Clever piece. I couldn’f stop reading, even though nothing much was happening. Reads like the opening of a Simenon story to be recalled every time I drive along Victoria Avenue towards Middleton Road, like the urban fox that once stared at me years ago, when I waited for those traffic lights at 04:15.
When I read a piece like this, and then a piece about that flashy sushi restaurant in town back to back…it’s like they’re entirely different worlds (those who can pay £540
a couple for a meal out, those who exist on benefits with nothing to spare for treats) rather than both being Manchester.
But then the workers at the sushi restaurant weren’t being paid properly and were struggling financially because of it. And it becomes clear they are absolutely part of the same world.
I love Manchester so much, but I’m glad The Mill shows the full spectrum of how people live here, not just the fancy restaurants and culture. This was a great, thoughtful piece. Ditto the one about old-school Ancoats residents feeling looked down on by the middle class incomers.
It's good to get an insight into an individual who. like many others, quietly exists around us but who we never notice. Also an estate which we may pass any day without ever wondering who lives there and what it's like. When we hear so many loud, demanding voices in society it's easy to forget how many are just anonymously getting from day to day.
Clever piece. I couldn’f stop reading, even though nothing much was happening. Reads like the opening of a Simenon story to be recalled every time I drive along Victoria Avenue towards Middleton Road, like the urban fox that once stared at me years ago, when I waited for those traffic lights at 04:15.
When I read a piece like this, and then a piece about that flashy sushi restaurant in town back to back…it’s like they’re entirely different worlds (those who can pay £540
a couple for a meal out, those who exist on benefits with nothing to spare for treats) rather than both being Manchester.
But then the workers at the sushi restaurant weren’t being paid properly and were struggling financially because of it. And it becomes clear they are absolutely part of the same world.
I love Manchester so much, but I’m glad The Mill shows the full spectrum of how people live here, not just the fancy restaurants and culture. This was a great, thoughtful piece. Ditto the one about old-school Ancoats residents feeling looked down on by the middle class incomers.
Such a beautiful and poignant piece. What proper journalism is all about -the stories of how people really live.
It's good to get an insight into an individual who. like many others, quietly exists around us but who we never notice. Also an estate which we may pass any day without ever wondering who lives there and what it's like. When we hear so many loud, demanding voices in society it's easy to forget how many are just anonymously getting from day to day.