The day has started wet. Will it clear up later? That’s anyone’s guess in this city renowned for rain.

We start as usual with breakfast at Caffè Nero. Then we take free bus number – were you paying attention before? – yes! Number 2!

Later, though, we had to change to a bus on which you pay.

This brought us to Salford Museum and Art Gallery. This has a rather special exhibit that we had not seen on our last visit because it was closed then. Today, happily, it was open.

Called Larkhill Place, it is a mock-up of a Victorian Street. You can enter and walk around, viewing the interiors of the houses and shops.

The lighting is that of nighttime, lit by lamps. This better preserves the illusion but makes photography difficult.

The pub

The grocer’s

John Hamer’s pharmacy

Workshop of William Bracegirdle, blacksmith and wheelwright

House interior

Upper class interior

Glimpse of a Victorian parlour

The family saloon 🙂

As well as the visible street there were sounds, particularly the buzz of conversation and the rattle of pots from the pub. The cobbles are glazed to give the impression that they are wet but they are in fact dry and smooth to walk on.

After visiting Larkhill Place, we returned to 2019 and took refreshment in the museum cafe.

Doll’s house

We toured the rest of the exhibits. In the central room on the first floor, multifarious objects were arranged in alphabetical order, a most peculiar way of doing things.

Ventriloquist’s dummies

I also found the lack of labelling throughout the museum annoying and frustrating. There were cards and folders with details, meaning that if an object interested you, it would be necessary to hunt for it in the printed references. Mostly, I just gave up.

We visited the Victoria Gallery which contains a selection of art from that period, typically worthy but dull as Victorian art tends to be.

Orrery

The only item that I felt like photographing was this orrery by Philip Son & Nephew of Liverpool which was, unusually, actually labelled. It isn’t Victorian, though, but dates to early 20th century.

Suits of armour

If the smaller suit of armour looks as though it was made for a child that’s because it was: it is a suit for a knight’s page.

This is a potter’s wheel that belonged to local ceramics firm Pilkington’s that unfortunately went into administration in 2010.

From the museum, we tool a bus to a nearby shopping centre to look for lunch. When that didn’t pan out we took this little hopper bus to a place we have already visited. See whether the next picture suggests where that is.

Remember my “ugly lump of a building”? If you guessed the Lowry, you are right. We are having a second shot at it.

First, though, we wanted lunch and so we have come to this branch of Café Rouge conveniently near the gallery.

Soup’s up!

After lunch we went across to the Lowry and this time were able to visit the artworks.

Photography was not allowed so here is a picture of Salford Quays instead,

We now caught a number 50 bus back to town. We left the bus here:

This is the entrance of the Manchester Art Gallery. Admission is free and photography is permitted.

We took the lift to the second floor where this human figure is suspended over the stairs.

The gallery here featured Nordic Design. Important, I suppose, but not wildly exciting.

The next gallery, Tigger tells me, is about political protest. Pass!

Coming home from the mill, L.S. Lowry, 1928

In one room were paintings by Lowry and in this gallery, photography is allowed, so here (above) is a Lowry, with his famous thin human figures. (Lowry, of course, did much more than these peopled scenes but it is for them that he is popularly remembered.)

These two paintings hang in the gallery entrance;

Albert Square, Manchester, Adolphe Valette, 1910

Albert Square, Manchester (after Valette), Emily Allchurch, 2015

I think they speak for themselves.

Maybe this photo by Tigger also speaks for itself:

Catching up (SilverTiger blogging), Tigger, 2019

We are resting in the art gallery cafe. I will pick up the story later.