There are a number of things that I will not do in life. My “no” list, if you will. Some of them pertain to food stuffs, some of them are to do with films or literature, other to do with people I won’t see again. Also on the list is places I have no interest in going to. Some of them are overseas, but some of them are right here on home soil. Manchester. The northern.. dream? Northern Soul? Northern rock? Whatever it is I have no interest in going.

My first frame of reference for places in the United Kingdom is their football team. I get a sense of their personality, a sense of what the club, the people and the place are about. Manchester has two main clubs; Manchester United and Manchester City. Anyone who knows anything about the sport will be well aware of those two clubs; millions spent on players, bullies as managers, refereeing pressures and plastic fans have tainted the success of the clubs. But those in the north won’t mind; after all, there’s nothing to do up there apart from watch football or the rain.