To children of all nations.

Seen on the wall of the boathouse in Platt Fields Park, Fallowfield, Manchester. A poem by Mike Garry, 2010.

Inside the Great Hall

Manchester Town Hall's Great Hall is lined with murals painted by Ford Madox Brown. These depict significant scenes from Manchester's history, from its founding by the Romans up to the early 19th Century. This one shows John Dalton, a Manchester schoolmaster, scientist and founder of modern atomic theory, collecting marsh gas from a local pond for his experiments.

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Trafford Centre Fossil

Fossil ammonite in the flooring material at Mango, 117 Regent Crescent, The Trafford Centre, Manchester. The floor here is composed of Solnhofen limestone from Germany. This limestone is from the  Jurassic period (about 150 million years old). It is from these rock formations that fossils of the first known fossil bird, Archaeopteryx, have been obtained.

Aquatics Centre

An interior view of the Manchester Aquatics Centre. An impressive facility built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and jointly owned by the City Council and the Manchester Universities.

Moo

No animals were hurt in the making of this picture! Seen on Oxford Rd, Manchester.

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Media City

A night time view of some of the new buildings at Salford's Media City development, Salford Quays.

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Harlequin Ladybird larva

On an Irlam garden wall. I believe this to be the larva of the Harlequin Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. A recently arrived invasive species, this insect has spread rapidly north and westwards since first sightings in the southeast of the UK.

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River Medlock

Here in Manchester, where Princess Street becomes Brook Street, the River Medlock emerges from a culvert that has taken it below this part of the city centre. At first sight it seems devoid of life and dead save for a few marginal weeds. Closer inspection reveals the presence of many little fish. They were easy to see around the sandy area near the tyre.

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Geological Garden

Another view of the rock specimens in the geological garden of Manchester Museum. Located on Bridgeford Street, Manchester.

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Ruby Tailed Wasp

Saw this quite attractive insect the other day. A bit less than 1cm long. Never seen one before. It's not a fly but a parasitic wasp of a genus called Chrysis. They parasitise other insects like Mason Bees that raise their offspring in walls. This explains why it was systematically
going up and along ALL the mortar joints of a very big wall!

Claypits

A pond situated in Rixton Claypits Nature Reserve. The reserve is located between Irlam and Warrington. It stands on land used by a local brickworks for extraction of clay during the first half of the 20th Century. The site is now a Special Area for Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.