HOME have announced the film programme that will be available when their cinemas open on 4 September, along with information about what to expect when the iconic building reopens next month.

Jason Wood, Creative Director: Film and Culture at HOME, said: “We’re pleased to be able to welcome people back with a programme that is diverse and exciting, with a mixture of new releases, key titles that had theatrical releases denied to them due to lockdown and new 4k restorations – including La Haine. We’re also pleased to be able to rekindle the ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival and explore new partnerships with Sheffield Doc/Fest and the BFI London Film Festival.

“It’s more important than ever to speak to societal issues, and as always HOME remains invested in these conversations and we will play a part in acting as a force for change. We look forward to welcoming our audiences back – safely, of course.”

What's on at HOME?

Coming to HOME screens in the first month of reopening will be 4K restorations of La Haine and Flash Gordon and a black and white version of the Oscar-winning Parasite.

While HOME’s theatre space is awaiting its first live show since lockdown the space will be used for film screenings, with weekend matinees including The Elephant Man, also now in 4k, and Monday-night screenings starting with rap music industry documentary On The Record. 

The team have also confirmed that the ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Festival – which was cut short by the lockdown – will return from the second week in September, with daily screenings. The full line-up of titles to be screened will be announced soon, but will include four confirmed UK premieres: El Despertar de las hormigas, Cholitas, Mirador and Tote abuelo and introductions from the festival curators Rachel Hayward, Jessie Gibbs and Andy Willis.

The new releases in the programme may change if distributors change their plans, but at the time of announcement Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi action spectacle Tenet and Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis’ breathtakingly dreamy animation Away are among the titles HOME’s Film team intend to screen.

Receiving the chance to be seen on the big screen that they lost due to lockdown are the French drama Les Misérables, directed by Ladj Ly and bearing no resemblance to either Victor Hugo’s novel or its filmic remakes, Claire Oakley’s directorial debut Make Up, Proxima, starring Eva Green, and Kitty Green’s restrained and timely drama detailing abuse of power in a Hollywood mogul’s production office, The Assistant.

HOME will also be collaborating with Sheffield Doc/Fest to screen twice-monthly documentaries and the BFI London Film Festival.  

While some dates may change, the HOME website will be kept up-to-date with all forthcoming screenings, including information about films coming later in September.

Priority booking for HOME Friends will begin from 21 August, HOME members and NHS and emergency services members will be able to book from 25 August with tickets going on general onsale on 28 August.

HOME’s restaurant, bar and café will also reopen on 4 September.

This announcement is the first information about the reopening programme to be released by HOME, and details of what will be shown in the gallery and on stage will follow later this month.

Safety measures at HOME

Safety measures that have been put in place include reduced capacity in all spaces to allow for social distancing, additional cleaning measures, PPE for staff and online booking will be encouraged to minimise contact at Box Office. Visitors will also be expected to follow the latest Government requirements around face coverings.

Information about recommended routes around the building, how to book and what to expect from a visit will be published on the HOME website, and details will also be emailed alongside tickets when visitors book for events or reserve a table in the restaurant.

Dave Moutrey, Director and CEO of HOME, said: “We absolutely cannot wait to welcome people back into HOME to enjoy both the film programme put together by our incredible team, and our bar and restaurant which we know from audience comments have been much-missed during lockdown. We’re also really looking forward to being able to announce our theatre and gallery plans later this month.

“As part of our preparations for reopening, we have been consulting closely with our Audience Panel, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank them for the important part they have played in our journey to reopening.”

What's been happening during lockdown?

Although HOME’s building has been closed since March, film fans have still been able to benefit from the team’s expert curation via online partnerships with Mubi, the BFI, Curzon Home Cinema and others, as part of HOME’s digital offer during lockdown.

Online film screenings and Q&As have run alongside the hugely successful Homemakers series, where artists including Bryony Kimmings and Javaad Alipoor created brand-new works under lockdown conditions, the weekly web comic Our Plague Year and numerous online in conversation events.

HOME’s Engagement and Talent Development teams have supported 560 individuals via online projects, mentoring and workshops; delivered 168 online sessions and provided over 500 artist development opportunities.

Online works have also been accessible, with 38 online events made with captioning, audio description or BSL interpretation.

The digital programme will continue into the Autumn, meaning that HOME fans who don’t wish to or can’t go out into the city centre will still be able to enjoy great arts experiences from home.

For more information, visit homemcr.org.

]]> stuart.aiken@marketingmanchester.com (Visit Manchester) http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/08/eat-out-to-help-out-in-greater-manchester-b1322#comments1322 Wed, 12 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/08/east-lancashire-railway-reschedules-re-opening-for-august-8th-b1320 The East Lancashire Railway (ELR) has enhanced its safety measures as it prepares to welcome back visitors from Saturday (August 8th). The East Lancashire Railway (ELR) has enhanced its safety measures as it prepares to welcome back visitors from Saturday (August 8th).

The much-loved heritage attraction had intended to resume passenger services last weekend after closing its doors for four months amid the coronavirus outbreak.

But it put those plans on hold in order to properly assess what the surprise further lockdown measures announced for Greater Manchester on the evening of July 30th would mean for the public, staff and volunteers alike.

After careful consideration to reassure visitors, it was decided to implement a range of further safety measures in addition to the extensive plans already in place for the reopening.

These new measures will require all visitors to book tickets in advance of travel.

There will also be an enhanced track and trace system with visitors details collected via text message.

Visitors and staff will be required to have their temperature taken upon arrival at the station and individuals that exhibit a high temperature will not be permitted to enter the attraction. 

Family groups will be requested not to mingle with other people outside their own bubble and seating will be restricted to maximise social distancing.

Face masks will be compulsory for all visitors and additional cleaning measures and sanitation facilities will be available.

One way systems for entry and exit from stations will be in place and social distancing must be maintained at all times.

The railway’s hugely-anticipated return follows months of uncertainty, during which its long-term future was cast into doubt.

ELR Chairman Mike Kelly commented: “Naturally, after weeks of preparation, we were disappointed not to be able to welcome back visitors and our volunteers last weekend as we had initially planned. But the safety of our passengers and volunteers is our number one priority.

“We’ve spent this last week enhancing our already robust safety measures and are really thrilled  at the prospect of finally bringing the ELR out of its deep slumber and offering our visitors again the unique experience of a heritage railway.

“We want to thank everyone for their continued patience as we’ve adapted our reopening plans in line with the latest Government guidelines. We’ll continue to be responsive to the situation to operate as safely as possible at all times.”

The ELR’s two pubs, The Trackside and Buffer Stops, successfully reopened in July. Visitors and  Passengers will still be able to visit both as they are operating outdoors only offering  a wide range of real ale drinks and refreshments at Bury Bolton Street and Rawtenstall stations.

The East Lancashire Railway operates from Bolton Street Station in Bury, Gtr Manchester and was opened in 1987. It runs on a 12.5-mile line between Heywood in Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. The original line carried passengers until 1972. It was formally closed in 1980 after being used to transport coal in the intervening years.

To view the revised timetable and book tickets visit: eastlancsrailway.org.uk.

People’s History Museum (PHM) is looking forward to welcoming visitors to the national museum of democracy when it reopens its doors on Tuesday 1 September 2020.

The buildings and spaces that make up People’s History Museum will be open from this date, including the original Edwardian Grade II listed Pump House and the state of the art modern multi-storey extension, enabling people to fully enjoy exploring the stories of ideas worth fighting for that are brought to life at the museum.  Opening hours will be Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00am until 5.00pm.

To ensure a safe and enjoyable experience, PHM have introduced an online registration system (available from Tuesday 18 August 2020 via PHM’s website) for visitors to select a date and time up to two weeks in advance to visit the museum.  You can keep up with the latest PHM news by signing up to receive the museum’s e-newsletter.

Waiting to be explored are PHM’s two Family Friendly permanent galleries, where you’ll meet the radicals and changemakers of the last 200 years; the Peterloo Massacre, votes for women, the Match Girls’ Strike and workers’ rights are just some of the ground-breaking stories told.  The 2020 Banner Exhibition, journeying through this year’s headline theme of migration, is also part of the reopening experience for visitors along with two recently installed digital activities.

PHM’s shop will be open and there will be space for those who want to bring their own food and drink and eat in the stunning Edwardian Engine Hall. 

Katy Ashton, Director of People’s History Museum, says, “Our building shares the stories of people who have achieved amazing things and we are really looking forward to sharing this inspiration with people again.  We’ve missed our visitors and can assure everyone that there will be a warm welcome and a unique PHM experience that the team will make enjoyable and rewarding in lots of different ways.

“For those that are unable to join us just yet, we’ll continue to share our online programme of creative events and activities through Ideas Worth Exploring, which has been incredibly popular with audiences during lockdown. We really appreciate people’s support at this time and look forward to welcoming everyone back to the museum or continuing to connect and have conversations online.”

People’s History Museum has received VisitEngland’s accreditation, We’re Good To Go, which means that it has followed all of the government and industry Covid-19 guidelines and implemented the recommended measures.  Visitors will find changes in place that will all help to make their time spent at the museum feel safe and relaxed.  These will include:

• Register to visit
• Wear a face covering
• Hand sanitiser stations
• Clear route to follow
• Card & contactless payments
• Enhanced cleaning

A film on PHM’s website will also share more details of what people can expect as part of their visit to PHM.

People’s History Museum has been working in partnership with museums and cultural organisations across Manchester to ensure that the city continues to inspire the world with the stories they tell and to play their role in supporting Greater Manchester’s wider recovery.

Like all cultural organisations People’s History Museum has faced its own financial pressures, and for the national museum of democracy this has come at a time when it believes it needs to significantly increase the contemporary collecting work that it does.  As well as its programme themes of migration, disabled people’s rights and environmental activism, the team is focused on responding to key events including Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement.  Find out more about the museum’s contemporary collecting work and how to support it here: phm.org.uk/collections/help-build-phms-collection

PHM’s Ideas Worth Exploring programme of online events, activities and resources produced during lockdown to connect people and share hope, conversations and creativity is available.  Radical Lates, which take place on the second Thursday each month, will continue to take place digitally for the next few months, with the next on Thursday 10 September 2020.

People’s History Museum is located in Manchester city centre’s Spinningfields area, on the edge of the River Irwell.  From Tuesday 1 September 2020 it will be open six days a week (Tuesday to Sunday), from 10.00am to 5.00pm.  Visitors are encouraged to register for a timed entry slot in advance via PHM’s website, with free entry and a suggested donation of £5.  PHM will ensure capacity is reserved for those unable to book online.

PHM’s Venue Hire service is resuming too, with Covid-19 safety measures introduced and bookings for events and wedding and civil partnership ceremonies for up to 30 people now being taken. Email venuehire@phm.org.uk to enquire about our spaces and availability.

Also reopening is PHM’s Labour History Archive & Study Centre, with shorter days and hours than usual.  From Tuesday 1 September, these will be Tuesday to Thursday 10.30am to 3.30pm, with no lunchtime closure.  Appointments must be made in advance via archive@phm.org.uk, with a minimum of seven working days’ notice required. 

To find out about visiting the museum, its full exhibitions and events programme visit phm.org.uk.  To ensure you are receiving the latest updates you can sign up to receive PHM’s e-newsletter via phm.org.uk/radicals-quiz.

With lockdown measures changing by the day, there’s never been a better time to get outdoors and enjoy your downtime. Whether you’re looking to go for a relaxing stroll on your own or with your household, Greater Manchester is home to breath-taking peaks at every corner, making up plenty of places to get outdoors and unplug as the hustle and bustle continues to build.

Just a 40-minute drive from the city centre on the outskirts of Oldham and Tameside lies a popular route among many Mancunians. Dove Stone Reservoir is a picturesque spot with an extensive network of footpaths and links available to access across the open moorland surrounding. But should the popularity of the trail make a trip to the beauty stop out of the question due to overcapacity – or maybe you’re simply seeking somewhere a little more remote – the day doesn’t have to be a write-off.

A picturesque area itself, there are many beauty spots in the surrounding towns close to Dove Stones just waiting to be explored. To start you off, below are just a few nearby suggestions that allow you to reconnect with nature and enjoy the great outdoors.

Pots and Pans (Uppermill, Saddleworth)

If you were planning a day out to Dove Stones via car and arrive only to find that the carpark is at full capacity, fear not – for this walk means you can still take in the beauty that Dove Stones has to offer without actually having to visit.

Located just a couple of miles west of Dove Stones is a relatively challenging-yet-rewarding route that takes you high up in the moors overlooking the reservoir. The name of the walk refers to the stone obelisk located at the of the hill above Uppermill and Greenfield, commissioned in 1923 to honour the 259 people from the villages of Saddleworth who died during the first world war. Each year on Remembrance Sunday, the surrounding communities take on the climb to commemorate those who lost their lives in the futility of the two world wars and later conflicts.

On any other day of the year, the walk up to Pots and Pans is worth it for the panorama alone. Not only will you be able to enjoy an aerial view of Doves Stones at the end of your ascent, but you’ll also be rewarded with stunning panoramic views stretching across Manchester’s cityscape as well as its surrounding reservoirs.

Although this is a fairy moderate walk, an 800-foot ascension may not be for the faint-hearted. If you do manage to take on the climb, you may want to stop off in the village of Greenfield for a well-earned refuel.

There are plenty of walking routes to follow online – or if you’re more ‘get up and go’, simply head for the cenotaph from the starting point and you won’t be able to go wrong.

Starting point: OL3 6LW (approx.)

Length: 4.5 miles with a 800-foot ascension

Amenities: Greenfield Village

Swineshaw Reservoirs (Stalybridge)

There’s nothing quite like open water set upon a windswept moor to take your mind off lockdown and into the now. Located just a few miles from Dove Stones lies another idyllic spot nestled within one of Tameside’s metropolitan towns. With a much more gradual ascent than Pots and Pans, you will still be able to take in spectacular views across Manchester’s City Centre when you climb to reach the Swineshaw Reservoirs on this walk.

The route is wonderful for taking in the many habitats surrounding, leading you alongside Higher and Lower Swineshaw Reservoir – the walk’s vantage point from which you can look down over the Cheshire Plain. But first, you’ll ascend through farmland and up wooded cloughs before emerging high atop the moors, rewarded with panoramic views of Manchester and some surrounding counties. In one direction you can take in the beauty of the Cheshire and Welsh mountains, in another you can spot the Lancashire hills, and as you turn again you’ll be able to peer down on the uplands of the Peak District.

For those shielding or looking to escape the hustle and bustle, this route isn’t typically populated – but you may be able to spot highland cattle along your way.

Start the route from the carpark at Walkerwood Reservoir on Brushes Road and head for the hills, following the signs for Pennine Bridleway to the Higher and Lower Swineshaw Reservoirs.

Starting point: SK15 3QP (approx.)

Length: 4 miles / 2 hours

Amenities: Stalybridge Country Park

Daisy Nook Country Park (Oldham)

A little further afield is route popular among families, Daisy Nook Country Park. Situated on the border of Oldham and Tameside, the country park offers a wide-range of child-friendly activities amongst its picturesque backdrop of woodland and canals, making it a perfect day out for the whole family.

There’s plenty to be seen on a walk through Daisy Nook, with pitstops at one of the two play areas across its 40 hectares of woodland, meadows and waterways making it a great day for the little ones as well as the big kids at heart.

If you have a literary buff in the family, Daisy Nook was originally known as the Village of Warehouses until Ben Brierley, the famous Lancashire poet and dialect writer, wrote his first major work ‘A Day Out’, and described a ramble to a fictional beauty spot, Daisy Nook.

Many transport networks make this perhaps the most accessible walk on the list if you’re not planning to arrive by car, with direct bus services available from both the city centre and Ashton-under-Lyne.

There are many walking routes available to download on both the Tameside and Oldham council websites, or should you choose to venture alone, the paths are well sign posted and wheel-chair accessible.

Starting point: Daisy Nook Country Park Carpark, M35 9WJ

Length: Optional routes varying from 1-8 miles

Amenities: toilets, café, children’s playground

If you're looking for a great family day out this summer - look no further than the National Football Museum.

The museum was the first major attraction to reopen in Manchester having been closed for four months.

Alongside the museum’s four-floor line-up of galleries telling the story of the beautiful game, visitors can get their photograph with the museum’s Premier League trophy and see two fabulous exhibitions.

Families can enjoy family trails around the galleries. Pick up a copy at the museum or download at home ahead of your trip. More details at www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/families

The museum is currently open Thursday-Sunday from 10.30am – 4pm

Pick you fave shirt in our exhibition: Strip! How Football Got Shirty, or try your luck from 12 yards in Penalty Shootout which has a brilliant new projector for an even more realistic experience.

Tim Desmond, Chief Executive at the museum, said: "What I love is seeing visitors having fun and enjoying football at the museum. I look forward to welcoming more and more visitors over summer and sharing stories about our national game."

Online booking is advised: https://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/tickets

Residents living in the City of Manchester get free entry to the museum – just bring a household bill with your postcode on.

The museum has just been recognised by charity Kids in Museums for its family digital output during the lockdown. The attraction is shortlisted in the Family Friendly Museum Award From Home awards.

Christian Allen, the museum’s Learning and Communities manager, said: "It’s brilliant to be recognised by the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Awards for our 'Kicking off Your Creativity' series with author Matt Oldfield.

“We've partnered with Matt on several school/family events at the museum. Lockdown gave us an opportunity to build on this and develop some creative writing activities for home learners.

“The video series is still available for any children wanting to rewrite football history using Matt's scene setters and several of his popular Ultimate Football Heroes series of books are available in the museum shop."

Get involved in the museum’s online ‘Kicking off Your Creativity’ activities: https://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/communities/stayathome/

All businesses mentioned are following the relevant government guidance but please check before visiting, particularly to find out if pre-booking is required. When you go out, please remember to keep your distance where possible and wash your hands regularly. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE 
 

On Thursday 30 July, the UK Government announced new local restrictions that apply across the whole of Greater Manchester which aim to minimise the spread of Covid-19. These local restrictions will be in place until at least Wednesday 19 August when they will be reviewed.  

Official guidance confirms that households should not mix indoors. This includes a rule prohibiting the mixing of households in hospitality venues such as museums and galleries, hotels, pubs, bars and restaurants such as pubs, bars and restaurants as well as attractions.  

Venues are adapting to these rules in line with the Covid-19 Secure guidance that they followed when planning their reopening but please take extra precautions to minimise social contact with anyone outside of your household wherever you go and to wear a mask. 
 

Ten things to do in Greater Manchester this week 
 

1. One of the most highly-anticipated reopenings of the summer, Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum will welcome back visitors to their vast site from Friday 14 August. Initially, the museum will focus on bringing the galleries in its New Warehouse building back to life. This includes the Revolution Manchester Gallery, where the city’s rich legacy of world-changing innovations, discoveries and ideas are on display. Advanced booking is essential via the museum’s website. 

2. After a delayed reopening last week, the fantastic East Lancashire Railway is back up and running with limited services from Saturday 8 August. The heritage railway, which runs along a track through the beautiful Irwell Valley, had a very difficult few months during lockdown so plan a visit, buy a ticket or just have a few pints in the excellent Trackside pub or Buffer Stops Bar in order to support their reopening and help to secure their future. 

3. Elsewhere in the north part of Greater Manchester, Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre will reopen to the public on Thursday 13 August. The museum – something of a hidden gem that helps visitors to discover more about Bury’s rich history – comprises an art gallery that houses the Wrigley Collection that contains over 200 oil paintings, watercolours, prints and ceramics whilst the Sculpture Centre features some of the most prominent sculptors in contemporary art. 

4. Elizabeth Gaskell’s House will reopen its doors on Wednesday 12 August, with visitors invited to enjoy exploring the Grade II* listed Regency-style villa where Elizabeth wrote some of her most famous novels. Tickets can be pre-booked up to two weeks in advance via the website.  

5. Imperial War Museum North at The Quays is now open on a timed ticketing system. Plan your day to coincide with Box on the Docks; a unique outdoor dining experience featuring dining pods in the form of sheds and greenhouses, decorated by Salford-based artists.  

6. A phased reopening of museum sites in Stockport saw both the superb Tudor manor house Bramall Hall and the eerie and poignant Stockport Air Raid Shelters reopen last week Thursday to Sunday. Tickets for both attractions need to be booked in advance. 

7. Another great venue that reopened in a phased capacity last week was Salford Museum and Art Gallery. Visitors are now able to call into the shop and café, have a 30-minute visit to Lark Hill Place – the museum’s excellent Victorian Street recreation – or book an appointment in the Local History Library. Open Tuesday to Sunday each week, advanced bookings are highly recommended via the website. 

8. The wonderful people at Food Sorcery Cookery School in Didsbury we’re busy during lockdown making meals for vulnerable people, delivering prepared meals to the local community and hosting online cookery events. They’re now back open and running face-to-face cookery classes with reduced numbers and new social guidelines. They are also taking part in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme whereby you can get a discount on classes Monday to Wednesday throughout August. 

9. Speaking of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, if there’s one thing that you must do this week and throughout August, it’s to take advantage of this great offer and support eligible businesses. You can find your nearest participating venues by popping your postcode into the Eat Out To Help Out search tool or by looking out for posters in windows. If you’re planning a weekday visit into Manchester city centre some of our favourite restaurant taking part in the scheme include Albert Square Chop House, Dishoom, Fazenda, Hawksmoor, Three Little Words, Wood, and Yang Sing – just remember to book in advance to avoid disappointment! 

10. Sightseeing Manchester – the city’s hop-on, hop-off bus tour – has returned operating Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The tour takes in a route that covers most of Manchester city centre, parts of Salford including Salford Cathedral and The Quays, as well as Old Trafford and the Imperial War Museum North. 
 

Ten things to start planning for now 
 

Several attractions and tours have announced plans to reopen and restart in the coming weeks. Start planning your days out now – remember that some venues will require pre-booking – and check back on this blog for updates each week. 

1. Manchester Art Gallery will reopen on Thursday 20 August for four days a week, Thursday to Sunday. Visitors will be able to see the gallery’s much-loved displays of British and European art and design, including the world famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings by Millais, Holman Hunt and Rossetti, and other highlights including works by Stubbs, Turner, Landseer, Lord Leighton, and Wagner’s The Chariot Race. Until then you can make the most of their online events programme and online collection. 

2. The amazing Chill Factore, which houses the UK’s longest indoor sky slope is planning to reopen to visitors on Monday 17 August, subject to no further changes to local restrictions. In the meantime, the team are busy making snow!   

3. The People’s History Museum, the national museum of democracy, is set to reopen on Tuesday 1 September, welcoming visitors to explore the past, present, and future of ideas worth fighting for. 

4. HOME arts centre have announced that they are aiming to reopen their cinemas, bars and restaurant on Friday 4 September.  

5. The Maker’s Market roams various locations across the North West offering a chance to support small businesses selling crafts, jewellery and food and drink. Check the site and make a note of their calendar where you can find them interchangeably outside the Great Northern Warehouse in the city centre, outside The Lowry at Salford Quays, in Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter, as well as in Sale, Cheadle, Chorlton and West Didsbury. 

6. If you’re a fan of old halls, Salford’s Ordsall Hall, which dates back more than 750 years, has now reopened. Visitors need to pre-book a one-hour ‘stewarded’ tour online in order to be shown around and you will be able to roam the gardens. There are three tour slots each Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for a maximum of eight people composed of either your own household or a ‘bubble’ of two households. 

7. Take a day trip to explore Bolton Museum’s fantastic galleries including the acclaimed Bolton’s Egypt exhibition. The museum is currently open 9am-5pm on Tuesday to Friday and 10am-4pm on Saturdays. Whilst visiting Bolton we also suggest a wander around popular filming location Le Mans Crescent and shopping for some lovely local produce at Bolton Market. 

8. The National Football Museum has thrown open its door again and is currently open every Thursday to Sunday from 11am-4pm. The reopening will give you a chance to catch the amazing Strip! How Football Got Shirty exhibition which has been extended and features more than 200 football shirts. 

9. If you fancy a no-fuss day out of Greater Manchester tour operator Mountain Goat are restarting their daily tour to the Lake District from Manchester from Saturday 1 August. The tour includes the Langdale Valley, Blea Tarn, Hawkshead, Tarn Hows and a cream tea at a traditional Lake District country hotel. Competitor operator BusyBus also offers a regular day tour to the Lake District (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) as well as day tours to North Wales (Tue, Thurs, Sat) and Yorkshire (Sat, Sun). 

10. And finally… walking tours are back and there are loads to choose from. Manchester Guided Tours are running their Discover Manchester tour every Saturday and Sunday at 11am, offering an ideal way to get reacquainted with your city. For alternative views of the city,  Invisible Cities offer tours by people who have experienced homelessness and have trained as guides with tours running every Saturday (starting 11am) and Sunday (starting 2pm), whilst tour guide Hayley Flynn has recommenced her hugely popular Street Art: The Modern History of the Northern Quarter with a selection of tours across the summer. Emma Fox is offering bespoke tours for groups of five people or two households, covering places such as Southern Cemetery and the Bridgewater Canal Trail around Worsley. And Jonathan Schofield has a vast array of tours to choose from, but one of his most popular explores the abandoned majesty of Mayfield Station, running on selected dates throughout July and August. 

In line with the current restrictions in Greater Manchester, people are asked to visit with members of their household or support bubble only - but there are plenty of opportunities for families to have fun together.

Each leisure attraction has a range of safety measures in place, meaning visitors can enjoy the summer safely.

Zoe Inman, centre director at intu Trafford Centre, said: “With 200 stores, restaurants and leisure attractions all under one roof, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Whilst the summer holidays may be a little different than usual, our visitors will still get the usual warm welcome and great day out that they’ve come to expect from us.”

Here are some of the leisure attractions on offer at intu Trafford Centre - for more details, including how to book, visit: intu.co.uk/traffordcentre/news/leisure-experiences-at-intu-trafford-centre:

The Upside Down House
This topsy turvy attraction promises visitors a zero-gravity illusion experience in a safe and family friendly environment. Find it (on its head) outside The Great Hall. Face masks must be worn and you need to pre-book your visit. Numbers inside will be limited to 12 people.

Open 10am – 8pm Monday – Friday, 10am – 9pm on Saturdays and 12pm – 6pm on Sundays.

SEA LIFE

Dive into a magical underwater world, coming face to face with thousands of amazing creatures including majestic sharks, enchanting jellyfish and resident Green Sea Turtles, Cammy and Ernie! To manage the number of visitors and allow for social distancing, guests must pre-book a time slot online ahead of their visit – this includes annual passes and flexi tickets.

Open 10am – 5pm every day.

LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre

Experience the ultimate indoor LEGO playground, where families with children aged 3-10 can enjoy a world of creativity, colour and building. LEGOLAND® is also only accepting online pre-booked sessions. There will be two play sessions per day, and each child will be given an individual bag of LEGO to play with, which should be returned afterwards for deep cleaning. 

Open 10am – 6pm Monday – Saturday, 12pm – 6pm on Sundays.

Namco Funscape

Enjoy a trip to Namco Funscape which houses over 150 video and arcade games, Europe's fastest dodgems and an American pool hall. Selected games in the amusement arcade will be turned off to support social distancing, and Namco asks that all visitors arriving together as a group must remain together when in the venue and leaving.

Open 10am – 6pm every day.

Paradise Island Adventure Golf

Enjoy some indoor golf amidst a tropical paradise at Paradise Island Golf. Expect exotic wildlife, magnificent stone carvings and two challenging courses; the Tiki Hut Trail (wheelchair and push pram access) and Temple Ruins Adventure. There will be a reduced capacity to allow for social distancing, so whilst walk-ins are available it is recommended to pre-book online. Group sizes on the course are restricted to four people.

Open 10am – 9pm Monday – Friday, 10am – 10pm on Saturdays and 10am – 9pm on Sundays.

Laser Quest and The Rock

Laser blasters at the ready! Whether you're 7 or 77, everyone will love this adrenaline pumping action. New safety measures have been introduced, such as sanitizing stations and regular cleaning of equipment before and after use.

Open 10am – 6pm Monday – Saturday, 12pm – 6pm on Sundays.

ODEON cinema

Check out blockbuster films and classic family movies at this 20 screen ODEON cinema. Discover the ultimate immersive cinematic experience by paying a visit to Dolby Cinema, which is only the third in the UK. ODEON will be limiting the number of seats for each film and guaranteeing unoccupied seats between parties to meet social distancing requirements.

Open 1pm – 9pm every day.

Trafford Treetop Adventure Course

Are you ready to hit the heights of Treetops?  Make your way through a treetop course, taking on a rapid zip line, challenging network of rope bridges, balancing poles and daring crossings. All activities must be pre-booked.

Open 11am – 7pm Monday – Saturday, 12pm – 4pm on Sundays.

Once you’ve worked up an appetite, fill those rumbling bellies with a delicious meal: over 25 brands are taking part in the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, including Five Guys, Pizza Hut and Nando’s. Visitors will receive a 50% discount, up to a maximum of £10 per person, Monday-Wednesday throughout August. Brands taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme include:

Barburrito

Bill’s

Burger King

Caffe Nero

Chaobaby

Costa

East Street

Five Guys

Friday’s

Haute Dolci

Krispy Kreme

Mardi Gras – JD Wetherspoon

McDonalds

M&S Café

Nando’s

Pesto

Pizza Hut

Pret a Manger in Selfridges

San Carlo in Selfridges

Shere Khan

Spud U Like

Subway

Tampopo

Tru Street

Wagamama

Yo! Sushi in Selfridges

]]> stuart.aiken@marketingmanchester.com (Visit Manchester) http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/08/learn-more-about-about-rochdales-past-present-and-future-b1313#comments1313 Wed, 05 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/08/the-spirit-of-manchester-distillery-and-three-little-words-launches-its-very-first-distillery-and-restaurant-package-deal-b1312 Celebrate Sundays with The Spirit of Manchester Distillery’s Tour and Tasting and Three Little Words’ Famous Roast Dinner

Celebrate Sundays with The Spirit of Manchester Distillery’s Tour and Tasting and Three Little Words’ Famous Roast Dinner

The Spirit of Manchester Distillery, home to Manchester Gin and independent, premium cocktail bar and restaurant, Three Little Words, is launching its very first distillery and restaurant package deal.

Spend your Sunday at the stunning Grade-II* listed brick railway arches on Watson Street in central Manchester to enjoy an immersive distillery tour and gin tasting followed by a classic, yet unforgettable, Sunday roast for just £30 per person. This ultimate drink and dine experience is unlike any other offering in the city, making for the ideal way for Mancunians and gin-lovers alike to round up their weekend with a cheeky tipple and a mouth-watering meal.

The Spirit of Manchester Distillery’s Tour and Guided Tasting, rated the Number One Thing to Do in Manchester on TripAdvisor, treats guests to a behind-the-scenes look at life in the buzzing distillery. Visitors learn about the makings of Manchester Gin’s award-winning range and are led by a gin expert through a guided tasting. 

Once guests have uncovered the inner workings of the acclaimed northern gin brand and have enjoyed a couple of G&Ts, they can end their weekend the right way with a delicious Three Little Words’ Sunday Roast.

With 16 years’ experience, including numerous years at Manchester’s Evelyn’s, classically trained Head Chef, Jimmy Carr, created the special Sunday menu so that it caters to all, offering British beef along with a hearty veggie alternative. The beef is flavoured with mustard, garlic and rosemary, and roasted to the perfect shade of pink. The vegetarian option changes weekly to utilise fresh, seasonal ingredients, meaning you can indulge in anything from succulent stuffed peppers to a heavenly homemade beetroot pie

The meat on the menu is all sourced locally from Frost’s in Chorlton, and the vegetables are chosen based on seasonality, meaning that there’s an evolution of flavours throughout the year. By focusing on seasonal veggies, this menu ensures that not only is every ingredient on your plate as fresh and delicious as possible, but it contributes towards sustainable dining!

The roast comes with all the trimmings, including roast potatoes, carrots, greens, cabbage, squash and the add-on option of creamy cauliflower cheese, each prepared and cooked to perfection. It’s paired with traditional Yorkshire puddings made to be as tall and fluffy as possible and a whole lot of gravy - making it the perfect warming end to your weekend. Vegan and gluten-free options are also available, so there’s something for everyone.

The Three Little Words Sunday Roast is available in addition to the full a la carte menu, which guests can enjoy for £18.50 two courses or £22.50 for three courses until 6pm.

The distillery tour and tasting and Sunday roast package deal is available every Sunday from 12pm and can be booked online here

SPACE IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT FACILITY AVAILABLE FOR HOSPITALITY BRANDS TO BOOK; OCCUPANTS SIMPLY PAY THE ENERGY BILL AND EVEN RECEIVE A FREE KEG OF ESTRELLA DAMM BEER TO HELP ESTABISH THEIR POP-UP

Foodies behold. A new pop-up dining space is coming to the Great Northern this summer with weekly takeovers from different local restaurants.

The pop-up restaurant on the square will provide a Covid-secure space for local businesses that are restricted with limited outdoor dining space. The weekly five day takeover will allow these restaurants to serve up their delicious cuisine right in the heart of Manchester.

With a jam-packed schedule already, expect to see tapas from Evuna, Italian delights from Salvis, plus South Manny Flavaz courtesy of Impossible, throughout August.

The new dining experience will be open 12pm - 8:30pm, Wednesday – Sunday, with Evuna kicking off the opening week from Wednesday 5^th August. No need to book, simply pop down and enjoy some tasty tapas outdoors with your household.

All diners will experience table service to reduce close contact and ensure social distancing to kept at all times.

And who doesn’t love an ice cold beer in the sun? The pop-up restaurant will also include its very own Estrella Damm, the premium lager of Barcelona, bar for diners that want to accompany their food with a beer, or two.

On the announcement of Great Northern’s restaurant on the square, Centre Director Mark Schofield said: “Housing so many brilliant bars and restaurants here at the Great Northern we really want to do what we can to help the hospitality business get back on its feet. A lot restaurants don’t have the luxury of outdoor seating, so we’ve created an outdoor dining space that can hold 50 diners in the heart of the Manchester.”

Evuna will be the first restaurant taking over the square from Wednesday 5^th August from 12pm.

The Great Northern is running this pop-up space as a non-profit venture to help support Manchester’s hospitality industry, which has been amongst the most badly impacted sectors during the Covid-19 crisis. Brands and charities can apply to use the space via the Great Northern’s website; there’s no fee to pay to utilise the kitchen – brands simply pay the electricity bill for the facilities – and the site is even offering the first keg of beer free-of-charge to give a head start for those setting up shop onsite

For more information on the Great Northern, including updates on individual brand opening dates and safety procedures, please visit: www.thegreatnorthern.com.

Rochdale Development Agency, organiser of the ‘Find Your Space’ art project plan is looking for 88 budding artists to have their work featured on the side of 21 Baillie Street for the next year.

The image needs to depict what Rochdale means to you and it can be a drawing, painting, photograph, craft item or even a piece of knitting and it’s open to everybody from novices to more experienced artists. 

As well as being a celebration of the best bits of Rochdale it’s hoped the initiative will become a magnet to entice people back into the town centre in the same way that the Dippy the Dinosaur exhibition attracted more than 100,000 visitors when it was displayed at Number One Riverside.

Councillor John Blundell, cabinet member for regeneration, business, skills and employment, said the ‘Find Your Space’ art project is a great way of celebrating Rochdale’s achievements and increasing footfall into the town centre at the same time.

“This is open anybody and everybody,” he said. “This is a unique chance for the residents of Rochdale to have their work displayed on the side of a prominent town centre building for the next year for everyone else to see. Don’t think you have to be as good as Banksy to take part. We want people of all ages and all standards to enter. What are you waiting for”?

Councillor Blundell said although the emphasis was having a bit of fun there was a serious point to the ‘Find Your Space’ art project too as they wanted to showcase the £250m revamped town centre to more people

“People who haven’t been to Rochdale town centre for a few years are stunned at the improvements we’ve made,” he said. “The old council offices and bus station have been demolished and replaced with a new bus station, town centre Metrolink stop, award-winning library and council building. Our river has been opened up and our flagship new £80m retail and leisure complex Rochdale Riverside opened during the pandemic.

“21 Baillie Street is located in the town centre and we thought the best way to utilise it was to turn over the side of the building into a giant artwork of up to 88 mosaics that sum of some of the things that are great about Rochdale by the people who live here.”

Councillor Blundell said there were no restrictions on what people draw as long as it celebrated something that makes Rochdale great.

The ‘Find Your Space’ art project is a multi-agency initiative led by Rochdale Development Agency and also involves Rochdale Borough Council; Action Together, Link4Life, Rochdale Business Improvement District (Rochdale BID); and Marketing Manchester.

Paul Ormerod, chairman of Rochdale Development Agency, said: “Turning 21 Baillie Street into a giant canvas to celebrate the best of Rochdale is not only a great community project but it’s also good for business.

 “The Dippy the Dinosaur exhibition attracted more than 100,000 visitors before Covid-19, many of whom had never seen the new-look town centre before. We think 21 Baillie Street will be equally popular.”

Anyone with a Rochdale link can submit an entry, It’s hoped some famous Rochdalians will also take part.

For more details of how to take part and the full terms and conditions go to https://investinrochdale.co.uk/working-living/find-your-space Entries need to be roughly A4 in size and landscape .

All businesses mentioned are following the relevant government guidance but please check before visiting, particularly to find out if pre-booking is required. When you go out, please remember to keep your distance where possible and wash your hands regularly. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE 

On Thursday 30 July, the UK Government announced new local restrictions that apply across the whole of Greater Manchester which aim to minimise the spread of Covid-19.  

Official guidance has been released confirming that households should not mix indoors. This includes a rule prohibiting the mixing of households in hospitality venues such as pubs, bars and restaurants as well as attractions.  

Venues are ready to adapt to these rules in line with the Covid-19 Secure guidance that they followed when planning their reopening but please take extra precautions to minimise social contact with anyone outside of your household wherever you go. 

The full guidance, which also includes a useful Q&A, now available on the Government website 

Ten things to do in Greater Manchester this week
 

1. Imperial War Museum North at The Quays is due to reopen on Saturday 1 August on a timed ticketing system. Plan your day to coincide with Box on the Docks; a unique outdoor dining experience featuring dining pods in the form of sheds and greenhouses, decorated by Salford-based artists. 

2. Northern Quarter icon the Manchester Craft and Design Centre will finally reopen its doors this weekend, welcoming back visitors each Friday and Saturday throughout August. If you’ve never visited before MCDC is the perfect place to pick up gifts or treats from a range of fantastic independent makers. Pop along to show some support relax with some alfresco food and drink in one of the Northern Quarter’s new pop-up, traffic-free outdoor areas. 

3. A phased reopening of museum sites in Stockport will see both the superb Tutor manor house Bramall Hall and the eerie and poignant Stockport Air Raid Shelters open on Thursday 6 August. Tickets for both attractions need to be booked in advance.

4. The wonderful people at Food Sorcery Cookery School in Didsbury we’re busy during lockdown making meals for vulnerable people, delivering prepared meals to the local community and hosting online cookery events. They’re now back open and running face-to-face cookery classes with reduced numbers and new social guidelines. They are also taking part in the Eat Out To Help Out scheme whereby you can get a discount on classes Monday to Wednesday throughout August. 

5. Speaking of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, if there’s one thing that you must do this week, its to take advantage of this great offer and support eligible businesses. You can find your nearest participating venues by popping your postcode into the Eat Out To Help Out search tool or by looking out for posters in windows. If you’re planning a weekday visit into Manchester city centre some of our favourite restaurant taking part in the scheme include Albert Square Chop House, Dishoom, Fazenda, Hawksmoor, Three Little Words, and Yang Sing – just remember to book in advance to avoid disappointment! 

6. If you’re a fan of old halls, Salford’s Ordsall Hall, which dates back more than 750 years, has now reopened. Visitors need to pre-book a one-hour ‘stewarded’ tour online in order to be shown around and you will be able to roam the gardens. There are three tour slots each Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for a maximum of eight people composed of either your own household or a ‘bubble’ of two households. 

7. Take a day trip to explore Bolton Museum’s fantastic galleries including the acclaimed Bolton’s Egypt exhibition. The museum is currently open 9am-5pm on Tuesday to Friday and 10am-4pm on Saturdays. Whilst visiting Bolton we also suggest a wander around popular filming location Le Mans Crescent and shopping for some lovely local produce at Bolton Market. 

8. The National Football Museum has thrown open its door again and is currently open every Thursday to Sunday from 11am-4pm. The reopening will give you a chance to catch the amazing Strip! How Football Got Shirty exhibition which has been extended and features more than 200 football shirts.

9. If you want a tour with a difference and one where you are in complete control of what you see and do, book in for a Manchester Taxi Tour with the legendary John Consterdine. John’s fun and flexible tour style allows you to pick and choose to visit anywhere in Greater Manchester, whether you want to follow music threads at places like Salford Lads Club and Sifter Records, visit Corrie filming locations, see the best football pubs, or just have a standard history tour that isn’t confided to just the city centre. What’s more, John has recently upgraded his taxi to a roomy electric vehicle with huge glass roof so that glides quietly through the streets as you take everything in from the comfort of your back seat. 

10. And if you fancy a no-fuss day out of Greater Manchester tour operator Mountain Goat are restarting their daily tour to the Lake District from Manchester from Saturday 1 August. The tour includes the Langdale Valley, Blea Tarn, Hawkshead, Tarn Hows and a cream tea at a traditional Lake District country hotel. Competitor operator BusyBus also offers a regular day tour to the Lake District (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) as well as day tours to North Wales (Tue, Thurs, Sat) and Yorkshire (Sat, Sun) 

Ten things to start planning for now
 

Several attractions and tours have announced plans to reopen and restart in the coming weeks. Start planning your days out now – remember that some venues will require pre-booking – and check back on this blog for updates each week. 

1. Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is preparing to reopen its doors on Wednesday 12 August, with visitors invited to enjoy exploring the Grade II* listed Regency-style villa where Elizabeth wrote some of her most famous novels. 

2. Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre will reopen to the public on Thursday 13 August. The museum – something of a hidden gem that helps visitors to discover more about Bury’s rich history – comprises an art gallery that houses the Wrigley Collection that contains over 200 oil paintings, watercolours, prints and ceramics whilst the Scuplture Centre features some of the most prominent  

3. The amazing Chill Factore, which houses the UK’s longest indoor sky slope will reopen to visitors on Monday 17 August. In the meantime, the team are busy making snow! 

4. Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum is getting ready to welcome visitors back to their vast site from Friday 14 August, restoring the opportunity to explore 250 years of innovations and ideas that started life in Manchester and went on to change the world. 

5. Manchester Art Gallery will reopen on Thursday 20 August for four days a week, Thursday to Sunday. Visitors will be able to see the gallery’s much-loved displays of British and European art and design, including the world famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings by Millais, Holman Hunt and Rossetti, and other highlights including works by Stubbs, Turner, Landseer, Lord Leighton, and Wagner’s The Chariot Race. Until then you can make the most of their online events programme and online collection. 

6. Although regular Manchester Pride celebrations will no be going ahead this year, the team at Manchester Pride have announced that they are going to deliver three days of celebrations for LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester over the August bank holiday weekend. The Alternative Manchester Pride Festival will feature free content that can be enjoyed at home via the United We Stream platform and Youtube.  

7. Electric Playbox and Roxy Lanes will be two brand new openings in Manchester when they open later this summer at Manchester Arndale Centre. Electric Playbox is an interactive digital adventure where visuals and graphics are projected onto all four walls within a booth and movements are tracked using motion sensors and touch screens – think escape room gone digital. Roxy Lanes will be the second in the city, offering competitive games including bowling, gaming and indoor golf. 

8. The People’s History Museum, the national museum of democracy, is set to reopen on Tuesday 1 September, welcoming visitors to explore the past, present, and future of ideas worth fighting for. 

9. HOME arts centre have announced that they are aiming to reopen their cinemas, bars and restaurant on Friday 4 September. 

10. And finally… walking tours are back and there are loads to choose from. Manchester Guided Tours are running their Discover Manchester tour every Saturday and Sunday at 11am, offering an ideal way to get reacquainted with your city. For alternative views of the city,  Invisible Cities offer tours by people who have experienced homelessness and have trained as guides with tours running every Saturday (starting 11am) and Sunday (starting 2pm), whilst tour guide Hayley Flynn has recommenced her hugely popular Street Art: The Modern History of the Northern Quarter with a selection of tours across the summer. Emma Fox is offering bespoke tours for groups of five people or two households, covering places such as Southern Cemetery and the Bridgewater Canal Trail around Worsley. And Jonathan Schofield has a vast array of tours to choose from, but one of his most popular explores the abandoned majesty of Mayfield Station, running on selected dates throughout July and August. 

Image Credit: Chris Payne

Manchester Craft and Design Centre would love you to ‘make a visit’ when they re-open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays in August, to show your support for independent Makers and small businesses during these challenging times.  

If you’re looking for something to brighten up your home office or treat your loved ones, then they’re encouraging you to make your purchases count by buying local and buying better, safe in the knowledge that everything available at this home of handmade is crafted on site – and, what’s better, you can meet the Makers (at a safe distance, of course) and find out about the skills and inspiration that has gone into each piece. No surer guarantee of a local and ethical supply chain.  
 
Closed during lockdown, the Centre is reopening in a phased way to ensure the maximum safety for visitors, staff and Makers. As you’d expect from those used to the finer details of handmade craft, the staff team and Makers really have thought of everything in preparation for your return; starting with increased daily professional cleaning and friendly welcome staff to help guide your visit. On arrival you’ll be able to sanitise your hands before following a one-way system around the building to have a mooch in the studios and enjoy the light and airy Victorian market building. They’ll be limiting visitor numbers at the front door, as will each studio, to make sure you’re never feeling overcrowded, and there’ll be a place outside to queue just in case you have to wait.   

Director, Kate Day, speaking of welcoming visitors back, said: 

‘We’re really looking forward to serving our local community again, with a great place to visit to be inspired and buy handmade gifts. Our Makers have faced challenging times this year but have carried on making and selling online.  We hope you’ll be able to show them your support by visiting in August, as there’s nothing quite like seeing handmade work in the flesh and meeting the talented individuals that have created it.’  

Outside of the August opening hours Makers are taking customer appointments and continue to sell online. And for those looking for take-out that doesn’t break the belt, Oak St Café is open for pre-orders and collection of their fresh and healthy homemade fare. 

Manchester Craft and Design Centre is looking forward to welcoming you back on Fridays and Saturdays in August, 11am - 5pm.  

You’ll find a full guide of what to expect from your visit, here:  

https://www.craftanddesign.com/what-to-expect-of-your-visit/ 

In light of the situation brought about by the COVID-19 virus, GG Hospitality took the decision to close the two hotels under its management temporarily in March 2020. Gary Neville, co-owner of GG Hospitality announced on social media that both hotels, Hotel Football in Trafford and Stock Exchange Hotel in the City Centre would close their doors on Sunday the 22^nd of March to ensure that the health and welfare of its team members as well as that of its guests was safeguarded at all times.

In the same announcement, Gary Neville also spoke on the decision that both hotels would be accommodating NHS healthcare workers and medical professionals free of charge from The Manchester Univeristy NHS Foundation Trust. This was in order to provide them with a comfortable place to stay and remain safe while continuing the incredible work during the challenging time. Throughout the pandemic, across both hotels, GG Hospitality have accommodated in excess of 300 NHS key workers.

Following the government announcement on the 23^rd June that the hospitality sector will slowly start to re-open from the 4^th July, GG Hospitality have taken the decision that the doors to both Hotel Football and Stock Exchange Hotel will stay closed for a little while longer so they can continue to support the incredible NHS workers they have been housing for the last 4 months until they no longer require a place to stay. Once the NHS key workers have left, the two hotels will spend time to thoroughly sanitise both properties and test new protocols and procedures to ensure that guests, team members and suppliers are kept as safe and comfortable as possible.

GG Hospitality are working towards a re-opening date of the 28^th August for Stock Exchange Hotel and 1^st September for Hotel Football, although prior to this date Hotel Football will be hosting some unique private events.

In a comment to the press, GG Hospitality CEO, Winston Zahra, explained “As a company we felt that it was the right thing to do to continue looking after the NHS front liners. We will be preparing our properties and continue to train all our team in the rigorous COVID-19 related safety protocols in the weeks ahead and are very much looking forward to welcoming our guests back to the hotels at the end of August/September. In the meantime we would like to thank all the volunteers, companies and the wider community for the support we have received during these past months.”

Even though the hotel doors are not officially open yet, members of the Hotel Football and Stock Exchange Hotel sales and commercial teams have returned to the business and will be dealing with any enquiries and focusing on driving as much business as possible for when both hotels re-open their doors in August and September.

In this article he considers one of Manchester’s landmark Gothic buildings, Manchester Town Hall, which is currently undergoing restoration work (see below). As well as safeguarding/repairing the building and restoring its key heritage features, the project involves some sympathetic work to bring it up to modern safety and access standards such as extra lifts, similar to the sympathetic interventions made in the neighbouring Grade II*-listed Central Library. Indeed, opening up the building so more people can enjoy its splendours and civic treasures, making it more of a visitor destination, is one of the key themes of the project, e.g. there will be a new visitor centre.

Below - Manchester Town Hall as viewed on 20 July 2020 during refurbishment. © Peter N. Lindfield.

Dr Peter N. Lindfield FSA is a Senior Research Associate in the Departments of English and History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has published widely on Georgian Gothic architecture and design broadly conceived, as well as heraldry and the relevance of heraldic arts to post-medieval English intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic culture. Last year, as part of Gothic Manchester Festival 2019, he co-organised an event at Chetham’s Library Baronial Hall with Professor Dale Townshend titled ‘Faking Gothic Furniture’ (it also features, along with The John Rylands Library, in a previous article by Peter, here). This involved discussing the mysterious George Shaw (1810-76), a local Upper Mill lad who developed an early interest in medieval architecture and heraldry, going on to create forgeries of Tudor and Elizabethan furniture for a number of high-profile individuals and places at the time, including Chetham’s!

Currently Peter is completing his Leverhulme-funded research project exploring forged antiquarian materials in Georgian Britain, and also working on the recently re-discovered Henry VII and Elizabeth of York marriage bed, which itself was the inspiration behind many of Shaw’s so-called ‘Gothic forgeries’.

Manchester Town Hall and the Gothic tradition 

The most recognisable and famous example of lavish, palatial Gothic architecture to be designed and erected in Victorian Britain is, without doubt, the Palace of Westminster in London, otherwise known colloquially as the ‘Houses of Parliament’ (Fig.1). Designed by A.W.N. Pugin and Charles Barry, this building is now world famous and at the centre of British parliamentary action and the pomp of ceremonies such as the State Opening of Parliament. The building was designed by this architectural pair following Barry’s successful entry into the competition to find a proposal for replacing the earlier, medieval palace that had been destroyed largely by fire on 16 October 1834.

Below - Fig.1: Palace of Westminster by A.W.N. Pugin and Charles Barry. © Peter N. Lindfield.

Manchester Town Hall is another important, lavish, and extensive palace-like civic building erected in Victorian Britain (Fig.2). Indeed, it isn’t too much of an exaggeration to claim it as the period’s second most significant Gothic structure following Barry’s and Pugin’s building in London. It was built from 1868 and Manchester’s new Town Hall opened in 1877. Like the Palace of Westminster, Manchester’s town hall was designed following a competition designed to solicit high-quality proposals. The building’s architect, Alfred Waterhouse (1830–1905), has an extensive history of working in Manchester before this competition, with his most notable buildings being the now destroyed Manchester Assize Courts (Fig.3) and Strangeways Prison from 1859.

Below - Fig.2: Manchester Town Hall, before refurbishment works began. Juliux (CC BY-SA 3.0).

In 1863, when John Ruskin visited Manchester, he took an interest in Waterhouse’s buildings, and he writes that:

‘the Assize Courts are much beyond everything yet done in England on my principles. The hall is one of the finest things I have ever seen: even the painted glass is good […] It is vast and full of sculpture and very impressive.’

Above - Fig.3: Manchester Assize Courts from Charles Eastlake’s History of the Gothic Revival. Image in the public domain.

Reflecting upon the building in The History of The Gothic Revival Charles Eastlake remarks that:

‘Time has shown that Mr Waterhouse's plan for the Assize Courts is admirably adapted for its purpose and, with regard to the artistic merit of the work, it will be time enough to criticise when any better modern structure of its size and style has been raised in this country.’

Waterhouse, consequently, was both highly experienced in designing Gothic buildings, and, indeed, Gothic buildings in Manchester. His most significant in the region is the subject of this post—the city’s town hall, but he was also responsible to rebuilding Eaton Hall in Cheshire for the Duke of Westminster in an equally imposing manner the year after work on Manchester’s Town Hall. Much like the Palace of Westminster, which is currently undergoing some remedial work, and which is scheduled for a £4bn restoration programme to make it safe and fit for the current and next century, see the project website here, Manchester’s town hall is also undergoing extensive restoration and improvement works; the building, according to current published estimates, will re-open to the public in 2024 following a ‘mere’ c.£300m project.

Below - Fig.4: Manchester Town Hall as viewed on 20 July 2020 during refurbishment. © Peter N. Lindfield.

As any visitor to Manchester in 2020 will have surely observed, Manchester Town Hall is being surrounded progressively with scaffolding and obscured by protective white plastic coverings (Figs 4–7); most of of Albert Square in front of the town hall is also now located behind wooden hoarding. Waterhouse’s majestic, imposing structure is slowly being hidden from view with works progressing a pace. Some details about the project can be found here on the Manchester City Council website.

Below - Fig.5: Manchester Town Hall as viewed on 20 July 2020 during refurbishment. © Peter N. Lindfield.

As I have said, Manchester Town Hall is the most exceptional Gothic building raised in the city during the Victorian period in terms of scale, cost, ambition, and style. It proclaims, through its exterior architectural appearance and interior fixtures and fittings, the wealth and importance of Manchester within the industrialised world; it was, of course, at the centre of the cotton trade and known as ‘Cottonopolis’.

Below - Fig.6: Manchester Town Hall as viewed on 20 July 2020 during refurbishment. © Peter N. Lindfield.

The style chosen for the town hall was Gothic, which resonates with the idea of British heritage—the style defining medieval churches and other architecture, as demonstrated by my posts on Manchester Cathedral, here, Chetham’s Library, here, and Ordsall Hall, here. The Manchester Corporation deemed the new town hall (replacing the earlier Classical one from 1822) to be ‘equal if not superior, to any similar building in the country at any cost which may be reasonably required’.

Below - Fig.7: Manchester Town Hall as viewed on 20 July 2020 during refurbishment. © Peter N. Lindfield.

The most striking aspect of the town hall’s exterior is its central clock tower that can be seen to dominate, even today from certain angles, the city’s skyline. Based upon the idea of medieval church towers and spires reaching to the sky to draw the eye upwards—to heaven—so the town hall’s clock tower impresses by its scale. It is, nevertheless, a delicate, ornamented structure, with deep louvered windows on each side in imitation of the great English cathedrals’ western towers. In particular is it reminiscent of Lincoln Cathedral’s towers, save for the addition of a corona made form a spire, and an octagon (like at Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire). The remainder of the building features bartizans—projecting, baronial and castle-like towers that were also incorporated by architects including Thomas Worthington in his Manchester architecture, like the Minshull Street Court buildings discussed here. Other notable elements of Manchester’s new Town Hall are the vast array of pointed windows on the exterior, which are still visible on Princess Street (see photos above). Despite the mass of almost identical windows on the town hall’s Princess Street elevation, the corner turret seen in fig.7 at the Princess Street and Cooper Street intersection shows subtly different treatment of the windows, which are mostly of a square-headed form, unlike all but the ground floor window. The addition of a band of carved ornament running around the tops of these windows compensates for their otherwise plain form.

What is currently hidden behind all of the hoarding is the main entrance façade of the building. This main ‘face’ to the building is designed in a logical, symmetrical manner where there is both a wealth of Gothic architectural detail, including niches to hold statues, dormer windows (typical of Victorian Gothic architecture), and it is divided into distinct bays that create a sense of movement and dynamism through the play of light on the carved decoration. This in–out movement, as well as different heights, along with the central clock tower with projecting entrance porchway below (which is taken from medieval Cathedral architecture with its deep portal, imitating, for example, that at Westminster Abbey (Fig.8) in London, this building is nevertheless clearly modern (Victorian) in its overloaded detail and also plain wall space.

Below - Fig.8: The entrance portal at Westminster Abbey. © Peter N. Lindfield.

All of these elements and quotations of medieval Gothic architecture, repackaged in a modern, Victorian, manner for a civic rather than an ecclesiastical context, demonstrate Waterhouse’s awareness of medieval architecture. To me, at least, the most striking example of this historical awareness is the styling of the large windows on the building’s main floor, or piano nobile. They mirror, unlike the remainder of the architecture, a particular type of Gothic tracery pattern known as bar tracery that developed in France and can be seen in remarkable structures like the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, and which made its way to Britain appearing in what is termed Geometric Gothic on the now largely bricked-up entrance façade of Binham Priory in Norfolk from 1244 (Fig.9), and which was also incorporated into York Minster and Westminster Abbey. In particular, the lancets within the window are defined by rounded glazing bars (or mullions), and between the pointed heads of these lancets and the top of the window is an oculus, or circle, ornamented with cusps.

Below - Fig.9: bricked-up entrance façade of Binham Priory, Norfolk. John Armagh (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Turning to the town hall’s interior, the rooms, corridors, and the principal staircase are all as astonishing and attractive. With overlapping and intersecting spaces, the principal staircase is certainly one of the most striking. Designed in a comprehensively Gothic style, it is one of the building’s stand-out spaces (Fig.10). Similarly, the Great Hall, with its intricate, Gothic profiled mouldings and vaulting, along with decoration by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Ford Madox Brown, The Manchester Murals, depicting the city’s history, bring what is essentially a medieval-style hall right into the nineteenth-century context (Fig.11). Other notable areas include the corridors, modelled medieval cloister corridors, making this a remarkably dramatic, interesting, and celebratory structure.

Below: Fig.10: Principal staircase. Michael D Beckwith (CC BY-SA 3.0).

As one of the four Grade I listed Gothic buildings in Manchester, see Historic England’s listing, here, the building is not only of importance within Manchester and the region, but, indeed, throughout the country and world as an expression of civic pride. This refurbishment programme should, hopefully, restore the building to its former splendour, and also secure it for the enjoyment and use of generations to come.

Below - Fig.11: Great Hall. Tom Page (CC BY-SA 2.0).

By Dr Peter N. Lindfield 

Image credits in the captions 

Just a few weeks after opening, one million people have already visited Virtual Factory, the new digital manifestation of The Factory, the landmark cultural space currently under construction in Manchester, which will be MIF’s year-round home.

Gamers and non-gamers alike have been experiencing Your Progress Will Be Saved by the artist avatar LaTurbo Avedon, Virtual Factory’s first commission, which opened on 1 July. It takes place in the global gaming platform Fortnite Creative and is a constantly evolving journey through shifting spaces, dance floors, rooms and booths.

Virtual Factory highlights The Factory’s endless flexibility, as an unbounded space where artists and the public come together, with radical and interdisciplinary work created, not only in and around the building, but also the expanding digital spaces beyond its physical structure.

Future Virtual Factory commissions over the next year include artist and director Jenn Nkiru, game developer Robert Yang, whose work often focuses on gay men and intimacy, and Turner Prize 2019 artist Tai Shani.

Mark Ball, Creative Director for MIF and The Factory comments: “Having more than one million visits for our first Virtual Factory project has exceeded all our expectations. Though The Factory is still under construction, it is already a place where artists are able to make work. And with work like LaTurbo Avedon’s Your Progress Will Be Saved, it is opening up countless different experiences for anybody entering this virtual world.”

Gabrielle Jenks, MIF’s Digital Director, who is leading the Virtual Factory programme adds: “In developing Virtual Factory we are experimenting with different ways to connect artists and audiences, opening up new adventures in creativity and trying to break down the increasingly arbitrary distinctions between what we call the virtual and the real world. We had no idea how many people would be prepared to come on this journey and it’s exciting to have people hitching a ride on our way to The Factory.”

Your Progress Will Be Saved runs until autumn 2020. Gamers and non-gamers can experience it playing the full game in Fortnite Creative, choosing their own pathway in an adapted journey on the Virtual Factory website, or taking tours of LaTurbo’s intervention on Twitch.

Virtual Factory is the latest in the ongoing series of pre-Factory commissions and events being staged in the lead up to The Factory opening, which offer audiences the chance to experience the breadth of work that will be presented there.

Manchester’s 5-star luxury city centre hotel, The Lowry Hotel will reopen its doors on Saturday 1 August.

The Lowry Hotel will be opening with enhanced safety procedures including a ‘Check and Inspect Bedroom Guarantee’, increased public area cleanliness measures and mobile check-in and room key operation.

In advance of the reopening, the hotel has undergone as a deep-clean of all areas, including the lobby, food and beverage areas, spa, bedrooms and bedroom corridors.

Recognised for its super stylish bedrooms, The Lowry Hotel has now instructed ‘Room Inspectors’ who will follow a strict checklist to ensure the hotel’s new Check and Inspect bedroom policy is adhered to and all bedrooms are immaculate, safe and clean upon arrival.

Social distancing measures are in place within the hotel and where possible, all customer touch points significantly reduced. Only guests from the same booking will be allowed in the lift at any one time, and the lift will be called and managed by the Front of House team.

To reduce further contact and potential queues at reception, guests can check in via their mobile phone with the Lowry app and use their phone as a room key.

The stylish Lowry Lounge & Bar and River Restaurant which underwent a stunning refurbishment in October, will be serving award-winning quality food, but with a few changes to the usual dining set up including; single waiter allocation, single use menus and A La Carte breakfast - meaning guests can have their favourite Eggs Benedict delivered fresh to order, to their table.

The luxurious Lowry Spa will be offering a full range of ELEMIS and Aromatherapy Associates treatments including massages, facials, lash and brow tinting and waxing with added safety measures in place to allow guests to relax with confidence.

In addition to a deep clean prior to reopening using a sanitisation mist spray, all appointments will follow a 20-minute gap to allow treatment rooms and equipment to be deeply cleaned between use. Plus all nail and pedicure stations will be disinfected after each appointment.

Guests can also be safe in the knowledge that high touch areas in the reception area, River Restaurant, Lowry Lounge & Bar, meeting rooms, spa, gym and bedroom corridors will be cleaned every two hours.

Adrian Ellis, General Manager at The Lowry Hotel said: “We are delighted to welcome guests old and new to enjoy the warm surroundings of The Lowry Hotel once again.

“Customer experience is at the heart of everything we do and while guest interaction may be more limited than in the past, the safety of both our guests and staff is our number one priority.

“It’s been an incredibly challenging time for the Hotel and the city but we’re buoyed by the prospect of the return of both our international bookings and loyal local guests.”

The Lowry Hotel has updated their flexible booking process so that customers can now cancel their bookings free of charge until 1pm the prior to arrival date.

For more information or to book visit: https://www.thelowryhotel.com

This highlights TOAT’s crucial work as a social enterprise, committed to supporting the local community, including the Aquarius and Monton estates close to Manchester Science Park, and was re-opened as a ‘STEAM’ hub back in 2016. This means it is committed to supporting Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths (STEAM), as well as making connections between the universities, the local community and businesses in the area, celebrating a more integrated approach.

And this innovative pub doesn’t just talk about social action, it puts it into effect too. TOAT supports people of all backgrounds, and has long provided a space, activities and opportunities for local residents, including its commitment to employing people from the community and listening to the input from people of various ages. TOAT is after all one of the ‘last locals’ in Hulme, following the extensive development of the area over the past 30 years, which saw many local pubs – meeting places for people of all ages – closed.  A number of Hulme’s elderly residents, for example, have since come to the Taphouse and shared memories of what was the Greenheys Estate, the area Manchester Science Park now occupies. Their conversation has highlighted social tensions, feelings of dislocation and a lack of connection with new developments as they have changed the local landscape over time.

Adopting an integrated approach, TOAT takes these views into account, and has long been a space dedicated to supporting women’s organisations, people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, non-for-profit initiatives and LGBT+ groups; with inclusive nights such as Alt Femme taking place (prior to Covid-19) and previously featured by Haunt Manchester here.

Well-known for its alternative gigs and innovative events before covid-19, the pub showed quick-thinking innovation in its response to the pandemic too. With the objective of creating local meals for local people, they have partnered up with three other community organisations: Gaskell Garden Project, ACORN and Geeks For Social Change… leading to Taphouse TV Dinners! Together, by combining their various skills, this allows for effective community engagement, addressing food waste issues and technological innovation, all in one go! TOAT also created a new board of directors just before lockdown; the team that is helping to make these dinners happen. It consists of TOAT Co-founders Rachele Evaroa and Craig Thomas, as well as Ella Marshall - who has supported people who need help throughout this time with phone check-ins, cards and art packs, and Frankie Coker - whose efficient marketing of Taphouse TV Dinners and running of the Crowdfunder has helped ensure its reach. There is also been a team of hard-working volunteers. 

So what are Taphouse TV Dinners? These are ready-meals with a radical difference to those shop-bought options… instead made by the community, for the community, with nutritious ingredients! Operating as a food and support initiative, Taphouse TV Dinners connects some of the most under-served residents in inner city Manchester with hearty pay-as-you-feel meals, created in the five-star hygiene rated Old Abbey Taphouse kitchen. This project takes individual needs into account and is determined to make every recipient feel valued and listened to, something that is emphasized in their attention to detail; right down to catering to a range of dietary needs (including vegan-friendly options, for example), people can pay what they can afford (with no pressure for a donation if not possible), and providing the food already heated for those who may not have a microwave at home. They have already distributed well over 100 meals and 1,000 Easter eggs to those in need, frontline workers and their families, with examples of nutritious meals including sausage and mash, lasagne and quinoa salad. There are also plans to include art and activity packs as part of the Taphouse TV Dinners provision.

How does it work? Whilst The Old Abbey Taphouse team provides the project co-ordination and the kitchen space, the produce going into the meals is co-ordinated by the innovative Gaskell Garden Project. Founded in 2014, Gaskell Garden Project is a social justice and environmental project. It has worked from its onset to involve people throughout the local community – including supporting refugees and asylum seekers - in permaculture and the process of collecting surplus produce from farms/allotments, resulting in less food waste and plenty of healthy options! Hence, being a partner in the Taphouse TV Dinners initiative means they can be on-hand to collect harvested food and food donations, whilst the TOAT kitchen turns it into hearty dinners!

The dinners are then delivered thanks to Delivery Co-ordination from ACORN, a community-based union bringing together a range of working class people - including residents, workers and tenants – with the aim of empowering and supporting those on a low-income across the country. As part of the Taphouse TV Dinners initiative, they help to connect the food with the people in most need, which has included their efforts to flyer local areas and create a database recording resident needs. The final Taphouse TV Dinners partner, Geeks For Social Change, then provide the Logistics Co-ordination; helping to contact residents, collate orders and pass on relevant information such as allergens to the teams in the kitchen. In turn, The ‘TV Dinners’ have meant that people in need in the community have had a means of getting fresh, healthy meals to their door.

During much of the lockdown, the pub was closed to the general public and running its delivery service from 5-11pm, though since public health guidelines have been relaxed, it has gone on to open to the public for takeaways (see the picture above) and to provide a community space in their innovative outdoor seating area. An example of a group now using this space is the Hulme Writers Group (a section of the group are pictured below), set up by Tina Cribbin (author of the poetry collection Clasphemy), Anne Finnegan and members of the local community, to share and document their stories and creative writing. Previously meeting at the Hulme Acquarius Centre – which is still closed due to pandemic measures – Hulme Writers Group is now using the TOAT space for their creative meetings and they are even putting together their second book A Great Big Dollop Of Hope (following on from the first, Thirsty Scholars, which Haunt wrote about here), devised during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The striking outdoor area is certainly worth a mention in its own right. Created thanks to funding from One Mcr, draped in a marquee structure that conveniently makes it rain-proof too, the space is capable of holding up to 150 people (usual capacity, numbers will be different in terms of Covid-19 measures - pictured below) and features a stage and lighting, as well as seating. TOAT have continued to uphold their commitment to providing it as an area where local community groups and initiatives can meet for free, and as lockdown restrictions have eased, have extended this offering through their new, free ‘Family Meal Time on Tuesdays’ initiative.

During the school summer holidays (July 21st-August 25th), The Old Abbey Taphouse will set aside seven tables in their outdoor marquee space each Tuesday night, dedicating them as a place where local families can have a socially-distanced evening out together complete with homemade food from TOAT kitchen, table service and entertainment for the children. All without the additional pressure of a bill at the end! Intended to be for local families only, this free  service – supported by funding from One Mcr – is intended to  make the whole family feel special; a consideration that often seems to fall outside government provisions. No alcohol will be served during this time and people are encouraged to bring any games or activities they like. Priority will also be given to those in highest need (though this is not means-tested, people are welcome to provide any details they feel comfortable sharing) and children who are having birthdays that week, with more details and the booking link available online. The first Family Meal Time on Tuesday (21st July) even featured party bags!

According to The Old Abbey Taphouse Co-founder Rachele Evaroa:

 “We made preparations well ahead of time for the pandemic… Craig’s sister lives in Denmark, our chef is Italian, and there were massive international reports of Covid-19 a couple of weeks before lockdown; we saw it coming. Being responsive was important. After all, we had a meeting with local councillors literally a day before the lockdown – but then community officers were furloughed, meaning that local people faced even less support! In addition, the legislature regarding who needed to self-isolate kept changing, meaning that a number of people who were actually entitled to help such as food deliveries, did not receive it. Addressing this was crucial.

“I’ve been banging on for years about how we need community hubs, training and supporting local people, especially when it is needed most. The Old Abbey after all functions not only as a pub but is a hub when people need it – providing decent jobs to local people and supporting the community on a social enterprise basis. It has been hard to get to this point… I hate the way funding is set up – because we don’t cater for a specific group, we cater for everybody – we often fall outside financial help. There seems to be very little for those supporting white working class people, for example, and people facing poverty… as many do in the city. We welcome everyone, of all backgrounds and ages, we are all part of the community.

“Our approach considers feeling as important. From my lived experience, it’s nothing to do with accessing services, it is about how you feel. Community based projects need to take that into account – the feelings of the people they are working with. For example, by working with the Gaskell Garden project we are creating tasty meals using perfectly good food from supermarkets that would otherwise be thrown away; addressing the issue of food waste, something that often frustrates people, as well as providing the type of food that makes them feel good. Sharing a meal as a community can have that effect too. That’s how the ‘Tuesday Family Meal Time’ concept came about. By listening to the thoughts and feelings of the community, what became apparent is that families needed time and space, somewhere to relax… it’s about more than just food. After all, during the pandemic many parents have had to be at home without childcare, often in a restricted space, down on money – government guidelines don’t often take the experience of that , the feelings involved, into account. That’s why we are offering the mealtimes in our covered outdoor seating area, with table service and even entertainment for the children. It is an opportunity for people to feel special, and that feeling matters.

“Neoliberalism on the other hand, the model which seems to dominate society, is very different – it cuts feelings out, makes everything a transaction. And yet, businesses as part of it are failing left, right and centre. That’s why I’d urge anyone with a small enterprise to dare to be different. We are a social enterprise, though we had to fight for it. I hope that more people start considering hyperlocal models too, especially in relation to cities. In cities such as Manchester, so much has been designed around catering to the universities and office workers. Take the abundance of luxury gated student accommodation here; it means students are ‘separated’ from the local community rather than contributing to it. And yet the pandemic has additionally highlighted that areas cannot sustainably rely on specific groups of people, as this can be so changeable. What persists and supports everyone is community, and therefore having a place for that matters. We want The Old Abbey Taphouse to be one of those places.

“Yet pandemic measures have hit community services hard, as I mentioned before. Many staff have been, quite rightly, furloughed… but people in the community still need those services, still need help. The same goes for The Old Abbey Taphouse, we only get a bit of funding and it is not fair to rely solely on volunteers, as much as I am so grateful to them, we need our trained professional staff as well. Joined-up thinking matters going forward too. Lots of charities have one specific aim, such as focusing on just mental health or just alcoholism… yet if poverty is ignored, as it often is in this country, these issues are going to continue to persist too. In this country, what I’ve really noticed, is that poverty makes people feel alone. Growing up I lived in places such as India, Yemen, Gabon – and although many people in these countries are living in poverty, what I experienced is that people were there for each other.

“Being there for each other makes a massive difference, especially feeling that. I’m really proud of The Old Abbey Taphouse team and they have responded, including our great volunteers. We’ve been having chats with potentially vulnerable members of local community on a regular basis on the phone, ringing 50 people for a catch-up chat. We then send the same volunteer to the same people each time, so they can have a catch-up chat but also build a relationship. This has been a real opportunity to connect with people who may not have ever come to the pub, for various reasons. For many of the potentially vulnerable older people as well, it’s an illustration to them that young people do care about them, and want to get out into the community. Models from the 1960s are also inspiring… especially for the creation of new models today. For example, the Black Panthers set up breakfast provisions for school children as well as fighting for social change. We need to provide practicalities for the community as well as creating our own alternative system, if we don’t do it, someone else will fill that gap.”

For more information, visit The Old Abbey Taphouse online here, and Taphouse TV dinners has a website including details of how to register and a link for the public to donate in support of the initative if they wish: https://tvdinners.club/

Photography by Joana Salles 

Article by Emily Oldfield 

]]> stuart.aiken@marketingmanchester.com (Visit Manchester) http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/the-old-abbey-taphouse-the-hidden-hulme-pub-making-meals-and-much-more-for-the-community-b1302#comments1302 Tue, 28 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/elizabeth-gaskells-house-reopening-on-wednesday-12-august-b1303 Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is preparing to reopen its doors on Wednesday 12 August , with visitors invited to enjoy exploring the Grade II* listed Regency-style villa where Elizabeth wrote some of her most famous novels.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is preparing to reopen its doors on Wednesday 12 August, with visitors invited to enjoy exploring the Grade II* listed Regency-style villa where Elizabeth wrote some of her most famous novels.

Pre-booked tickets, bookable up to two weeks in advance, with allocated admission times will ensure a smooth and safe process is in place.  All of the house will be open, which visitors will explore in groups of up to five people.  Elizabeth’s favourite writing spot, stories of entertaining guests including Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens and life for this Victorian family are all part of the discoveries to be made. The Tea Room, located in the original kitchen, will also be open serving light refreshments, or visitors can bring a picnic blanket and sit in the garden with their own picnic lunch

Sally Jastrzebski-Lloyd, House Manager of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, says, “We are delighted to be able to open the House again and that people will be able to visit us in the summer, when the garden is an array of colour thanks to our wonderful volunteers.  Over the next few weeks we are putting all the preparations and measures into place to ensure that what awaits is a really enjoyable experience for visitors, volunteers and staff.”

Whilst the doors of the House were closed to the public behind the scenes an army of volunteers has continued to donate its time and expertise to maintain the beautiful gardens that surround the House, entertain literary lovers with a digital readalong and support the project to recreate Elizabeth’s bedroom.

The gardens of this once family home are part of its crowning glory, the work to keep them looking pristine has continued throughout spring and summer with a team of four to five volunteers working on the maintenance each week during lockdown. And for those missing the chance to visit the House, the perfect antidote has been a Elizabeth Gaskell readalong; led by volunteers and held on Twitter and Facebook these have taken readers on a chapter by chapter discussion through North & South and Tales of Mystery & the Macabre.  Not only have they drawn in international audiences, many of those participating have also donated towards the Elizabeth Gaskell bedroom project.

Just before lockdown, Manchester Historic Buildings Trust, the charity that cares for the house, launched a fundraising campaign to support the re-creation of Elizabeth’s bedroom as it would have been when the property was her much-loved home.  It has been a long term aim to achieve this vision, with the room left unrestored since the House was opened as a visitor attraction in 2014.  As a completely empty space every element is required from the decoration and furniture, to the soft furnishings and decorative accessories.

Sally continues, “The support we’ve had for the fundraiser has been amazing and means that even during lockdown some of the work has been able to take place.  This is particularly thanks to volunteers, who have been researching key items such as textiles, and the work to install the fireplace has also happened in the last couple of weeks.  We’ve almost achieved the funding for the entire project and hope that with the reopening of the house that we’ll be able to reach our final funding goal.”

It is hoped that the work to Elizabeth’s bedroom can be completed later this year, with this then not only becoming part of the visitor experience, but also a place where wedding couples will be able to get ready for their celebrations.  Donations to the bedroom project can be made via www.givey.com/manchesterhistoricbuildingstrust

Elizabeth Gaskell’s House will reopen from Wednesday 12 August when it will be open every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 11:00am to 4:30pm.  Entry is £5.50 for adults and £4.50 for concessions (senior citizens and students).  Tickets can be pre-booked up to two weeks in advance via www.ticketsource.co.uk/elizabeth-gaskell-house.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s House has received the VisitEngland accreditation, We’re Good To Go, which means that it has followed all of the government and industry Covid-19 guidelines and implemented the recommended measures.  Visitors will also find creative signage around the house that carries the instructions of Elizabeth Gaskell’s very good friend Florence Nightingale, who recommended “wash your hands frequently and thoroughly”.

For further information on visiting the House or holding a wedding at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House visit www.ElizabethGaskellHouse.co.uk

In this article he explores the history of some remarkable surviving Georgian Gothic doorcases on Manchester’s Byrom Street, close to St John’s Gardens, and considers other architecture in the area.

Below: View of Nos 25–31 Byrom Street, Manchester, showing the contrast between the Georgian Gothic Door Casements and the Classical, brick-built structure of the terraced houses. © Peter N. Lindfield

Dr Peter N. Lindfield FSA is a Senior Research Associate in the Departments of English and History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has published widely on Georgian Gothic architecture and design broadly conceived, as well as heraldry and the relevance of heraldic arts to post-medieval English intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic culture. Last year, as part of Gothic Manchester Festival 2019, he co-organised an event at Chetham’s Library Baronial Hall with Professor Dale Townshend titled ‘Faking Gothic Furniture’ (it also features, along with The John Rylands Library, in a previous article by Peter, here). This involved discussing the mysterious George Shaw (1810-76), a local Upper Mill lad who developed an early interest in medieval architecture and heraldry, going on to create forgeries of Tudor and Elizabethan furniture for a number of high-profile individuals and places at the time, including Chetham’s!

Manchester’s Surviving Georgian Gothic on Byrom Street

As I explored in my earlier post on St John’s Church, here (Fig.1), of which the only notable surviving fragment is the painted window now found in St Ann’s Church in St Ann’s Square in the city centre, and what are now the gateposts to the gardens, there remains a number of other pieces of Georgian Gothic from around the middle-to last third of the eighteenth century in this area. I have written about the Gothic architecture that I’m discussing this this post in an essay published in the 2020 volume of The Georgian Group Journal, which provides references and is written as a research paper. Consult it here if you want to find out more about the Byrom Street Gothic architecture, particularly within the context of other late-Georgian examples of ‘bastard Gothic’—to use Horace Walpole’s term for this particular style of Gothic—because it is based upon designs by Batty Langley included in his 1741–42 pattern-book, Ancient Architecture: Restored, and Improved by a Great Variety of Grand and Useful Designs, Entirely New in the Gothick Mode for the Ornamenting of Buildings and Gardens Exceeding Every Thing Thats Extant.

Below - Fig.1: Henry Edward Tidmarsh, Interior of St John’s Church, Manchester, c.1894. Image in Public Domain.

The buildings of concern here (Fig.2) are rather unimposing examples of Georgian, brick-built terraced housing facing onto what was St John’s Church and churchyard, but now St John’s Gardens. Facing the church that Horace Walpole would have absolutely despised because of its imitation of Langley’s bad, ‘bastard’ Gothic from almost the beginning of the Georgian period’s interest in designing new architecture in the Gothic style, Nos 25–31 Byrom Street feature Gothic door casements made in imitation of Langley’s ‘medievalist’ style, and they consequently imitate the now lost church of St John’s.

Below - Fig.2: View of Nos 25–31 Byrom Street, Manchester, showing the contrast between the Georgian Gothic Door Casements and the Classical, brick-built structure of the terraced houses. © Peter N. Lindfield.

The casements, as well as the rest of the buildings, are Grade II listed by Historic England, see here, and they really show the ornamental licentiousness and Classical foundation to Langley’s style of Gothic, namely in that the clustered columns to either side of the door are of a Classical form. These door casements (Fig.3) not only are an incredibly precious survival of Gothic design from Georgian Manchester, but the way in which they contrast directly with the form, character, and surface of the remainder of the brick-built structures, typical of Classical Georgian architecture, reveals also how the Gothic style was adopted and applied at the time.

Below - Fig.3: Detail of the Gothic Door Casement on 31 Byrom Street, Manchester. © Peter N. Lindfield.

Below - Fig.4: The nineteenth-century brick-built chapel attached to the rear of 31 Byrom Street. © Peter N. Lindfield.

To the rear of 31 Byrom Street there is an attached chapel from the nineteenth century (Fig.4). Like Nos 29 and 31 Byrom street, this structure is in a bad shape and in desperate need of stabilisation and restoration; the brick is crumbling away, the walls are visibly canted out, and the whole structure, which is listed (hence demonstrating its architectural importance), is teetering towards collapse. Despite its precarious state, and that of some of the Byrom Street houses, these do not appear on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register (HaR), see here, and an interactive map of the 2019 register, here. This is quite startling, and it demonstrates the problems facing England’s historic architecture, and also the number of buildings that are clearly at risk, but currently not identified officially as such. Interestingly, this chapel also responds to the St John’s church architecture, namely because it features similar intersecting ‘gablet’ finials that appear atop the churchyard/garden stone-cut boundary posts (Fig.5). A further indication of the spread of the Gothic aesthetic in Georgian Manchester is the Gothic window and glazing bars seen on the curved staircase hall to the rear of one of the adjacent St John Street houses (Fig.6).

Below - Fig.5: Detail of the surviving St John’s Church Yard (now Gardens) posts. © Peter N. Lindfield.

Below - Fig.6: Detail of the Gothic glazing on the staircase hall of one of the adjacent St John Street houses, also from the Georgian period. © Peter N. Lindfield.

Whilst the vast majority of Manchester’s Gothic built heritage dates to the mid-to-late nineteenth century, the number of Georgian Gothic survivals in the Byrom Street/St John’s Church area of town indicate how Gothic was adopted in line with other areas of Britain. These examples are largely ignored by published history on what is referred to as ‘The Gothic Revival’, but they are consistent with the ‘revival’s early manifestations.

Image credits in the captions

By Dr Peter N. Lindfield 

After closing to all but virtual visitors back in March, Manchester Art Gallery is set to re-open its doors and welcome people back inside from 20 August.

This date will see a partial re-opening of the gallery four days a week, from Thursdays to Sundays, between 11am and 4pm each day.

Visitors will be able to see the gallery's much-loved displays of British and European art and design, including the world famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings by Millais, Holman Hunt and Rossetti, and other highlights including works by Stubbs, Turner, Landseer, Lord Leighton, and Wagner’s The Chariot Race.

Also on display until 4 October 2020 is the exhibition Jerwood Makers Open, which showcases five new commissions by early career artists working in wood, textiles, ceramics and metal.

A one-way route though the building has been introduced that will allow visitors to see many of the highlights of the collection plus a brand new introductory gallery. The new display ‘What is Manchester Art Gallery?’ offers a dynamic introduction to the gallery - including its origins, how the collection was formed, and how it relates to Manchester and its people.

Current social distancing restrictions mean it won't be possible to open up the entire gallery straightaway to visitors from August, although plans are being made to do so as soon as these are eased. This means that for the moment, the rooms featuring the gallery's sculpture collection, 17th century Dutch art, Lowry, and Valette will not be open.

The gallery's main exhibitions programme will restart in late Spring 2021 with Derek Jarman PROTEST! which was only weeks away from opening when the gallery was forced to close its doors to visitors back in March.

Other highlights coming up next year include Dandy Style - an exhibition in November 2021 exploring 250 years of masculine style and identity through fashion, painting and photography.

Also coming up in November will be Bernardo Bellotto: Five Spectacular Views Reunited, an exhibition created in partnership with the National Gallery.

Alistair Hudson, Director of Manchester Art Gallery, said: "A museum without people is a pretty lonely place, and we can't wait to welcome our staff and visitors back. Although we can't open all of the galleries just yet, we hope the chance to see a few 'old friends' and the city’s rich, historic collections in a safe and peaceful environment will be a welcome treat for everyone after spending so long in lockdown.

"Just because our doors have been closed however doesn't mean the work has stopped. We’ve been working on virtual workshops, arts and health sessions, online education and even providing activity packs to families in partnership with Sure Start. The team’s work preparing future displays has also continued, and it promises to be an exciting year ahead for the gallery at the heart of the city.

“In addition to all of this, during lockdown we’ve produced a beautiful new hard-back book of the collections which will be available for sale in the gallery shop. The sales will all help support the gallery in very difficult times and help us to continue our work with local residents and communities in the city.”

Whilst entry to the gallery remains free of charge, visitors will have to pre-book their visit on-line through the gallery website or via the free-to-download Art Fund on-line ticketing app.

In order to make the gallery as safe as possible for visitors and staff, and to comply with social distancing restrictions, each of the bookable slots - either for individual visitors or for groups of up to six friends visiting together - will be five minutes apart to allow a steady and safe flow of visitors through the gallery.

Booking conditions will also require people to give their names and addresses, and to wear face coverings in line with national advice on the wearing of face coverings in busy public places.

Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Skills, Manchester City Council, said: "Whilst the gallery's virtual programme has gone down really well with people from near and far during lockdown, nothing really beats spending time inside the gallery and getting up close and personal to our paintings and exhibits.

"Gallery staff are working hard to make sure a visit to the gallery from 20 August will be as safe as it possibly can be, and they can't wait to welcome gallery goers back through the door.

"If you're an old friend, welcome back, and if you haven't visited us before, come on down and see what we've got. We guarantee you'll find something you like."

For more information and to book tickets visit www.manchesterartgallery.org

Electric Playbox is an interactive digital adventure with each ‘playbox’ offering a different concept. Visuals and graphics are projected onto all four walls in each booth and where movements are tracked using motion sensors and touch screens. Each challenge has a different theme designed for all ages to join in the fun!

Electric Playbox will open in Halle Place, alongside occupiers including popular burger and milkshake restaurant Archie’s, Italian street food vendor Wolf and Mexican food chain, Barburrito.

Roxy Lanes at Manchester Arndale will be its tenth UK venue and its second in the city, alongside its popular Deansgate venue offering friendly competitive games, including bowling, gaming and indoor golf, which visitors can be enjoyed alongside great food and drink. 

Opening on the site of the former Birdcage nightclub, the new venue will offer a range of exciting activities designed for family and friends to have fun as well as corporate team bonding.

As lockdown is lifted and more businesses start to open, we’re providing a few suggestions on what you can safely see and do in Greater Manchester from Friday 24th of July as well as ideas for what to start planning for future weeks across the summer. 

All businesses are following the relevant government guidance but please check with them before visiting, particularly to check if pre-booking is required. When you go out, please remember to keep your distance where possible and wash your hands regularly. 

Ten things to do in Greater Manchester this week 
 

1. Sightseeing Manchester – the city’s hop-on, hop-off bus tour – returns from today (Friday 24 July) operating Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The tour takes in a route that covers most of Manchester city centre, parts of Salford including Salford Cathedral and The Quays, as well as Old Trafford and the Imperial War Museum North. 

2. In Oldham, five mins from the town centre, lies a hidden wilderness waiting to be discovered. Northern Roots is a 160-acre site offering lush urban green space that looks out onto the foothills of the Peak District where you can walk, run, bike or ride. 

3. Bolton Museum was the first cultural attraction in Greater Manchester to reopen on Tuesday 14 July with special precautions in place to keep everyone safe. Take a day trip to explore the museum’s fantastic galleries including the acclaimed Bolton’s Egypt exhibition. The museum is currently open 9am-5pm on Tuesday to Friday and 10am-4pm on Saturdays. Whilst visiting Bolton we also suggest a wander around popular filming location Le Mans Crescent and shopping for some lovely local produce at Bolton Market. 

4. The National Football Museum  threw open its door again yesterday (Thursday 23 July) and is currently open every Thursday to Sunday from 11am-4pm. The reopening will give you a chance to catch the amazing Strip! How Football Got Shirty exhibition which has been extended and features more than 200 football shirts. 

5. Visit one of Greater Manchester’s National Trust properties such as Dunham Massey just outside of Altrincham. Or if you’re happy to travel further afield try Quarry Bank, Lyme Park or Tatton Park. Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan is now also mostly open including the Children’s Woodland Adventure Play Park. 

6. If you’re a fan of old halls, Salford’s Ordsall Hall, which dates back more than 750 years, has now reopened. Visitors need to pre-book a one-hour ‘stewarded’ tour online in order to be shown around and you will be able to roam the gardens. There are three tour slots each Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for a maximum of eight people composed of either your own household or a ‘bubble’ of two households. 

7. The Maker’s Market, which roams various locations across the North West will pops up outside The Lowry at Salford Quays this Saturday and Sunday, offering a chance to support small businesses selling crafts, jewellery and food and drink. If you can’t make it this weekend, make a note of their other dates where you can find them interchangeably outside the Great Northern Warehouse, Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter, Sale, Cheadle, Chorlton and West Didsbury. 

8. Of course, all the big shops and retail centres across the region are also now open and if you visit the Trafford Centre you can make a day of it with a visit to Sea Life Centre, Legoland Discovery Centre, Dino Falls Adventure Golf or Treetop Adventures. 

9. At The Drive In is a fully loaded drive in cinema experience taking place this weekend (Friday 24 – Monday 27 July) at Rochdale Road Car Park, just on the fringe of Manchester city centre. Featuring 80’s classics like Back To The Future and Toy Story as well as newer releases like Joker and A Star Is Born; all films will be preceded by a range of entertainment that includes stand-up comedy, bingo or silent car discos. 

10. There’s never been a better time to explore nearby neighbourhoods and towns across Greater Manchester. You’ve probably already visited the likes of Chorton, Didsbury and Altrincham at some point, so why not make a beeline for somewhere lesser known, spending your money with independent cafes, restaurants and shops in places like Levenshulme, Urmston, Sale, Ramsbottom, Salford’s Chapel Street, Heaton Moor or Saddleworth. 

Ten things to start planning for now 
 

Several attractions and tours have announced plans to reopen and restart in the coming weeks. Start planning your days out now – remember that some venues will require pre-booking – and check back on this blog for updates each week. 

1. The fantastic East Lancashire Railway is back and running limited services from Saturday 1 August. The heritage railway, which runs along a track through the beautiful Irwell Valley, had a very difficult few months during lockdown so plan a visit and support their reopening. 

2. Imperial War Museum North at The Quays is also due to reopen on Saturday 1 August on a timed ticketing system. Plan your day to coincide with Box on the Docks; a unique outdoor dining experience set to launch at the end of July, featuring dining pods in the form of sheds and greenhouses, decorated by Salford-based artists.   

3. Tour operator Mountain Goat are restarting their daily tour to the Lake District from Manchester from Saturday 1 August. The tour includes the Langdale Valley, Blea Tarn, Hawkshead, Tarn Hows and a cream tea at a traditional Lake District country hotel. A great way to use Manchester as a base to safely explore other areas of the North West of England. 

4. Popular city-centre restaurant, bar and all-day hangout The Refuge will reopen from Wednesday 5 August with two newly created and carefully crafted menus to mark the occasion. 

5. Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum is getting ready to welcome visitors back to their vast site from Friday 14 August, restoring the opportunity to explore 250 years of innovations and ideas that started life in Manchester and went on to change the world. 

6. Manchester Art Gallery will reopen on Thursday 20 August. Until then you can make the most of their online events programme and online collection. 

7. Although regular Manchester Pride celebrations will no be going ahead this year, the team at Manchester Pride have announced that they are going to deliver three days of celebrations for LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester over the August bank holiday weekend. The Alternative Manchester Pride Festival will feature free content that can be enjoyed at home via the United We Stream platform and Youtube.  

8. The People’s History Museum is set to reopen on Tuesday 1 September, welcoming visitors to explore the fascinating stories and enjoy the unique experiences that it offers as the national museum of democracy. 

9. HOME arts centre have announced that they are aiming to reopen their cinemas, bars and restaurant on Friday 4 September. 

10. And finally… walking tours are back and there are loads to choose from. Manchester Guided Tours are running their Discover Manchester tour every Saturday and Sunday at 11am, offering an ideal way to get reacquainted with your city. For alternative views of the city,  Invisible Cities offer tours by people who have experienced homelessness and have trained as guides with tours running every Saturday (starting 11am) and Sunday (starting 2pm), whilst tour guide Hayley Flynn has recommenced her hugely popular Street Art: The Modern History of the Northern Quarter with a selection of tours across the summer. Emma Fox is offering bespoke tours for groups of five people or two households, covering places such as Southern Cemetery and the Bridgewater Canal Trail around Worsley. And Jonathan Schofield has a vast array of tours to choose from, but one of his most popular explores the abandoned majesty of Mayfield Station, running on selected dates throughout July and August. 

Old Trafford to host men’s and women’s final in a double-header of RLWC2021 action

The Rugby League World Cup 2021 tournament organisers have today (21 July) revealed the much-anticipated fixture schedule for what promises to be the biggest and best World Cup in the history of the sport, as the men’s, women’s and wheelchair teams all compete at the same time in a major sporting first.

Old Trafford will be hosting the men’s and women’s RLWC2021 finals, which will be played back-to-back on Saturday 27 November. The women’s final will kick-off at 14.15, followed by the men’s at 17.00.

In June, it was revealed that Manchester and Trafford will be the team training base for England and Australia’s men’s teams.

With 61 fixtures over a six-week period the tournament will showcase a festival of world class sporting action. The dates, venues and kick-off times* for each of the three tournaments is now confirmed and available to view at www.RLWC2021.com.

Please visit www.RLWC2021.com for more information, for details on how to sign up to receive ticket alerts and all the latest news first.

Using spatial theory to frame her readings of female-authored Victorian and early-twentieth-century stories, Emma considers the links between gender and the ‘architectural uncanny’. This approach opens up questions such as; why are certain rooms of the house chosen in these ghost stories, are there particular trends in how these ghosts are characterised, and how does the sense of confinement potentially link to women’s real lived experience at the time? To reflect on women’s ghost stories of this period, is to reflect on the difficult conditions and social expectations of domesticity, subservience and even abuse many faced.

Drawing on the work of authors including Margaret Oliphant, Vernon Lee, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Gaskell and May Sinclair as just some examples, Emma highlights the range of ways in which ghosts, women and servants occupy domestic space. Spatial theorists such as Gaston Bachelard, Henri Lefebvre and Elizabeth Grosz have considered how space is used and what it potentially represents; their perspectives offer an alternative way of thinking about the ghost story form. The chapters consider a selection of haunted spaces including suburban villas, haunted gardens, ancestral mansions, Italian churches, and American town houses, some in various states of disrepair.

The book is a significant exploration of the female gothic, examining the relationship between the past and modernity and shining a light on narratives not always given the attention they deserve. After all, during the Victorian era, women’s ghost stories were often derided, seen as ‘not the subject’ on which women should be writing, or as lesser to other genres of fiction.

Dr Emma Liggins is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University and a specialist in Victorian Literature. She has previously written for Haunt, sharing her experience of A Tour of Southern Cemetery and contributing an article covering What can we learn from Victorian attitudes to contagion? More can be heard from Emma on the subject at the RAH! Podcast. Considering the recent publication of her book, Haunt Manchester decided to speak to Emma and find out more…

Hello Emma. Congratulations on your new book 'The Haunted House in Women’s Ghost Stories'. Why did you choose to focus on women’s ghost stories in particular, and do you feel this is somewhat of an under-addressed area?

“I’ve always been fascinated by ghost stories, particularly the creepiness of their settings. Some of my research is on forgotten women writers of the nineteenth century and the stories they published in magazines, and I was intrigued to find out why so many stories by women were about ghosts and haunted houses, and why architectural descriptions were so prominent. Most of us are familiar with famous Victorian ghost stories by men like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, but the stories of women contributors often got lost in history, even though they were well-known at the time. I wanted to find out which rooms were ‘most haunted’ at this time. More work is now being done on women and the supernatural, but there’s still a lot more to discover!"

Pictured below: a gate in the grounds of Capesthorne Hall

The time period you have chosen is 1850-1945. Can you tell us more about this choice? After all, this is a period when women were often associated with the responsibility of ‘the house’/domestic space, so does this make ghost stories by them on this topic all the more disturbing?

"Yes certainly, the Victorian woman was idealised as ‘the angel in the house’, the guardian of domestic values and manager of servants. As women spent more time in the home, the stories suggest they thought about it as an uncanny space – both familiar and strangely unfamiliar, to follow Freud’s thinking. In domestic advice manuals and books on architecture and interior design, domestic spaces are described in Gothic terms as dark, threatening, claustrophobic, suffocating and this comes through in the stories women wrote.

"During this time spatial rules were in operation. Family members were supposed to remain distanced from servants, men and women occupied different rooms as space became gendered - and I think the ghost story allowed women to reflect on the strangeness of this distancing (something we’re now experiencing during COVID-19). By the twentieth century the home was being transformed by new technologies like telephones and electricity, Victorian spatial hierarchies were in decline and there were fewer servants, but this often made for a disorientating experience – it somehow didn’t feel so ‘homelike’ and new technologies acquired ghostly resonances which disturbed women. It’s also a period when attitudes to the supernatural were changing, when spiritualism, the capacity to communicate with the dead, became popular: its supposed heyday was between the 1860s and 1880s but there was a revival in the early twentieth century, particularly after the losses of the First World War. Often ghost stories are a way of processing the trauma of mourning and loss."

Can you tell us a little more about some of the ‘haunted houses’ you encounter in the book, and how you have gone about this? 

Pictured above: Capesthorne Hall

"One of the things I wanted to do in the book was to explore the possible correlations between the houses inhabited or visited by the women writers and the houses they depicted in their stories. I found material in women’s letters, autobiographies, travel writing and magazine articles about the houses they admired and feared. During my research, I worked on exhibitions and events at Speke Hall, Liverpool and Ordsall Hall, Salford, which meant navigating the houses to find their hidden stories.  Forbidden or locked spaces, bedrooms where family members had died and the positioning of the servants’ quarters and staircases are often described in ghost stories so I looked carefully at these rooms, as well as the routes taken by servants and visitors around the house. Some of the writers wrote about haunted gardens with their eerie, half-alive statues, lime avenues and strange monuments, so the exterior and its lay-out is also important."

"Not many people know that Elizabeth Gaskell, the Manchester novelist, went for regular visits to the Georgian mansion, Capesthorne Hall (image abive), near Congleton in Cheshire, to stay with her friend Caroline Davenport. Her reverence for the grandeur of her friend’s house, with its old pictures and impressive estate, appears in her ghost stories. Furnival Manor in ‘The Old Nurse’s Story’ is a disorientating, vast place where the servants feel ‘lost’, where the spectral child outside the window is a reminder of transgressive female ancestors banished by patriarchal power. Both Gaskell and May Sinclair visited and wrote about The Brontë Parsonage in Haworth , as Gaskell became Charlotte Brontë’s friend and biographer. Their spectralisation of the desolate graveyard, the ‘wild’ moors and the house as a site of mourning and death carried over into their ghost stories."

Do you sense that some of the authors were drawing more on their own experiences than others? Can you give us some examples?

"Well, Gaskell certainly boasted in her letters that she’d seen a ghost!  Some women were sceptical, others longed for spiritual communication with their lost children or family members. Vernon Lee wrote about the reverence for the ‘old house’ in the modern age, so there is also a sense that some of these women wanted to be haunted, or entered old buildings with the desire to think themselves back into the past. Living in Florence, Lee was obsessed with chilly Italian churches and their dusty relics, so her haunted houses often appear like sacred spaces, crumbling monuments to a lost past.

"Elizabeth Bowen, whose Irish family home was demolished in 1961 and who witnessed the bombing of London houses in the Blitz, created haunted houses in states of ruin and collapse – one lesser-known story, ‘Oh Madam…’ (1941) is written from the point of view of a traumatized servant describing the half-destroyed rooms of her London home. The collapse of the house is here linked to the collapse, or partial erosion, of the bonds between mistress and servant: the servant says of the damaged, dusty house, ‘it used to sort of sparkle, didn’t it’, voicing a recurring regret that the sparkle of the past is gone forever."

Pictured below: The Brontë Parsonage in Haworth

Is there a story that you have found particularly chilling?

"Some stories imagine what it feels like to be a female ghost, often a figure shut out from domestic security or ownership of property. A particularly unnerving one is May Sinclair’s ‘Where their Fire is not Quenched’ in which the modern woman is doomed to return to the tawdry hotel-room where she had conducted an illicit affair, and, what is worse, re-enact her desires for a man she now despises. Doors in the story all seem to open up into the grey corridor leading to this uncanny hotel-room, which reminds me of some scenes in twentieth-century horror films like The Shining. In Wharton’s story ‘The Lady’s Maid’s Bell’ the ominous servant’s bell which rings in the middle of the night summons not only the new servant but her dead predecessor, both of whom haunt the threshold between servant space and family space."

Why does learning about these women’s ghost stories of the past have contemporary relevance/applications? ​

"Thinking about women’s experiences of the home and what they found disturbing about domestic space is still relevant, as it can tell us so much about the history of the family, gender relations and how our anxieties are shaped by perceptions of place and space. The focus on servant identities in ghost stories written by women is particularly revealing about those often marginalised lives of the vast numbers of domestic staff who kept houses running. Haunted houses can be a refuge from modernity, a nostalgic window into the past, but also a sign of the buried fears and stories of a particular culture: what women really thought about their oppressive, over-crowded drawing-rooms, how servants felt restricted by spatial rules or how the nursery with its absent children became a traumatic space of mourning. The ghost story continues to be a popular genre, as indicated by the recent TV and film adaptations of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Sarah Waters’ The Little Stranger. I think we’re still fascinated with the strange uncanniness of space."

Introduction by Emily Oldfield 

Photographs thanks to Dr Emma Liggins 

]]> stuart.aiken@marketingmanchester.com (Visit Manchester) http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/a-new-book-on-the-haunted-house-in-womens-ghost-stories-is-published-interview-with-author-dr-emma-liggins-b1292#comments1292 Mon, 20 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/grimmfest-becomes-a-virtual-event-for-2020-with-a-selection-of-new-feature-and-short-films-set-to-hit-its-online-platform-b1291 Grimmfest has been transformed into an online festival for 2020! Prepare for a tantalizing selection of feature film premieres, movie shorts and more, on a new online platform! Frightening, freaky and fantastical films galore – that’s what Grimmfest is known for, Manchester’s international film festival focusing on the latest releases in the horror genre. The 12th edition of the popular annual event was due to take place at ODEON Great Northern in October, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision has been taken to transform it into a virtual festival. Prepare for a tantalizing selection of feature film premieres, movie shorts and more, on a new online platform that audiences can enjoy from home!

This innovation in format is the result of serious discussion and planning, with the Grimmfest team keen to ensure the safety as well as enjoyment of all involved. In turn, Grimmfest 2020 will run online as a ‘virtual festival’ on the same dates of 7-11 October 2020, whilst a live event will take place in spring 2021.

So what can be experienced online at Grimmfest 2020? Thankfully the festival will still be continuing to unleash the range of feature film premieres, Q&As, new short films and talks it is known for. This year includes a virtual line-up of over 19 features, an exclusive Q&A with director Mick Garris (also set to receive a Grimmfest Lifetime Achievement Award) and two short film showcases. To ensure the best online festival experience, for 2020 Grimmfest is working with Eventive, allowing for Geo-blocked, DRM protected movie premieres as well as a combination of livestream and recorded interviews, press rooms and special virtual events for an immersive festival feel.

Another highly-anticipated online feature will be an exclusive panel on 'Iconic women in horror', featuring a range of inspiring women involved in this year’s selection of films as they discuss their careers.

So how about some of the new titles? Of the 19 feature film premieres, options include the UK premiere of Unearth, a #MeToo era influenced vampire experience Ten Minutes To Midnight and a tale of biker vengeance Revenge Ride, as just some options. Fancy an encounter with a corrupted canine companion? Ropes is a chilling film focusing on an isolated wheelchair-bound woman trapped in a house with a service dog turned savage, and other titles include the innovatively-named Fried Barry, the UK premiere of The Special and a northern premiere of Triggered. Fans of ‘70s cult cinema may well enjoy the UK premiere of Urubu, whilst for humour-meets-horror there is the side-splitting An ideal Host and then for something altogether different, how about the world premiere of Death Ranch… with added cannibal Klansmen?!

Just the titles alone highlight Grimmfest’s well-earned reputation for providing variety and excitement within the horror genre. Steve Balshaw, chief programmer, reflects:

"We are selecting some fantastic genre movie premieres that people can enjoy from the safety of their own home. With so many titles already confirmed, this is shaping up to be a fine alternative.”

Simeon Halligan, festival director added: “We are indebted to the ODEON, who have worked with us to offer alternative ways to present the festival and are pulling out all the stops to help us make sure Grimmfest 2020/21 is a success. We are also pleased that our key Sponsor ‘Horror Channel’ are able to continue their support throughout 2020, enabling us to put on an amazing post lockdown celebration of genre cinema”.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Grimmfest has also highlighted its ability to adapt to provide audiences at home with exciting online content, via its new venture Grimmfest TV, which Haunt wrote more about here. Hence a virtual version of the festival is highly anticipated!

Grimmfest 2020 full festival ‘Online’ passes are now available, go to www.grimmfest.com for details, and the schedule so far is here. 

By Emily Oldfield 

Image provided by Grimmfest 

]]> stuart.aiken@marketingmanchester.com (Visit Manchester) http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/grimmfest-becomes-a-virtual-event-for-2020-with-a-selection-of-new-feature-and-short-films-set-to-hit-its-online-platform-b1291#comments1291 Wed, 15 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/10-things-to-do-in-greater-manchester-this-week-17-24-july-b1276 As lockdown is lifted and more businesses start to open we’re providing a few suggestions on what you can safely see and do in Greater Manchester from Friday 17th of July. All businesses ar..

As lockdown is lifted and more businesses start to open we’re providing a few suggestions on what you can safely see and do in Greater Manchester from Friday 17th of July.

All businesses are following the relevant government guidance but please check with them before visiting, particularly to check if pre-booking is required. If you do go out please remember to keep your distance where possible and wash your hands regularly.

Ten things to do in Greater Manchester this week
 

1. Bolton Museum was the first cultural attraction in Greater Manchester to reopen on Tuesday 14 July with special precautions in place to keep everyone safe. Take a day trip to explore the museum’s fantastic galleries including the acclaimed Bolton’s Egypt exhibition. The museum is currently open 9am-5pm on Tuesday to Friday and 10am-4pm on Saturdays.

2. Last week we suggested that you book a walk tour with Manchester Guided Tours to get reacquainted with your city. If you’ve done that tour or would like an alternatively view of the city, Invisible Cities offer tours by people who have experienced homelessness and have trained as guides to their own cities. Invisible Cities tours are back from Saturday 18 July.

3. With Love Parks Week 2020 running until Monday 21 July why not use the opportunity to visit some of Greater Manchester’s fantastic parks and gardens such as Outwood Country Park, Bruntwood Park, Smithills Country Park, Alkrington Woods Nature Reserve or Hare Hill Park.

4. Football’s coming home as the National Football Museum throws open its door again from Thursday 23 July. Initially opening Thursday to Sunday from 11am-4pm, the reopening will give you a chance to catch the amazing Strip! How Football Got Shirty exhibition which has been extended and features more than 200 football shirts.

5. Bars, pubs and restaurants in Rochdale have reopened their doors with places like The Flying Horse – voted Greater Manchester’s best pub by CAMRA for the last two years running – and Nutters Restaurant proving hugely popular with visitors from both within Rochdale as well as the surrounding boroughs.

6. Manchester’s iconic Hotel Gotham reopens on Friday 17 July to welcome guests – both visitors and residents on staycation alike. It’s one a several boutique hotels with open rooftop areas that have reopened in recent weeks including nearby King Street Townhouse and Salford’s The Ainscow Hotel.

7. Use our interactive map to explore a Greater Manchester neighbourhoods or district that you’ve not visited before – or for a while. You’ll be surprised at how much variety there is to Find Your Space in Greater Manchester.

8. Three Little Words and The Spirit of Manchester Distillery reopened on Friday 10 July with an amazing set menu, a brand-new summer gin, and distillery experiences for all.

9. Now is a great time to plan a day out around a visit one of the Greater Manchester’s many traditional markets such as Bury, Bolton or Ashton as well as some new style markets that include street food such as Levenshulme, Altrincham and Manchester city centre’s GRUB. Make sure to check websites before you travel as opening days and times vary.

10. And if you want a COVID-compliant means of travelling beyond Manchester, the tour company BusyBus is running regular tours to the Lake District (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun), North Wales (Tue, Thurs, Sat) and Yorkshire (Sat, Sun) that pick up in central Manchester early morning, tour key beauty spots then drop back in Manchester early evening.

Five things to start planning for now
 

Several attractions and tours have announced plans to reopen and restart in the coming weeks. Start planning your days out now – remember that some venues will require pre-booking – and check back on this blog for updates each week.

1. Alternative tour guide Hayley Flynn will recommence her Street Art: The Modern History of the Northern Quarter from Friday 24 July.

2. Imperial War Museum North at Salford Quays is due to reopen on timed ticketing system from Saturday 1 August.

3. Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum is getting ready to welcome visitors back to their vast site from Friday 14 August.

4. The People’s History Museum – the national museum of democracy – is set to reopen on Tuesday 1 September

5. And HOME arts centre have announced that they are aiming to reopen their cinemas, bars and restaurant on Friday 4 September

]]> stuart.aiken@marketingmanchester.com (Visit Manchester) http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/10-things-to-do-in-greater-manchester-this-week-17-24-july-b1276#comments1276 Wed, 15 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/read/2020/07/contact-theatre-move-back-into-their-building-following-a-ps6-75m-transformation-b1290 Contact are delighted to announce that they have formally regained possession of their building, after more than two years of producing work across the city. Contact are delighted to announce that they have formally regained possession of their building, after more than two years of producing work across the city.

Construction work began in January  2018 to transform the building for the next generation of audiences, artists and young people, and the practical completion of the building is a significant milestone in their major £6.75 million transformation project.

Contact is the UK’s leading theatre and arts venue that puts young people at the heart of every aspect of the organisation. Based in a unique building on Oxford Road in Manchester, Contact is recognised nationally and internationally as a centre for excellence in the promotion of youth leadership and creativity.

First established in 1972, Contact last underwent a major building redevelopment in 1999 with a ground-breaking new environmentally sustainable design. Twenty years on, the building needed to expand in order to cope with the growing demand from young participants and audiences as well as further improving Contact’s economic and environmental sustainability.

In keeping with their overall ethos, Contact placed young people at the heart of design process. A dedicated team of young people, Con:Struct, were fully involved in all aspects of the transformation project since it began exploring possible designs in 2014. Working closely with award winning architects and sustainable design specialists Sheppard Robson, they designed the new building to include a dedicated arts and health space, the first of its kind in any UK theatre. The venue now also includes a purpose-built recording studio for young people’s music and media projects, a dedicated rehearsal studio for young performers, refurbished performance spaces, and offices for artists and cultural organisations to hire.

Since Spring 2018, Contact’s staff and participants have been based at the Powerhouse in Moss Side, while delivering their shows and activities across the city. Performance venues have ranged from a sari shop on Wilmslow Road, Upper Campfield Market, a Grade I listed warehouse at the Science and Industry Museum in Castlefield, the abandoned tunnels under Victoria Station, as well as at well-known venues the Palace Theatre, the Lowry, Royal Exchange Theatre and Hope Mill.

Contact’s Youth projects continued to thrive in communities across Greater Manchester, including the national social change project The Agency, based in North Manchester, and the award-winning Contact Young Company.

The practical completion of the building will see Contact reopen in September 2020 for socially distant participation and creative activities, with performances scheduled to start in 2021.

The completion of the construction work also marks the start of a new fundraising campaign by Contact, to fit out the new parts of the building for the next generation of performers and creatives

Matt Fenton, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at Contact said:

The re-opened Contact will transform the experience for audiences, artists and young people alike. It’s more important than ever that young people from all backgrounds and cultures can come together to create, express themselves, and access free training and skills. We can’t wait to start to welcome back our young participants from across Greater Manchester, and in due course to host audiences of all ages to experience shows in our unique, sustainably-designed building.

Josh Wilkinson, Contact participant and Young Trustee said:

The Contact building has a vibe like no other. As a Young Trustee and Contact participant, I cannot wait to get back into our incredible new venue and start creating.

The project has been funded thanks to a £3.85million investment from Arts Council England plus generous grants from other supporters, trusts and foundations including Manchester City Council. the Foyle Foundation, the Granada Foundation, Wellcome Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Wolfson Foundation and the Oglesby Charitable Trust. Help in-kind was given from Manchester University and Bruntwood.

Construction work was carried out by F Parkinson Ltd, with project management from Mace. Legal advice was provided by Mills and Reeve LLP.

Venues across the borough are reporting strong trade, big numbers of returning customers and an increase in new business, despite operating at reduced capacity due to the remaining coronavirus restrictions, which are designed to keep people safe and stop the spread of the disease.

Al-fresco dining is proving popular, with new tables being placed outside many pubs and eateries.

The Hare on the Hill in Littleborough has slightly reduced its seating capacity and added outdoor shelters but has quickly seen trade returning to pre-lockdown levels since re-opening last week said server Adam Sweeney: “It’s all table service now and we’re totally cashless so there have been changes, but we’ve had great feedback from customers. As we’re a relatively small venue we didn’t know how it would go, but we’ve had a lot of people telling us we’re the first pub they’ve tried since lockdown and us being small was one of the reasons they visited. I think the changes we’ve made suit the place well, a bit of a home from home and our outdoor seating area still looks stylish.”

Over in Rochdale town centre, The Flying Horse Hotel, voted Greater Manchester’s best pub by CAMRA for the last two years running is enjoying a renaissance along with other popular venues along Packer Street.  The street has been transformed by Rochdale Borough Council into a pedestrianised continental-style outdoor dining area also serving customers of The Empire, Yate’s and Ko Ko’s. Flying Horse owner Ben Boothman said having the large covered outdoor area made it possible to re-open, and the response so far has been fantastic: “A lot of regulars returned straight away and they have been reassuring others who were maybe more cautious about the measures we’ve put in place, so it’s been busy. Although we were selling takeaway bottles and cans during lockdown there’s nothing like a proper draught pint. Dining numbers have really increased and we’re also seeing new faces too.”

Inside and outside The Flying Horse it’s all now seated table service, with customers able to order food and drink via an app.  Tables can be booked in advance online but booking isn’t essential with walk-ups still very welcome added Ben: “We’re serving a new takeout style food menu outside all with eco-friendly disposable cutlery and packaging and we’re planning some special food takeover events with local suppliers over the summer, making the most of the situation and hopefully the sunshine.”  

At the renowned fine dining venue Nutters Restaurant in Norden, service has very successfully resumed, with new safety measures in place and an improved layout to help with social distancing. Local star chef and owner Andrew Nutter said: “It’s great to be back.  Working to government guidelines and closely with the council we’ve taken all the necessary steps, with sanitation stations, two metres between tables, brasserie style menus and taking details for the test and trace service.  I feel we’ve gone above and beyond to ensure public safety and of course it’s really important to have that trust from our customers.”

Finding the balance between keeping everything safe while creating a welcoming environment was the key ingredient, added Andrew: “We want our diners to feel relaxed while enjoying fantastic food and drink. Feedback so far has been humbling and makes it all worthwhile. Yes it’s a difficult time for the hospitality industry but hopefully we can set the standards, strike the right balance and carry on, keeping our customers safe and happy.”

Two weeks after lockdown restrictions on the hospitality sector eased, councillor John Blundell, cabinet member for regeneration, business, skills & employment is reminding everyone of the importance of social distancing: “The vast majority of those out socialising in the borough have been behaving responsibly, sticking to the government guidance, but there are still a minority who think the rules don’t apply to them. Everyone has a responsibility to themselves and to others and now is not the time to be complacent.  Getting our bars, pubs and restaurants back open safely has been a huge team effort and I’m really pleased how everyone has worked together to make this happen.  I’d like to thank all the council licensing officers, the Business Improvement District (BID) team in Rochdale town centre as well as our colleagues at Greater Manchester Police and the fire service. We must make the efforts worthwhile and keep acting responsibly to avoid an increase in cases or a local lockdown.”

Council officers and Greater Manchester Police have stepped up patrols are looking at ways to continually assist venues. From verbal advice to visible patrols at weekends. “We all have a role to play to protect ourselves, families and neighbours. Coronavirus is still in circulation, so stay local where you can and take care.” Added councillor Blundell.

To find out more visit www.rochdale.gov.uk/ReopeningTownCentres

The much-loved attraction is the latest museum to announce its reopening plans in a boost to the recovery of Manchester’s cultural sector.

A safe and enjoyable experience is the museum’s top priority. Visitors are being asked to book free, timed tickets up to two weeks in advance, with the first tickets available from Friday 31 July. One-way routes will also be in place around the museum to ensure social distancing. For more information and to be one of the first to book, sign up to the mailing list by visiting www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk.

At first, the Science and Industry Museum will focus on bringing the galleries in its New Warehouse building back to life, together with half an acre of outdoor space in the atmospheric, cobbled Upper Yard. It’s here where visitors can soak up views across the internationally significant site and the city more widely.

Visitors can explore Manchester’s rich legacy of innovations, discoveries and ideas that changed the world in the Revolution Manchester gallery, and find out how the city’s heritage is interwoven with the cotton industry in the Textiles Gallery.  Science will also be brought to life in front of visitors’ eyes in Experiment, and a deeper look at the solar system’s biggest wonder is on offer in The Sun, the blockbuster exhibition that was due to close at the end of March, but will now remain open for a few more months.

While revolution is core to the stories told at the museum, prior to its temporary closure, a revolution of its own was in progress in the form of a multi-million-pound restoration project. This work has now restarted, meaning that although some areas remain closed for now, a new £5million Special Exhibition Gallery will open early next year to originate and host the world’s best science exhibitions. This will be followed by the reopening of the museum’s iconic Power Hall, which is currently being restored, and much more.

Sally MacDonald, Director at the Science and Industry Museum, said: “We can’t wait to welcome visitors back safely. Museums are great spaces to reflect during difficult times, so our role is more important than ever. We’ve been continuing to ignite curiosity with our online collection, science blogs on the pandemic and historical stories throughout lockdown. We’ve also been delivering science experiences to the nation through our partnership with BBC Bitesize Daily. However, there’s something really special about visiting a museum in person if you can and, in the Science and Industry Museum’s case, standing in a place that has shaped history and the modern world.

“Our story, and those we tell through our collection, are inextricably linked to Manchester’s past, present and future. We’re determined to play our part in supporting the city’s wider recovery and will continue working with our partners to ensure as many people as possible benefit from its varied and vibrant cultural and heritage offer.

“The Science and Industry Museum explores how ideas can change the world, with human ingenuity at the heart of the stories we tell. As we reflect on the changing times we live in, exploring the impact of people whose skills, ideas and dedication continue to shape science and technology has never been more relevant.“

The Science and Industry Museum opening times will remain 10.00-17.00, with initial opening days Wednesday–Sunday.

Enhanced cleaning regimes will be in operation, protective screens installed to all main reception points, ticket and information desks, and hand sanitiser stations located throughout the museum. Tickets will be scanned by contactless e-scanners and visitors will be asked to make contactless payments where possible. The museum Café (ground floor) and shop will be open.

Visitors will receive a pre-visit email including a video illustrating changes to their experience to ensure an enjoyable and safe day out, and detailed guidance can also be accessed on the website.

A series of major special exhibitions and a climate-themed Manchester Science Festival will return from February 2021, with booking information and dates to be announced this autumn.

The Science and Industry Museum is part of the Science Museum Group, the world’s leading group of science museums. Locomotion in Shildon will be the first to welcome visitors back on 28 July, followed by the National Railway Museum in York on 4 August, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on 14 August and both the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford and the Science Museum in London on 19 August.

While the museum looks forward to opening its doors to visitors once again, its collection—and the inspirational stories it contains—remain open online to inspire those who are unable to travel.

New guidelines are in place to support visitors to enjoy the museum safely. In order to manage capacity, and comply with government guidelines on social distancing, IWM North have introduced a timed ticketing system with tickets available from our website. Visitors will be encouraged to wear face coverings and to maintain a safe distance. Members will have priority booking from Friday 10 July with public bookings opening on Wednesday 15 July.

Visitors to IWM North will be able to explore the permanent displays in the Main Exhibition Space, including refreshed Holocaust and Contemporary Conflict cases which had been only recently completed before IWM North closed to the public in March. IWM North’s iconic Big Picture Show, a unique 360° audio-visual experience, showcasing IWM’s world-renowned collections of photography, art and sound, will also resume from 1 August.

IWM’s upcoming Refugees season of exhibitions, artistic commissions and interactive events will launch at IWM North on 2 October 2020 with the opening of the new exhibition Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire:

Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire
From 2 October 2020
Around the world aid organisations are working to support, care for and protect vulnerable people, forced to flee their homes because of conflict. Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire brings together powerful stories from conflict zones to explore challenges from an insider perspective.

The resonance of the Rural Eerie could be considered particularly pertinent right now. After all, the situation of the Covid-19 Pandemic meant that people only had the option of walking closer to home; causing those who live in the countryside to perhaps encounter its everyday eeriness in a whole new way, whilst to those living away from it, a sort of mystery and ‘otherness’ was instilled. During this time, the sounds of nature have seemed to emerge stronger than ever: the cry of birds, the weird turns in the weather, even the echo of our own footsteps. Presented by Flange Circus alongside Haunt Manchester and MASSmcr, Rural Eerie rips apart the myth of the countryside idyll and encounters alternative aspects of location through a powerful score, structured around readings of both poetry and fiction.

The haunting hum of synths and plunge of bass combined with the creep of spiralling keys is testament to Flange Circus’ self-described ‘hauntronica’; a genre of sound emerging through hauntology and electronics. Expect basslines that bed themselves deep in the mind and melodies moving sinister through the sonic experience, hit home with the drive of a tin drum; as works to chilling effect on the album itself. The band consists of Bon Holloway, Pete Collins and John Taylor – each multi-instrumentalist delivering their own twisted rural reflection.

Not only is the music strikingly unique, but it has been specially developed with the writers involved... an example of poetics and performance in exciting creative fusion. The poets, writers and readers were commissioned to reflect on the Rural Eerie theme ahead of the original 2019 performance, and the band then co-ordinated soundscapes to their work based on a selection of keywords. The album has been Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Bon Holloway at High Peak Recordings, New Mills, Derbyshire. In addition, Lucy Simpson assisted in the recording of Mark Pajak, Sarah Hymas and Andrew Michael Hurley at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Considering that the genres of place studies, nature writing and ecology seem ever-increasing in popularity, Rural Eerie provides a fascinating range of mediums challenging old set narratives about the countryside and inviting audiences to enter the Gothic, the wyrd and the magical. Particularly passionate about this is author of The Loney, Devil’s Day and Starve Acre, Andrew Michael Hurley:

“More than ever we need to seek out the weird in our rural landscapes. In doing so, we are reminded that even the places we pass every day - the field by the railway line, the featureless moorland - are alive. More importantly, if we infuse those places with stories, our stories, then we're far less likely to let them die.”

Andrew Michael Hurley, along with Emily Oldfield, was also involved in performing an abridged version of the Rural Eerie at the Manchester Folk Horror Festival III, again at The Peer Hat. To coincide with the album release, Flange Circus have additionally announced a limited edition DVD: ‘Rural Eerie Visualised’, featuring the album accompanied by films and visuals shot by the band, edited and produced by Pete Collins.

The band added:

“Our experiences of the countryside have always seemed at odds with the idyllic and the harmonious vision pedalled by certain groups and institutions. The bucolic rural always has a darker, more sinister side for us: woodlands at night; abandoned farm buildings; lonely moors; communities the are often more suffocating than welcoming; that look you get when you walk into a village pub, the way you’re made to feel an outsider; that noise, that screech, when you’re walking down a country lane at night or camping out; that moment when you stray off the public footpath and the consequences you reap; rituals and events of a seemingly ‘traditional’ nature that are bound up with some bygone and exclusionary sense of national identity - survivals that might seem quaint, but are weirder than that. All of this and more we wanted to explore this musically and sonically.

“The eerie is all about something that should be there, but isn’t, or something that is there, but shouldn’t. The countryside is full of eerie experiences and sounds, place and objects, practices and rituals, and that’s what we’ve tried to capture here - particularly through the multiple field recordings we used on the album and how we’ve mangled them. Yet we didn’t want this just to be music - we wanted to explore this through other media and forms. So that’s why we wanted poets and writers to explore it alongside us, and to film those weird and eerie things and places in the countryside for the DVD. Our last album, ‘Abandoned Glow’, explored themes of haunting and ghostly experiences, so ‘Rural Eerie’, seemed a logical progression for us in terms of ideas, but also to expand what we creatively produce.

“Working with poets and writers has been an inspiring venture for us (and we must thank Emily Oldfield for curating them as it wasn’t a world we knew much about). Listening to the way they brilliantly evoke their stranger experiences of the countryside and then trying to compliment their work with sound was challenging, but exhilarating.

(Image below - taken prior to the Rural Eerie: Abridged performance, now featuring on the DVD. From left to right: Pete Collins, John Taylor, Emily Oldfield, Andrew Michael Hurley, Bon Holloway. Photograph by Helen Darby.) 

“Hopefully listeners of the album and viewers of the DVD will come away thinking about their own weird experiences of the countryside and be ready to read rural landscapes in different way. A lot of the sonic side is about taking sounds and making them vaguely familiar, yet never fully placeable. Hopefully this will lead people to dislocate and disturb that idyll we’re all told to believe in, but also embrace, repatriate and even celebrate its stranger, darker side.”

With evocative track titles including ‘Snipes on Down’ and ‘Nineteen Corvids’, this is a plunge into the Rural Eerie intensified by field recordings from various rural locations in Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and North Yorkshire.

Rural Eerie is available for Digital Download via Bandcamp on the 17 July, and for pre-order now https://flangecircus.bandcamp.com/album/rural-eerie-2 (also contains a link to the limited edition DVD), all profits from digital sales to The Woodland Trust.

By Emily Oldfield

Image 1 by Flange Circus, images 2-4 by Pete Collins/ Bon Holloway/Flange Circus, image 5 by Helen Darby, image 6 by Flange Circus. 

To ensure the safety and comfort of their guests, The Ainscow has achieved two accreditations:

• The Quality in Tourism’s ‘Safe, Clean and Legal’ accreditation (in partnership with Best Western)
• The AA COVID Confident accreditation

“This is a fantastic achievement for the hotel. The health, safety and comfort of our guests and team have always been our number one priority and so we wanted to reassure our guests that we’re doing everything possible to ensure The Ainscow is safe. Our team has done a fantastic job and we’re so pleased to be back open!

• Paul Wadsworth, General Manager at The Ainscow Hotel

Changes include express check-in and check-out, a one-way system and increased cleaning measures. Read more about what we’re doing to keep our team and visitors safe on The Ainscow Hotel’s dedicated COVID-19 page.

The new kitemark provides reassurance to the public that we have the highest standards of safety in our hotels for anti-COVID cleanliness in the whole of hospitality because it is independently audited and signed off (by Quality in Tourism)

• Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western Great Britain

As a special thank you to guests for supporting The Ainscow, the hotel will be offering a complimentary Grab & Go breakfast, free parking and WIFI to all guests staying throughout July-August, 2020.

For the best rates, guests are advised to book direct: https://theainscow.com/

In addition to welcoming back the public to enjoy five star indoor adventures, Escape Hunt Manchester has announced it will be running several initiatives to say thank you to some of the local individuals and organisations who have made an outstanding contribution to Mancunian communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Escape Hunt Manchester is offering the chance to win free games to both NHS and local business heroes; three local businesses and four local NHS heroes from the city will have the opportunity to take on one of the indoor adventures available at its Corn Exchange location.

The public can go to Escape Hunt Manchester’s Facebook page and tag an NHS hero who will then be in with the chance to win a free game to enjoy with their household or social bubble.

Each week for the first month of re-opening, Escape Hunt will randomly select a nominated NHS employee to come and enjoy one of its indoor escape rooms or one of its play-at-home experiences.

From next Monday [13th of July] Escape Hunt will also be opening nominations via its Manchester Facebook page for the public to nominate local businesses who they feel have made a difference to the community during lockdown and deserve to be rewarded with some escapism and adventure with a free team building game experience; the business may have adapted to continue serving the local community in new ways, really gone the extra mile during lockdown or volunteered their time to help others whilst the business was closed.

Richard Harpham, CEO Escape Hunt PLC, says “We are so excited to be opening our doors up to the public again, so that customers can come and enjoy our popular escape rooms and outdoor adventures once again. It’s also incredibly important to us that we can thank just some of the people who have been so dedicated in giving back to their community during the past few months.”

Liam Mooney, General Manager at Corn Exchange Manchester, said: “We’re excited that another one of our fantastic brands is able to safely welcome visitors again. Just as with all of the teams onsite, Escape Hunt has worked hard to introduce measures to keep colleagues and guests alike safe whilst enjoying their unique experiences and we’re delighted that they’re using their reopening to reward some of Manchester’s amazing local heroes.”

For more information on how to book your visit to Escape Hunt Manchester at the Corn Exchange, please click here.  

Escape Hunt is joined by the reopening of several mouth-watering, neighbouring, food and drink venues at the site. These include Banyan, Doner Haus and Salvi’s, Mowgli, Tampopo, Gino’s and Cosy Club as well as aparthotel Roomzzz. The remaining resident brands, Pho, Pizza Express, Vapiano, Wahaca and Zizzi, are set to reopen to the public from mid-July onwards.

For more details on booking and visiting any Corn Exchange brand and for further information on the safety measures in place onsite, please visit the  Corn Exchange website. 

What’s more, special pass holders are eligible to book a day early and enjoy a sneak preview of the sessions on 17th July.

While the site, situated at the Trafford Centre, will continue to offer the same brick-tastic fun that’s always been on offer, there have been some tweaks onsite in order to make sure guests of all ages and team members are all kept safe.

The centre will open seven days a week and run two daily play sessions, one from 10am-12pm and another from 1.30pm-3.30pm with entry from 9.30am and 1pm respectively. Guests will need to book online to attend either session and the entire centre will be completely cleaned before and after each event.

The centre’s brick pits are currently not in operation in line with government guidelines, however, to ensure the sites still offer opportunities for imaginative play and adventure, each guest will be given their own bag of LEGO to build with during their visit. These bags are returned once the session ends and then deep cleaned before other guests are able to use them.

All rides, 4D cinemas and other elements of the Discovery Centre remain in place for visitors of all ages to enjoy, although the Driving School is currently closed.

Guests won’t be required to wear PPE but will have their temperature taken on arrival and have to respect social distancing measures across the centres.

As with any activity post-lockdown, Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester asks all visitors to closely observe guidelines, maintain a safe distance from those outside their party and to keep up with good hygiene practices. If they or any of their party displays any symptoms of Covid-19, they are asked to postpone their visit and to contact the site to change the date of their play session at no additional cost.

Stuart Jarman, general manager at Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester, said: “We are really looking forward to offering families brick-based adventures, play and learning once more this July. We’re utilising an extensive range of safety measures, designed to ensure a happy, safe and healthy experience for all of the family.”

Visit www.legolanddiscoverycentre.co.uk for more information and to be kept up to date on the Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester reopening measures and arrangements.

The venue has opened a summer bar on its famous rooftop terrace, overlooking Manchester Town Hall, where visitors can pre-book a table to enjoy sundowner cocktails and one of the city’s most iconic views.  

It is also welcoming overnight guests for a staycation in style, with sumptuous suites providing a retreat for people who want to get away this summer.  

The private cinema will be screening summer sporting events, blockbusters and Champagne movie screenings, with full social distancing measures observed.   

Afternoon tea is back and there will be a new menu served from The Tavern restaurant, along with a summer a la carte offering.  

The hotel, which is part of The Hut Group’s (THG) Experience division, has implemented COVID-secure measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all guests and staff. Full details of all health and safety measures are outlined in this document.  

Whether you book afternoon tea in The Tavern and a cocktail on the rooftop, or spend a week’s holiday in one of the beautiful suites, the team will ensure guests feel welcome and safe from the moment you check in until after you depart. 

Many people are keen to enjoy the views from the hotel’s famous infinity pool, but it currently remains closed, in line with government guidance. However, you can still get that Instagram-worthy shot from the rooftop terrace, which is now open as a bar and available for bookings from midday-10pm every day. 

Bookings can be made directly via the website, or by contacting reservations@eclectichotels.com / 0161 667 0707.  

The museum is the first major attraction to reopen in Manchester and is among the first museums in the country to welcome visitors once again.

Visitors can expect a safe and warm reception as the museum gets back in the game after 127 days behind closed doors.

Initially, opening days will be Thursday to Sunday 11am – 4pm. Online bookings will be encouraged to safely manage visitor flow.

Visitors will be reassured to find a one-way system, plenty of hand sanitizer stations and social distancing measures all in place.

The museum’s friendly staff are also trained and on-hand to help everyone enjoy their visit safely.

Tim Desmond, Chief Executive National Football Museum, said: “We’re delighted to reopen the museum and are really looking forward to welcoming visitors. Our team has been working really hard to get the museum safe and ready.

“At a time when the nation cannot get out and experience live football, people can re-live their passion for the beautiful game on our galleries. “They’ll find the museum 100% match fit with the usual fantastic displays, exhibitions and celebration of football as the game of our lives.

“It’s been a challenging time for us as a museum and a charity, but we’re sure visitors will come out, support us and help us get back on our feet. In return we’ll make sure they have a fantastic time and a huge welcome when they visit.”

Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure, and Skills, Manchester City Council, said: "The revival of the city's cultural offer is key to attracting visitors back so it's great news that the museum is preparing to re-open.

“Manchester is a big football city as we all know, and we hope that local residents and others from further afield will take some time out over the summer to come and see for themselves this amazing cultural gem in the heart of the city centre that charts the history of the beautiful game."

The exhibitions Goal Click Women’s Football in 2019 and Strip! How Football Got Shirty have been extended.

Featuring more than 200 football shirts, Strip! examines designs through the ages. It captures the growth of the football shirt phenomenon, charting the replica boom and the bold designs that followed, right through to the high-tech advancements and retro reappraisals.

During the lockdown curators have been busy collecting items relating to football’s response to coronavirus and the key issues of today.

Visitors will see new additions including a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt with the Black Lives Matters message worn by player Jonny Castro Otto in a recent Premiership match.

The museum has also invested in a new projector in its Penalty Shootout making the experience from 12 yards even more realistic. Soak up the pressure of Wembley, keep your nerve and go for glory from the spot…

Tickets are on sale online from noon today (Friday 10 July) at https://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/tickets

Friday 10th July brings the reopening of Watson Street’s iconic arches, home to Manchester Gin’s distillery, cocktail bar and restaurant. Three Little Words and The Spirit of Manchester Distillery will reopen this weekend with a new set menu, a brand-new summer gin, and a range of distillery experiences.

To celebrate the launch, Manchester Gin have released a brand-new limited edition gin for summer 2020. The Rose & Hibiscus Gin combines the brand’s Signature botanicals, dandelion burdock root, which adds a depth of flavour to this bright, floral addition to the range. Rose & Hibiscus will be available to drink in Three Little Words as the perfect G&T for the summer months. It is also available online from the Manchester Gin website.

Following the launch of a new menu earlier this year, Three Little Words is re-releasing a range of delicious dishes in a stunning set menu. With two courses for £18.50 and three for £22.50, guests can enjoy a gorgeous line-up of seasonal, fresh dishes including rainbow trout in nduja butter; lime and coconut chicken with spicy rice, and vegan options like coconut laksa, and a radish, apple and fennel summer salad.

As always, a great selection of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are available. You can view the menu and book a table on the Three Little Words website.

Also returning to Three Little Words is the much-loved Sunday Roast. Enjoy plates piled high with perfectly cooked roast beef or a weekly vegetarian special, seasonal vegetables, towering yorkshire puds, homemade gravy, and sides of creamy cauliflower cheese. Booking is recommended - roasts are available every Sunday from 12pm until they’re gone, for just £15 per person.

On the reopening of the two venues, Master Distiller and Manchester Gin co-founder, Jen Wiggins, said:

“We’re all so excited to be reopening our doors. We decided to take things slowly by opening on the 10th rather than on “Super Saturday” - it’s given us a bit more time to ensure our staff are comfortable and well trained, and allowed us to plan great menus and experiences for our customers to enjoy when they return.

“Though our doors have been closed to the public throughout lockdown, The Spirit of Manchester Distillery has been working constantly to keep our online customers stocked up with their favourite gins, producing hand sanitiser for the NHS North West Nightingale Hospital and we’ve even broken the World Record for the World’s Biggest Gin Tasting to raise money for homeless charity, Big Change MCR.

“For us, it’s so important to remember what it means to be a hospitality business, so our focus now is on safely giving people the experience they might not have been able to enjoy at home - great atmosphere, amazing service, delicious food, and gorgeous drinks.”

The Spirit of Manchester Distillery

The Spirit of Manchester Distillery is much more than just where Manchester Gin distils its world-famous range, it’s an immersive experience for guests to enjoy and is rated the ‘Number One Thing to Do in Manchester’ on TripAdvisor. To ensure the safety of its visitors, the distillery is following strict safety guidelines including:

-         Wellness checks to ensure that staff aren’t displaying any Covid-19 symptoms

-         Any guests displaying Covid-19 symptoms will asked to stay home and will be able to rearrange their booking free of charge

-         Responsible rotas to ensure that staff are working within ‘bubbles’ to limit contact

-         Reduced staff numbers to minimise the number of people within the venue

-         Regular hands washing carried out every 20 minutes

-         Sanitation stations available around the venue

-         PPE will be worn by staff, including when travelling to and from the venue

-         Collection of contact details of a lead member of each group to support the Government’s contact-tracing scheme

-         Limited table sizes and groups limited to a maximum of two households or bubbles

Its Distillery Tour and Guided Tastings, priced at £20 per person for 45 minutes, will resume Thursdays - Sundays. Here guests will be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at life in the distillery. Visitors can learn about the makings of some of the most awarded gins in the country, from distillation to bottling. Guests will then be led by one of Manchester Gin’s experts through a guided tasting, learning about the flavour profiles of four award-winning gins and how they are perfectly paired with a range of luxury tonics.

The distillery’s Gin Making Experience, priced at £85 per person for 2.5 hours, will also resume on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. As well as the exclusive inside scoop on the workings of Manchester’s most vibrant distillery, guests will learn about the history of the incredible city and the key events that have shaped it into the buzzing, bustling Manchester which we all know today. After learning which flavours suit your palette best during a guided tasting session, guests will then have the chance to distil their own unique bottle of gin, using a wide range of specially sourced botanicals, to take home and enjoy.

Three Little Words

Housed inside The Spirit of Manchester Distillery is Manchester Gin’s premium cocktail bar and restaurant, Three Little Words. The edgy, yet elegant, venue will be open to the public Thursdays- Sundays, with a live DJ on Friday and Saturday nights to get Manchester’s weekends buzzing again. Alongside the safety procedures in place throughout the distillery, Three Little Words will also be implementing:

-         Digital menus, allowing guests to order and pay on their own device

-         Paper menus which can be disposed of after each use

-         Table service only rather than ordering drinks at the bar

-         Reduced menus so that bar and kitchen staff can safely social distance

Three Little Words will be reopening with a brand-new seasonal food menu; these deliciously delicate summer dishes will pull inspiration from the botanicals used in Manchester Gin’s six gins and will feature everything from scrumptious small plates, mouth-watering mains and delicious desserts. Items are available individually or as part of a set menu, with two courses for £18.50 and three for £22.50.

A returning Three Little Words fan-favourite will be its succulent Sunday Roast, priced at £15, complete with fresh, seasonal vegetables and stacked with fluffy Yorkshire puddings, all ready to soak in deliciously rich gravy. Available with either perfectly pink roast beef or a hearty vegetarian option, which will vary weekly, everyone can enjoy this classic British dish with a twist.

The drinks will also be flowing once Three Little Words’ doors reopen with a range of classic and contemporary cocktails on offer. Though the menu will be streamlined to ensure the safety of its bartenders, guests will still be able to enjoy the venue’s most popular cocktails, as well as Manchester Gin’s new limited edition gin: Rose & Hibiscus.

On the reopening, Master Distiller and Manchester Gin cofounder, Seb Heeley, said: “Though we’ve been keeping busy throughout lockdown, we couldn’t be more thrilled to finally be able to reopen our doors to the public. We decided to launch The Spirit of Manchester Distillery and Three Little Words last September as we love getting to meet our customers face to face, nothing beats being able to chat with them over a G&T, so the fact that we’re going to be able to do this again is an amazing feeling. We can’t wait to be able to drink, dine and distil with the people of Manchester and fellow gin-lovers again.”

The Spirit of Manchester Distillery and Three Little Words will be officially reopening Friday 10^th July. Opening times thereafter can be found below.

Distillery Tour and Guided Tasting

Thursday: 7:00pm

Friday: 6:30pm / 8:00pm

Saturday: 12:30pm / 1:30pm / 3:00pm / 4:30pm / 6:00pm

Sunday: 12:30pm / 2:00pm / 3:30pm

Gin Making Experience

Friday: 6:30pm

Saturday: 12:00pm / 3:30pm / 6:30pm

Sunday 3:00pm

Three Little Words

Thursday: 5pm-midnight

Friday: 12pm-1am

Saturday: 12pm-1am

Sunday: 12pm-11pm

More information can be found at https://manchestergin.co.uk/distillery/ and https://threelittlewordsmcr.co.uk/.

Free chocolate* for children

We’ll be giving away free chocolate to children as a welcome-back treat! The chocolate was ready for Tatton Park’s Easter weekend activities, which were cancelled due to lockdown, but at least it makes our re-opening for summer even-sweeter and more of a celebration. Bags of chocolates will be given to customers at The Stables Restaurant and visitors at Gardens, Farm and Mansion for as long as stocks last.

*subject to availability

Book online for Tatton Park’s attractions

If you wish to visit the Farm, Mansion or Gardens, please book online first at tattonpark.org.uk, where you can buy tickets and pre-book a timeslot. This new way of managing visitor numbers throughout the day has worked well for the Gardens, so the same process is in place for re-opening the Farm and Mansion. As most of us have experienced out and about since the easing of lockdown, you just need to book in advance of your visit. A combination of pre-booking, timed entry slots and one-way routes where needed, means more of Tatton Park can be enjoyed this summer.

You’ll be just in time to see new arrivals at the Farm

Mother Nature didn’t take a break during lockdown. Since 21 March, the Farm has welcomed no fewer than 38 lambs, one pedigree Jersey calf, 18 piglets and numerous chicks. “It’s been strange not sharing Easter and lambing season with visitors this year, but the animals have kept us busy” says Farm Manager Jayne Chapman. “And there are more new arrivals on the way! Summer is a great time to visit the Farm as Molly, our very rare Middle White pig, is expecting a litter of pure bred piglets on the 17 July. We also have 10 Red Poll cows starting to calve any day, so visitors have plenty of new arrivals to see. Staff can’t wait to welcome people back to the Farm and I think even the donkeys will be braying with excitement.”

It’s been a long wait since Christmas at the Mansion

 “Six months is a long time!” says Carolyn Latham, Mansion & Collections Manager at Tatton Park. “The last time visitors walked through our doors it was decorated for Christmas, so to finally open on 15 July is just wonderful. A carefully-planned and marked route will take visitors around the Mansion, including State Rooms and Servants Quarters, as well as our new exhibitions for 2020, which we’re so pleased to finally share with people.” All exhibitions are included with a Mansion entry ticket.

Behind the Lens: Photography of Maurice, last Lord Egerton
Runs until 1 November 2020

An exhibition of the last Lord Egerton’s own photographs from his private collection. Maurice was a keen photographer and from 1895 – 1955, captured fascinating moments in his travels, passions and world.

Japanese Garden: Legacy of Alan de Tatton
Runs until 1 November 2020

In 1910, Alan de Tatton set in motion the building of an extremely special garden. Today, Tatton Park’s Japanese Garden is thought to be one of the finest examples in Europe.  Discover the inspirations behind it, its construction, restoration and lasting legacy.

We’re Good To Go!

Tatton Park has been awarded VisitBritain’s new industry standard certificate. Since lockdown, VisitBritain has worked in partnership with The National Tourist Organisations of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to support visitor attractions with re-opening and welcoming customers back. The 'We’re Good To Go’ COVID-19 industry standard and consumer mark provides a ‘ring of confidence’ for businesses, attractions and destinations as well as reassurance to local residents and visitors that clear processes are in place and that Tatton Park is good to go.

If you’re staying at home, you can visit us online

If you can’t visit us in person, here’s how you can stay in touch with happenings at Tatton Park:

- www.tattonpark.org.uk – we’re updating our website as much as possible with updates from all corners of the Estate
- e-news – sign up on our website and email receive updates from Tatton Park
- Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – find us @TattonPark
- Candide Gardening App - download onto your phone and search for Tatton Park