Ancoats Peeps

Ancoats isn't a part of Manchester I visit on any kind of regular basis - I think the last time I was there was for the Yves Photoshoot back in May. So I was intrigued when I read The Shrieking Violets article about The Ancoats Peeps. I was fascinated by the details of this project, having never heard of it before. I had to go and see it for myself, though it did take me a while to get around to it.

On a very wet and windy December 28th, I set out for Ancoats with just the somewhat obscure map printed from the Ancoats Peeps website to guide me. I wasn't really sure where to start, but once I'd found my way to The Cutting Room, Ancoats new public square, I was able to get my bearings and find my first peep. They're unobtrusive elements in the urban landscape, but once you've found your first one it's easy to spot them and I located eight peeps before being defeated by the elements.

All the peeps are around waist high, encouraging the viewer to bend over to get a closer look and discover their interior delights. These range from close-ups of delicate time-pieces to whole rooms, with some also containing moving parts - you've no idea what you'll find until you have a look through the hole. The names on the map offer only mild clues to the content, which only adds to sense of discovery.
I've no idea how many peeps there are to find. There's thirteen marked on the map but as previously stated, it isn't the most accurate of things so there could be a lot more waiting to be discovered. If you want to have a look yourself and for more information on the project, have a look at the Ancoats Peeps website