Cheeky wrote:
On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 21:27:07 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:



Doesn't said "stupid concrete wall" now contain some variety of
cafe in one of the retail units, and the new GMPTE Travel Shop in
the other?


There's a cafe in the "pavillion". The travelshop is in the other
act of philistinism in Piccadilly Gardens - that godawful tower
block. I guess the owners and the council "encouraged" them to move
there as it is still largely empty despite having been completed
ages ago.

The wall is truely a piece of crap of the highest order.

Piccadilly Gardens was my one disappointment when I spent a few days
last month in Manchester, a city I knew well until about 5 years ago.
It now rivals Jubilee Gardens in London for the worst city centre garden
in the country. (There used to be a website of an American couple who
picked out Jubilee Gardens as a romantic-sounding spot in London to have
their wedding blessed, and were deeply disappointed that it didn't even
have a single tree.)

But then again it was brought to us by the council who let the Free
Trade
Hall be gutted internally and turned into a faceless hotel

I thought Manchester's council/planners/whoever had done rather well in
the rest of the city centre. As for the Free Trade Hall, it always had
a better frontage outside than acoustics inside IMHO. At least they've
kept the frontage, so "faceless" is not literally true.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)