The Iron Lady comes to Manchester Town Hall

I didn't expect to leave Manchester Town Hall last night feeling sorry for Mrs Thatcher.

After all with clear memories of economic crisis,the death of manufacturing,rampant greed,miners strikes,the Falklands and the poll tax,those of us who were around in the 1980's would barely shed a tear for the Iron Lady.



Yet the film,on general release at the beginning of January,starring Meryl Streep as Lady Thatcher and Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher leaves one almost shedding a tear for a fallen warrior.

The screening,in the orange lit Great hall with Maddox's paintings offering a reflective glow,starts with a confused old lady battling to buy a pint of milk from the local shop,struggling to come to terms with her dementia.

She is not recognised and returns to her flat to a conversion with her dead husband ,brilliantly played by Jim Broadbent.

She's living comfortably but not luxuriously, surrounded by what's left of her life and an armed guard, while under the care of nursing staff.

It is Denis who almost leads the film with his continued conversation and reminiscing until at the end Margaret banishes him from the flat and her mind.

The flashback through her career are good.Her attempts to become a candidate in the 1950's finally successful in breaking into a man's world,her first appearance in Parliament,St Francis of Assisi in front of No 10 in 1979 and the Brighton Bomb where for an instance you believe that her husband has been killed.

The reason for the showing at the Town Hall was that the scenes in Parliament were filmed there,as filming is not allowed in Westminster and you get glimpses of the corridors as Thatcher hurries along,handbag waving,her able minsters behind.

It is difficult to fit the 30 year career of a top politician into an hour and a half,yet with the focus being the flat,and Denis,opportunities and events were missed.

Whilst her final downfall resulting form a virulent attack on Geoffrey Howe who had stood by her so valiantly during the economic crisis,her fallout with Nigel Lawson and Michael Heseltine,played by Richard E Grant were ignored.

The film,written by award-winning writer Abi Morgan directed by Phyllida Lloyd and produced by Damian Jones will probably go onto win awards as will the brilliant acting of Streep,who gets the voice, the intonation, the posture and the movement with breathtaking precision.

But if you want to see a better representation of her character,then take a look at BBC4's portrayal of her early career,the Long Walk to Finsbury with Andrea Riseborough as the young Mrs Thatcher

Your chance to scale Manchester Town Hall clocktower

Mancunians are being given the chance to be among the first to visit Manchester’s the town hall clock tower,from next week.

Although it is a prominent feature of Manchester’s most iconic building, the 134-year old clock tower has only been open to the public on a handful of previous occasions.

Now visitors will be able to accompany official tour guides up the iconic 280-foot (85m) high bell tower from which they will be able to see a spectacular panorama of the city and beyond to the Pennines and Cheshire Plain.

The fascinating tour will also offer the opportunity to get a close look at the mighty Great Abel, the town hall’s eight tonne clock bell, as well as the tower’s mechanical and bellringing rooms while learning about the history of the Grade I-listed town hall, considered one of the finest achievements of Victorian architecture.

Tours will initially run from Thursday 17 November through to 22 December, coinciding with the dates of Manchester’s famous Christmas Markets and giving visitors the chance to have a bird’s eye view of them. It is hoped that clock tower tours will then become a permanent fixture which will be on the ‘must do’ list for any visitor to Manchester.

They will take place at 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm, 5.30pm and 7pm Monday to Sunday. Children aged under 12 are not permitted.

Two exciting fringe events-and they're outside the zone

The Centre for local economic strategies (CLES) is hosting 2 fringe events at this year’s Conservative Party Conference.

Details of the events are as follows:

What kind of localist are you?

3rd October, Committee Room 1, Manchester Town Hall

6pm – 7.30pm

This session will examine the localism agenda and the balance of power between local and central government. A key element of the government’s localism agenda is public service transformation and we’ll explore some of the challenges of this change as well as some of the opportunities.

Confirmed speakers:

Mike Blackburn, North West Regional Director, BT Plc
Sir Tony Hawkhead, Chief Executive, Groundwork UK
James Lloyd, National Trust
Getting local economies growing again

4th October, Committee Room 2, Manchester Town Hall

1pm – 2pm

This session will be taking a critical look at the challenge of rebalancing the economy by examining what we mean by rebalancing, what we’ve learned about rebalancing from the past and the effectiveness of current policy proposals on LEPs, Regional Growth Fund and enterprise zones.

Confirmed speakers:

Lord Maurice Glasman, Director of faith and citizenship programme, London Metropolitan University
Professor Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sheffield

Everyone is welcome to attend these events which are free of charge and will be held at Manchester Town Hall.

There is no need to book a place on either of these events – just come along. For venue location map click here