Pollen’s owners say they need the support of their fans to help them get it off the ground and grow into the new space they “desperately need”.
The duo behind the bakery, Chris Kelly and Hanna Calvert, successfully used a Kickstarter campaign to move the business from a railway arch near Manchester Piccadilly to their waterside cafe at New Islington marina back in 2018.
They’re famed for their sourdough loaves, cruffins, and other pastries and cakes, with queues out of the door most weekends.
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In the new campaign, they wrote: “The pandemic tested us in many ways but have come out the other side busier than ever and it’s more than our small space can cope with.
“We’ve been running over our realistic capacity for some time now.”
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Popular Ancoats bakery Pollen has launched a new Kickstarter campaign to help build its second site / Credit: Pollen / No Chintz Studio
The Kampus bakery will include a dedicated pastry kitchen with a glass viewing gallery, and a cafe with 60 seats inside and 30 outside.
It’s one of the latest businesses to join the rapidly growing new Capital & Centric neighbourhood, across the water from Canal Street.
Pollen will join the likes of Nell’s New York Pizza and General Stores, as well as the pop-up residencies running at The Bungalow.
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The Kickstarter post continued: “We cant quite believe we are on the cusp of opening a second location and the rate at which the bakery has grown and gone from strength to strength.
“There’s no question without your support this far, we would not be where we are today.
“Everything we do is for you, our customers and the community, this next step will allow us to reach more of you and become more accessible.”
Just days after launching, the Kickstarter has already received £15,000 from more than 200 backers, with 11 days still to go until fundraising efforts end.
Rewards on offer include tickets to an exclusive supper club, the chance to pre-order a wedding or celebration cake, merchandise, workshops, brunches and bread loaves.
Legendary landlady of The Peveril of the Peak pub has passed away
Daisy Jackson
Nancy Swanick, the legendary landlady behind Manchester’s much-loved Peveril of the Peak pub, has died.
The pub shared a statement today to confirm that Nancy, 96, who was the pub’s landlady for more than 55 years, passed away earlier this week.
She’s become something of an icon across the UK and was the oldest and longest-serving landlady in the country.
The Peveril of the Peak – or simply The Pev, to most of us – had just been named the best pub in the UK earlier this week.
The Pev has now assured fans that the pub will remain in the Swanick family, even without Nancy at its helm.
They said in their touching statement: “We will continue to cherish it as we did Nancy.”
In their full statement, The Peveril of the Peak wrote: “We are sad to say that our beloved Nancy, landlady for over 55 years, passed away peacefully on 28th July.
New croissants-by-day, pizza-by-night cafe and bar opens in Altrincham
Daisy Jackson
A new food and drink concept is opening its doors in Altrincham today, serving perfect personal-sized pizzas by night, and coffee and croissants by day.
The much-loved Irish Deli has sadly closed its doors, but the team are immediately rolling in a brand-new concept for the town.
Under one roof, Paddy’s will be the new home of Flakey (famed for their enormous, filled sweet and savoury croissants) as well as a pizza and cocktail bar.
The two concepts will share the cosy space beside Kennedy’s Irish Bar, right in the heart of Altrincham.
Customers will be able to pop in Monday to Sunday to pick up Flakey’s stuffed croissants, along with speciality coffee and matcha.
There’ll be savoury fillings like the Buff Italian (vegetable caponata, buffalo mozzarella, and pesto) and the New Yorker (Emmental, pastrami, sauerkraut and pickles), plus sweet options like the Sticky BC (vanilla Basque cheesecake and Biscoff).
Speciality drinks and stuffed Flakey croissantsThe team outside Paddy’sAn individual pizza with Paddy’s Punch frozen cocktail
By night, Paddy’s will take the stage, named after the former Irish terrier of the owner’s grandmother.
These individually-sized, handcrafted pan-pizzas will be loaded with toppings like the Paddy’s Pep with chilli and burrata, and The Dubliner with Irish sausage and pickled red onion.
During opening week (30 July – 2 August) Paddy’s is offering 50% off all pizzas for guests at Kennedy’s between the hours of 3pm-5pm.
Owners, Dan Mullen and John Kennedy said: “We’ve designed it to evolve throughout the day – start with coffee and croissants, come back for pizza, and stay for a pint or a cocktail. It’s one site, two distinct food experiences, and neither compromises the other.
“Two brands sharing one building with completely different moods, and we think Altrincham is going to love both. Our goal is to create a venue that’s full of life from open til close.”
Ahead of opening, Paddy’s is hosting a pizza hunt, where twenty branded Pizza-Pan boxes will be hidden around Altrincham, each containing a voucher, t-shirt, drinks voucher or – for the lucky few – a “pizza for life” keyring. Clues will be revealed daily on Instagram, with finders posting under #PaddysPizzaHunt to claim their prize and a free pizza on opening night.
Daisy Jackson -
9th November 2021 
