We spent most of the day in or near Shaw where we cleaned up Gordon’s family grave. Chris and Heather Beddows met us for lunch and took us to what used to be the Fisherman’s at Hollingworth Lake – it’s now a wine bar… In the old days this was a very scruffy pub, but not any more. The four of us walked around the Lake (about 3 miles). Chris and Heather took us back to Shaw tram stop for the ride back in to town. We met Janet and John Mitchell at the Port Street Beer House and then had dinner at a restaurant in the Northern Quarter.

Manchester has moved on a long way from the depressed place it was in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. It’s now a very lively high-energy place. It still has its seedy side too, but there is building work everywhere so there must be a lot of optimism.

The Manchester Graffiti has some big murals including references to some of the famous Manchester bands on the 1980s and 1990s like the Smiths and Stone Roses. The Band on the Wall is now a non-profit music venue, but the Twisted Wheel has closed because the building has been demolished, It was still operating until fairly recently. Gordon saw some famous names there in his mis-spent youth.