Month: March 2025

Manchester Cathedral -A walk around the interior

On By elaineandjohnIn ManchesterLeave a comment
Manchester Cathedral with a blue sky
Manchester Cathedral

Manchester Cathedral is an iconic Manchester landmark. I’m a born and bred Mancunian in my 60’s and apart from a visit to watch a special Alicia Keys concert I am ashamed to say I’ve never really taken the time to visit and take a walk around inside. Therefore having a day to myself recently I took the time to visit. Here is my short visitors guide.

A Brief history of Manchester Cathedral

Manchester Cathedral, originally a collegiate church founded in 1421, became a cathedral in 1847 after the creation of the Diocese of Manchester, and is a notable example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture. It is a Church of England Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George.

A black plaque on a post outside Manchester Cathedral displaying the name of the cathedral
The name of Manchester Cathedral

The cathedral is known for its Perpendicular Gothic architecture, with notable features including the wide nave (widest in England), fine 15th and 16th-century carvings, and magnificent post-war stained glass windows.  lt has been a venue for various events, including the first public meeting of the campaign to abolish the slave trade in 1787. 

Early Origins

The site of the cathedral has been a place of worship since at least the 10th century, with a church destroyed by Vikings in 923, later rebuilt and mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The church was extensively reconstructed and further enlarged following the creation of the Diocese of Manchester and its attainment of cathedral status in 1847.

The area around the cathedral is pedestrianised and is accessible for anyone with mobility issues. And great bonus is that its free to enter.

I visited on a midweek morning and there were quite a few other visitors around. The cathedral was really a large space to walk around with many smaller chapels inside. It wasn’t fully set up for a service – mostly a vast open space at the time of my visit. I think different smaller chapels are used on differing occasions.

The interior of Manchester Cathedral

There is an area devoted to Manchester people who have fought for the Country in World Wars, The Regiment Chapel, and within this dedicated areas acknowledgments are made to many nationalities who fought alongside us. In the seats of this chapel are Perspex figures used to represent victims of war, the day I visited the figures were decorated to represent Holocaust victims, quite symbolic figures.

Like many Cathedrals and churches there are so many amazing sculptures and statues, I’ve got to admit I have a ‘thing’ about any statue. The details fascinate and amaze me.

An interesting fact I discovered is that in the 19th Century the Reverend Joshua Brookes performed nearly 2000 weddings – often in mass groups. This is because if couples were from separate parishes they had to pay two fees to be married – if married at the Cathedral then only one was required. This made it popular with the poor in the area. Thousands applied every year and, in the early to mid 1800s, the eccentric Reverend Brookes refused to let them leave disappointed. In 1821 alone he personally conducted 1,924 marriages, that’s more than 5 a day. During busy periods he married people in batches of twenty.

A Personal Connection

Interestingly for me, whilst researching my family tree I found that my maternal second great grandparents George and Annie were married there in August 1864. I thought they were posh! but researching for this piece I now understand why – my ancestors were from poor working class backgrounds, my maternal side mostly living and working in the Greengate area of Salford.

Anyway I digress – as I usually do in my conversations! If you visit please take time to admire the magnificent stained glass windows, they are not the original as the Cathedral was very badly damaged by bombing in the Manchester Blitz of 1940 and again the Fire Window in The Regiment Chapel is a replacement following an IRA bomb exploded nearby in 1996.

A red coloured stained glass window

If you are visiting Manchester I recommend you take some time – even only 30 minutes to look inside the Cathedral – if it’s raining as is usual in Manchester it is somewhere to while away some time away from the horrible weather.

 

Also whilst visiting the Cathedral please take a moment to also visit the Glade of Light Memorial garden which is just outside. This was created to pay tribute to the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. Each victim have there name etched into marble to be forever remembered. It’s very moving to pay your respects and see some of the individual flowers and mementos left by their families.

The Glade of Light Memorial

Thank you for reading I appreciate you taking the time out of your day. If you have visited please let me know or if you wish to comment please do so – I love to hear from you and my email is always open: thebuzzingmancs@gmail.com

 

Why downsize in retirement?

On By elaineandjohnIn Retirement LifestyleLeave a comment

Following my retirement we bought a larger house – 3 bedroom detached with a large garden and a garage. It was fabulous and I have written about it in the past. However we never thought it would be our forever home, as we don’t have any children we always wanted to be proactive and forward plan for changes in our needs, for example mobility, health and lifestyle.

A frontal view of a house and garden bunting across the garden

So in 2023 after John took early retirement we made the decision to downsize. Before hand we did our research and made a list of the pro’s and con’s.

This is what we found:-

Downsizing in retirement in the UK is often considered a good idea because it can significantly reduce monthly expenses by lowering maintenance costs and utility bills associated with a smaller home and it can free up extra money to enjoy retirement activities by generating a lump sum from equity from your current property.

It can also allow you to move to a more suitable location with better accessibility features as you age and living amongst like minded people.

So in summary these were the Pro’s and Con’s we considered:

Pro’s

Financial benefits:

  • Lower living costs: 
  • Access to equity: 
  • Maximise income: Reduced monthly expenses can provide more disposable income for leisure activities. 
  • Lifestyle advantages:
    • Better location: Moving to a smaller property could allow you to live in a preferred area. 
    • Accessibility: A flat or retirement community with easier access features as you age. 
    • Reduced upkeep: Less space means less time spent on gardening and general maintenance. 

The cons are:

  • The Property market : Research the current property market to ensure you can sell your home for a good price.  Zoopla is a good resource online plus researching similar houses for sale in your area.
  • Costs of moving: Factor in the costs associated with selling our current home and buying a new one. 
  • Emotional impact: Downsizing can be an emotional decision for some.

Therefore this was the starting block to consider what to do.

We decided that downsizing was the correct option for us. We had identified a block of flats we wished to live in, it wasn’t for over 50’s or any specific age group but it seemed to attract residents with a similar age group to us and we had heard great things about it. The maintenance charges were not extortionate and it would hopefully suit future mobility and help needs. The large garden in our current home required a lot of input and due to the poor weather in Manchester we had very little opportunity to enjoy it! In case you didn’t know it’s always grey, cloudy and rainy!

Our home had a good amount of equity in it – we were mortgage free thankully and we had no real emotional attachment – yes it held some great memories but in our opinion we could make more wherever we lived.

In a follow up post we will describe our journey to downsize.

Thanks for reading – if you’re wondering if you should to downsize in retirement I hope this helps? Or if you have already made the decision what is your thoughts about it.

Elaine and John