Shine like stars

Always glad to publicise local events here on lovelevenshulme.com, so here's one that just arrived in my inbox. The full route passes along the Kingsway... but not until 17 April 2010...

Hi there,

My name is Cally and I’m working on a new Cancer Research UK event called 'Shine' - a 13 or 26 mile night-time walk through Manchester. I have been reading your blog LoveLevenshulme.com and so I obviously thought this might be of local interest.

As this is the inaugural Shine event, we are going to need the support of those that know and love the area to get behind us and help make it a success. As you write about the latest local community events in Levenshulme and the surrounding areas I was hoping you might be keen to get involved.

Shine is unique in that it allows people to directly support one of twelve types of cancer, as well as the wider ground-breaking work Cancer Research UK funds. If you would like to get involved, whether it’s engaging your community, helping spread the word, or even taking part, then please let me know and I’ll send you more details.

Thanks,

Cally
[email cally@yourshine.org]

So, what do you love about Levenshulme? (episode 2)

Sound The Retreat

Well, it was about time I dropped in on Florelle to check out how things are doing at The Retreat café. Brave move, I've often caught myself thinking, opening up a business in the teeth of the recession, but that's what I notice about the high street: blink and the food shop on the corner's transformed itself into a furniture store. People are prepared to have a pop at it. And Florelle's no exception. Hats off to her and her family for giving it their all and bringing some Caribbean warmth up this end of the Stockport Road.

She's found the neighbouring businesses to be helpful and friendly; the Quiz Night, part of the Levenshulme Festival, was packed out, with another planned in the run-up to Christmas. Sure, she's still on the look-out for some extra help back there in the kitchen, so if there's a top-notch Caribbean/Cosmopolitan chef out there looking for a fresh start, maybe now's the time to retreat?

True to form, Florelle was more than happy to keep a few lovelevenshulme postcards on hand, so I'm chuffed to add The Retreat to the list of outlets. Mental note to self: must nip back to try out the saltfish fritters...

Hot tuner

My thoughts have been far from the blog for quite a while now: snowed under by life, work, the whole deal. High time I galvanised myself before the onset of some seasonal disorder.

So I was a bit tickled to get an email from Levenshulme stalwart Bill, one that I guess I'd have to file under "Misc. - Levenshulme characters."

ps. Last night I had an emergency phone call from Daniel Craig!!! ~ (without the Bond girls..)
It led me to go to a club under Piccadilly arches to tune an electric '70's piano for
Jack Penate, Hot Tune & Paul Epworth (Phones). Heard of any of them? (I'd not!!)

Actually, I hadn't heard of them either, but that's not surprising, I'm too busy keeping track of the characters in the Green Balloon Club and the names of all the Chuggington trains.

But isn't it reassuring to know that Levenshulme has at least one resident piano tuner, prepared to drop his cheese toastie and head to an ailing Fender Rhodes with only minutes to go until curtain-up? Email your own examples of Levenshulme's curious trades to lovelevenshulme@gmail.com

ps. I did wonder whether it was a wind-up, this tuning an electric piano lark, like sending an apprentice for a left-handed screwdriver. Particularly given that Bill did used to send me photos of cats and dogs dressed as firefighters or pulling sunflower babies in carts or different species mothering each other (like the one where the great white shark is nuzzling up to the ant and just nurturing it and you really don't expect to see that kind of trans-specific maternal care going on in the animal kingdom) and if you don't forward it to everyone you're warned that you're stopping the love going round and how could you live with yourself for having prevented your friends from seeing an armadillo that has taken it upon itself to raise a dozen abandoned wolfcubs and it's doing so in sepia, shame on you. But I googled it and it seems to be true. So we can sleep a little easier now.