Tom Jones – jimmysgigapedia.com

Manchester Venues 179 to 180

It recently came to my attention that there are Thursday night live music events in a couple of hostelries in Didsbury village. So, on the 15^th May this year I enrolled Marcus for a jaunt around the streets and also to have an overdue catch up over a couple of cold brews. When I first moved over to Manchester we did visit the Manchester Art of Tea a couple of times on Barlow Moor Road, but I had not frequented for a while so made that our initial meeting point.

Art of Tea. Image Credit spottedbylocals.com

The café bar is owned by Ryan Thompson and Karen Schofield who after working in a suite of Manchester bars decided to open their own business in 2010 in the location of a former record shop. Within a month of opening, the establishment had signed up with the Manchester Food and Drink festival. It is a cosy little European style establishment with a long narrow main room on entry with a scattering of seats outside.

They operate as a café during the daylight hours with tidy breakfasts and tempting fresh cakes before morphing into an informal bar in the evening and additionally they have the quirky touch of a display of tea pots that have been donated to them. It also doubles up as a picture framer and a second-hand bookshop with a further room at the rear displaying their current selection.

In 2014, they began to stage Thursday Music nights with an open mic and also featured bands. The events were organised by the local musician and promoter Matt Hibbert, and they ran for a spell of five years. He also set up specific ‘Artist tribute’ nights and hosted amongst others Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young evenings. A couple of regular performers in that period, namely Ayanam Udoma and Chloe Jones apparently appeared on the Voice TV programme and the former was chosen to be coached by Tom Jones.

Ayanam Udoma. Image Credit thesun.ie

On my arrival on the night, I discovered a ‘Jimmy bonus’ as unbeknownst to myself I had happened to land on a rebooted Music evening. The place was very busy, but we purloined a couple of continental beers from the bar and managed to squeeze onto a small table at the back.

First up to the microphone was the new promoter and local singer called Emily Mercer who performed a short acoustic set. Her first musical foray was at the age of 13 when she played guitar in an emo band before she decided that the piano was now her instrument of choice. She was also one of the co-founders of the Manchester Women Songwriters collective. She has appeared at the Manchester Jazz Festival and has also released a slew of singles.

We decided to hang around for the next act as they were playing in quick succession, which transpired to be an acoustic two-piece with the distinctive name of Jimmy Page XI. The main singer has been performing on the local circuit for around three years, and they played some jaunty upbeat tunes with active audience participation including the punters sat outside the open doors.

As you walk back to the junction and turn left into Wilmslow Road there was for a short spell a bar called Juicebox but after that closed it was reopened as a cocktail bar called Bunny’s Outpost. This is the latest outlet of the Bunny’s Dive Bars chain and adds on the four existing branches located in the city centre.

Saints and Scholars. Image Credit tripadvisor.co.uk

Just beyond there and prior to reaching the library you will find Manchester Saint and Scholars, which has been a bar and restaurant situated in very that spot since approximately 2008. I can only assume the name derives from Irish history where in the 5^th century following the collapse of the Roman Empire the country managed to stay immune from all the resultant European turmoil. As a consequence, on an intellectual and artistic front they entered into what is now described as ‘Ireland’s Golden Age’ which then derived the title of ‘Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum’ which translates as the Island of Saints and Scholars.

There are a few outside tables and a small bar area when you enter the ivy clad building which opens out into a larger main room where we have dined a couple of times. The venue also contains worryingly wonky stairs up to the lavatories. On the evening of our visit a band called Ceilidh Boys were playing a chilled set in the function room area.

Lytham Gigs

One of the things I have missed since moving to Manchester is not having easy access to the seaside, there is something wholly soothing to me about gazing out into the blue expanse! The nearest point to Preston was about 10 miles down the road to Lytham/Lytham St Annes. It can sometimes be a ‘ladies who lunch’ type of place but I am nonetheless very fond.

As a train buff there is the bonus of a single-track line which rolls through en route to its final destination of Blackpool South Shore. In St Annes, there is a terrific Chinese restaurant called Zen which we visited a few times. I recall also on my stag do alighting and visiting the pub by the station (there is always one!) and at that point PNE being 3-1 down to Lincoln with 20 minutes to go but then turning it around much to our merriment into a 4-3 win!

It is about 30 minutes’ walk to Lytham from there either down the wide sand strewn streets or the beach/sea front. On the way you pass the white church, numerous beach huts and Fairhaven Lake where there is a decent pitch and putt course where a group of us use to salve our hangovers on a Sunday morning. Nearby is the Royal Lytham golf course utilised by the British Open approximately every 15 years and savvy residents rent out their houses to international golfers in much the same way Wimbledon residents do every year.

Also, in the 1980’s there was a terrific open-air pool with a couple of water slides, I remember in one of the summer holidays (1982/83ish) visiting regularly as my mate’s mum used to drive us over. The only downside was that it contained sea water which was very unpleasant to swallow! It reminds me also of another open-air pool nearer home in Haslam Park Preston which I used to visit.

See the source image — Fairhaven Lake. Image Credit Geograph Britain and Ireland.

Those roads between Lytham and St Annes are a challenge to cycle due to considerable cross winds which I can testify to as it formed the last few miles of the 100km Manchester to Blackpool ride which I completed once in 2012. On arrival in Lytham, you reach a mile-long pleasant grassy area facing the sea and the incumbent old lighthouse.

In the early 2000’s a group of us went to watch Lancashire play at Lytham’s cricket ground on a ridiculously hot day. I was a tad over cautious with the sun cream earning me the temporary nickname of Casper the friendly ghost! It was so close to town we had time in the lunch interval to scoot down to the County Arms for a refreshing pint of Boddingtons – the Cream of Manchester.

There are many cafes and restaurants dotted around the main square. In that vein and again, on my stag do we feasted on Square Pizzas from one of the establishments, I don’t know why but I found the simple concept of the shape of the pizza rather appealing, and I am sure it tasted better as a result!

There are around half a dozen pubs in town and my favourite is the Malt and Hops with its olde worlde charm. They are also blessed with a plethora of real ales, and I once had the dubious pleasure of sampling coriander beer there!

There is a huge pub called the Queens on the coast road facing the sea. Uncle George and I once had a lively session in there downing several pints of Old Peculiar before a hazy trip back on the last bus!

On the musical front, Lytham has developed its own niche with its very own festival which has just passed its 10-year anniversary and is held on the green opposite the Queens. In its early days it was an 80’s festival throwback but has burgeoned its reputation in the last few years with Tom Jones, Stereophonics and Kylie gracing the stage. I have never yet made an appearance, but Gill has attended a couple of shindigs there.

Nearby on Station Road lies a posh Wetherspoons, if that is not an oxymoron? In its previous life it was a spit and sawdust pub called the Hansom Cab where bands occasionally used to play. In May 2000 I saw a noisy covers band called Discovery there.

Much like St Annes and any town worth its salt there is a pub right next to the station. The last train back to Preston was at a commendable ten to midnight meaning you could amble out of the pub at 11.45pm and walk the 50 yards to the platform in time for the train.

The pub Is called the Station Hotel and the bands used to play on a stage right in the middle of the long thin hostelry. In 2012, I saw two gigs there and the bands in question were Stonecycle and Dance Hall Giants.

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