the first half of the route, and stopped for a chat with my friend CH near the end.
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There haven't been nearly enough cat pictures on the blog recently.
It's getting to that time when Boo and Poussey are going to have to visit the vets to be speyed /neutered. The vet will 'chip' them while they are asleep. And then we can let them out. Yikes. Will they ever come back?
For the last week or so, they've been allowed out at night, and, on the whole, they've been very well behaved. A bit of foot chasing the night before last wasn't appreciated, but other than that they've been fine. Occasionally I've woken in the night and found Boo very comfortable stretched out between Gel and I, and both of them have had a night or two up on top of the wardrobe.
Good cats.
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Last chemo this week. Taste buds still goosed, and I've had a numb big toe on my left foot for a few days too. I'll be glad when this is all done.
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