Milling about

You know you’re an adult when a building inspires you.

But you know you’re truly an adult when your list of favourite buildings include:

• The Feathers Hotel in Ludlow (totally haunted)

• Sagrada Família in Barcelona – for no other reason than my mate lives directly opposite and THIS is her view

• AND The Royal Armouries in Leeds … because I could legitimately buy this helmet (only £170, bargain)

But more recently, I found myself spending an afternoon in Salford’s Islington Mill – a Georgian building with an unsavoury history in the cotton industry. I’m referring to slavery and exploitation – you can read about it here.

The building is now occupied by artists, creatives and collectives – celebrating diversity and self-expression. 👏

The reason for my visit was simple – in a recent burst of creativity I had somehow (intentionally on purpose) built, sewn, created, choreographed and debuted a burlesque act inspired by the concept of time (as you do). And now it was time (no pun intended) to photograph said act at a wonderful little studio called Fake Trash, based at the mill. And what joy I had!

First up, it had rules I approve of.

THRILLED to be greeted by a piano (yes I proceeded to play it in front of an awkward stranger. No I don’t regret it).

After the success of my random piano playing came the opportunity to take things further and sign up to the open mic night 🎤

With all that excitement it was time for a toilet stop. In the words of Gen Z, ‘it’s giving Trainspotting’

Next up it was time to get my showgirl poses ready – thankfully there was some inspiration on the way in.

Time to get weird, be creative, pose like a Spice Girl, have fun because life is short and when you have spent a lot of life feeling anxious and sad then it’s an UTTER JOY to have the luxury of spending a Saturday afternoon smiling, laughing and celebrating creativity in all its many weird and wonderful forms ❤️

Also, shout out to this babe.

And that’s a wrap on my jaunt around this hidden building in Salford, where I came to join in the creative fun for just one afternoon.

We live in a society which threatens our self-expression and diminishes our opportunities to be free, so any opportunity to embrace creativity, celebrate diversity and progress is a win in my book.

Now if you don’t mind me, I’m off to learn more about its history 📖 (and look for more buildings to explore!)