A day out in Manchester…

I was so tired yesterday!  I had a lovely but tiring day out and about in Manchester visiting a friend from uni.  I had a great day though and saw some lovely things including the Peaks in all their glory looking fab in the sunshine.  I wanted to take a picture from the train but I don’t think you want to see blurry hills do you? Here’s an oldy but a goody:

It’s been ages since I saw Helen, we went to York earlier in the year but this time it was my turn to visit her in her home city.  The place I was most impressed with was Manchester Craft Centre.  I absolutely loved it!  In fact I spent all evening at the sewing class talking Yvonne’s ear off about it!  The set up in there is great, I love the fact that you can make and sell in the same place and that it’s open to public.  Each studio space has part shop part working space, I’ve never been to a studio like that before, I’m just used to the ones that are just working spaces that maybe open up the space to the public a few times a year!

I loved the building, and the balcony that runs round the top level of studios makes the whole thing seem really open and friendly.  I really wish I could work somewhere like that, I wish there was somewhere like that here in Sheffield.  The building used to be some kind of victorian fish market and has terrific high ceilings.  I would really recommend a visit to anyone going near Manchester!

I was also taking pictures of random graffiti and artwork on the side of buildings, I love it, I think it really adds to a city (and I’m not talking about that awful graffiti scrawl!).

Here is Helen posing outside a pub just round the corner from the craft centre, see the buxom waitress:

And some great illustrations on the walls of Afflecks Palace:

Apart from eating in some very nice places and seeing all the lovely crafty stuff we also did the obligatory Selfridges visit.  Shopping is not something that really appeals to me any more (especially not in somewhere so expensive) but the window displays were definitely worth a look!  So much effort goes into them!

And Helen paid a visit to the Clinique counter and got one of the famous yellow bags!

So after all this I came home, tired and with achey feet and then rushed out to my sewing class (still limping slightly!) and had an evening of crafty sewing natter.  What a day!