Lowry, The Who and Soy Sauce Ice Cream!

It’s a long and varied day, leaving the house at 9.00 am, and not returning home until 11.45 pm! 

We start off with a visit to the Well Travelled Clinic in Chester where we have appointments to discuss any health needs relating to our forthcoming trip to Namibia. We end up deciding to have just typhoid and tetanus boosters  - one in each arm. We won’t be in malarial areas, so just go for insect repellent, and reward ourselves with a visit to Gales for coffee and a maple and pecan scone  - delicious. 

The relatively cold weather today is something of a shock - as is the rain, though obviously needed. Wandering around Chester just doesn’t seem an attractive option, and as we’re meeting friends in The Lowry later, we decide we’ll head off to Salford where we amuse ourselves in the rather depressing shopping outlet as at least it’s dry! 

We’ve booked to visit the Lowry gallery’s 360 immersive experience of the iconic ‘Going to the Match’, so having met up with friends Nic and Elaine, we head It’s very much a shadow of the big Van Gogh shows - but very effective, and we follow this with a leisurely wander around the art gallery. It’s years since we’ve been there, and really enjoy it. I love seeing a different side to Lowry, and also the community involvement in the gallery.  There’s the annual prize for Primary school pupils for the best art work showing the influence of Lowry, and an amazing GCSE project that uses Lowry’s painting ‘The Cripples’ together with her little brother’s Downs Syndrome as inspiration. I’ve included a photo of her chromosome figures and the explanation as information. 

Then there’s a meal in Banana Tree - delicious Asian food with a fabulous Soy Sauce Ice cream as dessert for me! Nobody else would try it, but honestly, it’s amazing with a drizzle of sweet soy sauce on top! 

The main event is Quadrophenia - the ballet. Nic is a diehard totally fanatical Who fan who has come wearing his ancient Who hoodie and T-shirt. It is quite magnificent - beautifully danced, with amazing stage projections and lighting, and the orchestral score (orchestrated by Townshend’s wife) is quite astonishing.  We all love it, despite the one technical glitch which stops the performance for a few minutes - it is the first night after all. 

We drop Nic and Elaine off in Manchester before driving home through torrential rain - though fortunately it stops before we reach the M56 - and eventually fall into bed, nursing arms now really hurting from our injections! What a day! 


My main is self explanatory, with extras
1. Advertising art work
2. GCSE project outline
3. GCSE Chromosome figures 
4. Primary school art winner