With Salford sweltering in a heatwave that brought some of the highest June temperatures on record to our shores, we hot-footed around Eccles asking the ‘coolest’ people in the area for advice on how to handle the heat.
While some told Salford Now that they’d love to draw the curtains and keep cooped up with a fan on full blast as temperatures in the town centre topped 32C and an amber health warning came into force, many welcomed the chance to soak up the sunshine.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, our search for the best heat-busting tips uncovered tried-and-tested ways to stave off the scorching conditions alongside plenty of more unorthodox methods.
This article was originally published in our weekly Salford Now Newsletter, but with 33C weather forecast on Friday, here’s a recount of our odyssey through a boiling Eccles and Patricroft.
The hunt for answers began in the baking afternoon heat on Church Street, where Mark Cavanagh and Wes McGill found cover under a tree outside the Station bar.
Drinking a fast-evaporating San Miguel, power station worker Mark was finding the heat “shocking,” but explained that it paled in comparison to the torturous 36C weather he had battled through on a job down in Bristol on Wednesday.
“My advice to stay cool is to sit in the shade and drink water – and don’t drink beer,” he said, laughing with his pint of lager in hand.
Wearing a replica England football shirt from the 1982 World Cup, cool customer Wes had made the shrewd investment in a “sweat rag” which he used to mop his brow as temperatures soared.
That tournament 44 years ago saw players battle Spain’s blistering June climate and many matches were scheduled in the evening to avoid the midday heat, yet England’s second game of this summer’s competition took place in far more familiar surroundings.
The Three Lions’ 0-0 stalemate against Ghana in Massachusetts on Tuesday, before we headed to sunny Eccles, unfolded in grey, overcast conditions more reminiscent of typical Salford than the United States.
Both Mark and Wes admitted England’s chances of lifting the trophy are “slim to none” but said Salfordians should try to enjoy having a little more sunshine than those across the pond.
Walking on the shaded side of the road down Regent Street, Julie, Jillian and Janet – “the three J’s” – stressed the importance of staying hydrated in the high heat.
“Turn your shower temperature down,” the trio said in unison when asked for their top tips to avoid overheating. Janet quipped that one of her friends had used the tried-and-tested method of dunking your feet in cool water to cool off, but the trick left her with an unwanted clean-up job.
“They say when you’re sat down at night, just put your feet in a bowl of cooled water,” she said with a smile. “Just make sure you put it on a towel so you don’t ruin your laminate floor, like one of my friends did.”
Gillian tries to keep her home cool by keeping her fan on “all the time,” while Janet explained that an ice lolly earlier in the day kept heat at bay.
Meanwhile, sitting in the shade outside the Dog and Partridge pub, joiner John Robinson said he enjoys working in the hot weather and feels that “too many people moan whether it’s warm or raining,” adding: “It’s the British mentality.”
John pitched up a paddling pool in his garden for the children to make the most of the sunshine and questioned how people could prefer being “sat inside when it’s raining” compared with “seeing the kids lying out in it and jumping in the pool.”
With the shadows cast by the sun growing longer as the afternoon wore on, the popular watering hole on Church Street began to fill up with more tradesmen who agreed that drinking a beer is the best way to take the edge off the heat.
“Sink a beer”, said labourer Steve when asked for his advice. “I love working in the heat, the hotter, the better.” Meanwhile, Darren, who had spent the day driving around Salford in a sweltering van pricing up jobs for customers, said he balances having a few pints with working out in an air-conditioned gym.
“Everyone’s got a different lifestyle – but he loves working in this weather,” he said, pointing to Steve. “I get down to the gym as it’s air-conditioned and nice and cool.”
A short walk away from the Dog and Partridge, in the shaded beer garden of funky pirate-themed boozer Wangies on Liverpool Road, Robert Moores observed that we lack the infrastructure to cope with the hot weather. “We are not built for the heat,” he said.
The 37-year-old, who suffers from tinnitus, suggested that one should “keep your windows open and get a big fan blowing on you at night.” Cooling himself with a pint, he said it is the perfect frequency to ease the ringing in his ears and recommended the tactic throughout the year.
