Telegraph snub Salford
I’ve just read a piece in the Torygraph which talks about the relocation of BBC staff to Salford. The author, some dreadful woman named Liz Hunt, has this to say: “Of course, no one actually wants to live in Salford or Manchester.” I’ve lived in four countries and all over this one, and I can honestly say that I love this place. And Manchester is without a doubt one of the greatest cities on earth. The history, the people, the buildings, the food, the culture – can’t beat it. I may have been born south of the equator, but that Liz Hunt gives southerners a bad name. She can stay down there.
12:46 am on March 13th, 2009
Agreed. I may not be a Mancunian by birth, but it surely is my home now!
11:20 am on March 13th, 2009
What dispicable comments – my next internet port of call will definitely be the Telegraph to tell Liz Hunt where she can stick her next morning edition.
I was born in Preston but I’ve lived in Essex, the Highlands, Glasgow and London. Of all the places I have lived, Manchester is far and away my favourite – moving here was like coming home, even though I had spent most of the previous 10 years living in a Highland village with a population of less than a thousand. Salford in particular has a sense of community and political awareness that I have never felt anywhere else, with the exception of that Highland village, so I have truly take it to my heart. Personally, I can’t think of a reason why someone would want to live elsewhere.
12:46 pm on March 13th, 2009
I lived in Lewisham, South East London for a year in the late nineties. Couldn’t wait to come back home. By comparison to Salfordians and Mancunians, Londoners are a miserable lot and I found the smoke a dismal place to live and work.
10:02 pm on March 17th, 2009
Liz Hunt has replied to Kat’s complaint letter, and with the wife’s permission, I reproduce the reply in full below. And yes, Liz did spell her own surname incorrectly (this is a straight cut and paste)
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Elizabeth Hunt
Date: Mar 17, 2009 3:46 PM
Subject:
Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to me.
I was born and brought up in Liverpool and went to school in Toxteth so I can, with total confidence, bat away your accusation of ‘snobbery’.
My comments about Manchester and Salford were intended as a joke – a provocative one, I grant you, but founded on the long-standing rivalry that exists between the populations of two great Northern cities (L’Pool and Manchester.)
Therefore, I won’t apologise for my comments but I hope that, following this explanation, you will accept they were delivered in good humour.
And, by the way, I’d run a mile from leafy Cheshire. My ideal location, like yours, is in the heart of a city.
Best Wishes
Liz Hunr
———- End Forwarded message ———-
I take issue with Ms. Hunt’s explanation that her comment about Salford was a joke. Nowhere in the article, inferred or otherwise, was it even slightly obvious her comment was a joke.
6:27 pm on March 18th, 2009
The lady doth protest too much etc.