Manchester’s last Edwardian swimming bath has reopened after being restored to its original glory with the help of a £1 million grant.
After a hard-fought campaign by its local community, Withington Baths has finally been returned to local use ten years after it was earmarked for closure.
The Love Withington Baths group first won the right to the pool in 2015, and after seven years of campaigning, last February it was awarded a grant from the National Lottery Fund to undertake the work needed to bring the historic building back to life.
A long time in the making, at last, the 100-year-old site has opened its doors once again to be enjoyed by local people as it was always intended.
mage: Withington Baths
mage: Withington Baths
As part of the restoration, the building’s impressive Edwardian roof has been repaired to maintain the original glazing system installed in 1913.
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Elsewhere, its stained glass windows have been lovingly restored by local artist Amy of the Orange Ladybird.
On Saturday the group celebrated the reopening of the Withington Baths with a party that saw the local community welcomed in for an afternoon of eating and drinking, with local business Burton Road Brewery providing a barbecue and bar.
Speaking on the reopening of the historic Edwardian baths, Paul Smith, Managing Director of Withington Baths said: “Our 8th birthday celebrations were a huge success, we really enjoyed celebrating the progress we’ve made since the takeover in 2013.
“The restoration project means so much to us as an organisation, and we’re thrilled to see what a positive impact it has had on our community already.
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“The restoration was all made possible thanks to The National Heritage Lottery Fund grant, a loan from Manchester City Council and support from the local community. Through the good times and the tough, it’s the local community that has always been there for us.
“Now, because of them, we can continue to serve our community as a not-for-profit hub where generations learn to swim and enjoy a range of gym and leisure facilities alongside their community members.”
Featured image – Withington Baths
Manchester
Posters around Manchester city centre spark serious rumours Charli XCX is set to headline Parklife 2025
Danny Jones
Some pretty big, green posters are popping up around town and, not to get ahead of ourselves, but it looks like they’re hinting at Charli XCX headlining Parklife 2025…
Feel free to lose your bratting minds.
A number of tall, let’s call it ‘apple’ green posters have been sighted in various places across Manchester city centre this Friday, 22 November and the last time we saw this slightly low-resolution, plain black Arial font and colour combo we got a reworked version of Charli XCX’s brat album.
Listen, all we can tell you is that this is almost exactly the same marketing and the letters on the poster simply read, “PL25”. Come on… you do the math(s).
Spotting at least two of the posters for ourselves around both Newton and Thomas Street in and around the Northern Quarter, plenty of people have been double-taking at the simple but bold and undeniably eye-catching portrait posters.
Trust us, we weren’t the only ones stopping to take a picture and frantically send them to half of our phonebook either.
Charli herself hasn’t given us any other clues on social media thus far – to be fair, this one feels fairly obvious to us – but it’s well worth keeping your eyes peeled on her stories as she did plenty of teasing before dropping Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.
Still can’t get over that actually being the title, by the way.
It’s also worth noting that Parklife themselves recently confirmed that festival fans can expect to find out their headliners and the full 2025 lineup very soon. Check out that colour…
Oh, who are we kidding? That’s not apple green it’s straight-up BRAT green, b*tch. We’re fully getting carried away and you’ll just have to deal with it.
Even if it somehow turns out she’s not headlining it’s certainly looking like she’s going to be there and it wouldn’t be the first time.
Better yet, fans of the pop sensation won’t have to wait too long to see her right here in Greater Manchester because Charli is bringing her already smash-hit tour to Co-op Live next Wednesday, 27 November and in case you couldn’t tell by all the shouting in capitals, we’re very excited.
Roll on ‘PL25’. Other than Charli XCX, who else would you like to see as your Parklife headliners next summer?
Peek inside the space-themed festive tipi bar that’s appeared in Manchester city centre
Daisy Jackson
A gigantic new festive tipi has appeared in Manchester city centre, and this one’s out of this world.
Nova Star is an intergalactic, space-age tipi, filled with twinkling stars and shimmering galaxies.
The space-themed pop-up bar has appeared in Sadler’s Yard, right outside New Century.
Inside, you’ll be able to get your mitts on festive food specials from beloved Christmas Markets favourites Parmogeddon.
Their menu includes raclette-covered roast potatoes, with additional toppings like hot honey, brie, stuffing crumbs and gravy.
There’ll also be pigs in blanket hot dogs topped with cranberry and chilli ketchup and stuffing crumb, with an indulgent pot of gravy for dunking, plus profitteroles with a homemade brandy cream filling.
Nova Star’s bar will have a menu of shimmering cocktails and ice-cold beers too, with a full menu of Cosmos, including a Nebula Cosmo (which tastes a lot like a pina colada but is blue), a Cosmic Amore (close to a classic Cosmopolitan), and the Milkyway (a sweet and creamy concoction with hazelnut and vanilla).
Loaded raclette roasties at Nova Star, Manchester. Credit: The Manc GroupA pigs in blanket hot dog. Credit: The Manc GroupProfiteroles from Parmogeddon. Credit: The Manc Group
Nova Star will be serving up their very own signature ‘Nova Staro’ pints, created in collaboration with Czech Pilsner specialists Staropramen in their first ever rebrand.
It’s a far cry from your typical Bavarian Christmas experience, swapping out holly and ivy for stars and shimmers.
Visitors will also be able to enjoy a line-up of festive entertainment.
Abby Moore, managing director at New Century, said: “Nova Star is all about celebrating Christmas at its most magical – and for us that means with all the dazzle of the space age.
“It’s a chance to escape the traditional and enjoy a spectacular atmosphere, stellar cocktails and incredible food.
“We can’t wait to welcome the people of Manchester to our space-age Christmas destination.”
Nova Star opens at Sadler’s Yard on Friday 22 November.
Georgina Pellant -
6th July 2023 
