My family and I are Mancs. In case you don’t know, ‘Manc’ is a slang term for ‘Mancunian’ i.e. someone who comes from Manchester.
I was born and grew up in Levenshulme in the south of the city and it’s the setting for the start of my book, The Angels of Mona Terrace.
“Levenshulme is a joy to visit. Apple-cheeked children skip through the streets, happy shopkeepers call out a cheerful greeting from their doorways, old people gladly pass the time with any passing stranger – even the dogs wag their tails at any unfamiliar face.”
That's Levenshulme as described by Louie Parkin in an edition of Manchester Life. Admittedly, Louie went on to say…
“Well, perhaps not… but Levenshulme is well worth a visit, and even on the rainiest of days is no more foreboding than any other sub-district of Manchester. This satellite of the city has just about everything it needs to be self-sufficient; three parks, a library, churches for all the major denominations, excellent transport links and its very own nightclub.”
The photograph, taken on the first day of Spring, shows the cobbled alley behind the house where I grew up.
In The Angels Of Mona Terrace, the Bracegirdle family attend St Peter's church in Levenshulme.
St Peter's stands on the corner of Barlow Road and Stockport Road.
The outside of the building has hardly changed over the last few decades, though I do remember it being black and grimy before it was sandblasted in the early seventies.
Inside, the church is very different to how it was in my childhood. The choir stalls, pulpit and hard wooden pews are long gone. Nowadays the congregation sit on nice comfortable chairs.
Another building which never seems to change is Crowcroft Park Primary School on Northmoor Road.
This was my first school and in my book Sam and Barnie go there too.
Levenshulme Pools and Fitness Centre was known simply as Levvy Baths when I was a kid.
I have one overriding memory of this place - the day I nearly drowned. During a school visit I was accidentally knocked (or was I pushed?) into the deep end. In The Angels Of Mona Terrace, young Sam suffers a similar fate.
My family and I are Mancs. In case you don’t know, ‘Manc’ is a slang term for ‘Mancunian’ i.e. someone who comes from Manchester.
“Levenshulme is a joy to visit. Apple-cheeked children skip through the streets, happy shopkeepers call out a cheerful greeting from their doorways, old people gladly pass the time with any passing stranger – even the dogs wag their tails at any unfamiliar face.”
In The Angels Of Mona Terrace, the Bracegirdle family attend St Peter's church in Levenshulme.
Another building which never seems to change is Crowcroft Park Primary School on Northmoor Road.
Levenshulme Pools and Fitness Centre was known simply as Levvy Baths when I was a kid.