Manchester’s neighbourhood Kampus is gearing up to host a solid ten weeks of back-to-back block parties from its canal-side garden.
From laid-back disco vibes to escapist California beach sounds, Irish folk parties, raucous Mexican festivities to smooth NYC jazz, each weekend will see guest DJs take to the decks to spin tunes from different corners of the world.
Kicking off from Friday 15 April, the neighbourhood will play host to a range of eclectic patio parties with free-flowing beer from Manchester brewery Cloudwater.
Image: Kampuis
As for food, Ramsbottom favourites Levanter will be moving into the Kampus Bungalow for a residency -serving up tapas, giant paella and charcuterie boards aplenty over the ten-week period.
Every Saturday and Sunday from 11am, the team will be putting on a special Spanish brunch with a rotating menu and special Bloody Mary cocktails from Cloudwater on tap, using a different base spirit and garnish each week.
ADVERTISEMENT
The residency – to takeover the Kampus gardens and Bungalow – will run until Sunday 26 June 2022.
Paul Jones, co-founder of Cloudwater, said: “The vibe at Kampus last summer was knock-out, with people dancing in the gardens and sipping craft beer overlooking Canal Street.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We’re properly excited about this line-up. We not only wanted to celebrate the best of Manchester’s scene, with local DJs and artists, but cherry-pick the best produce from around the world and showcase it during a run of epic neighbourhood parties.
Image: Levanter
“The global weekenders mean we can not only rotate our own beers, but serve up amazing imported drinks from our friends in Europe and the US to the Manchester crowd.”
The residency is further expansion for Ramsbottom favourites Levanter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Born from founder Joe Botham’s love for Flamenco music and Andalusian culture, the restaurant and sister brand Baratxuri went on to gain critical acclaim – with rave reviews from national food critics, awards and a place in the Michelin Guide.
Based at The Bungalow, the canalside concrete block on stilts at Kampus, they’ll be serving up food from 11am to 9pm Thursday to Saturday, and 11am to 8pm on Sunday throughout the residency.
Giant paella will be served in the garden from 3pm on weekends, with both meat and vegan options.
Joe Botham, owner of Levanter and Baratxuri, said: “We’re all about serving delicious, Spanish food in a way that’s unpretentious, traditional but above all social. It’s about the shared experience of having great food and spending time with the people you love the most.
“This residency will be perfect for that, visitors can expect giant paella cooked outside, hand-carved Jamon Iberico de Bellota and a raft of our favourite dishes we picked up on our travels around Spain’s stunning villages.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We’ve done our own thing and gained an awesome following at Levanter, but we’ve always loved collaborating with like-minded people. Coming to Kampus is like coming home, it’s got that neighbourhood feel that we love and loads of our old mates who’ve gone on to found great brands that are due to open here too.”
Image: Kampus
The Cloudwater X Levanter global weekender line-up will include:
Manchester Long Bank Holiday (14-17 April)
Known Manchester DJs and homegrown city favourite beers
Spain (21-24 April)
Spanish house music, specially imported Basqueland beers and cider, plus Record Store Day pop-up featuring indie record shops selling and spinning hot records.
California Bank Holiday (28 April – 1 May)
Beach soundtrack, surf rock and hip hop, with guest beers flown in.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mexico (5-8 May)
Cinco de Mayo celebrations, with traditional décor and Latin party vibes.
Ireland (12-15 May)
Fresh imported beer from our neighbours, folk music, spoken word artists and stalls.
New York (19-22 May)
Eclectic mix of Jazz in all its forms, paired with beers from the best NYC breweries.
Canada (26-29 May)
Fresh beers from Toronto’s finest, including Bellwoods, Sonnen Hill and Goodspeed breweries.
The Queer Ju-Beer-lee Festival Bank Holiday (2-5 June)
Celebrating the Best of British in honour of Queen Liz! Party bags and street party at the ready, pouring fresh beer from the Queer Brewing Project.
ADVERTISEMENT
Portugal (9-12 June)
Fun-twist on a Portuguese party, with Fado and Flamenco tunes, with port-infused Bloody Marys.
New England USA (16 –19 June)
Levanter dishes with beers from some of the highest rated breweries in the world.
Manchester closer (23-26 June)
Manchester favourites to celebrate our home town, with back-to-back tunes!
Feature image – Kampus
News
Two Trafford towns are set to see dozens of new EV charging points installed imminently
Danny Jones
Two big towns on the border of Greater Manchester and Cheshire are set to see a fresh batch of electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed throughout their streets by Trafford Council very soon.
Local authorities have teamed up with engineering and infrastructure company Amey to roll out a series of new EV charging stations across Trafford, starting with Altrincham and Hale.
Dating all the way back to 2020, the collaboration with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the brand was tasked with helping improve sustainable travel across the area as the government body’s electric vehicle charging suppliers.
Steady improvements have been made across the 10 boroughs, but this particular update marks one of the biggest network upgrades that the likes of Alty and Hale have seen for some time.
Good news – we are thrilled to announce the installation of our first public EV charge points in collaboration with @TraffordCouncil.
Issuing a statement on Wednesday, 17 September, the firm – which specialises in managing, designing and maintaining complex facilities and transport infrastructure across the country – announced that they will “start the installation of EV charging points in Trafford in the coming weeks.”
It is expected that “up to 100 new public charges” will be integrated throughout the respective town centres and residential streets as the suburbs continues to push towards its sustainability goals.
As per Altrincham Today, Amey account director Anna Gornall said: “We’re excited to launch our first EV charge points in Trafford, working in partnership with Trafford Council (TC) to make electric vehicle charging more accessible to local communities.
“As the UK’s leading provider of energy transition and decarbonisation solutions, we’re well placed to use our existing expertise and resources to support TC in delivering a holistic public EV charging network for local communities.
“We’re helping residents make the switch, so everyone can plug in and power a greener Trafford.”
The country at large has various carbon-free initiatives, including the aspiration of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050; the electoral ward of Trafford itself continues to thrive in this field, having recently won environmental accolades, including 12 ‘Green Flag Awards’ this past July.
🌱 Have your say on the future of Trafford’s allotments
We’re developing a new Allotments Strategy to guide how our 35 sites and 1,500 plots are managed over the next 5 years – and we want your feedback.
Peter Anderson, Managing Director of Transport Infrastructure at Amey, commented: “This is a pivotal moment in Amey’s energy transition strategy. By leveraging our extensive experience in whole lifecycle asset management, strong partnerships, and innovative solutions, we can deliver value for both our clients and members of the public who will use Amey’s electric vehicle charge points.
“Working with Trafford Council, we are making electric vehicle charging more accessible to local communities and helping residents make the switch to EVs.
“Amey is well-positioned to support emerging opportunities within this landscape, and we are delighted to be working with Trafford and other local authorities to provide the public EV infrastructure needed to achieve the government’s transition to net zero.”
As for Trafford Council, Corporate Director of Place, Richard Roe, went on to add: “We are delighted to be working with Amey on this project to bring more and better charging options to the people of Trafford.
“This is an extension to the current EV charging options in the borough and is great news for committed EV owners and those who are thinking about going electric.”
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (via Amey Ltd)
News
Further disruption expected as more bus strikes announced across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Further disruption is expected as even more bus strikes have been announced across Greater Manchester this autumn.
It comes after the strikes set to place this month from 19 to 22 September were announced a couple of weeks back, and now a second round will take place towards the end of this month and going into early October.
In case this is the first you’re hearing of the upcoming industrial action, 2,000 workers who are employed by Stagecoach, Metroline Manchester, and First Bus Rochdale – all of which are firms among those that make up the bus part of the Bee Network – are due to walk out in a co-ordinated strike amid an ongoing pay dispute.
Unite the Union says all the firms are ‘highly profitable’ and it’s therefore ‘disappointing’ that workers are being denied a fair wage.
More strikes have been announced on the Bee Network this month / Credit: TfGM
At Stagecoach, around 1,000 drivers based across the Oldham, Stockport, and Middleton depots have rejected a pay offer of 3.5%, and 1,000 Metroline Manchester members will also do the same after turning down an ‘unsatisfactory’ below-inflation pay offer.
Workers at both Metroline and Stagecoach believe the offer doesn’t address years of low pay they’ve recieved, especially given the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Then, over at First Bus Rochdale, 110 members have rejected this year’s pay offer of 6%, as they feel this does not go far enough to address the fact they’ve had years of being paid less than their counterparts at other companies, and are still the lowest paid in the region.
Stagecoach, Metroline, and First Bus Rochdale, part of First Group PLC, are all firms which have seen a rise in profits in recent years.
2,000 drivers are set to stage strike action over two different periods / Credit: TfGM
The second round of strikes will now take place from from 30 September to 2 October.
Speaking ahead of both sets of upcoming strikes, Unite General Secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “These companies are very profitable but are putting greed over their hardworking members of staff.
“Further strike action will be extremely disruptive, however this is a dispute entirely of the bus companies’ making and they could solve it easily by coming back with a better deal.
“Our members involved in the dispute have Unite’s complete support.”
Unite Regional Officer, Colin Hayden, added: “The strikes this week as well as the further action we have called will cause travel chaos in Greater Manchester. However, it is entirely the fault of the employers involved, who have failed to address the issue of low pay and reward their staff accordingly.
Georgina Pellant -
25th March 2022 
