However, a number of events alleviated the gloom and brought people together. George V and Queen Mary visited the city on 15 and 16 May. Though the weather was as cold as it had been for most of the year, exuberant crowds lined the route, glad of the colour and spectacle of the occasion in what seemed to be a relentless round of hardship and shortages. The king visited the Westinghouse plant at Old Trafford, which was synonymous with the most advanced electrical technology of the day, while Queen Mary spent her time at the Royal Infirmary and with the 5,000 soldiers convalescing in Heaton Park. She later went to a munitions factory and the Whitworth Street Hospital, one of the country’s biggest clearing stations for wounded soldiers. The visit was marked by an air of informality – the royal couple were relaxed and delighted by the warmth of the people they met.

The following month Private George Stringer, proudly displaying his VC, arrived home to a tumultuous reception, including a civil reception in Albert Square. The following day saw a round of visits, including his old school, the Albert Memorial School, Miles Platting and his former place of work, Kerr & Hoegger, where he was a bleacher.

In July it was announced that horse racing would resume and there would be forty days racing throughout the country from August, including events at Castle Irwell on 4 and 6 August and the November Handicap on the 17th of the month. Better still, on 5 July, the local newspapers announced the government was to allow more beer to be brewed.