Cheshire

New mural of Joy Division icon Ian Curtis unveiled in his hometown

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 25th March 2022

A mural of Joy Division legend Ian Curtis has been unveiled in Macclesfield.

His former bandmate Peter Hook has said that he’s waited ‘a long time’ to see a tribute to his late friend in his hometown.

The mural has been created by street art legend Akse-P19, who was also behind the Marcus Rashford mural in Withington and Sir Captain Tom Moore in the Northern Quarter.

The hyper-realistic black and white art piece has been painstakingly painted onto the side of a building on Mill Street in the town centre.

It’s been fully funded by Cheshire East Council, who say it’s been ‘worth the wait’.

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Councillor Nick Mannion, chair of Cheshire East Council’s economy and growth committee, said: “Before today, I spoke about how perhaps this beautiful mural has been somewhat overdue but now that I’m here seeing it for myself for the first time, I can say without any doubt that it has truly been worth the wait.

“As I’ve said previously, I am a huge fan of Joy Division – the cultural significance of the band and Ian stretches well beyond my home town of Macclesfield. This is such a proud moment, I’m feeling very emotional about it right now.”

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Akse-P19 working on the mural of Ian Curtis in Macclesfield. Credit: Cheshire East Council

Ian Curtis was the frontman of Joy Division, who were behind the huge song Love Will Tear Us Apart.

The Macclesfield-raised musician tragically took his own life at just 23 years of age.

There’s another mural of him in Manchester, on Port Street, which promotes the mental health charity Shout.

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On completion of his latest project, Akse said: “Although I’ve been working on murals most of my life, it’s still always an incredible feeling to get to the end of the journey – well the end of my journey at least. Now it’s time for the people of Macclesfield to enjoy the mural, as I know how much Ian meant to so many of them.”

Peter Hook wrote on Twitter: “Great to visit this wonderful new mural of Ian today by @Akse_P19, now almost finished on Mill St in Macclesfield.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time to see a tribute to Ian in his hometown.”

Featured image: Cheshire East Council

Cheshire

Chester Zoo becomes first UK zoo to gain important international status

Danny Jones Danny Jones Chester Zoo granted international botanical garden status

The North West’s beloved Chester Zoo has been awarded a highly coveted global status, being named as the first international botanical garden in the entire UK.

With so many well-deserved awards, accolades and plaudits from within the world of wildlife preservation over the year, it’s no surprise.

A gem in Cheshire and the wider region’s crown, which continues to express its extreme commitment to ecological and environmental causes year in and year out, Chester Zoo is regularly ranked the best in the country and one of the top facilities in all of Europe, and now its worldwide reputation is growing too.

Taking its already sterling CV one further this year, 2026 marks the inaugural year of not only Chester Zoo existing as a recognised international botanical garden, but a big moment for Great Britain’s conservation status in general, as it’s been over 150 years since it last held the status.

Writing on social media in response to the huge honour, they wrote: “We’re officially the FIRST UK zoo recognised as a globally important botanic garden!

“We care for hundreds of rare plants, protect species at risk of extinction, and create beautiful gardens that encourage visitors to slow down and connect with nature.

“Global plant conservation organisation [Botanic Gardens Conservation International] assessed us against 22 criteria before awarding us Conservation Practitioner status – a recognition that now lets us do even more to protect native wildlife alongside our incredible conservation partners!”

Incredible stuff.

They signed off by adding that their efforts are “all made possible by YOU”, with 2025 marking an all-around groundbreaking year for the venue, as a total of 2,136,224 visitors came through the gates to surpass their previous record tally back in 2019 (2,086,785).

BGCI’s awarding of Conservation Practitioner is yet more proof of just how much work Chester Zoo does throughout the annual calendar, not least of all the incredible fundraising they do via various activations like their hugely successful charity run.

Chester Zoo announces new spring date for its popular running event to help UK wildlife
Fancy taking it on this year?

They signed off by adding that their efforts are “all made possible by YOU”, with 2025 marking an all-around groundbreaking year for the venue, as a total of 2,136,224 individuals came through the gates to surpass their previous record tally back in 2019 (2,086,785).

Speaking directly on the watershed moment, the zoo’s head of plants, Philip Esseen, said in an official press release: “This recognition shows that our plant work has real conservation value.

“We’re caring for species that are threatened with extinction in the wild, and that carries a responsibility to protect them, propagate them and share our expertise with others.

“The accreditation will help us work more closely with other horticultural and conservation organisations and increase the amount of conservation work we can do, particularly to support native species.”

Congratulations once again to Chester Zoo on such a significant achievement, and with around 10k people visiting each day – be that staff, field-expert guests or visitors – the proof is in the pudding: it really is the best in Britain doing some of the most vital work possible.

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Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Chester Zoo)

Cheshire

First Look | Grué Pastry – Alty’s real introduction to ‘entremet’, a.k.a one of our new foodie obsessions

Danny Jones Danny Jones new French Grue Pastry patisserie Altrincham

We might have a new sweet treat obsession, and it’s all Grué Pastry’s lovely fault: the small but pretty new pâtisserie and café over in Altrincham.

Located just off the busy Stamford Quarter, you’ll find Grué’s stylish little shop and already plenty of nosy passersby being seduced in by its pristine white counter.

While they do more familiar traditional desserts like tarts, cookies and tiramisu, their signature item is the wide range of ‘entremets’.

Even tinier than the venue, but packed full of different fillings, textures and layers (SO many layers), these picture-perfect treats almost look too stunning to eat, but of course, we did.

It’s not just a shiny little chocolate, nor is it merely a posh miniature cake with some clever decorations – this is quite literally an art form, and it takes time and precision – lots of it, in fact.

Requiring plenty of technique and patience, anyone who has the talent and persistence to pursue this very specific genre of pastry has our eternal admiration.

A rather painstaking process, split over a number of days, each carefully designed and layered entremet is a real labour of love.

For instance, not only is everything made from scratch right down to the most minute detail possible, but the inserts have to be mixed, assembled, frozen and then allowed to fully set before any of the finishing touches can be put on.

We’ve seen these kinds of ‘fake fruits’ and cakes with surprise interiors before, but nothing as delicate and nuanced as these. 

Co-owner Wissam Jedar joked that they can’t exactly grow their own pistachios, but they can flavour and roast them themselves, control every how much sugar, spice, and everything nice goes into these perfect few bites.

Credit: The Manc Eats

He also told us about how many people have been surprised by just how filling these things are.

They’re not just a small mouthful or two, as some people expect; the various considered and contrasting layers of rich and varied textures inside an entremet are like biting into something entirely new each time, especially when the appearance can often be intentionally deceptive.

It’s also impressive how many of these aren’t as naughty calorie-wise as you might expect.

They rely almost entirely on all-natural sugars only, and the flavours come through fresh, clean, not too sweet and often super sharp. Picture biting into what you think is ‘obviously’ lemon dessert in a light chocolate shell shaped like an actual lemon, only to taste fresh, chilled and tart apple with fragrant mint…

Are you kidding? Incroyable.

But this is just the start. Wissam also told us that both he and his partner, Farah Bioche, have to try their hardest not just to create consistently uniform entremets, but also not to let their imaginations run too wild and come up with concoctions as crazy as some of those they think up.

He says that Farah, in particular – the master baker behind their incredible workshop in Salford and the in-house bakery in their new Alty kitchen – has some seriously BIG ideas, but they’re trying to drip feed and nail them before fully introducing them to the menu.

They cater for events, do larger-scale desserts and are perfect for Valentine’s Day. (Credit: The Manc)

Another example of this is when it comes to the hot drinks menu. There’s a simple but classic coffee menu too – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? – but they’re also planning to add coffees with special meringue and even tiramisu toppers. Yum.

With Wissam’s sister running the social media, word of mouth spreading fast, and locals quickly catching on to the buzz behind this new opening, we reckon it won’t be long before you see this place all over your timelines.

They’ve also noted that despite raising a few eyebrows over price points at first, once someone has tried one (however speculatively), it usually isn’t too long before they come back to hold their hands up and sample another one.

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So, if you’ve a bit of a sweet tooth but don’t want to be left feeling like you’ve overindulged in something slightly too sickly, trying an entremet from Grué in Altrincham town centre might just be your ticket.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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