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; Visit To Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire.

Hi readers,

On Saturday, my boyfriend and I visited Bolton Abbey in The Yorkshire Dales near Skipton. It was just over an hour's drive from his home in Preston and the Abbey has been on our to do list for about a year now. I did visit a few years back and there might even be an old post on here about it! But my boyfriend hasn't been and I thought it was a day out we both would enjoy.

Set in wonderful countryside with the river wharfe weaving it's way around and boarding on one side Barden moors and further up the ancient Strid woodland is the ruins of an Augustinian Priory dating back to 1100's and the Priory Church. The whole area is so picturesque and fascinating to explore.

There are three car parks to pick from; one at the village and entrance to the abbey, one in the middle at the Cavendish Pavilion, where I chose to park and the third close to Strid woods. Each car park is close to cafes, toilets and shops etc. We when were arrived large groups of people had set up 'camp' for the day and it was really busy. We had lunch and then decided to go to the Valley of Desolation on the moors.

However, we didn't make it! We walked for 40 minutes along a path that was more of a track other people had made through dense woodland and brush. Along the way we meet people who had decided to turn back because the path was too narrow and steep in some places. Despite being determined to get there, we had to give up as it started to look dangerous.

We doubled back and went to visit the Abbey, firstly though we took a break in these giant beach chairs!

We had the option to cross the bridge, which we choice or to take a chance on the stepping stones - see next photo. The river was really low due to all the hot, dry weather England has been experiencing this summer. So, it probably was a good time to cross the stones but they were busy and later on we saw two children slip and fall off them. That made feel like it had been a good idea not to cross via the stepping stones!

The abbey ruins are huge and since a lot of the walls and window frames are still in place its easy to picture what this place would have looked like. There is also a surrounding graveyard but you can't walk around the headstones and have to stay on the pathways. 

Even though it's a little bit sad to see such a once grand place reduced down, lucky the church survived and is still in use today. Inside, gives ideas about how the rest of the priory would have looked. The stain glass windows are really something to behold and they are so tall! At the back of a church are a few tables were you can by religious items, guidebooks and other things to help support the church and remember the day. I brought two wooden crosses, three postcards and two bookmarks.  

The church is so quiet and peaceful. It was also a nice place to get away from the sun from! The weather forecast had said it was going to be cloudy with some patchy sun, but it was actually clear and hotter then that! I could have spent more time in the church but we had a 30 minute walk back to the car, so we had to leave. 

Expect from when we went onto the moor, we were either following the river or going against it.

There were a lot of people, swimming, paddling, catching fish and bugs, playing with their dogs or just chilling on the shore. The river actually seemed more of a draw then the abbey. I can understand all that and not just because of the nice summer weather but because the river is super pretty and the countryside it meanders through adds to the appeal.  

We did sit a few times and watched the river, the people and their dogs having fun. I was half tempted to go for a paddle myself but we hadn't brought a towel and I was driving. Maybe next time! 

Overall, we both had a great day out. I can see us coming back to Bolton Abbey again as it's a great place to walk and we only did some of it! Next time I'd like to see the woods and try to get to the valley.

Thanks for reading!