Proud at Manchester Pride

On Thursday we had a pre-Pride celebration at G-A-Y in Canal Street with friends Rich and Andy, who are moored close to us on their boat “Carpe Diem” ……….

 

……. before returning back to “Chance” to meet up with friend Stephen who was in town.  It’s always a treat to catch up with him when we’re in this neck of the woods.  Chris and Les, returning from shopping, also joined us for a drink.

Now, the main reason for us being in the great city is, of course, its annual Pride event.  We’ll try to give our usual over-used superlatives a rest and let the pictures tell the story of Saturday’s march.

The police, fire and ambulance attendance gets great support from the crowds. The Police contingent this year was huge –bravo guys!

Guess non of us worry too much about the colour of a fire engine if we really need one (God forbid) but this one is just right for the occasion.

The Salford Ladies United Temperance Society (SLUTS) always try to temper the mood of the day by their “moral code”.  They’re a real scream!

So much effort …..

…… so much colour ………

……. but not so much material some times!

Les was busy enjoying her first Pride – being overawed by the colour, sounds, love and the sheer scale of male flesh on view! while ………

…husband Chris was doing a sterling job as our “official” photographer.  These are all our pics by the way, his first class contribution will come later.

Entries, both big and small, made up one of the longest parades we’ve had the pleasure to be at.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are always welcome.

The quality of presentation, and the sheer hard work involved on some floats is terrific.

The Fire Service brought their mini ‘appliance’ (it’s real!) …….

……. followed closely behind by a bigger version ejecting vast quantities of snow and fog, making our official photographer’s job that much more difficult!

Always pleased to pose!!!!

“Double-helping” Doug showing his ambidextrous abilities.

The parade lasted an hour and a half and, while a lot of the world is at war and squabbling, this ‘other’ world embraces diversity with love and joy.  The end of the parade is just the beginning of a remarkable few days.

Giving ourselves a break from all the fun we settle down on the back of “Carpe Diem” and partake in Rich and Andy’s generous hospitality.

We shouldn’t forget that this event requires masses of support and hard work from all sorts of services.  Following straight behind the parade are cleaning machines and barrier dismantling so the city can return to normal.

The fun continues in the Canal Street area and people go to great lengths to add some style to the occasion.

This is someone James doesn’t know but, who cares, we’re all friends (although not everyone can be at the front of the queue when things are ‘dished’ out!)

More style! ………

…… and Black Angels are nothing to be scared of!

The “six degrees of separation” is alive and kicking – a quick chat to these guys and we discover they are from James’ home town of Swindon.

The Terrible Twins quenching their thirst on what, miraculously, was a hot and sunny day in Manchester.

In the arena we met up with Justin again ……

……. and again!

We have no idea who this is but it seems to tell the whole story.

At the end of the afternoon (before the beginning of the evening!) – a final ‘groupie’.  Being photo-bombed by the lovely girl on the left we have Justin, Doug, James, Rich, Chris, Andy and Les.  After this it was home for a wash and brush up and then back (for some) to party the night away.  Don’t know about the others but we had a ball and didn’t quite see 4 o’ clock in the morning.