Don't you just love it when visiting a place you happen upon a
marriage like I did with this one in
Manchester. They had chosen the Neo-Gothic
magnificence of
Manchester Town Hall to plight their troth. All the guests have boarded the
motorised transport and all that is left is for the bride and groom to join them.
The photographs have all been taken including the 'kissing the bride', or in the pursuit of equality maybe it is 'kissing the groom'.
Now everyone is off to what is traditionally called the wedding breakfast, although as can be seen from the shadows the time is around 17.00. The bus is one of my all time favourites, a 1951 Leyland Royal Tiger and both it and the Guy Arab IV double decker shown in the first photo were restored by the expertise of Manchester's
Walsh Brothers and are owned by Belle Vue Coaches
Manchester Town Hall was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and completed in 1877 and has many notable sculptures. I think the
marriages take place in the Great Hall outside which on the floor are
mosaic patterns of bees (symbolising industry). The other pieces of
magnificence inside are
Ford Madox Brown's Manchester Murals. I
didn't get a full on photograph of the Town Hall but happily the building featured on one of the 2012 "A-Z of Britain" postage stamps
The 250 ft Clock Tower is occasionally opened to visit. The three clock faces seen from Albert Square in front of the Town Hall apparently bear the inscription "
Teach us to number our Days" but it's too far away for
my myopia.
