Manchester Autumn Wander

So the usual format of the target for a WW trip today was thwarted by the Manchester City Art Gallery being closed. Well only partially. But that was sufficient to limit our interest and enjoyment of such a wonderful venue.
The bonus however was that the gallery is located on the doorstep of Manchester's ever expanding fine Chinatown, hosting many good restaurants for all tastes - so long as its Chinese!
Apparently, the partial closure was for the undertaking of assessments for structural integrity and fire safety. A worthy reason of course. But even the staff were surprised on the morning of our visit, as it was only on that same morning the inspections were sprung upon them. So there were many headless chickens and men in yellow jackets and helmets amongst the wandering, disappointed visitors - including ourselves.
But we all found that which was available to be of considerable interest; especially if you had a penchant for fashion, sewing, knitting, and chairs. Most, if not all, of the picture and sculpture galleries were out bounds, other than the one displaying C20th art. However, that was closed to the public, not due the recently revealed building problems but because it had been hired out for a conference on the subject of artificial intelligence - AI to the likes of you and me! Perhaps they were all learning how to make copies of the masterpieces using AI.
The saving grace for the WW boys was that the cafe/bistro was open. Bizarrely the place where many fires do generally originate in a building, caused by some kitchen problem. So being served with excellent coffee in very comfortable surroundings, and the usual visit to check out the porcelain, it was time for a breather and muster the strength for phase two of the trip - Chinatown for lunch!
https://manchesterartgallery.org

Nov'26