A good night out in Manchester

Great neon sign for the Picturehouse bar in the Band On the Wall, in Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter. A music venue since the early 20th century, it was originally the George and Dragon pub - so small that bands played on a stage halfway up the back wall, giving the venue its name. A grungy room way back when I was a student, it's now extended and poshed up. It's a great live music spot, run as a charity. Check out its website and archive videos.

Blessed be the music makers

Sign at Albert Hall in Manchester. A former Wesleyan chapel, built in 1910, it has also had a career as a dubious nightclub. It is now an impressive music venue, retaining some pretty stained glass, nice tiles and crumbling plasterwork.

Think inside the box

I saw this sign outside a bar in Manchester last year and the message made me smile. The sun has been out today, so I will be thinking inside the box again soon, aiming to get some herbs and salad leaves growing.

Bread and beer - no flies on us

I thought I’d pick a pretty picture to start the New Year. This gorgeous mosaic sign decorates the doorway of the Fly in the Loaf in Hardman Street, Liverpool. The bar takes its name from the slogan of the Kirklands bakery which once occupied this spot – they claimed there were “no flies in the loaf”. Already appointed as bakers to Queen Victoria, Kirklands opened this building in 1888. According to a Liverpool Mercury article at the time, the bakery was designed to be “a perfectly sanitary bakehouse, combining all the best health arrangements”. It continued as a bakery until the 1970s.