Five sides
Another world
The Autumn meet up was an exciting mission to the big city for us country folk. It’s been quite a while since we travelled with backpacks and trains. Inconvenient and full of minor jeopardy but quite fun for the likes of us. As we google-mapped our way through the Metrolink the dark city felt like a Bladerunner set, so much has changed in only twenty years — both awe-inspiring and vaguely traumatic.
Better living through tech?
Our first ever meal delivered by Uber and an overnight in an Airbnb in a converted shop-front two hundred meters from the venue meant we were uncharacteristically early and immediately set to chatting with the (real, three dimensional) people we recognised from our Zooms. Now to be fair I don’t get out much and I don’t know if it was the Care Charter, the charming welcome or the spirit of the building itself but the sense of belonging, cohesion, and shared purpose was quite extraordinary. It was a genuine pleasure to be among people with so much enthusiasm for their projects — and smart? All these people have sparky brains but talking to the students I heard about multiple ambitious, bold, even audacious plans — and such confidence! The future is in safe hands, really.
Consensus
Quite a lot of my life has been about trying to get people to agree — when mostly they are interested in arguing their point. This day was different — there was agreement breaking out all over the place. On the importance of openness, of inclusion, of justice and data governance. I think we were all impressed by the achievements of the friends of Stretford Public Hall. Gathering such a large community, garnering the funding and project managing the restoration were clearly all herculean tasks but the place is financially sustainable too and evidently provides so much to local people. It is heartening to recognise that the community centric ideals that inspired philanthropists to build the hall still exist today. I think we all appreciated the quality of the architecture — and indeed the blue-green copper oxide sweep of the old cinema across the street. We all thought that didn’t we?
Familiarity
Well it was a great event and we were inspired, entertained and enriched and we rounded off the evening with a beer or two and a pub quiz augmented by tablet technology and some particularly vicious Mancunian wit. Just as we were leaving our Airbnb the next morning an elderly lady stopped us to ask what the “shops” were being used for. We offered her the chance to take a peek and she was delighted to see the modernised interiors. She explained that she had grown up in the area and had seen enormous changes over the years. She reminisced about shopping in the little high street, a butcher, a bakery and a florist…
Alt.view
She explained about how the businesses all eventually failed and the shops had become derelict and then, for a long time, were used as a drug outreach centre. She was so pleased to see that they had been re-purposed “to give people somewhere affordable to live”. She asked us what we were doing in Stretford and we explained about community tech and the amazing refurbishment of the Public Hall. “Oh I used to dance there with my husband when we were courting” she said. “But I never go there now.” Waiving a dismissive hand she continued, “It was good when the council offices were there but they should have turned that into flats too. That’s what people need here, somewhere to live. That big ugly blue thing should be demolished too or at least get a coat of paint.”
Assumption
There’s a line I like from an old Scifi TV series, “The universe is full of dead men who assumed”. For a middle aged chap such as myself, with all my worldly experience, it’s tempting to assume I know what should be done about a thing. The Discovery programme has given us tools to force me to check those assumptions but has also provided another comfortable bubble. One that perhaps I also needed to recognise. Thank you Stretford lady.
