by The Serf | Apr 19, 2020 | Urban History
Moomintroll peered at me from behind a lamp post. He winked one of his large round eyes and stuck out his hippo hand, beckoning me over with a slow curl of his fat finger. I gripped my mam’s hand a bit tighter as we walked down the street for home. I was too young for...
by The Serf | Aug 4, 2018 | Film, Urban History
Manchester city centre. Monday 14th May 1973. Quarter past seven in the evening. The Odeon on Oxford Road. The stars are gathering. Manchester’s ‘Glitterati’ were out in their finest for a Gala World Film Premiere. Tommy Docherty, Paddy Crerand and Pat Phoenix. Joe...
by The Serf | Jun 19, 2018 | Film, Urban History
Piccadilly Gardens is a scruffy shadow of its former self. A truncated patch of muddy grass and concrete next to a tram stop. Yet for most of the 20th century it was a green oasis of sunken lawns and colourful flower beds tended by Manchester Corporation’s Parks...