Archive for September, 2009
Poet and novelist, Sophie Hannah, will be leading a workshop at Urbis on 12 October, 2009. Sophie is the author of works including, Hurting Distance, Little Face and The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.
The event will be taking place in the Modern on Level 6 of Urbis from 11.00am to 1.00pm. Tickets can be purchased at the information desk in the Urbis foyer or by calling 0161-605-8200. Tickets are £5 and places are limited.
September 29th, 2009
Was Dr. John Dee (1527-1609)a brilliant scientist or misguided mystic? The debate rages on, 400 years after his death in 1609. Earlier this week, scholars met in Cambridge to try an rescue the reputation of the Elizabethian thinker.
Dr. Dee’s career spanned an era when the distinction between modern science and mysticism was not so clear cut. Unlike some of the other big names of that time, John Dee never made a blockbuster scientific discovery. He was an expert on algebra, made contributions to navigation and had the largest private library of his day, but his reputation as a conjurer of spirits and necromancer has stuck. He wasn’t an Isaac Newton (1642-1727)who discovered gravity or introduced a ground-breaking theory of the Universe. Newton, like Dee, wrote exhaustively on alchemy and Biblical codes, but his reputation is preserved because of his scientific discoveries.
It’s interesting that Chetham’s Library (located next to Urbis) has connections to both Newton and Dee, connections that reflect the reputations of both. The library is home to a 1st edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia, a foundational text of western science, while Dee’s connection is much more sinister. According to legend, when Dee was the Warden of Manchester Collegiate Church (1595) he summoned the Devil himself in his office. The scorch mark on the oak table in the audit room remains as reputed evidence of Satan’s hoof print.
September 25th, 2009
Panelists have been confirmed for the next session of the Urbis Research Forum. The Science of the City session is running in conjunction with the Manchester Science Festival and explores themes including architecture, mapping, communication and urban geography. The three panelists taking part are Greg Keeffe (Leeds Metropolitan University), Jon Porter (Technical Director, Countryscape) and Prof. Trevor Cox (University of Salford).
The panel dicsussion will take place on 26 October at 6.00pm. It is free of charge and there is no need to book.
September 23rd, 2009
Urbis Blogs made a return visit to the Miller Street carpark archaeological dig. Things have moved on since our last view two weeks ago, with the archaeologists now concentrating on the north side of the site. Here the remains of the former St. Michael’s public house are being uncovered, shifting attention to the 1930s when it was last occupied.
It seems quite modern compared to your typical archaeological site, but the items recovered in the corners of the pub cellar have a strong attachment to local history, and particularly local brewing. Bottles from the now defunct Chester’s brewery which was once located near Miller Street have been uncovered as well as a 1920’s bottle of Boddingtons. Gin bottles, still a quarter full, have also been dug up.
Steve Tamburello, our guide around the site, says the dig is attracting more and more attention from passersby – particularly from those who have read The Gangs of Manchester, an account of the late Victorian youth gangs who terrorised the streets. One gang of scuttlers, the ‘Meadow Lads’, considered this area their territory and some members would have been itinerant lodgers of the houses on Charter street.
A public open day of the archaeological site is planned. We will keep you updated.
September 16th, 2009
The Modern, the cosy, intimate bar and restaurant nestled at the top of Urbis, has been honoured in the prestigious Which? Good Food Guide 2010, which lists a careful selection of just 1,200 establishments throughout Great Britain and features as one of just 11 Manchester restaurants given a full listing!
The team at Urbis, who run The Modern, are understandably delighted, and with a listing which speaks of The Modern offering ‘verve, cocktails and cooking with intent’ with drinks in the Bar ‘some of the finest in the city’, who wouldn’t be? It’s a great addition to a year which has brought a number of awards and nominations including Tourism Bar of the Year and the Taste of Manchester awards, and is an indication of just how hard they’ve worked since its opening in 2007.
Thom Hetherington, (Managing director of Moorfield Media, responsible for the Northern Restaurant & Bar and Northern Hospitality Awards) said it was “A big success for a very Mancunian, local and regional dining experience.”
And Vaughan Allen, Chief Executive at Urbis, expressed his thoughts on getting into the guide, “Our presence in the guide…shows we have achieved a place in the hearts, minds and stomachs of the restaurant-goers of the city and the north-west.”
Visit The Modern, on the 5th&6th floors of Urbis and sample the fantastic cocktails and new Taste of Manchester menu!
And with the results of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival being announced on Monday 12 October watch this space to see whether we collect the prestigious Restaurant of the Year and Chef of the Year Awards.
www.themodernmcr.co.uk
September 15th, 2009
For the next 7 weeks Miller Street Carpark won’t be your typical carpark – it has become the site of an extensive archaeological dig. Today, Urbis Blogs had a chance to visit the site.
The focus of the dig is on the slum dwellings that once lined the street, leading up to the old Angel Meadow area. Beneath the ripped up tarmac and excavated soil are the ruins of the cellars. These were once houses unto themselves and reports from the 1870s claim that close to 20 adults, with additional children, would be living in a single cellar residence. Steve, a site archaeologist and our guide, had these reports to hand as well as a series of historic street maps and a copy of Engels’ Condition of the Working Class in England. For archaeologists, having this amount of contemporary documentation about a site before you dig is rare. But that’s what makes digging industrial history different – the details are already there, but the dig brings them back to life physically.
The cellars are primitively built and are typically only one brick thick. This is particularly difficult for the archaeologists as when the soil is removed the walls are liable to fall. Bearing in mind that the privy and messy inner courtyard once lied behind the walls, the squalid living conditions for many people in the 19th century is made more vivid. Steve pointed out the routes of various attempts to improve the drainage in the cellars, which must have been a continual problem. He also showed some of the artifacts found on the site including early 19th century beer bottles (complete with marble stop), a doll’s head and, rather bizarrely, a Masonic pipe.
We hope to visit the site again soon and hopefully return with pictures.
September 2nd, 2009