Forget all that slushy nonsense. This Mother’s Day, in keeping with these ‘real’ and testing times, give your Mum something honest and truly northern - a Northern Mother poster or gift. And keeping it topical, here is my Tested positive for being a northerner poster and my latest poster, Withington. Visit the online store at www.statementartworks.com
Mother’s Day gifts and poster
Wythenshawe and Bowdon, two South Manchester places that are quite close geographically but miles apart demographically, which is why doing this northern poster malarkey is so much fun! And it shows I've not just been sitting on my arse doing nothing since Christmas.
Wythenshaw poster - by Statement Artworks
It was a wonderful dream on a post-war town planner's drawing board. Houses fit for heroes on a large, modern estate, or 'garden city', with none of that old mish-mash of narrow streets and diverse design. No, this was going to be uniform, clean and functional. And my parents bought into that dream, so that was the first Jackson family home, in Baguley, a district of Wythenshawe, the new town on the edge of Manchester which became the largest estate in Europe. Most of my aunts and uncles and cousins lived there too. But the dream turned sour, and Wythenshawe became a byword for problem families, crime and town planning gone mad. What's this, though? Wythenshawe, by degrees, is turning itself around, thanks in no small part to the tram line and the train line, both going to the nearby airport and the city centre. Young singles and families are discovering that the housing stock is affordable and not too bad either. Posh apartment blocks are springing up, and the once-dire Civic Centre is looking lively again. Just a pity the old theatre is no longer functioning. Now that would have been the icing on the cake for the new Wythenshawe. This poster in available at statementartworks.com in any size you like!
Bowdon poster - by Statement Artworks
Whereas its nearby neighbour Hale loves to flaunt its chi-chi trendiness, affluence and desirability, Bowdon presents itself as understated, restrained and 'old money'. Hence there's not a lot going on really - a few posh gastro pubs, a posh hotel, a posh looking green with a few posh shops, posh sports clubs, and a posh Indian restaurant. Oh yes, it's posh, especially when you look beyond the high hedges and gates and wonder at some of the finest houses - indeed mansions - in the whole of Cheshire. Wow, are they grand, which is why they say you're going 'up the hill' when you go from Altrincham or Hale, and that is meant in so many ways. Footballers, TV stars and the generally well-wadded live there, in a very understated way, of course. This poster is available through statementartworks.com at any size you like.
No, it's not polluted - it's the iron oxide, or something like that, that seeps into the water, which gives the Bridgewater Canal in Worsley its distinctive orange colour, an almost identical hue to that of tomato soup, in fact (many thanks to my old mate Simon Donohue for coming up with that comparison). And that, along with the classy Arts and Crafts homes and buildings, makes Worsley one of the most sought-after districts north of the Irwell. The jewel in Salford's crown. Deliciously rich! So cool is it, in fact, that it was recently featured in the The Great British Interior Design Challenge. Now that's trendy. This poster, by Eric Jackson, is available from A4 size all the way up to A1, through statementartworks.com and at the usual markets and selected shops/galleries.
Worsley, good enough to drink!
Stretford is famous for its association with football and cricket, with United and Lancashire County Cricket Club on its borders in Old Trafford, but it was once celebrated for having one of the finest cinemas in Britain.
A few years before the outbreak of the second world war, the Longford Cinema opened its doors for the first time, and its revolutionary design and state of the art interior and acoustics were hailed as 'the future' of wide-screen entertainment.
Sadly, the once-grand building has changed hands, closed, re-opened, been neglected and finally abandoned to rot. Admittedly it's on the unlovely Chester Road, but it remains a scandal that nothing has been done to use this masterpiece in some way. Instead, it has been daubed various shades of blue and pink over the years and stands as a testimony to council inertia.
Myposter features it in steam-punk mode and the Hopkins family of Old Trafford on the tandem. As for the geezer on the flying machine? That was instead of a flying pig, which is about as likely to happen as something being done about the great Longford Cinema.
Read MoreTimperley, the home of the late, great Frank Sidebottom, is one of those places that instantly evokes the description of 'nice'...a safe, pleasant, middle-of-the-road suburb of Altrincham. But as we all know, things aren't always what they seem. How else could it have inspired something as surreal as Frank? And what's normal or nice anyway once you get behind closed doors? Think about that the next time you go for a pint at the Stonemasons Arms in the village centre...
This poster is available from Statement Artworks (statementartworks.com), from numerous markets around the north west and some shops and galleries.
