麻豆约拍

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the 麻豆约拍's poetry archive and chooses Moss Side Gym Stories ep 1/2 featuring Mike Garry performing his epic poem 'Men's Morning' in its place of conception, Manchester's Moss Side Leisure Centre.

Moss Side is a small neighbourhood just outside Manchester's city centre. In the 19th century Elizabeth Gaskell, inspired by the area, made her literary debut with the novel Mary Barton. She described Moss Side as a place of rural charm where Victorian workers and their families came to talk, play and relax. By the later part of the 20th century, the green fields that Gaskell knew had been replaced by housing estates, and Moss Side's reputation for riots, gangs and guns had spread nationwide.

Growing up in Moss Side, Manchester's award winning poet Mike Garry, saw another side. Among its terraced rows Mike discovered a place where he could hear an echo of the qualities that caused Gaskell to put pen to paper - the Moss Side Leisure Centre.

Mike returns to the leisure centre to perform his epic poem, 'Men鈥檚 Morning', an ode to the Friday morning male patrons of the centre. He spends time with the men who use the gym today to discover what, if anything has changed since he wrote the poem 20 years ago.

Produced by Claire Press and Ekene Akalawu

First broadcast on 麻豆约拍 Radio 4 in 2016.