The day after ..

Hard to believe that yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Manchester Air Disaster. A Boeing 737 caught fire on the runway and killed 55 people, and I was dispatched to Salford's Hope Hospital by the Manchester Evening News to photograph any casualties arriving at Accident and Emergency. In my mind I can't actually remember photographing a single arrival and was, to be honest, rather disappointed - bearing in mind I was a keen and eager 25 year old press photographer - that I wasn't covering the 'main story'. The thing I remember most, though, happened the day after this horrible event. I went to Turner's 'chippy' in Eccles for my lunch and literally - literally - had my chips wrapped up in my colleague Mike Grimes' grim but great photographs of the burnt-out shell of the jet. Today's news - as they say - is tomorrow's chip-wrapper. I have never had a better illustration!..

At least Wedding photographs have a longer shelf-life, and as the Wedding Fayre at The Mere draws closer I've been featured in a little on-line 'booklet' that they've produced, offering new brides and grooms little snippets of advice for their 'Big Day'. My pearl of wisdom is this ..

"Don't stress too much about everything being "perfect" on your Wedding Day. You'll have already worked hard to make sure your Big Day reflects your personalities, so just let the day flow as it will and it'll be all the more enjoyable for being relaxed."

Worth bearing in mind when you realise just how quickly the 'Big Day' becomes .. the day after!