We had just the right amount of people throughout the evening to make the place feel full and buzzy the whole time with a great mix of new and old faces and friends. Thank you all for coming along and showing your support.

I would like to thank for helping me  set things up over the last few weeks and deliver on the day:

Georgie and Libby, James White, Rachel Plumb, Pete Masters, Brian Hartley.  Artists Alison Kershaw, Jai Redman, Neville Gabie , Akimyemi Oludele and Joe Wood.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8632000/8632272.stm

The Tatton Biennial is from the 8 May and worth a visit.

www.tattonparkbiennial.org

Both Alison and Jai have set up blogs on their work and in particular their research in Cheetham Hill check out them out:

Alison       www.carwashcultures.blogspot.com

Jai            http://jairedman.blogspot.com

Joe has been researching this area as part of Architecture Degree at MMU and so had a good knowledge of the area and route. Joe has developed two walks which we have printed up in a leaflet if anyone would like a copy then please let me know.

Throughout the walk we discussed the possibilities and potential of the areas we came across. I was particularly excited to find a huge bank of brambles  -  a blackberry picking session will certainly be on the cards.

Thank you again for all who come along and took part and thanks again to Joe for leading us. I am in discussion with Joe about doing on his second walk maybe later in May or early June, he has a small matter of his dissertation to think about before then – but if we do more info soon.

Recent Architecture Graduate Joe Woods has been studying the derelict and underused spaces in and around Cheetham Hill as part of his final year project. It seems a perfect opportunity to utilise this new found knowledge as part of our first public exploration into the area. Joe’s Secret Garden Walk  - as named by the famous title by the the author Margaret Hodgekinson who was from Cheetham Hill –  is an opportunity to explore the unappreciated countryside to be found in the Cheetham Hill as so far discovered by Joe and his research.

Starting at 11am this Saturday from the Buddleia Space the walk should take about 2hrs. A poster and guide to the walk is available.

See you Saturuday.

The address to be exact is Basement, 573 Cheetham Hill Road, M8 9JE. It is the basement of Premiere Newsagents which is opposite the derelict library.

From next week and when I get some furniture in there, I will be there as much as possible, so please come by and see what we are up to. We also plan to have a launch on Thursday 29th April from 5-7pm, come by and say hello.

My initial proposal and the basis of my funding was to temporarily take over an empty shop unit along Cheetham Hill/ Bury Old Road so the project was located at the heart of the activity and street life of the area. My first sights were on Woolworths, not only a fantastic location but also an icon of the recession. I quickly discovered that shops in do not stay empty for very long in Cheetham Hill, although the Woolworth’s site is still unoccupied the incoming tenants are not far off.

This has become quite an interesting misconception of mine about the area and the state of the micro economy for this part of town. Shop spaces are in demand and not only that, the ones that are available are charging extortionate high rents or are simply not interested in a three month artist led community project funded by the council.Things – it would seem – are booming.

So after approximately 5 months of disappointments, knock backs and mild panic I think I have finally located a space which the landlord has agreed for a three month tenancy. The deal is not signed or sealed yet, but its the closest I have come in whole time I have been searching. If the lease is agreed – and I can’t see how it couldn’t be- I will find out on Monday.

Not only was the spring weather finally showing its sunny face, Jai and I had a really interesting day in Cheetham Hill yesterday. We began bright and early at the Dashmesh Sikh Temple on Heyward Road, where we were invited to watch the chapati making for the meal made every week for the 100 strong congregation at the end of their ceremonies.

Mr. Bilbar Singh and his colleagues at the Temple were incredibly kind and hospitable to us, as were the woman cooking the meal.  We learnt that the woman were creating the meal in memory of their departed mother and mother-in-law and that all the woman in the family eventually showed up to help with the preparation.

Despite the mouth watering smells of of frying onion and okra it was the chapati that Jai was most interested in. Very quickly a production line formed. From the mixed dough, which is just chapati flour and water, the dough is made into balls, rolled flat and then baked on the hot plate. Eventually the hot brown disks are buttered and added to the pile. Within 30mins 100 chapati’s for the meal were made.

We were also invited to spend time in the temple itself and was introduced to the philosophy and ways of the Sikh religion, which is an exemplar lesson in equality, humility and understanding.

We were invited for the meal, as central to Sikh religion is the sharing of food to all, no-one is excluded or turned away. However we had another stop on our agenda and had to reluctantly leave the smells and good people of the Dashwesh Temple.

I don’t want to speak too soon by we looked at a potential space today to house the project in….its looking hopeful….I find out today…

Alrightnick’s

In the afternoon we were joined by Alison and went on the Jewish Museum Heritage Trail led by long-standing historian of the Jewish community in Manchester, Bill Williams and Merton Paul. The tour which was due to be 2 hours extended to 3 as we all engaged in further discussion and information about this fascinating trail of the Jewish quarter.

Many of the buildings I had been looking at on my own walks around the area resulted in being key institutions and cornerstones for the Jewish community. Slowly the fabric of these buildings are decaying and the markings of their original uses are being worn away by new occupants and redevelopment. Only fragmentary in places. the history still seems so vibrant and tangible.

The museum hosts this tour every month please check out the events page for their dates.

On the 12 March the Buddleia’s invited artists Alison Kershaw, Neville Gabie and Jai Redmond (unfortunately Can Altay was opening an exhibition in Istanbul that day) spent a day together going around Cheetham Hill area and meeting some people.

A gardners archive, Emilo Degisi, Cheetham & Crumpsall Allotments - Neville Gabie

The day started early with visiting the inspirational Neapolitan Emilio Deglisi, the president of the Cheetham and Crumpsall Allotment Society, who showed us around the impressive allotment site including his own particular plot. Although dormant with the delayed spring, Emilio showed  us the vast variety of produce he nurtures from his hand cultivated soil. With Emilio’s forty years experience there was not much he couldn’t tell us about nurturing your own food.

A tour or Jewish Museum on Cheetham Hill Road introduced the history and background to this important immigration of people over the years of the Industrial Revolution. Much of the wealth, buildings and identity of the Cheetham Hill area was established by the Jewish community and businesses based there. Although much of the community has moved on to other areas now the residual influence can undoubtedly still be felt.

The Welcome Centre has become one of my favourite places to visit whenever I am in the area. Open on Thursday afternoons and all day Fridays, The Welcome Centre is a drop in where people can meet, accesses advice and also be fed. We as a group went there for lunch. The Welcome Centre is one of the best examples of a truly community project, it is well attended the space is open and friendly and people from all backgrounds genuinely mix. http://candcwelcomecentre.blogspot.com/2007/10/welcome-to-welcome-centre.html

The last part of our agenda was a meeting with Julie Goreham from Northwards Housing who showed us around the different estates they manage and introduced us to Anne, Chair of their residents panel.

The artists engaged to work on this project with are: Alison Kershaw, Jai Redmond from UHC, Neville Gabie and Can Altay.

More information on the artists will follow soon on the Artist page.

This website will  chart the first tentative steps of Buddleia and the development of our time spent in Cheetham Hill. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship