Manchester Venues 145 to 146

The National Football Museum was conceived in the 1990’s and subsequently opened its doors in 2001. Its location was Preston North End’s Deepdale stadium and was home to many artefacts which evolved into the Football Heritage collection. I could not think of a more justifiable host as in my view Preston is the home of football as they were one of the twelve founding members of the league in 1888. In that initial season they won the FA Cup and the league without losing a game and as a result were then forever tagged as the ‘Invincibles’.   

The original ‘Invincibles’. Image Credit These Football Times.

In the women’s game the first and most famous team was the Dick Kerr Ladies who were a factory team in Preston formed in 1917. In 1920 they defeated an illustrious French team 2-0 in front of a 25,000 crowd, a historic first international women’s football game. On Boxing Day 1920 they played a charity match against St Helens Ladies who they beat 4-0 at Goodison Park with 53,000 spectators packed in, a world record for a women’s club match that lasted for a further 98 years.

The following year the FA disgracefully banned women from using fields and stadiums controlled by FA-affiliated clubs and the ban stayed in place for an astounding 50 years until 1971. Dick Kerr Ladies stayed in existence until 1965, and they had a remarkable record of winning 682 of the 755 games they played. If I was a filmmaker that sounds like a movie script I would be interested in!

Despite being popular the museum closed in Preston in 2010 and relocated to the Urbis building in Manchester. It was caused by a combination of local council ineptitude but also ‘big city’ pressure that caused the move, and for that second reason alone I begin to chunner when I walk past the museum and have never attended there since it was moved from its spiritual home!

As I unpack my imaginary soapbox and place it back in the metaphorical cupboard, I shall move away from the Urbis building to the Cathedral Gardens that lie adjacent to it. This area was a car park back in the day and the green open space now in place was only developed after the damage caused by the IRA bomb in 1996. It is situated nearby to the flagship Mark and Spencer’s store which at the stage of its opening was the largest in the world. 

Manchester Cathedral Gardens. Image Credit Pinterest.

During the spring and summer months they have sporadic food and music events and currently have a Christmas ice skating rink in place there. One such gathering took place within the auspices of the Manchester International Festival in July 2021 as we were just beginning to drag ourselves out of the Covid pandemic period. As a result of the increased checks still in place at that stage, we were in a long queue on entry and then were escorted to a table. The stewards perhaps unwittingly placed us with a fine viewpoint of Manchester Cathedral Gardens Stage 1, but there were no complaints from myself as my 16-month drought of witnessing a live band was about to reach a denouement.    

The weather thankfully was set fair and behaving itself. There was the obligatory app available to download and link up with the surrounding vendors, thus cold beers and pizzas were summarily ordered. The first band we saw were the Goa Express from Burnley who contain in their ranks the Clarke brothers. Last year they released their self-titled debut album, and I have heard them many times played on 6 music. They provided a pleasing slab of fuzzy garage rock, reminiscent somewhat of Nine Black Alps.  

The Goa Express. Image Credit brightonandhovenews.org

At that point we spotted Tris and her pals (unfortunately not a band!) who were ensconced on a nearby table and via text messaging we surreptitiously manipulated a ‘chance’ meeting to have a quick parlay and a catch up. The other act to play was a local DJ crossover act called Chips with Everything (not half rice, half chips!) who have been part of the leftfield circuit for over two decades.

If we then swivelled and faced in the opposite direction, we had a slightly more obstructed view of Manchester Cathedral Gardens Stage 2 where we saw Porij (a deliberate mispronunciation of Porridge) play. They are a four-piece art-pop Manchester act who met initially at the Royal Northern College of Music a couple of years earlier. They have since garnered Coldplay support slots and then released their debut album ‘Teething’ in April 2024.

Lancaster Venues 17 to 19

This week I will continue the tale of the Lancaster Live festival which we attended on a brutally cold day in October 2023. After gathering the band back together at the Marketgate arcade a splinter group then formed consisting of Gill, Marcus, Anita and I and off in search of venues we popped. But prior to all of that we grabbed some much needed hot snacks from one of the plentiful stalls around Market Square.  

A small eight tabled restaurant was initially opened above the Palatine in Morecambe before the relocation of the Lancaster Secret Bistro to Sun Street in the town. They took ownership of the building that had previously housed the Sun Café, the tagline described their cuisine as ‘Northern fine dining without the pomp and the faff’. They had a separate area called the Humbug Room, so named because of the ‘Everton Mint’ black and white striped interior.

Lancaster Secret Bistro. Image Credit tripadvisor.co.uk

They opened there in October 2021 and quickly garnered some fine reviews before tragedy struck the following year when the chef and restaurant owner Gavin Riley passed away at the tender young age of 44. The staff vowed to carry on his legacy which they did until its subsequent closure at the end of 2023. The site reopened in May 2024 as a cocktail bar and grill under the moniker Marula Monkey, a Marula I have since discovered is a South African fruit-bearing tree.    

It was a slightly odd choice as a venue because when we entered the act was playing in the corner of a working restaurant room with diners in the middle of enjoying their meal. The lass singing was called Amy Rae and she lived locally and had a strong gospel type voice. Due to the layout and resultant viewing restrictions, we didn’t tarry long before moving on the next venue on the list.

We walked down past one of my favourite pubs in Lancaster, the Sun Inn where they stock the mighty fine Lancaster Brewery beers. Thus, we then arrived out onto Church Street and directly across the road was Lancaster Cappuvino Bar and Restaurant.

The Cappuvino opened its doors in 2019 and is cited as a restaurant and wine bar and the food has received such stellar references, they ended up being winners of a TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award in 2021. We landed there about 17.00 hours, and the main room was absolutely jam packed, and Anita endeavoured to purchase a beverage at the bar. In a space in the corner a solo artist called James Candlin was playing.

Lancaster Cappuvino, Anita may still be at the bar! Image Credit cappuvino.co.uk

At this point and to feed my ongoing gig venue addiction I shuffled out of the pub door and headed further down the street to Lancaster Crafty Scholar. Originally in that very spot was the Litten Tree which changed into Yates Wine lodge in 2010 before morphing into the current establishment in 2015.

The emporium is owned by the Stonegate Pub company who originally formed in 2010 with 333 pubs but that portfolio has now risen exponentially to around 4500. They also own the Penny Bank and Pendle Witch pubs in town and additionally the Popworld 1980’s retro themed bars.

Lancaster Crafty Scholar. Image Credit opentable.co.uk

The Scholar has an inviting layout in the vein of the Hogshead hostelries. Located near to the main door there was an acoustic musician called Barrett Tones performing. I watched a couple of tunes and then scampered back to the Cappuvino.

Now, as if time had stood still reminiscent of a sci-fi movie script, Anita remained perched at the bar having still not being served. In response to the question I was posed as to where I had been, I replied that I had just been ticking another gig and venue off.  For some inexplicable reason, no discernible surprise was expressed after my response to their query!