Do you love a roast dinner with your romance? Then surely you’ve already considered celebrating the big day in a Toby Carvery. No?
Well, everyone’s favourite carvery is ready and waiting to host your wedding reception.
Your wedding guests could be feasting on a classic Toby Carvery roast in their finery, and it’ll only cost the happy couple as little as £9.99 a head. Bargain.
This British institution has been filling tummies with roast meats, Yorkshire puddings and all the other trimmings for decades.
So why not let them create the roast momantic – sorry, most romantic – day of your lives?
ADVERTISEMENT
Toby Carvery promises to make your wedding day ‘extra-special’ and is surprisingly well-equipped to host your reception, from the private bars to the sound tech you need for speeches and music.
They also say they believe in ‘transparent, value-for-money packages’ to suit all sorts of budgets, with ‘no nasty surprises’.
ADVERTISEMENT
There’s no arguing with that once you start browsing through the menus – there are a couple to choose from, from a classic Toby buffet to a three-course set menu.
Toby Carvery in Bolton. Credit: Google MapsYou can have your wedding reception at a Toby Carvery in Greater Manchester. Credit: Mitchells and Butlers press
If you plan a mid-week wedding, you can get a carvery of roasted meats, freshly steamed and roasted vegetables, Yorkshire puddings, mac and cheese, and roasties for £9.99 per person (it’s still only £10.99 on a Saturday).
Or there are buffets stuffed with finger sandwiches, pork pies, cocktail sausages, salads, popcorn chicken, tart tartin and roasties with dips, plus chocolate chunk cookie pieces, and cookie dough brownie squares.
ADVERTISEMENT
For those who prefer not to make their wedding guests queue up for their dinner, Toby Carvery also does a more traditional three-course menu (£24.99 per person on Saturdays and Sundays, or £19.99 Monday to Friday).
That menu includes British favourites like prawn cocktail, the famous roast carvery, and chocolate fudge cake.
There are quite a few Toby Carvery sites offering wedding reception packages around Greater Manchester, including Chadderton Park, Ainsworth, Bolton, and Watergate Toll.
Given that Bolton’s Toby Carvery is set in a historic country house which is genuinely stunning, it’s all starting to come together, isn’t it?
You can have your wedding reception at a Toby Carvery in Greater Manchester. Credit: Mitchells and Butlers press
Toby Carvery says: “Don’t worry about the details; our experienced team is on hand to guide you every step of the way. We’ll ensure everything is looking perfectly poised to host your wedding reception.
ADVERTISEMENT
“From private bars to sound capabilities for speeches and music, and, of course, delicious roast dinners you know everyone will love – we can help make your day extra-special.
“Now the non-romantic bit – let’s talk about pricing. We believe in transparent, value-for-money packages that cater to a range of budgets. Trust us, there are no nasty surprises here, only pleasant ones!
“So why wait? Choose Toby Carvery as the backdrop for your love story. After all, your wedding day deserves nothing but the best.”
Chester Zoo opens massive ‘African savannah’, one of the UK’s largest-ever habitats
Daisy Jackson
Chester Zoo has today opened its doors and revealed a magnificent new African savannah habitat, the Heart of Africa – one of the largest in the UK.
The massive new habitat at the beloved attraction is home to dozens of African species, including giraffes, rhino, zebra, vultures and meerkats.
Chester Zoo has created a vast open savannah where guests can come across species living side-by-side, as well as new indoor habitats where you can see smaller species like never before, and habitats you can clamber inside.
The centrepiece of the Heart of Africa is the savannah, where you can see giraffes, Grevy’s zebras, roan antelopes and ostriches all roaming together across grasses and water.
As you weave around the incredible new habitat, which spans an area the size of 17 football pitches (22.5 acres), you’ll also come across several new aviaries where birds hoot, tweet and screech.
There are 31 species of bird here, including a fabulous flock of 120 greater flamingos, three types of critically endangered vulture, colourful black cheeked lovebirds, and Africa’s largest owl, the Verreaux’s eagle owl.
One of the most impressive new areas is the Hidden Savannah, where you can clamber inside a safari jeep that’s within the actual enclosure, so that you can see 10,000 locusts all around you from the driver’s seat.
This indoor habitat is also home to adorable, wrinkly little naked mole rats, who have a network of tunnels to burrow through, and other rodents like short-eared sengi and pygmy mice.
Heart of Africa at Chester Zoo, in pictures
Heart of Africa at Chester Zoo, in pictures. Credit: The Manc Group
As for the cold-blooded animals, or ectotherms, there’s Trevor the African bull frog, plus dung beetles, red spitting cobra, Ethiopian viper and pancake tortoises.
There are 15 other mammal species to encounter too, including African wild dogs, meerkats, Eastern black rhino, yellow mongoose, and dik-dik.
The Heart of Africa stands as a symbol of Chester Zoo’s continued conservation efforts across the continent, which includes combatting poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
It’s thought that the Heart of Africa will attract an additional 200,000 visitors to Chester Zoo each year while creating 30 new jobs.
Heart of Africa officially opens to visitors on Saturday 5 April – you can book zoo tickets HERE.
Two Greater Manchester towns have been named in The Sunday Times’ best places to live
Thomas Melia
Esteemed UK newspaper The Sunday Times’ has published its list of the ‘Best places to live in the UK 2025’, and it features two Greater Manchester boroughs.
Us Mancs didn’t need anymore clarification to know that where we live is incredible but we’ll always take it, especially when the compliment is coming from none other than The Sunday Times.
The publication revealed its annual guide of ‘Best places to live 2025’ which featured more than 70 different locations throughout the nation.
Although we may have been pipped to the top spot, Greater Manchester is featured not once, but twice, which is pretty impressive.
Claiming the victory this year is the market town with a name as pretty as its surroundings, Saffron Walden, which is only 15 miles from Cambridge.
The locations were ranked through a number of key categories including transport, house prices, broadband, schools and a new addition, mobile signal.
All the contributors to the full list acknowledge the obvious missing puzzle piece,food, and we know if this was factored in a few more Greater Manchester locations may have nabbed the ‘Best places to live’ honour.
The first Greater Manchester based entry is The Heatons, a hotspot nestled between the city centreand the city of Stockport, which is actually four neighbourhoods – Heaton Chapel, Mersey, Moor and Norris.
These areas are home to living history in the form of the iconic century old Savoy Cinema and lots of open green spaces.
Food may have been missed off The Sunday Times’ list but it certainly didn’t go a miss on ours.
Mossley has been named on The Sunday Times Best Places to Live list. Credit: Instagram, @ariadneexploresThe Heatons also made the list. Credit: Instagram, @fourtheheatons
The second spot which managed to grab the title of ‘Best places to live 2025’ is Mossley, a town packed to the brim with cosy cottages, blissful walks and a close-knit friendly community.
It’s not too far from Dovestone Reservoir and the Peak District National Park – when you’ve got all this greenery on your doorstep you’re bound to be in a good mood.
Our friends over in Leeds at The Hoothave lots to cheer about as Ilkley, Hebden Bridge, Easingwold and Ripon all got a mention.
You can find out the full rundown on all the spots up and down the country that have been selected as part of ‘The Sunday Times’ Best places to live for 2025′ HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
17th August 2024 
