MAMUCIUM

In the middle of Manchester, in an area known as Castlefield there are the remains of a Roman fort, and a replica of part of the fort. The fort was known as Mamucium, from the Celtic word "breast shaped hill", referring to the sandstone bluff the fort was built upon. This later evolved into the name Manchester.  The fort was built in 79 AD to guard a crossing on the river Medlock. It was located at a crossing of two Roman roads. At first the fort was built of timber and turf and probably housed a cohort of 500 men.

A viscus or civilian settlement grew up around the fort. This was made up of soldier's families and merchants. Some remains from this settlement can still be seen on the site. The fort was one of a chain of Roman fortifications along the road between Eboracum (York) and Deva Victrix (Chester). Castleshaw fort  lies 26 kms to the east and Condate (Norwich) fort 29 kms to the west.

remains of buildings around the fort with the replica in the background

boys exploring the view from the battlement

rear view of the northern gate

a section of the wall

section of the wall from the front

MANCHESTER

Soccer fans get ready for today's match and give me a welcome to Manchester

Many department stores in Australia have a manchester section. This contains cotton goods such as sheets, pillow cases and table cloths. It is called a manchester section after the city of Manchester in England, as Manchester was once the world leader in the manufacture of cotton goods. The city of Manchester owes its prosperity to a period in the 19th century when they were the biggest importer of cotton and supported a large textile manufacturing industry.

The bee has been adopted as a symbol of Manchester

During the Industrial Revolution Manchester became the world largest trading centre for cotton. Many of its large and ornate buildings today began life as cotton warehouses. The buildings are huge and intricate carvings decorate the outside, carvings of ships' prows or symbols of empire. One of these in Portland Street is the huge Britannia Motel, so large you have to ask for a room with a window if you what a room on an outside wall. Other building are reminiscent of Manchester's glory days. The old Railway storage buildings, the Corn Exchange, the Free Trade Hall and the Cotton Trade Centre. The Cotton Trade Hall is now a theatre, The Royal Exchange theatre. It is huge inside and has been refurbished after sustaining damage during bombings in World War II. The theatre part is suspended on huge girders so that it won't fall through the old floor. It is a theatre in the round and looks to hold about 6-700 people for a performance. I went to a production there, The Day We Sang. It was entertaining and funny.

Manchester also has a cathedral. It was built in the Middle Ages and is one of Manchester's oldest buildings. It is renowned for its wooden furnishings and stain glass. It received a lot of damage during World War II and was repaired in 1952. The second Bishop at the cathedral was born in Australia.

Throughout the city there are a number of historical and interesting sites. The National Football museum, libraries built by millionaires' wives and left to the city, a statue of Abraham Lincoln, a statue of Queen Victoria, and a Town Hall, which is key shaped and ornately decorated. There are an amazing number of small pubs. I have always liked the signs which hang out the front of these pubs. There is also the remains of a Roman fort, Mamucium, and a replica of part of this fort, the North Gate. And through the city winds a canal. TheManchester Ship Canal was extended to the sea in 1894 so that Manchester could break the stranglehold Liverpool had on it charging high import taxes on the cotton trade. The canal is 36 miles long and was virtually all dug by hand.

The Department Store here is called House of Fraser but the locals still call it Kendalls. It was originally called Kendalls Milne and Co.. This may be the longest department store in existence in the world. This was also the first store to use the word 'SALE'. It was based on the French word for soiled. Soiled clothes were sold off cheap, now the word 'sale' is in common usage and at the moment the christmas sales are on here.

The Town Hall (from the back)

Kendall's, first store to use the word 'SALE'

This letter box survived an IRA blast 

Typical inn sign

Skateboaders in the city

Gargoyles decorate many buildings

Inside Manchester cathedral

Manchester cathedral

One of the oldest buildings in Manchester, it has been moved twice

Inn sign

Private lib ray donated to the city by the wife of Manchester's first millionaire

Section of the canal

The Britannia Motel, once a cotton store shed

Details of carving on cotton store shed

UNITED KINGDOM

Dubai airport

OK, the next trip is here. This time its not to do with volunteer work but a trip to the UK. I flew out of Sydney on 24th December. The first stop was in Dubai. This was only a quick stop before boarding another plane to Manchester in England. The airline was Emirates. The flight was very good. The plane was crowded, but the service and the conditions were excellent. I must say the takeoff and the landing were better than any I have experienced before. I wasn't even sure we were in the air. The second plane was less than half full. This meant being able to stretch out across four seats. After leaving Dubai I was able to look out the window and see snow on the ground and the mountains in what was Persia and modern Turkey.

Dubai airport was huge, but I only spent an hour there. Manchester airport, I probably only saw part of it as you quickly went out onto the street, didn't seem very big. There were not many people about as its Christmas Day. There were just a row of "London cabs" and because its a holiday no other public transport was working! The airport is out of town.

It is cold, but not raining, nor any snow. People are rugged up in coats. It is very cosmopolitan. People are not very friendly....but I will change that! Fashion. The predominant colour is black, followed by drab. Everyone is in dark shades, dark coats, very few splashes of colour. Women wear heavy make-up, especially around the eyes, but their faces are coated. There are lots of hair styles which come directly out of the Carry On movies, piled high on top. The men all have short close-cut hair. The women love fur and especially fake cheetah prints, and leather pants are very popular. High shoes are also in, either high heels or the clunky high shoes. A lot of women also wear boots. The friendliest person and clearest english voice was where I had breakfast the first morning....she was from Lithuania. There are quiet a few beggars on the street.

View from plane window

Plane info panel showing where the previous photo was taken.

Cabs waiting at the airport. All other public transport was closed today.

Centre of Manchester on Christmas Day

I was surprised how empty the streets were

HIGHWAY OF PLENTY

From Uluru I headed back to Alice Springs, then 100 kms north to turn east on the Plenty Highway. I stopped at a gem fossicking area, but I think there was more chance of winning Lotto, especially as I didn't know which gems I was looking for. The road was made of deep sand and was probably the worst road that I drove on during the trip. It was very isolated for a long distance. It was sandy and in places very loose and with very deep ruts. In the middle of the worst part of the road there was a road crew doing upgrades on the road, it was in the middle of nowhere. 

There were few places to stop and get diesel, one of them, Tobermorey, just before the Queensland border, was just a cattle station which sold diesel and cold drinks. The woman there talked about the roads. I had just driven on some poor road but her comment was: "I don't think the road are so good on the Queensland side, but you should make it through".

Another 250 kms and I reached Boulia where most of the town were at a talent quest held at the local school. Then 360 kms to Winton. Winton is the dinosaur capital of Australia. Dinosaur bones have been found all over the surrounding countryside. A centre had been build out of the town on top of a hill. I went here and did a tour of the bones which have been found and of the labs where they are processing the bones. Dinosaur bones have been found here from dinosaurs which have not been found anywhere else in the world. They also found the remains of a carnivore and a herbivore dinosaur in the same hole. It was interesting but could be better presented. For a fee, once a year the public can come here and join a dig. They are almost guaranteed to find bones.

The road then went on through Longreach, Barcaldine, Blackall, Tambo, Augathella (where I left my hat), Mitchell, St George and finally into NSW at Mungindi. The roads were full of kangaroos at night. I also saw wild pigs, eating road kill, as well as a fox and many birds of prey. My last stop was at Moree where I enjoyed a soak in the historic hot springs. These springs have been modernised since I was here last. Eventually I arrived in Sydney, the Harbour Bridge probably a fitting end for my trip. 

Technician cleaning dinosaur bones

The hot springs at Moree

ULURU

From King's Canyon I drove to Uluru. I spent one afternoon there and watched the sun setting on the rock. I camped at the resort and then set out early to watch the sun come up on the rock. I had thought about climbing the rock but I had twisted my ankle a day or two before so decided against this. I did go and look at the waterhole nestled into the side of the rock, though the water-level was down. I also had a look at Aboriginal paintings in a cliff overhang near the waterhole. There were large crowds there for the sunset and the sunrise. At the resort I also saw Aboriginal dancers and even joined them for the men's dance.

In 1993 a dual naming policy was adopted and Ayers Rock/Uluru became the first name change under this policy; it was later changed to Uluru/ Ayers Rock. Uluru is the name given the rock by the local Pitjantjatjara people. The surveyor, William Gross named it Ayers Rock in 1873 after the Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. The rock is 348 metres high; 3.6 kms long; 1.9 kms wide and 9.4 kms around the base. It also extends for several kilometres underground.

one end of Uluru

An early morning view

OK, so the rock looked better than me in the morning

Afternoon view

Aboriginal rock paintings at the rock

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View, late in the afternoon

CAMELS

Wild camel

During the second half of the nineteenth century over 10,000 camels were brought into Australia. Most of these were dromedaries from India, brought in to transport goods through central Australia. With the advent of the motor vehicle the camels were no longer needed and many were released into the wild. Australia is now the only country in the world where there are herds of wild camels. Their population has been estimated between 300,000 and one million.

I had hoped to photograph wild camels on this trip. I was able to do that when crossing on the great Central Road into Northern territory. First there were a group of three and then a large camel by itself.  There were a few camel farms along the way but I didn't go into any of these. At King's Creek Station there was a young camel and a donkey who were playing with each other. The station also had a number of other camels there as well. I did eat a camel burger here but it was made from camel mince and really I couldn't taste any particularly strong 'camel' flavour.

At Uluru you could go on a camel ride out to view the rock, or a short ride around the camp, just so you could experience what a ride would be like. I took the short ride. 

To complete the cycle, when I reached Queensland I came across a road train carrying camels like cattle. I spoke to the drivers and found these were wild camels rounded up and they were on their way to the coast where they would be shipped to Belgium. They were being sent live, as meat.

Pet young camel and donkey

camels ready for tourists

Wild camels on the way to Belgium