What am I supposed to do with that?

Yesterday's blog featured some examples of fine craftsmanship and today I am sticking with that theme but I am sharing photos of sculpture and stonework in Manchester Town Hall.

After work yesterday I had a great time with friends visiting Manchester Christmas Market. We met up for drinks and had a lovely tea, it was such a lovely evening. Being Manchester it was cold and sometimes wet but there was a lovely pre-Christmas atmosphere and it was fun strolling around the different stalls.  

Some of the stalls were inside the town hall, I had never been inside before and so when I went in I was struck by the beautiful architecture.  These pictures were all taken on my mobile phone and I was lucky to avoid getting unwanted people in the shots.  I couldn't avoid it totally however although I actually think that the person walking along the corridor in the fifth picture adds something to the shot.

I love the staircase and if it hadn't been closed off to the public I would certainly have run up and down it like a big kid.  It reminds me a little of the Grand Staircase at the Chateau de Chambord in the Loire, which was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci and has two stairways in a double helix formation so that people walking down don't meet people going up.  It was an amazing and innovative design and well worth the trip to see it.

The sculptures in the first two pictures sit in the grand entrance to the Town Hall and seem to imply that some serious thinking goes on inside.  I think the expression on the first characters face is perfect, showing a mix of disdain and puzzlement at the child's glove that has been placed in his palm.  If you have any ideas what might be going through his mind write it in the comments below.