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Here is today's Mancunian Way:
by BETH ABBIT - Tues Aug 9, 2022
Hello,
Ever feel like the city is getting bigger and you're getting smaller? Well Gisela Szlatoszlavek likes the idea so much, she spends weeks creating miniature art installations in real-life settings.
The self-taught street photographer uses tiny models to create scenes in and around our city. Most recently she placed a tiny Morrissey on top of a bunch of gladioli in front of Salford Lads Club. These are the results.
Catching the bad guys
If you’re unfortunate enough to be burgled in Greater Manchester, you will more than likely get a visit from a police officer. That might seem like a given, but it wasn't always the case.
When the new chief constable took over Greater Manchester Police, he inherited a failing force. But Stephen Watson can now point to marked improvements in performance with arrests and charges soaring and response times slashed. He is determined to turn things around, like he did at South Yorkshire Police, starting with the basics.
As John Scheerhout reports, the chief has described the policies imposed by the previous regime as 'defeatist' and 'shameful' and says those at the top were too ready to blame cuts for poor, or even no, service.
John has spoken to PC Sarah Taylor and Insp Rod Ashton about the culture change. "I can see a clear plan. There are more arrests. It feels better, you know 'let's get out there and catch the bad guys',” the inspector says. While PC Taylor says senior leaders have ‘a clear idea of what's going right and what's going wrong’.
When the force was put in special measures in December 2020, PC Taylor says criminals were 'running rings round us' and officers were not respected by the public. “There wasn't enough trust in the police as there is now because they've seen big changes," she adds.
While many victims of burglary were routinely ignored by the old GMP, the force is currently visiting 94 per cent of burglary victims. Insp Ashton says there is ‘nothing better than catching a burglar’.
Chief Constable Watson has fairly been tight-lipped in discussing his predecessor. But he has criticised Ian Hopkins’ 'Citizens' Charter' which urged the public to understand why some crimes would not be investigated because of cuts in funding.
Mr Watson has described it as ‘patronising tosh’ that invited the public to ‘resile itself to a future in which a diminished GMP would stop doing things for them’. “It was defeatist and frankly I think it was a bit shameful because it involved, for example, not investigating things, which is why we stopped arresting people,” he said.
What’s in a name?
Atom Valley - the planned innovation hub set to transform parts of Rochdale, Bury and Oldham - sounds impressive, but is the name fitting? Greater Manchester’s combined authority say it's a nod to ‘Manchester’s atom-splitting history’ as Ernest Rutherford's breakthrough in nuclear physics happened while he was working at the University of Manchester.
But did the scientist really split the atom? Not quite, according to this article published by the university. It states that Rutherford actually became the first person to create an artificial nuclear reaction. "The discovery is now often described as ‘splitting the atom’ in popular accounts, but this should not be confused with the process of nuclear fission discovered later in the 1930s,” the article reads.
“‘Splitting the atom’ is not a particularly good description of this work, given the detailed picture of the reaction revealed later by Patrick Blackett,” Nuclear Physics professor Sean Freeman said. Though the professor says both Rutherford and Blackett's work ‘essentially established the field of nuclear physics right here in Manchester’.
Not that it matters to Rochdale Development Agency. They say the name Atom Valley is ‘about more than just heritage’. They've also drawn comparisons with the 'single layer of atoms in graphene - another Manchester innovation' and 'atoms coming together to create molecules; just like the businesses and communities that are set to live and interconnect here'.
Weather, etc.
- Wednesday: Sunny. 28C. Amber warning for extreme heat in place from Thurs to Sunday.
- Roads closed: Broughton Road in both directions closed for water main work between Pendleton Way and Gloucester Street until August 15.
- Trams: No service on Metrolink between Eccles and MediaCityUK due to engineering works until October 21.
- Today's Manc trivia question: Which Corrie actor holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-serving actor in a television soap opera?
Answer at the bottom of the newsletter
Rat run
Residents in Ancoats say dangerous driving is pushing them out of their homes and changing the way they live. The narrow streets are frequently used as a cut-through for vehicles trying to avoid Great Ancoats Street. But with little signage and road markings, the safety of junctions has become an issue, as Nicole Wootton Cane reports.
Local Maggie Doyle claims to see accidents frequently from her flat overlooking Jersey Street. “It’s madness. You take your life into your hands. I appreciate that it takes time to put in measures like speed bumps, but they should be able to put up some stop signs as a matter of urgency. Are we going to have to wait until something really awful happens?" she says.
Ancoats and Beswick Lib Dem councillor Alan Good is campaigning for a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in the area. He claims Manchester council has missed countless opportunities to address through traffic in Ancoats. “We need real solutions before somebody is seriously injured and/or killed," he says.
The council says new signage has been ordered and the authority is exploring ‘a wider pedestrianisation of the area’.
Elsewhere in the city centre, traders say plans for Stevenson Square will impact their businesses, as Ethan Davies reports. They say the proposals to permanently pedestrianise the square need updating. And they fear the reintroduction of a bus lane will mean they lose some of their outdoor seating.
Mark Aldous, who owns the Fred Aldous art supply store wants a reintroduced bus lane to be reduced in width so it is not ‘used as a taxi rank in an idling zone’. “We’ve had three windows put through by people p****d up,” he says.
While Josh Coventry, of Dusk Til Pawn, says the installation of the permanent bus stop would remove two-thirds of his outside tables. “We would only have four tables outside. On Fridays and Saturdays they are full so reducing them by two-thirds is not fantastic.”
Manchester headlines
Trial: Jurors have been hearing further evidence at the trial of former Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs. Mr Giggs is accused of displaying controlling and coercive behaviour towards Kate Greville his ex-partner, between August 2017 and November 2020, and assaulting her. He denies the charges.
Monkeypox: Health bosses have raised concerns about Monkeypox in the run up to Manchester Pride. Cases in Greater Manchester remain low, but are rising. More vaccines have been requested and the city has opened up clinics to a number of people. But Manchester received an initial supply of just 240 jabs, as opposed to the thousands already given out in London. And tests designed to return results within 48 hours are being ‘delayed by days’, according to those waiting. A local health chief has issued a 'stay at home' message to anyone who feels unwell. More here.
Trains: Avanti West Coast has suspended ticket sales and reduced Manchester to London trains to just one an hour as it limits its timetable due to an 'unofficial strike'. It will run as few as four trains per hour from Sunday. Services between London Euston and Manchester appear to be the worst affected. Mayor Andy Burnham branded the changes a 'disgrace'. "Zero consultation and a dissembling explanation. Nothing short of a disgrace from @AvantiWestCoast. We will be writing to @grantshapps later today with a clear message: set them a deadline to fix the problems or strip the franchise," he tweeted.
Going to the pictures
The Paramount Theatre opened on Manchester’s Oxford Road in 1930. It boasted seven screens and often hosted film premieres. It became the Odeon in 1939, which eventually closed in 2004. It’s now an office block.
Worth a read
Drag Queen Story Hour events have attracted protests in recent weeks. And organisers of an event due to take place in Rochdale have now postponed it indefinitely.
LGBT+ reporter Adam Maidment says these events are about acceptance and tolerance and 'the idea it is somehow sexual is ridiculous'. In an opinion piece, he says the shows for performers have ‘never been about twerking to Baby Shark, doing a seductive dress reveal during a Teletubbies-themed performance, or slipping in a cheeky 50 Shades of Grey innuendo, it’s about the exact same thing: promoting a sense of acceptance and tolerance’.
And Adam says accusations by protestors who claim the events brainwash children and promote ‘grooming’ are offensive, demeaning and inaccurate. “It’s completely fine if you don’t like drag queens - they are not to everyone’s taste - but to accuse them of grooming children when all they’re doing is reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar while wearing a lovely dress is, to put it lightly, a bit much,” he writes.
You can read the full piece here.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me, the next edition of the Mancunian Way will be with you around the same time tomorrow. If you have any stories you would like us to feature or look into, please contact me at beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk
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The answer to today’s trivia question, which Corrie actor holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-serving actor in a television soap opera, is Bill Roache, who has played Ken Barlow since 1960.
