A bar in the centre of Manchester is giving away free pies and pints this Friday to celebrate the start of the Easter long weekend.
Turning Good Friday into ‘Good Pie-Day’, accessible archway theatre bar 53Two has teamed up with award-winning Bolton pie makers H.M. Pasties and Manchester-made Brightside beer to kick start the Bank Holiday in style.
From 5.30pm this Friday, the team will be giving away free food and drink to the first 50 people through 53Two’s doors.
The bar at 53Two under the arches. / Image: Brightside Beer
There’ll be something for everybody, with vegan-friendly bottles and cans provided by Manchester brewery Brightside and a choice of different pie fillings courtesy of H.M Pasties – who ust won the overall vegan category for their chickpea curry pasty at the British Pie Awards last month.
If you’ve not yet made it down to this quirky little indie theatre bar with its baby grand piano, upcycled furniture and cosy book-lined nooks, well, we think a free pie and pint offers the perfect excuse.
A relative newcomer to Manchester’s bar scene, arts charity 53Two opened its doors under the city’s railway arches last summer and has made waves in improving Manchester‘s reputation for accessibility by training all of its staff in basic sign language skills.
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Image: 53Two
The team here can take orders and explain the menu to hearing-impaired guests, whilst tactile card reader pads have been installed for partially sighted customers, and all of the bar tables are designed at a level that allows wheelchairs to fit underneath comfortably
There’s also a lowered bar space and till for wheelchair access, making the new bar and arts hub one of the most accessible venue in Manchester by a mile.
And as well as operating as a theatre bar, 53Two also runs an ‘artists members club’ – meaning that, after 11pm, those working in the cultural sector are able to enter via a secret ‘members entrance’ for a late night post-work drink.
It also hosts a range of events in its second archway and, as a charity, supports diversity and gender equality in the arts, so know that when you spend your money here it’s going to a good place.
To find out more about 53Two and its various comedy, theatre and music nights, live podcasts and quizzes, visit its website here.
Feature image – 53Two
News
Travel warning issued as tens of thousands to descend for Manchester Half Marathon
Daisy Jackson
A travel warning has been issued ahead of the Manchester Half Marathon this weekend, with tens of thousands of runners and spectators expected to arrive in the city.
People are being urged to plan their journeys ahead of time, with significant road closures in place from the city centre as far out as Sale.
Road closures – and subsequent bus diversions – will also affect parts of Stretford, Chorlton, Trafford, and surrounding areas.
Around 32,000 people are expected to take part in the Manchester Half Marathon this Sunday, with thousands more coming out to cheer the runners on.
Transport for Greater Manchester is advising people that the Bee Network trams will be the best way to get around over the weekend.
Extra trams will be operating to provide as much capacity as possible.
Road closures and bus diversions will start on Saturday 3 October and continue until the actual race day on Sunday 4 October, lifting fully by 8.30pm.
Tens of thousands of runners and spectators will descend on Manchester for the half marathon
Earlier this year, the Manchester Marathon led to a record-breaking day for Metrolink trams, with the highest number of passengers ever recorded on a single day in the network’s history.
Whether running or cheering, people are advised to use the Bee Network app to plan their journeys and are strongly encouraged not to drive within the affected areas.
Steve Gilholme, Head of Events at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “The Manchester Half Marathon is another one of those special occasions where the people of Greater Manchester and beyond come together, with thousands of people taking on the challenge and raising money for good causes, while many more will line the route to cheer them on.
“This does mean the city centre and especially trams will be incredibly busy so please plan ahead and give yourself extra time to make journeys.
“The Bee Network app and website will be the best places to get the latest travel information and tap and go contactless payments are the quickest and easiest way to pay.”
You can see all the road closures for the Manchester Half Marathon HERE.
Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the 14 national museums of the UK are all located in England – including the Imperial War Museum North, and the Science and Industry Museum in our region – and free entry to was first introduced all the way back in 2001, with millions of visitors having benefitted since.
National museums are said to add more than £1 billion a year to the economy, and bring in visitors from all over the world.
In fact, seven of the UK’s 10 most visited museums are national museums, and 7.1 million people visited the Natural History Museum and 6.4 million visited the British Museum in 2025 alone.
The Government has announced that all national museums in the UK will remain free for everyone to visit / Credit: Science Museum Group | Wikimedia Commons
Earlier this year though, the Government committed to working with local leaders and the museum and tourism sectors to explore whether charging overseas visitors could help museums’ finances.
But following this, it’s now believed that charging could deter visitors, and that the impacts and benefits would ‘not be felt equally’ across the sector.
Instead, the free entry will be funded by the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund – which is providing £760 million for museums – while £600 million of infrastructure funding is supporting national museums and DCMS-sponsored cultural organisations.
The latter funding will be used to address critical maintenance and works to estates, and enable institutions to deliver on their commitments to share collections with visitors from around the world.
Georgina Pellant -
13th April 2022 
