Manchester! Part the First
I had meant to post about my exciting time in Manchester well before this but I've been so knackered that I've only just got round to it! I think it might be kind of long so I'll split it up into two parts.
I got stuck in as soon as I arrived on Thursday, by going off to City Library in the afternoon. I wanted to get the marriage records for my great-great-grandfather's marriage in 1872 and then to research his wife's family as they seemed to be in the Salford and Oldham areas. I also wanted to see if I could find out where they were buried. I'd been advised to book a microfiche reader so I had one booked from 1pm but as it turned out, I didn't need it that long. I found the marriage record very quickly and immediately noticed that the name given for his father was different to what I already had so obviously this was the wrong person! I didn't need to do any further research there because it was no longer relevant. I was rather stuck then on what I could do there so had a quick look at my notes and remembered that my grandmother's mother was from Oldham and I still needed her christening record so I had a look for that. I knew which church it was but couldn't find any mention of it in the library's archives. Turned out that the church still had all its records so I'd have to go out there. Way out to Oldham without a car. Except that the curate isn't available till after September 5th. So it was all turning out to be a bit of a wasted journey really! I spent the rest of the afternoon using their computers to access Ancestry as they have the full version and I can use it for free. So that was something at least.
Thursday night was spent at a Pride Fringe event: Lights Camera (Trans) Action where they were showing several short films all with a Trans theme. It was quite a mix of films, some were better than others. I almost missed it because I'd downloaded the Fridge Events booklet from the Pride website which said that it was taking place at The Greenroom but when I got there, I found out the entire place had closed down! I wasn't sure if it had been cancelled or moved so it was a good job I could search on my phone to check. I managed to find that it had moved to another location which I'd never heard of and happened to walk past completely by accident! i go there a few minutes before it started so that was very lucky. I particularly enjoyed Genderbusters and Bikini (which you can see in its entirety here), they were both very amusing. I Am A Girl looked really good but unfortunately it was subtitled and I couldn't see them at all due to people in front blocking my view. The only way I could get the gist of what was going on was by catching a glimpse of text here and there, and finding I could understand some of the Dutch through it's similarity to German. It's also available on YouTube, although not in my country. The Third Gender from Kit Yan was great as I already knew it would be being that I was already familiar with it. I also enjoyed My Second Puberty, especially as I know Louis who is in it. All in all, it was very enjoyable and it was nice also to see some familiar faces and catch up with people that I've not seen for ages.
Friday involved more use of Ancestry at the City Library and then a wander up to Piccadilly Gardens in search of food. I found it at Bar Burrito which had been recommended to me but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone, as my tummy did not seem to enjoy it at all the following morning. And I've managed to eat a burrito from a 7-Eleven with no ill effects! After that I had a stroll round the Arndale Centre until my feet complained and I went back to my room. One thing I did notice during my strolling round was all the I ♥ MCR and Manchester ♥ U signs that are everywhere after the riots the other week. Huge billboards, posters in shop windows, people wearing badges and stickers. It's very nice to see, although my cynical side wonders where all the love for Manchester was beforehand because it certainly wasn't so obvious then. Maybe that's one good thing that's come out of the riots.
Saturday was the Pride parade and will be continued in Manchester! Part the Second.
I got stuck in as soon as I arrived on Thursday, by going off to City Library in the afternoon. I wanted to get the marriage records for my great-great-grandfather's marriage in 1872 and then to research his wife's family as they seemed to be in the Salford and Oldham areas. I also wanted to see if I could find out where they were buried. I'd been advised to book a microfiche reader so I had one booked from 1pm but as it turned out, I didn't need it that long. I found the marriage record very quickly and immediately noticed that the name given for his father was different to what I already had so obviously this was the wrong person! I didn't need to do any further research there because it was no longer relevant. I was rather stuck then on what I could do there so had a quick look at my notes and remembered that my grandmother's mother was from Oldham and I still needed her christening record so I had a look for that. I knew which church it was but couldn't find any mention of it in the library's archives. Turned out that the church still had all its records so I'd have to go out there. Way out to Oldham without a car. Except that the curate isn't available till after September 5th. So it was all turning out to be a bit of a wasted journey really! I spent the rest of the afternoon using their computers to access Ancestry as they have the full version and I can use it for free. So that was something at least.
Thursday night was spent at a Pride Fringe event: Lights Camera (Trans) Action where they were showing several short films all with a Trans theme. It was quite a mix of films, some were better than others. I almost missed it because I'd downloaded the Fridge Events booklet from the Pride website which said that it was taking place at The Greenroom but when I got there, I found out the entire place had closed down! I wasn't sure if it had been cancelled or moved so it was a good job I could search on my phone to check. I managed to find that it had moved to another location which I'd never heard of and happened to walk past completely by accident! i go there a few minutes before it started so that was very lucky. I particularly enjoyed Genderbusters and Bikini (which you can see in its entirety here), they were both very amusing. I Am A Girl looked really good but unfortunately it was subtitled and I couldn't see them at all due to people in front blocking my view. The only way I could get the gist of what was going on was by catching a glimpse of text here and there, and finding I could understand some of the Dutch through it's similarity to German. It's also available on YouTube, although not in my country. The Third Gender from Kit Yan was great as I already knew it would be being that I was already familiar with it. I also enjoyed My Second Puberty, especially as I know Louis who is in it. All in all, it was very enjoyable and it was nice also to see some familiar faces and catch up with people that I've not seen for ages.
Friday involved more use of Ancestry at the City Library and then a wander up to Piccadilly Gardens in search of food. I found it at Bar Burrito which had been recommended to me but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone, as my tummy did not seem to enjoy it at all the following morning. And I've managed to eat a burrito from a 7-Eleven with no ill effects! After that I had a stroll round the Arndale Centre until my feet complained and I went back to my room. One thing I did notice during my strolling round was all the I ♥ MCR and Manchester ♥ U signs that are everywhere after the riots the other week. Huge billboards, posters in shop windows, people wearing badges and stickers. It's very nice to see, although my cynical side wonders where all the love for Manchester was beforehand because it certainly wasn't so obvious then. Maybe that's one good thing that's come out of the riots.
Saturday was the Pride parade and will be continued in Manchester! Part the Second.