All entries in this category: Guest Blogger
Guest Blogger
- 13 Feb 08, 10:59 AM
This week's guest Blogger is Rose Kennedy who is originally from Hyde, but has recently moved to be near her family in Romania.
My New Life in Romania
I was born In Hyde in 1942 in the back bedroom of my Granddad’s second hand shop on Market Street (that's not why they called me Rose by the way!).
I have lived quite an ordinary life really, living in Scotland and London because my husbands job took us there. Like most people I plodded through life doing different kinds of jobs etc.
To cut a very long story short last year in December at the age of 60 I decided to move to Romania, my daughter Kathryn, her husband and three children had lived there for 7 years, I lived alone and just thought “what am I doing in Hyde when I could be near them?” It was a very big decision but off I went on the 17th Dec.
The life here is so different and I love it. The Romanian people are lovely and I soon made many friends, I am learning the language but was soon able to manage to go shopping on my own, the shopkeepers were very helpful and kind. In many ways it is like living in UK in the 50's especially in the villages.
Most people grow their own vegetables and keep chickens and ducks. You often see a horse and cart even the refuse is picked up in my daughter’s village by horse and cart.
A lot of old traditions still remain here too and Christmas and Easter etc. are not as commercial just simple things are appreciated.
Weekends and holidays are very much a family affair; families visit each other after church on Sundays and go to the park or to one of the ice cream parlours for a treat. I have a telling in more detail about my life here if anyone would like to read it, there is so much to tell.
All I can say is I did the right thing even though I still love Manchester and Hyde.
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Guest Blogger
- 30 Jan 08, 09:55 AM
There was genuine disappointment when the blog came to an end. The simplicity of the idea alongside some excellent writing earned it recognition in the first Manchester Blog Awards. Now Geoff is back with a new Blog called .
We invited Geoff to be our guest blogger and here he explains his reasons for returning to the Blogisphere.
Once a Blogger...
In the scheme of things, blogging is a medium in its infancy: plenty of dirty nappies and the odd bit of vomit, but enough beautiful smiles and an aura of potential to make you glad it exists. Here I share a little of my own evolving experience of blogging, one of an ending followed by a beginning.
I finished blogging, back in April last year, because I ran out of steam and I had to question the whole idea that a blog must be maintained (must they go on and on like The Times and Coronation Street, or can they have endings like novels and life?).
I didn't like the thought of leaving it to gather dust, with some half hope of resurrection, and I knew that a nagging itch of gilt would continually erode my morale, like an unwritten thank-you letter that still plagues the mind long after appropriate window has passed (Happy Easter! p.s. thanks for the Christmas present). I knew I had to end it cleanly.
The End.
However, not long after I had finished blogging I found myself having involuntary blog thoughts- 'hmmm that would make a fascinating blog post' I would muse as half an idea wafted through my mind, prompted by a headline, or a friend's throwaway comment.
I suppressed the urge, helped mightily by the fact that I had no blog on which to post. But come the new year, with resolution in the air (I can still catch it's scent, though it quickly dissipates in the bleak January winds), I commit to return to wonderful world of the weblog.
The Beginning.
So, why? Why begin after you have ended?
To blog is to write, to communicate, to share a thought, to offer a comment; and to be a blogger is to have to think like a blogger. I find myself walking down the street, or reading, or watching a film, and thinking blogger-thoughts - those thoughts specifically about what to blog. To blog is to get out something that is in us, but it is also about being noticed. It is about having a voice, even if a small voice in some quiet corner of the internet.
All these are good things, or at least they have the potential to be. But also there is this: to be honest, brutally honest, I blog because I want affirmation.
Let me be profound and witty, let me be touching and thoughtful, let me be inspired and creative (one lives in hope). Then people will read my blog and say nice things about me.
You can read 40three .
Guest Blogger
- 16 Jan 08, 10:00 AM
This is the first in a series of postings from guest contributers to the ±«Óătv Manchester Blog. Guests are welcome to write about anything they have a passion for and if you'd like to be considered as a guest writer please contact us at the usual address - you don't even have to have a blog.
The Rochdale Canal by Paul of IckleWEB 
Hidden away under the streets of Manchester lie large stretches of the historic canal network.
The majority of which have been reopened over recent years to enable the public to use and walk along their towpaths once more.
For those with a few hours to spare when in the city centre, there are some impressive feats of engineering to see.
Take for example the Rochdale Canal tunnel running under the Malmaison Hotel on London Road - I counted a total of 9 different structures making up the tunnel, the brick arches over the road being the oldest, other forms of construction including riveted metal beams and also modern concrete.
It was fascinating to see such a variation in construction techniques all in one place.
For me, the biggest surprise was what I found under the adjacent 111 Piccadilly tower block.
It is as if there is a small subterranean world down there that nobody is aware of - locks, a small loading dock and a colourful mural are all hidden away under the tower block.
The building itself has been constructed on many concrete columns which are unmissable but which enable the Rochdale Canal to remain navigable.
I would definitely recommend a wander along that section of canal heading out towards Ancoats as there is just so much to see from historical structures to new building developments.
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