Was over to see Untied v Wolves recently, and had a brief opportunity to venture into Manchester City Centre to get some Street Art photos.
When I say brief, I mean brief, just over an hour on the morning of the game.
Thankfully, I know my way around Manchester, so I knew where to hit.
I didn’t have enough time to head to Ancoats, which is a bit out of the way, so I headed to the Northern Quarter, focusing on Tibb Street and Stevenson Square.
Not a great haul, but still some nice pieces. Hopefully, the next time I visit Manchester i’ll be able to get a lot more.
It’s the May Bank Holiday Weekend, it must be Hit The North, even though the calendar does say April. This is an event which has it’s own Calendar.
Now established over the May Bank Holiday, having moved from September, this is always an event worth looking forward to.
Due to the nature of the pieces and the volume of work involved, it is unsurprising that some Artists started early on their pieces.
I was unable to get out on foot on Saturday to get some photos, but as I was driving home from Solitude, I did observe some pieces being started.
On the Sunday, I headed into Belfast City Centre. I had a few things to get sorted before the Street Art festivities, which were scheduled to start at 2pm.
I went to Lush to attend a Bath Bomb Class as part of International Bath Bomb Day. What do you mean you’ve never heard of it?
I’m not sure i’ll be giving up the day job to start a Bath Bomb company. Mine split in two. So now I have two bath bombs.
From there, I was planning to head to Caffe Nero to spend a £5 voucher, but I forgot to bring it with me. Good job it’s valid for a year.
Eventually I arrived at the hub of the activity, North Street and Kent Street.
In short, around where The Sunflower is.
It was the usual drill, have a walk around, get as many photos as I can.
Then of course, disappear for a short while to let the art develop so I can get more photographs as it progresses. And repeat.
Off work on the Monday, I headed over that morning to get some photos of the finished pieces.
Not all of them were finished, so I decided to wait a week to head back out. Well, nearly a week.
I headed over on the Sunday morning to snap the final pieces
Not sure how I managed to miss this one, but as soon as I found out about it, I was out to photograph it.
As part of International Women’s Day, Commercial Court in Belfast (that street round the side of where Athletic Stores used to be) became a canvass with a group of female artists painting murals.
Some of them may be familiar if you follow Street Art in Belfast, such as Danni Simpson, Friz and Kerrie Hanna.
I saw some posts about it from the Artists involved on Social Media, so I made a note to go down and see it.
In the time inbetween, various media outlets reported on this new artwork such as Belfast Live and UTV.
Having made a note of it, I headed down the following Sunday morning to get some photos.
If that has got you in the mood for some Street Art, I have some good news for you, Hit The North isn’t far away.
Now planted in the May Bank Holiday after a few years of bouncing between May and September, it’ll be here next month, on April 30th.
Yes, do the maths. It technically is the May Bank Holiday Weekend due to the way the calendar falls.
As you know, when I travel somewhere, I like to get some Street Art photos, and this trip to Brighton was no different.
Having been just over a year previously, I already had quite a lot of photos of Street Art in Brighton, so I was on the look out for pieces that had been painted since my last visit.
In the area, I decided to stroll along Trafalgar Street, a hotbed of Street Art to get some photos.
My favourite new pieces that I spotted were of Bart Simpson and Fatboy Slim.
May began with a trip to North Street to take in the Hit The North Street Art Festival, getting photos of the pieces of artwork as they were created, and then the finished artwork.
The following weekend, I treated myself to a trip to Scotland, spending most my time in Edinburgh, getting photos of Street Art (of course) and walking up Arthur’s Seat and going for a stroll in Colinton.
It would have been rude not to go to a football match, Livingston v St Johnstone being my match of choice before a day trip to Glasgow saw me get more Street Art photos and visit Cathkin Park, an abandoned football stadium.
Towards the end of the month, it was all about Friday nights, first of all winning a ticket to see Ulster v Sharks.
Then, the last Friday of the month, I went to see Queen (well, half of Queen, but it was still so good) at The Odyssey.
Annual Leave to use up? Day trip to Dublin? Why not?
Get some Street Art photos while there? Of course.
I like to go to Dublin at least once a year, just to see how things are, have a walk about. Possibly even take in an event if i’m staying overnight (Ahem, 2024 UEFA Cup Final)
In this visit, there wasn’t much else to report, had a walk about the city and that was it.
I was hoping there would have been a decent Sunset while I was there (my train was at 7pm so I would have been there for it and not rushing for my train) but that was thwarted by the dull weather.
Ha’penny Bridge or St Stephen’s Green would have been a perfect location for photos as well.
Having been to Dublin numerous times, I know my way about.
Of course, that means I know where all the Street Art is.
I wasn’t looking for it, but it found me.
The first piece I saw was a mural of the film Metropolis, which you may be familiar as the inspiration for the video for Radio Ga Ga by Queen.
There was also a large scale mural to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Brazil’s Independence.
Due to it being in an area with heavy traffic, this was a difficult one to photograph.
I had to wait for the lights to go green (as opposed to cars queuing up at a red light and blocking the view) and for there to be no traffic to get the shot
Thankfully, it was worth it when I got the shot.
As well as this, I also managed to get photos of electric boxes which have been painted, presumably as part of Dublin Canvas.
I even managed to get a photo of a Jimi Hendrix mural.
Using up more Annual Leave, I headed to Derry on the Friday for a day trip.
Same as Dublin, I hadn’t been this year, so why not head over for a walkabout and see what there is.
In truth, it was a bit of a meh day.
The weather was dull, and there was no new Street Art to photograph.
I did see Street Art, but it was pieces that I photographed last year.
Whenever I go somewhere and don’t get many photos, it does feel like a wasted journey.
It wasn’t all a wasted trip. I did manage to get a bargain bundle of football programmes in a Charity Shop.
Did a bit of celeb spotting, Colum Eastwood on his phone looking a bit annoyed and forlorn in Foyleside Shopping Centre.
I was hoping to have a full day. The last time I headed to Derry, I ended up getting the 6.38pm train home.
Not quite the same this time, heading home on the 3.38pm train.
Which was quite handy as I missed the commuters travelling home from Derry to Coleraine/Ballymena.
On a related note, why is this train not every 30 minutes at least?
My original hope was to be there and maybe try and get some Sunset photos from the Peace Bridge of the Greenway that leads to North West Transport Hub.
Nope. I was drenched, and I had done and seen (Yellow Yard, Bedlam, SmartSwag, Society Street Market) all that I wanted to see.
Of course, the sun came out as I was boarding the train. Looks like I could have stayed and some Sunset photos.
Instead, I observed the Sunset from the train, which was a nice experience. Would recommend it.
I might leave Derry to every two years, or I might go during the Summer months with more daylight.
If i’m leaving the city at 3.38pm, I might take a detour to Castlerock Beach on the way home, and maybe explore more of the North West rather than exclusively being in the City Of Derry.
The train ride has been described as one of the most spectacular in the world (although, not as good as Bray to Greystones).
It is worth pointing out, that is only between Coleraine and Derry. Belfast to Coleraine isn’t much to write home about.
Just on a train, casually going past an airport runway, oh and going alongside a beach as well, like it’s perfectly normal and no big deal.
So, two day trips which didn’t go as planned in terms of photos, but I did end up seeing some new Street Art and getting a bargain bundle of football programmes, so not all bad.
Having been to Manchester many times, it can get a bit samey.
Not when it comes to Street Art, especially if you haven’t been in over a year.
However, I do know where to go, which helps.
As soon as I arrived, it was straight to Northern Quarter, Ancoats, Oldham Street and Tibb Street.
While I was in the middle of snap snap snapping away, there was a torrential rainstorm, which meant I had to seek refuge in Affleks.
Thankfully, it didn’t last all day, so I was straight back out.
When it wasn’t raining, the weather was quite nice, so I headed out and got as many photos as possible.
With the main areas completed, I remained on alert, in case I spotted some pieces, which I did, one around the back of Piccadilly, and then another on Oxford Street.
It was great to be back in Manchester again and getting snaps of Street Art the city had to offer, although I didn’t get a chance to snap some Street Art in Pomona Wharf.
And we’re back in the new traditional slot of May for 2022 having been moved back to the old traditional slot of September in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, after the first year of the new traditional May slot in 2019.
I hope that makes some sort of sense.
So here we are, on the May Bank Holiday Weekend, as part of Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.
If you don’t know what Hit The North is, it’s quite simple. A load of artists paint artwork on walls in Belfast City Centre.
It used to be in North Street, hence the name, but now takes place in Kent Street and that general area. If you’re not sure where that is, it’s basically around The Sunflower Bar. I arrived just before 2pm and things were in full swing.
I decided to do a few laps of the area and walk about and see the artwork in progress. The event was sponsored by a drinks company, who I think were giving out free (very small) samples.
There was also an interactive element where people could spraypaint their own mural in an area away from the main artwork.
One of the highlights was a mural of Phil Lynott, with images behind him of the moon and a couple dancing. Dancing In The Moonlight, a hit for Thin Lizzy. Looking forward to a similar mural for Toploader.
It’s the third mural i’m aware of Lynott, with one on a electricity box in Dublin (of course) and a mural of Thin Lizzy in Bangor. As a bonus, there was an extra piece in Queen Street. I only discovered that by fluke when I was walking home.
I went back on the Tuesday lunchtime to get some snaps but I was thwarted by parked cars. So, I decided to head back on the next available Sunday morning when there would be less cars and people about, making it easier to get photos.
Unfortunately for me, that would be nearly two weeks away.
It was worth the wait, as I headed out with my camera and got lots of photos.
Analogue Boy In A Digital World 