WI Day Out at Salford Quays Media City

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Instead of burning the midnight oil, as is our wont, twelve Audlem WI Ladies swapped their usual nights out for a day of convivial enjoyment and headed off for a day's outing to Salford Quays, land of The Lowry Theatre, The War Museum, Shops and Media City!

Upon arrival, Christine Salisbury who had organised the outing, did a quick head count to check for any unauthorised personnel, before giving us strict instructions to meet at 2.45 pm in the BBC cafe ready for the highlight of the day – a tour of the BBC!

Flushed with money and success after winning the Grand National, the first stop was for coffee, my treat!

A small, but elite, group of five of us headed off in the direction of The Lowry cafe with it's spectacular views of the canals. Reluctantly, as this was too early even for us, we cast aside the cocktails list, and plumped for coffees all round as we lounged in the luxurious chairs and started to gossip, which can in itself be entertaining as occasionally, I've heard the most fascinating things about myself I never even knew.

One of our group startled us with the momentous declaration that she was celebrating! After a few furtive glances amongst ourselves – had we missed an important birthday, grandchild or windfall – she explained. She was celebrating the fact that her divorce had just been finalised!

Now I'm a great believer that staying married may have long-term benefits. You can elicit much more sympathy from friends over a bad marriage than you ever can from a good divorce My husband and I have never considered divorce. Murder sometimes, but never divorce.

This was definitely cause for a celebration, and after a quick visit to some futuristic women's conveniences in the bowels of the Lowry Theatre, we headed outside to The Cafe Rouge – The Lowry and War Museums could wait for another day – for a spot of lunch.

Slightly less time was spent on ordering the food than perusing the wine list and a bemused waiter returned with a bottle of white and Prosecco.

This was a coming out party, our friend was now single and available for new experiences, she had just booked a solo holiday to India, a whole new phase of her life was beginning and that was something to celebrate!

Before we knew it it was 2.45 pm! We were going to be late for the main event of the day, a tour around the BBC studios!

As we were the only diners at the Cafe Rouge, we were all given a red balloon as we left, rushing off to our designated meeting place. Fortunately the tour had not yet started and we signed ourselves in with a great sense of relief, put on our lanyards, immediately giving us a sense of importance, and the tour began.

We WI ladies believe that whatever you do, you really want to make sure that you have fun, at the end of the day. If it's not fun, what's the point? Fortunately our two tour guides held the same mantra and their intention was to entertain and surprise us as we walked in the footsteps of our favourite stars, they made sure that we saw the most interesting areas available, as well as giving us a fascinating insight into how TV and radio productions work.

We nonchalantly meandered along corridors containing the Dr Who Telephone Box and the Countdown Clock, whilst peeking through the blinds into the live Radio 6 studio where Radcliffe and Maconie were juggling with a variety of technical wizardry.

Hats off to radio presenters, they have to show their hand as a presenter, no matter how exposed it feels, if they want their listeners to connect with them. There are very few jobs where you are essentially road-tested in front of thousands of people.That's why it's important to have your finger on the mic fader button and not be afraid to use it!

We were then shown into an empty studio and given a few more 'tricks of the trade!' My first thoughts were about the size, this was the studio where 'The Voice' was produced and on TV it looks like a full size theatre!

Apparently they just paint the studio black flooring for each production. It could be tiles, a carpet, wood flooring or straw, it is just scraped off after each production – this allows the cameras to run smoothly. No wonder the TV licence is so high!

We were then shown into 'The Match of the Day' studio. Apparently Gary Lineker doesn't like the table as it has a jutting out edge that he keeps tripping on. You would think someone with such famously agile feet would be able to spot a huge table wouldn't you? Our tour guides warned us to watch out for how long it is before they give him a new table – that'll be when the licence fee goes up again then!

They also showed us the constant sports messages computer stream that is built into the table so each presenter has up to the minute information. This could be disastrous though as Brighton announced they had sacked Gus Poyet, with their bemused former manager discovering the news as he appeared live on the BBC's Match of the Day.

When quizzed at half-time by presenter Mark Chapman, the 45-year-old insisted he knew nothing of the statement and had received no correspondence from the club!

We were then shown into the hallowed area named 'The Green Room.' The specific origin of this term is lost to history, which has led to many imaginative theories and claims. One story is that London's Blackfriars Theatre (1599) included a room behind the scenes, which happened to be painted green. Here the actors waited to go on stage, hence it was called 'the green room.' Our guides gave us several other theories, however the truth is we just don't know, and anyway, it was disappointingly painted beige and shall we say "bijou!'

Apparently many stars give specific instructions in their contracts about their requirements for the green room. Maria Carey requested a group of puppies – the BBC refused and so she went on to appear on ITV, who, presumably, caved in to her cravings!

One particular rock group requested a bowl of M&M's, but with the blue ones taken out.

This is not quite as bizarre as it appears because if the group turned up to a bowl without the blue sweets removed, they would know they had to check all of their other requirements – forward thinking eh?

Finally we arrived at the the Breakfast Show studio. Here we were given a chance to make our own news and weather bulletin in their interactive studio. Eyes became averted, it was like being at school, please don't pick me!

Ready to uphold Audlem WI's pride and never one to shirk a bit of free publicity, I volunteered to do the weather report, basing myself on Carol Kirkwood! I even strode over to join the presenters on the sofa – much to their amazement – this wasn't in the script?

Finally it was time to leave. A jolly good day was had by all. Thank you Christine Salisbury for arranging our trip. We really appreciate your efforts.

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