IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Piccadilly, MANCHESTER, M1 1LQ

Statue of Queen Victoria at Piccadilly Gardens. Behind her is the high-rise office building at Piccadilly Plaza. See behind the statue Image

First Greater Manchester 37451 (MX58 EAC), a Volvo B9TL with a Wright Eclipse Gemini H45/29F body waits at the bus stand on Lever Street, just behind Piccadilly. 37451 is one of a series of the company's buses repainted in "heritage" liveries of the former local municipal operators; this one carries the colours of the former Rochdale Corporation.

Both these buses are on the #135 service to Bury. The route was formerly operated by First Manchester but all their services have been taken over by Go NorthWes. In 2020 GoNorthWest introduced a new fleet of vehicles under the branding of Orbits, Initially they were used on services #52 and #53 which didn't venture into the city centre.

Stagecoach in Manchester's Denis Trident/Alexander Enviro 400 number 10049 (MX12 LWP) stands outside the former BBC building at Piccadilly whilst serving route 76 between Oldham and Manchester.

First Greater Manchester 37451 (MX58 EAC), a Volvo B9TL with a Wright Eclipse Gemini H45/29F body departs from the bus stands on Lever Street, just behind Piccadilly. 37451 is one of a series of the company's buses repainted in "heritage" liveries of the former local municipal operators; this one carries the colours of the former Rochdale Corporation.

View looking down Lever St in Manchester.

'Death to 2020 - A Closing Ceremony' is an enormous piece of artwork by famed artist and satirist Christopher Spencer (aka “Cold War Steve”), which was published on December 28 on a wall at the Piccadilly end of Lever Street, replacing the Netflix advert which had appeared earlier (Image]). Cold War Steve is known for his satirical collages; this clever collage towers several storeys above street level and sums up what a wild year 2020 has been by depicting a burning planet populated by many of the major news stories of 2020. Coronavirus is a running theme throughout the collage. Its focal point is a huge Covid molecule, burning in a skip and a giant placard reads 'Death to 2020'. The dystopian image also features bats flying overhead and a pangolin in the foreground (the scaly animal has been linked to the spread of Covid-19), as well as a plague doctor. The conspiracy theory that Bill Gates is using the vaccine to inject people with microchips gets a nod, as do the 'Covid is a hoax' protesters. The piece appears to be somewhat US-centred. Some of the famous faces on the new artwork include Donald Trump swinging a golf club, Melania Trump carrying a suitcase and Kanye West campaigning for presidency. Lady Gaga is depicted in a 'Joe' sweatshirt alongside the president-elect Joe Biden. In the UK, Boris Johnson and the Queen chat over a giant Zoom call. As well as here in Manchester, the artwork has also appeared in Liverpool’s Lime Street on the former ABC cinema, and at Dalston in London. To see in the New Year and to celebrate the ending of 2020, Christopher blew up a special version of his Death to 2020 artwork at 8.20pm (2020 hrs) on New Year’s Eve, posting a video of the event on his web site. (https://coldwarsteve.com/2021/01/01/death-to-2020-a-closing-ceremony/ Death to 2020 - A Closing Ceremony).