Walk for Homes - Week 3 - Looping round Bradford to Liverpool to Leicester!

After Leeds, Housegirl headed to stay with a friend's mum in Bradford. Along the way, they got trapped in a wee little parallel universe on a housing estate, wondering around lost for a good 40 minutes. Making their way finally out of the other end, they carried on towards their host, trying their hardest to arrive in good time and not keep folks up past their bedtime, but the sun was already setting and time getting on. Along the way, they came by a big old Hovis factory, which wasn't quite as wholesome smelling as you would expect : ( Finally they made it to their hosts and were presented with every possible snack and food stuff, fleece PJs and a foot spa. Glorious happy feet.

After doing a wee sketch for the kids, Housegirl was sent on their way with more snacks, directions and well wishes. They headed into Bradford City Centre and had a wander before heading to Rochdale to start their walk. Rochdale is the birthplace of the Co-operative company we shop at!

As they head to Manchester, Housegirl was getting a little delirious and couldn't quite work out how to read the signs for Manchester. They had also seemingly dissassociated somewhat from their feet. What are those things underneath my house? I'm a house! They hurried as quickly as they could toward the nearest take away in order to get some calories in, bombing it downward into Manchester with the dusk cityscape lighting up before them, bits of rice flying about. Making it into the city they realised their hosts were on the other side of town, so they braved the city tram, only to end up in the wrong place. Eventually they made it to a pub where their host found them downing a little vodka to help the pain of the weight they were carrying which was beginning to feel like a planet.

They stayed up chatting with their lovely host and met more confused kids in the morning, and were gratefully sent off packing with birthday cake and recommendations for local co-ops to pop into and the People's Museum. Like a good little student (one of their hosts was actually a teacher, and founder of their own new school! Talk about power couple!) they checked everything off the list, picking their lunch up at Unicorn Co-operative supermarket, the biggest co-operative food supplier they had ever seen! Then the co-operative plant nursery where they picked up a Pink Glitter Spinach for their next host, and went on to learn about the co-operative movement in the museum. Of course this took much of the day, which meant less time walking to Liverpool so they had to start their walk a lot closer. Of course much walking was already done around Manchester itself.

Granby 4 Streets was a welcoming sight, so much street planting and murals. Liverpool has an energy like few other cities, it's fierce in it's resilience and resistance against class oppression, racism, exploitatoin, and the right to simply be. Most people just get who the enemy is. Hazel showed Housegirl round the award winning Winter Garden, which is 2 terraces made into a tropical oasis with a holiday apartment at the top which helps their Community Land Trust keep going and keep the area affordable and in the community, and showed Housegirl all the planting around the back of the houses too in their communal alleyway. Digging up a spot for the pink glitter spinach, Hazel explained the history of the area and they sat round her kitchen table with more local activists and community passing through. In her wisdom, Hazel pointed out that Housegirl might probably be suffering from exhaustion by now, and it was in this acknowledgement that they hit a wall. Luckily Housegirl's mum lived in a neighbouring town, so they headed over for a pitstop and to catch up on their storyboarding job.

Housegirl was dropped off by their ma to Chester, where had a wander round the cathedral and old shops, many spaces empty. They managed to catch a dear old friend before getting on their way to Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent. As it turns out, they were actually walking to Newcastle Under Lyme. The signs at first were most disturbing, as they were meant to be heading back south, but one sign and business after another read Newcastle!

There were no co-ops in this area so they ended up in a B&B. On their way out they talked to the owner who kindly donated some money, but then went on to describe their renting out their properties in a very matter of fact way as being a service provider. ousegirl found it interesting how vague the language becomes to make sense of people's actions.

Housegirl made it to Leicester! Exploring the history of trading and business owned spaces rather than communities. Leicester was very much at the centre of where trading really kicked off in the UK, and the prioritisation of profit before people. Wonderful to read how stain class was a form of graffiti at one point.

Sadly Housegirl did not have time to look for Richard III's car park.

Walk for Homes: Week 3!