The 4th CAMRA Greater Manchester Cider and Perry Festival, Friday 27th and Saturday 28th June 2014.

The 2014 CAMRA Greater Manchester Cider and Perry Festival takes place this weekend.
This is the 4th Cider and Perry festival. This festival takes place at the Palace Hotel in the Copper Face Jacks Bar on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th June 2014. It opens at noon until 10:30pm on both days.

Admission is £3 or £2 to CAMRA & EBCU members.

The Palace Hotel, Manchester :




The Palace Hotel is a stunning Victorian Gothic building with an impressive 217-foot-tall clock tower.
Grade II* listed red brick and terracotta building, designed for the Refuge Assurance Company.
Look at this amazing Terracotta  design around the entrance:

The entrance to the Manchester Cider Festival at the Palace Hotel

It was built 1891–1895. The inside has Burmantofts faience and glazed brick as you can see here on the entrance down to the Festival bar. Amazing stuff.

The interior of this hotel was amazing, covered in stunning Terracotta and Glazed tiles like this.

Once down in the Copper Face Jacks bar you can hire your 1/2 pint festival glass.

The bar will be well stocked with Ciders and Perries and served by friendly staff. Here is a photograph (taken with iPhone) of the bar last year.
There are 57 different real ciders and perries to try from all over the UK. As is usual at festivals you can have either a 1/3 or a 1/2 pint. There is no option to have a pint for obvious reasons :)

The bar on at last years festival.

You can buy a carry out of your favorite cider.

The festival glass last year:

Last year I was chosen to be on the official CAMRA judges panel for testing Cider which was a great honor. I have never done this before. There were six of us on the panel, we had a cordoned off area in the pub. The table had 42 small glasses, 6 x 1 litre containers containing mystery ciders which were simply marked as "Sample 204" etc.
You were told how to mark a cider on its Aroma, Initial taste, Aftertaste and personal enjoyment. You had to cleanse the pallet between ciders with some water and a cracker. Once you had tasted all 6 ciders you were encouraged to go back and taste them again and change scores if you wanted to.

Me judging some Ciders for CAMRA.

For information on the Manchester Cider Festival see their website :
www.manchesterciderfestival.co.uk


Thanks
Andy

My review of the 2013 CAMRA Greater Manchester Cider and Perry Festival. I was on Offical Cider tasting panel !

A couple of weeks ago I attended the 2013 CAMRA Greater Manchester Cider and Perry Festival.
This was the 3rd Cider and Perry festival but the first time I've been to it. The only reason we knew about this dedicated festival was because of a flyer on the wall at Stockport Beer and Cider Festival a few weeks before this.

The Palace Hotel, Manchester :



This festival took place at the Palace Hotel in the Copper Face Jacks Bar on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd June 2013.

The Palace Hotel is a stunning Victorian Gothic building with an impressive 217-foot-tall clock tower.
Grade II* listed red brick and terracotta building, designed for the Refuge Assurance Company.
Look at this amazing Terracotta  design around the entrance:

The entrance to the Manchester Cider Festival at the Palace Hotel

It was built 1891–1895. The inside has Burmantofts faience and glazed brick as you can see here on the entrance down to the Festival bar. Amazing stuff.

The interior of this hotel was amazing, covered in stunning Terracotta and Glazed tiles like this.

Once down in the Copper Face Jacks bar you could hire your 1/2 pint festival glass.

The bar was well stocked with Ciders and Perries and served by friendly staff. Here is a photograph (taken with iPhone) of the bar on the second day of the festival.
There were over 60 different real ciders and perries to try from all over the UK. As is usual at festivals you could have either a 1/3 or a 1/2 pint. There was no option to have a pint for obvious reasons.

The bar on day 2 of the festival.

You were able to buy a carry out of your favorite cider. I bought a litre of Burnards Montys Double, I actually wanted to take away some Burnards Okey Dokey cider but that was no on by the time I left on Saturday mid afternoon.

The festival glass :

Offical Cider tasting panel - Such a chore :)
I was chosen to be on the official CAMRA judges panel for testing Cider which was a great honor.
I have never done this before. There were six of us on the panel, we had a cordoned off area in the pub.
The table had 42 small glasses, 6 x 1 litre containers containing mystery ciders which were simply marked as "Sample 204" etc.
You were told how to mark a cider on its Aroma, Initial taste, Aftertaste and personal enjoyment. You had to cleanse the pallet between ciders with some water and a cracker. Once you had tasted all 6 ciders you were encouraged to go back and taste them again and change scores if you wanted to.

Me judging some Ciders for CAMRA.

The only negative point I would say about this festival is the lack of food. Its the only festival I've been to that did not offer any food which was rather annoying as it meant you had to leave and go searching down Oxford Street for something to eat. I dare say this would have lost some revenue as people don't return after because they have lost the cloakroom ticket.
An ideal food to have offered here would have been the classic Cornish Pasty, what could have been a better marriage than that ! or at least some chips.

I really enjoyed this dedicated Cider festival a lot and would highly recommend it to any fan of real ciders.

As I was stopping in Stockport I had to catch a number 11 bus to Stockport Bus Station then the 192 to Manchester then a 15 minute walk from Piccadilly Gardens to the Palace Hotel.

For information on the Manchester Cider Festival see their website :
www.manchesterciderfestival.co.uk

Hope you enjoyed this review.

Thanks
Andy

3rd Greater Manchester CAMRA Cider and Perry Festival, Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd June.

If you like real Ciders and Perries then you are in for a treat in Manchester this weekend as they host the 3rd Greater Manchester Cider and Perry Festival.


This takes place at the Palace Hotel in the Copper Face Jacks Bar on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd June 2013.

Run by the branches of CAMRA Greater Manchester there will be Over 60+ Traditional Cider & Perries (plus soft drinks and food available all day). The festival will include the CAMRA Celtic and North England Cider Competition. Ciders from Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Merseyside, Cheshire, West Pennines, North East, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.

Admission Prices and Opening Times:
Open Noon - 10.30pm both days
Admission £3 - Pay On The Door. £2 to CAMRA & EBCU members .

Here is a  Google Streetview of the Palace Hotel. This entrance on the corner is the one you need to use for this Cider Feestival :


View Larger Map

Sat Nav : M60 7HA

Cider and Perry list for the 2013festival :

Cider
Allen Cider
Ashgrove Orchard Ram
Blackmore Vale
Blaengawney Blindfold Medium Cider
Blaengawney Heartbreaker Dry Cider
Blaengawney National Treasure Sweet Cider
Bollhayes Cider
Border Orchards
Bottle Kicking Scrummage Cider
Burnards Montys Double Cider
Burnards Oaky Dokey Cider
Burrow Hill Medium Dry Cider
Chants Singing Cider
Cotswold No Brainer
Crossmans Cider
Days Cottage Cider
Dee Cider Dabinett Dry SV
Dee Cider Richards Medium
Dove Syke Ribble Valley Gold Medium Dry
Gray Cider
Greyfields Cider
Gwatkin Cider
Hecks Port Wine of Glastonbury Cider
Honeypot Cider
Jollydale Cider
Madhatters Cider
Madhatters Worlds End
Mays Cider
Millwhites Cider
Moorlands Farm Medium Dry Cider
Moorlands Farm Medium Sweet Cider
Newton Court Cider
Nooks Yard Dry Cider
Nooks Yard Medium Cider
Olivers Cider
Parsons Choice Cider
Pure North Fusion Cider
Pure North Valley Zest Cider
Raglan Cider Mill Dry Cider
Raglan Cider Mill Medium Cider
Red Bank Cider Proper Cider
Red Bank Cider Real Cider
Ross on Wye Cider
Sandford Orchards Devon Scrumpy Cider
Sarahs Cider
Seidr O Sir Betws Medium Cider
Seidr O Sir Cantref Sweet Cider
Sherston Cider
Skidbrooke Cider
Springherne Cider
Thornborough Cider
Wilkins Medium Cider

Perry
Blaengawney Blakeney Red Perry
Butford Organics Perry
Days Cottage Perry
Gwatkin Perry
Hartlands Perry
Hecks Hendre Huffcap Perry
Newton Court Perry
Nooks Yard Cheshire Perry
Olivers Perry
Raglan Cider Mill Blakeney Red Perry
Raglan Cider Mill Medium Perry
Rathays Painted Lady Perry
Ross on Wye Alpaca Perry
Swallowfields Perry

What qualifies as a Camra Real Cider.

For more details on this unique Northern Cider festival see their website :
www.manchesterciderfestival.co.uk

Date for 2014 : 1st Manchester Beer & Cider Festival
Wednesday 22nd January to Saturday 25th January 2014 at Manchester Velodrome !

Thanks
Andy

Video of Defiant Architecture at 1 The Avenue, Spinningfields, Manchester.

This very odd looking building is at 1 The Avenue, Spinningfields, Manchester.
I love this building the way that large section of it just hangs in free space.
The building consists of two mirror-image parallelograms, stacked one on top of the other, resulting in a three-storey 75 foot cantilever on the east end of the building.

I like the way that massive overhang just sits there!


You can see it under construction on Google Streetview in July 2008 :
http://goo.gl/maps/ftwWv

The summer photograph you can see at the start and end of my video is one I took on 31st July 2010.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this strange building.

If you enjoyed this then you may like my video of 122 Leadenhall Street, London being demolished :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnYChrtuogU

Thanks
Andy

Video of Manchester Christmas Market on Albert Square December 2012.

Here is my video of this years Manchester Christmas Market on Albert Square "The European Christmas Market".


This is the Manchester Christmas Market on Albert Square filmed in December 2012.
Manchester's award-winning Christmas Markets. Considered to be amongst the best in UK and Europe. This year there are over 200 stalls! Never seen this many before.

Have you been this year?

The Manchester xmas markets takes place from 17th November to 23rd December 2012.

As well as this massive "European Christmas Market" on Albert Square there are 7 others :
Manchester World Christmas Market - Brazennose Street
Manchester German Christmas Market - St Ann's Square
Manchester Christmas Arts & Crafts Market - Exchange Street
Manchester French Market - King Street
Manchester Christmas Market - New Cathedral Street
Manchester Christmas Market - Exchange Square
Manchester Christmas Market - Corn Exchange

Manchester Albert Square Webcam.
There is a webcam that looks down on the Christmas Market on Albert Square so you can see all the stalls right now! See how busy is gets. In this webcam you can also see some of the market that goes down Brazennose Street.

Live webcam view (click to enlarge):

Live webcam view of Albert Square in Manchester, UK.

Very impressive.Well done Manchester.

Thanks
Andy

That Post box in Manchester that was made in Derby by Andrew Handyside.

I photographed this 360 degree VR photograph back in August this year. Its a post box on Corporation Street in Manchester. It was made in Derby by a Victorian Iron Founder from Derby called Andrew Handyside.

The box has a plaque on the front of it which reads "This postbox remained standing almost undamaged on June 15th 1996 when this area was devestated by a bomb. The box was removed during the rebuilding of the city centre and was returned to the original site on November 22nd 1999".

The image below is interactive, once its fully loaded in you can control the view with your mouse.




If you have a fast broadband connection then try my High Resolution VR photograph of Manchester Post Box.

If you would like to learn more about the Derby company Andrew Handyside then watch this space as I have spent the last three months putting hundreds of hours of research into this company. Even though I am from Derby and into local History I feel that this company seems to have been forgotten about and yet their creations are all around the world today. Keep an eye out for my Handyside project as I promote it in the following months.

Thanks
Andy

Derby to Manchester at 678mph, Ultra high speed driving time-lapse video made from 8026 photographs

Here is my latest video, this one is a very fast driving time-lapse video of Derby to Manchester at an equivalent average driving speed of 678mph!

This video was recorded on Friday 30th July 2010. The first frame was captured at 10:01am in Derby
and the last image was captured at 2:24pm.in Manchester. There were three breaks in the journey, the first at Leek, the second at Maccesfield and the third at Stockport.

My Derby to Manchester Driving video:



Locations seen in the video.
Because of the very high speed of this timelapse video, the timecodes I have provided are only accurate to a second. Seeing as the video is being played at 25 frames per second, the distance covered in just 1 second of playback is great so landmarks will pass you very quickly.

Time - Information
00:30 This journey starts in Derby on the A38 heading down to Markeaton Island
00:33 Left at island onto A52 to Ashbourne
00:35 Here is the turn off for Mackworth Estate
00:44 Kirk Langley, Derbyshire
00:52 Brailsford, Derbyshire
01:05 Yeldersley, Derbyshire
01:11 Ashbourne round-a-bout, carry on A52 down the hill
01:16 2nd exit carry on along A52
01:18 1st exit carry on along A52
01:20 Mayfield, Staffordshire. Up the steep Swinscoe Hill
01:26 Swinscoe, Staffordshire
01:32 Calton Moor, Staffordshire. The A52 becomes the A523 here.
01:38 Waterhouses, Staffordshire
01:44 Winkhill, Staffordshire
01:51 Bottom House, Staffordshire
01:57 Bradnop, Staffordshire
02:06 Leek, Staffordshire
02:11 Stop in car park at Leek
02:14 Back on journey on the A523 North
02:30 Rushton, Cheshire
02:40 Bosley, Cheshire
02:43 The A54 crossroads
02:48 Oakgrove, Cheshire
02:51 Macclesfield, Cheshire
03:04 The Silk Road A523/B5470 round-a-bout
03:05 Stop at Tesco due to road works on Silk Road
03:15 Back at The Silk Road A523/B5470 round-a-bout
03:16 Up Hibel Road A537 to top and back down again
03:18 Left onto Beech Lane/Manchester Road A538
03:23 Tytherington, Macclesfield
03:27 1st exit back on the A523
03:35 Adlington, Cheshire
03:39 Poynton
03:49 Hazel Grove, Stockport
04:04 Great Moor
04:18 Stockport
04:24 park in Leisure centre car park for a break
04:29 Waiting to turn left back onto A523, now raining.
04:37 Left back onto A523
04:38 On the left is the chimney of the Hat Museum !
04:49 Heaton Chapel
04:53 McVities factory on left. You can smell those Ginger Nuts.
04:56 Levenshulme
05:05 Longsight
05:11 Left onto Plymouth Grove
05:20 Right onto Oxford Road
05:28 Left onto Great Bridgewater Street
05:53 Right onto Deansgate
05:41 On left is Hog's Head pub (amazing value food here)
05:45 Left onto Bridge Street
05:48 right onto Chapel Street
05:50 Arrive at Hotel.
End

Total filming time 154 mins (9240 seconds)
8026/9240= Photograph taken every 868ms

Want to know which roads I travelled on then please use my map here, It is very accurate if you zoom in or best still use the link below the map so you get a full web page map you can control
Detailed Driving route Map:


View Derby to Manchester timelapse car journey, July 2010. in a larger map

Music Credits:
The two excellent tracks I have used in my video are by Kazmo. See his page here:
http://kazmo.newgrounds.com/

Music part 1 (00:00 to 03:01 ) is Vermilion (NG Cut) by Kazmo.
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/319151
Licensed under Creative Commons.

Music part 2 (03:02 to 06:21 ) is Glazia [2010 Preview] by Kazmo
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/333522
Licensed under Creative Commons.

If you enjoyed my video please leave a comment.
 
Hope you like it.
Andy