Sleuth 21/10/2011

Sleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to print. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows. Follow Sleuth on twitter @Sleuth

Bryn Evans To Take Over At Oddfellows In Mellor

Bryn Evans, chef at Rhubarb in West Didsbury, will be taking over the kitchens at the Oddfellows pub on the hills in Mellor, fifteen miles from the city centre.

Sleuth hears the presently closed pub will become a traditional alehouse and dining rooms and will re-open on 11 November.

Sleuth likes the Oddfellows but it’s had a number of tenants recently and never managed to translate promise into long-term success. Hopefully a new company, free of the grasping hands of pubco Enterprise, will ensure a good future for this little gem.

APOLOGIES FOR ANY confusion with the previous title of this story. There is no formal Mark Hix relationship with the Oddfellows pub. There is no formal Mark Hix relationship with the Oddfellows pub. We got it wrong. And apologies to Oddfellows and Hix too.

Sleuth’s Words For Marketeers (That everybody else should avoid)

This week Sleuth would like you to not use the words 'hub', 'virtual hub' and 'pop-up'.  If you do he’ll poke you in the eye.

Sleuth's Workmen Of The Week Award

Sleuth loved the MEN story this week about workmen in Chadderton who must have done this for a joke. Please, please, let's hope they didn't do it by accident. 

Sleuth's Drink Selection Of The Week

These delightful objects were found in Lime Street station's M&S in Liverpool last week. The Froglet wine glass with foil lid. Nifty thought Sleuth, buying six or seven would have you sorted for storing spare change and mislaid ball-bearings. After drinking the contents first of course. What Sleuth liked best was the sign underneath. Apparently you can't buy this wine under foil before....8am. Disappointing and unreasonable thought Sleuth boarding a 7.30am train. 

Sleuth’s Picture Of Modern Times....Of The Week

This is Dianne Bourne of the MEN and Simon Binns of Confidential tweeting live from the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards dinner on Monday. Or maybe given the body language thinks Sleuth, Dianne, is texting Simon with, “I don’t want to sit next to you again.” And he’s texting her, “I don’t want to sit next to you either.” The small yellow object under Dianne's hands is a rubber model tram, courtesy of Metrolink. Later in the evening it was used as a ball.

Sleuth's Ill-Pumpkin Picture Of The Week

This is exactly what Sleuth felt like after the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards dinner and The Liars Club till 3am on Tuesday. Sleuth to Gordo walking through town the day after: "You didn't go to the Liars Club after the Awards did you?" Gordo to Sleuth, "I did and talked to you for about 20 minutes." 

The Most Popular Living Room  

So Sleuth went to a press tasting session at The Living Room on Deansgate which is trying to finesse itself up foodwise. Some good stuff there especially on the sharing platters. We’ll sneak in and review soon. Sleuth was surprised to learn that The Living Room is the still the most popular Living Room in the UK - apart from Sleuth’s own living room in Old Trafford where his son's teenage friends attempt to hide bits of KFC down the backs of couches. 

The Sun-Splashed Boulevards Of Deansgate.

Fiona Moran and Big Dave from Lancaster hosted the Living Room event. Fiona told Confidential about her fiance - cute. Turns out her chap is a chef in Australasia on Deansgate. “Where was he working before?” asked Sleuth. “Australia,” she replied. "So he got a bonus of two letters on his job title for eleven thousand miles of journey," asked Sleuth, "Or did he think Manchester was just the other side of Melbourne?"

Manchester Friday 21 October 2011 has been labelled Madonna Aid day. The idea comes from Rod at the Bollox club night and his crazy mates down on Canal Street. 

The premise is this: 

‘Over 100 Madonna Aid ‘protesters’ will be descending on Canal Street at 10pm to picket the bars for snubbing Madonna’s music in favour of Lady Gaga. To help communicate our protest of disgust we’ll be crucifying a life sized effigy of Lady Gaga and be demanding that each and every bar plays a Madonna track in our presence with the aim of making Canal Street a cacophony of Ciconne goodness. 

‘Madonna Aid continues at 11pm at Legends nightclub on Whitworth Street where Manchester drag whores, The Blige Sisters, will be hosting a Madonnathon -4 hours of non-stop-erotic-madonna-disco, as part of the Bollox club night.’

Sleuth sometimes is left speechless. He’s a collector of the bizarre and the outré, but this is perhaps taking things too far. The photo is just wrong on this Facebook page: Click here.

Sleuth's Award-winning Poem On the Stone Roses Reformation

Click here

Sleuth's Number Crunching

6,100 - the number of objections received by Confidential over the council's new parking charging hours. The council decided to ignore those objections, and has introduced new measures anyway.

1,205 - the number of people who responded to the public consultation over the council's plans to move the Cenotaph, 71 per cent of whom backed the move. The council will now press ahead with the plans to shift the war memorial based on less than a 1000 people supporting a controversial scheme. It's good to see the council listen to people who agree with them.