A cultural city

Jul 29 2008 Mr Brocklebank, Liverpool Daily Post

MR BROCKLEBANK hears that the Royal Opera House is starting a long- term relationship with the biennial Manchester Festival after the successful transfer to London of former Blur frontman Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West.

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The ROH will take future Manchester-made operas, with Rufus Wainwright possibly writing next year’s opus. Also Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein and the ROH are apparently planning a national opera and dance centre in east Manchester. Don’t they know we are European Capital of Culture?

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A NEW bistro has opened in Smithdown Road, wittily called Ate Days A Week. Let us hope they earn lots of money, that’s what they want (ching, ching!).

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WHILE it was an artistically bold decision to lay pale grey tiles along Liverpool’s Church Street and Lord Street, in the new wavy river of whatever pattern, it has proved to be a practical failure. Swathes of black rubber tyre marks from delivery and service vans now smear the surface. Perhaps the council’s fabled, but rarely seen chuddy-buster vehicle could be adapted to rectify these horrible marks?

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THANKFULLY the Ministry of Defence laptop containing "sensitive information" stolen last Thursday while an official checked out of Liverpool’s Britannia Adelphi Hotel has been recovered. So much for MoD intelligence, clearly unaware of past claims that theft at the Adelphi entirely distorted Liverpool hotel crime figures.

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IS NOT now the time for good men to come together and keel- haul those moronic planners guiltly of such bad timing over the Pier Head’s rebuilding? Having attracted huge crowds from across the universe to the Tall Ships’ Races event, these guests were unable even to use a temporary riverfront viewing area there. However, Mr Brocklebank was gratified to observe that the dozen or so construction workers on the new Museum of Liverpool site laid down tools and safely enjoyed a clear view of the Parade, unobstructed by tiresome visitors.

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THE ultimate accolade for the Tall Ships event is that there were no queues at the ladies’ toilets. When did such an occurence ever happen? Knebworth, Silverstone, Glastonbury, Donnington Park, St John’s shopping precinct – there is always crowded chaos for ladies. And these were not thunderboxes, but toilets worthy of Hillside station’s new "open" loos. How good, also, to see the event organiser, Judith Feather, of Liverpool Culture Company, back in the big-time saddle, with her touch very apparent everywhere.

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LIVERPOOL Lime Street station looked like a proper mainline terminus over the Tall Ships weekend with nine extra specials delivering some 3,500 visitors from around the UK. Station manager Roy Greenhalgh was spotted looking almost happy.