Friday 7th April. The Conference gets started
today. After a leisurely breakfast at our Hotel, we crossed the road to
Manchester Central Convention Complex. Getting there couldn’t be easier, we
just had to negotiate the tram lines of the Metro transport system. If the
wheelchair had got stuck in these, the PDG could have had a much faster journey
than anticipated. Safely across the road, we found our way into the Conference
Centre, which was formerly a Railway terminus, and the original building is
still intact. It looks very impressive from the outside.
Manchester Central Convention Centre
Although the Conference didn’t get going until 2 p.m. we
thought we would register early and get our delegate badges and other stuff. We
sat in the concourse nursing a cup of coffee, and meeting old friends as they
arrived, reminiscing about our times in such far-flung places as Lisbon and San
Diego. Lyn Derrington came in from Bury on the Metro. I was impressed. The
Metro goes out to towns circling Manchester, bringing in commuters, shoppers
and football fans to all areas of the city by tram, without the need to use
cars.
Lisbon also has trams
About 11 a.m. the PDG and I went on a tour of the
surrounding area to get our bearings. Our Hotel is a couple of hundred yards
from St Peters Square, a traffic-free zone with some handsome buildings, such
as Manchester Central Library and the Town Hall. We walked past the Restaurant
we went to last night, through the Chinese quarter, and ended up at the massive
Arndale Shopping Centre. The PDG will be coming here tomorrow and we wanted to
check out accessibility on the trams, which would be crucial to the PDG getting
around. We needn’t have worried. The Metro was easily accessible for
wheelchairs, with ramps up to platforms, no steps up to the tram, and the
ticket machines were easy to operate. We caught one back to St Peters Square,
and I was surprised to find we were there in less than 5 minutes, travelling
mostly through traffic free streets.
Chinatown
It was now time to take our seats for the first plenary
session (I must find out what that word means sometime). The Conference was
opened by RIBI President Eve Conway, who has a lively bubbly personality, and
she remained on or near the stage all weekend, filling any gaps between
speakers. We then heard from various dignitaries welcoming us to Manchester,
including Carl Austin-Behan, the youthful-looking Lord Mayor of Manchester. The
speaker who impressed me most that afternoon was Jennifer Jones, Vice President
of Rotary International. She was standing in for President John Germ, who could
not attend due to a family matter at home in the USA. I thought she was an
inspirational speaker, unusual for a Rotarian in my experience, and has worked
as a seminar leader at San Diego. It could well be, therefore, that I may well
have met her in San Diego 3 years ago, but don’t remember it.
Eve Conway with friend
The Inner Wheel President, Zena Coles spoke very
entertainingly, as did Luke Addison, Chairman of Rotaract in Great Britain and
Ireland. In fact, Lyn was so impressed with Luke, that she arranged for him to
come along and speak to our club a few weeks later, and after that he visited
the Sunbury Manor Interact Club and delivered a brilliant talk.
Luke Addison
That evening there was a choice of formal entertainment, a
Centenary dinner or a ‘legends of Las Vegas Show’, but we decided not to
bother. Instead, we hit the town and dined at Duttons Restaurant in Albert
Square. It was lively, friendly, good service and good food, just what I like.
We stopped off at the Hotel bar on the way back and had a convivial drink with
Doug and Rosemary and a few other friends old and new before retiring.
Dutton's Restaurant
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