The Kents of Manchester

Yet again I turned up on my Uncle Harry’s doorstep, asking for a handout. We bunked in the spare room and caught up with family matters. I hadn’t seen my cousins in 4 years and they had grown! Of course Harry had known we were coming and so had taken a few days off work so he could show us around. We went to Bury, Burnley (where we had a nice meal on the canal) and visited Manchester. Manchester had changed considerably since I was last there, an IRA bomb had ripped through the town centre and they had to rebuild a lot of buildings. This had a positive flow on effect though because soon enough Manchester was having a full makeover with lots of the old trashy areas getting a spruce up. On the weekend we managed to get into the local Burnley v Fulham Division One game. Kevin Keegan, soon to be England manager, was manager of Fulham and being top of the table was expected to win. Burnley however played well and won 1-0.

I caught up with my relatives over the next few days and Harry again took us out to Hebden Bridge and Howrah, home of the Bronte Sisters – no they are not a girl band. On the weekend we went into Manchester for a night out with my Uncle Stewart and his girlfriend. Beforehand we visited Granada Studios, home to TV shows. We went on the set of Coronation Street and had a pint in the Rover’s Return. The best part though was being put into a room which was to be used for an Alice in Wonderland special. The furniture was made to look as though we had shrunk and it was fun to stand next to huge toothbrushes or coffee cups and stand under huge chairs. It made you feel as if you had actually shrunk. The night out was fairly predictable, many pints were drunk and a sore head followed.

We went on the set of Coronation Street and had a pint in the Rover’s Return

It was time to farewell the family again, but like before, I would be back!