Strike Factory

Well on Saturday I made the journey to Manchester staying there until Monday to sample the music scene (esp growing up with a fondness for Madchester pop music and the legend of the Hacienda nightclub) explore city sights and meeting with the odd friend up there. I booked a nice bargain hostel in the trendy and quirky Northern Quarter area of Manchester, with loads of retro/ vintage clothing shops, DJ/ Vinyl stores and a cafe that charges 50p a minute and can eat and drink anything you want.

 

So I got familiar with my roommates who were all female (one from Norway, the other from France were friendly and looked out for me along with the kind staff). After getting used to surroundings in Northern Quarter, I was invited along to a club night at a lovely bar called Hold Fast, close to my hostel, Inside Hold Fast it had board games, comic books and retro Sega Mega Drive. The DJ's performing at Hold Fast were called Meat Free, who performed a nice house/ disco mix that sounded like a cross between Hacienda and good night's at my old haunt Audio in Brighton. The ravers were a mix of hostel guests and locals who were very warm and friendly towards me and happily danced with me, one of the DJs came out and covered our faces in glitter, reminding me of a girl who was a bit enthusiastic about decorating my face and others with eyeliner at the bar Pressure Point in Brighton back in 2006. It was one of the best clubbing/ raving nights I have ever had at Hold Fast, ticking off that I have done an ace club night in Manchester at least once in my lifetime.

The rest of my time involved travelling around Manchester taking in the sights from Old Trafford, Mediacity, to museums and historic buildings in the City Centre like Manchester Cathedral. Plus meeting old and new friends. Overall a fun few days up there.

 

This weekend I will be off to Horsham to take in my first live cricket match watching Sussex take on Lancashire, and awaiting the football season, plus looking at doing some volunteering at local museums in Crawley and Horsham area to offer my vast local history knowledge.