September Life Update; Manchester Bee Trail (Part 2)

Hi readers,

It's been a few weeks since my last post and I've some more bee statues to add to the collection. Most of these were taken a few weeks back when my boyfriend and I went to do more of the trail on the other side of Manchester. The rest were the day before that or in the weeks that have followed.

I still have lot more to find! I'm hoping next weekend, which will be the last one, to visit whole bunch we missed. Before that, maybe on Thursday, I'll drive around to see the others that are outside the city centre. Then in October to go to the goodbye event and see all the bees together! 

Before we went back to the centre, we visited Heaton park which is local to me and a place I use to have Sunday family walks around. We took my dog, though I don't think she was that impressed! There where two bees here and we found them both. The first bee was outside the new bee keeping section around the back of the old Heaton Hall. The second was at the boating lake, which was busy with people eating ice cream and being out on the lake in rowing boats. There was also two of the little bees in the cafe!

The next day, I had planned out a route for us to visit the bees I watched to see. The route on the map is a little confusing and has you zig zagging around the centre. We had all ready seen a few clusters of bees, so I wanted to do the ones that were furthest away and including a few at the start of the list! Then we were to walk back towards the car park. 

We got the free bus to Piccadilly train station. The first bee is right outside!

We then weaved our way towards the Gmex, Bridgewater hall and Deansgate station. We saw lots of bees, including three that I hadn't planned to due to getting lost! 

The next photo is not a bee but a sculpture in memory of the man who invited vimto which happened in an apartment close by here. Vimto is one of my favourite drinks! It's a strong and fruity, black current base which you add water - cold or hot to. I did know before hand it was made in Manchester, but I didn't know where. Now, thanks to the bee trail I do.  

We were mostly weaving through streets at this point, heading to the art gallery and Princess street. It was there that I found what has become my favourite bee! It's hard to pick one out of the 101 and though I like the one outside my work, the one below just really got to me. I really like the colour wash, like a sunset and the positive quotes and images. The wolf and the dreamcatcher paintings drew me too. 

We then headed over to the Science and industry museum which is one of my favourite museums. To get to their bee, you had to go inside and into the courtyard at the front. They had built a bees' garden there and it was a nice place to sit for a few minutes.   

We then walked to Deansgate and had lunch before seeing some more bees. Though we almost didn't as I really hadn't thought about how much walking we would do. I knew it would be a lot but it was so much! I don't think you could do all the bees in the city centre in a day, it's just too tiring. We did decided to carry on though and we saw a few more bees. There was about 3 or 4 in this area we didn't see. I had gotten too tried. 

I really like this bee above as it's steampunk like! 

The second to last bee we found was this one called Shellbee which is inside a theatre. It's super different to all the others as it lights up, makes sounds and has a fluffy coat. It was made for kids with disabilities and was designed by a special needs school where my sister in law works at. I really liked Shellbee and it was nice to see a very different take on the bee statues. She was super popular and it was hard getting photos!   

I know the next photo isn't a bee but I just had to take it. I saw this musical at this theatre back in like 2016. I really liked it and it was a nice reminder of a good evening out. Plus, Little Shop Of Horrors is super good!

On the way back we stopped and saw this bee at a church in Collyhust. It was the last one of the day. It's close to the bee at my work and I'm glad to have ticked it off the list as I've been trying too for awhile! 

The last bee for this post is this one, which we missed last time, though I'm not sure how, guess we had walked on the streets either side. I spotted it today on the way to the cinema and had to add it to the collection! 

That's it for this post. Next week, will hopefully be part 3. 

Thanks for reading!

August Life Update; Manchester Bee Trail (Part 1)

Hi Readers,

Currently taking my home city of Manchester, England, by storm are these amazing bee statues. I've been excited about them since I first heard of them and this weekend I got to do little bit of the bee trail! 

The trail covers all of Manchester city centre and some of the surrounding towns. It would be hard to do in a day and though I'd like to see them all, there's a few I know I won't get too. But there is an event close to the end of September which will see all the bees together in one place and I hope to go to that to get the bees I've missed. That's why this post says part 1 as it's a subject I'll carry on updating throughout the next month.

I had already seen about four of the bees before yesterday, including the one above which is outside the building where I work! All the bees have names and this one is called Harpurbee which is very fitting as it's named after the town it's in. I get to see this bee often and I enjoy watching people admire it. Each bee has a placard which says its name, who designed it and sponsored it.

To me it feels like the bee statues are bring Manchester together and getting people talking. They are interesting works of art, each created by different people and groups. The bee has been a symbol of Manchester for years as the Victorian workers were described as hard working bees and it's become the national animal of Manchester. During the aftermath of last year's Manchester Area Bombing the Manchester bee came a symbol for everyone to show support and hope. The bee statues don't have anything to do with this but I like the connect in my head.

These two bees below were the second and third bees I saw as they were next to the Comic Con event back in July. 

There are 101 bees all together and yesterday I saw 15 of them, so I'm up to 19 off the list now. There are also lots of little bee statues which sit inside public places like libraries, museums and art galleries. The area my boyfriend and I did was around the Arndale Centre, Piccadilly gardens and some of the northern quarter. We stopped first in the bee pop up shop to get a trail map and postcards. Then we set off! 

It was good fun walking around and spotting the bees. We hardly used the map as I knew the location of a few already and the way we walked meant we came past more. There were a few close to the end we had to look up though as they were not as easy to spot. I took lots of photos, but I picked the best ones below to share. 

I was sad when it was time to head back home. I really wanted to see more but we didn't have the time. We will have to come back another day to see some more! I have the map now, so I can plan out a route to see as many as possible next time! So that's post will continue at a later date. 

That's all for now readers, till next time.

August Life Update; Flash back to July part 2. Birmingham bear hunt and London trip

Hi readers,

In July, I went to Birmingham for a night and a day then on to London for two days and two nights. I had visited Birmingham before a few years back whilst on a canal boat holiday and stopped in what's known as the Birmingham basin. This time, I stayed in the city center and I had a really good time. Currently, they have this bear statue hunt on and there's like over 200 bear statues and some little bears to find. I had great fun doing this and it also helped me navigate about the town center. My favorite bear has to be the first one I found; Shakesbear.  

Around the church yard there were lots and I spent time taking photos and looking at the gravestones. It was a nice place to chill. I went inside the church too and saw the pretty stained glass windows.

My favorite bears here where Peony the panda and this love hearted one. There was also a jungle bear and a metal bear called Snowy.

 I then went over to the art gallery and museum which I'd picked to spend the afternoon in. On the way I found some more bears! This moon and star one is so cute.

Everyone loves the Spock bear.

My favorite in this section had to by Olly bear because he was so funny. Lots of people wanted their photo with him.

It was also at this point I helped someone to find a bear. I had a printed out map but it made it easier as I had already seen and taken a photo of the bear she wanted to see. Later, I picked up a real map from the train station and discovered the locations of all the bears!

I also liked this bear with a northern lights theme. Then I went on to the art gallery and museum. They had a lot of the little bears there and I too far too many photos to post up here. I looked round and did enjoy it, but with the weather being so nice and the wanting to find other bears, I left early.

The bear who cares a lot was the first bear on my list but I didn't find her until we had got back to the train station. She was the last bear I found because we then had to leave for London. I did so want to stay and look for other bears though!

I had a good wander around Birmingham city center and I really enjoyed it. There was lots of shops and people, who were all interesting to watch. I found a cool Japan shop and brought some presents for myself and my boyfriend. I found this like hidden cathedral and this cool waterfall, which the water falls over a poem about the city and it's really interesting to watch. I'll miss Birmingham and hopefully I can go back someday. 

London

Next came two nights and two days in London. Sadly, I wasn't feeling well and choice the first day just to stay close to the hotel which was in Blackfriars, so I just had a wander around there. I walked alongside the Thames and I saw the Eye. I've been on it a few years ago and I saw some of the bridges and some boats. It was a nice walk under lots of trees. 

Then, just wondering about, I found St. Bride's church. I think I'd past it last time I was in London but this time I decided to check it out. It's really small and pretty. The old woman at the desk was so nice and happy too. I went down to see the crypt which had some buried headstones inside of it. No one actually knew about the crypt and foundations until the a second world war bomb hit the church. Then they found that it dated back a long time.

This is like a underground chapel that's just off the main crypt. It was really quiet and cool down here. I took a few moments to chill out.

From there I went to St. Paul's and had a walk around the gardens which I'd missed last time. I also saw and went on the Millennium bridge which felt a bit weird crossing. I only went like half way because I had no reason to cross to the other side.  

View of St. Paul's from Millennium Bridge. 

The next day, I was feeling worse, but I couldn't stay in the the hotel as we'd checked out. I went to see The Temple church which wasn't far away. Though I did get lost and had to ask a doorman where it was. There are lots of doorman in London and they may seem scary but they are actually nice and helpful.

You have to pay to get into The Temple church, but its' worth it. Inside is really nice and bright, it's quiet expect from when a load of tourists come in! They had lots of history information up but I was distracted by the knight statues. It actually took me a good few minutes to figure out this was the Knight's Templar church! You can go to the first floor and look down which gives a nice view of the structure of the tower.

There's lots of knights and other important people statues. There are like from the 1300 and have worn a bit. I found that there wasn't much information about them and some of the statues haven't been identified! There are some memory stones too and it was interesting to read some of them.

The Templar's have a thing about Pegasus, I saw a lot whilst I was there in all the designs of the floor and hangings. There was also one in a stained glass window. I should have asked what it meant, but I forgot.  

I also liked all these little faces which came out of the sides of the tower. These two were like the cheekiest as most were sensible. They made me laugh though.  

I also liked all the old Bibles, prayer and hymn books there were in the pews. I took some cool photos of them. This one is my favorite though. 

Temple Church is really nice and if you want to escape the busy flow of London It's a good place to just sit and chill. Though I'd prefer St. Bride's as it's less busy with tourists.

You can't get into the gardens, even though I wanted to. I had to make do with the courtyard. It was nice with this water fountain, though it was really loud. I read my book for a bit and then had to go back to the place my mum was at because I still wasn't feeling great.

I wished I'd been better and bale to travel around London more. There's so much more I want to see there. Maybe next year when I hopefully go for my birthday.

That's all for now anyway. I'm off to Sweden on Thursday, so my next post will be all about that. In the meantime please check out my other blog; https://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/ I write a new shor story everyday on there.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!