Reconnecting with Manchester

Although I was born and grew up in Manchester, having had rather an unhappy childhood I was only too pleased to see the back of the place when I went off to university and later never even thought of moving back to the city. But I’ve been pleased this weekend to reconnect with Manchester, partly because of the invitation to speak at my old school, MGS, which I blogged about previously, but mainly because of the opportunity to meet — for the very first time — my two sisters here. I was adopted and placed elsewhere, but they weren’t. It’s been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, especially when I saw pictures of my Mother for the first time, but also quite exciting and the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Moreover, Manchester itself has never looked better. Far from the dreary grey drizzle of my memories, the city has been bathed in warm autumnal light this weekend. And of course the old buildings look so much more impressive now they are clean. The Metrolink (a sort of super-tram) is superb and people really are much friendlier up North. As I prepare to leve tomorrow, many daemons laid to rest, I can even imagine myself coming back more often. Reconnected? definitely!