If you were to ask someone to paint a picture that summarised ‘community’, you’d like end up with a drawing of Station South in Levenshulme.
From families clustered around tables inside to chattering pals catching up on picnic tables outside, to cyclists pulling in for a bike service and a takeaway coffee to people admiring the on-site urban garden, this is a community hub for all ages and walks of life.
This is a room where you’ll see cotton baby grows and lycra one-piece suits and oversized denim and linen dresses all running along together.
Station South has a regular programme of events, from planned cycling trips to maintenance masterclasses, pub quizzes and mini markets.
Every Friday, DJs pop up for the weekly Platform Social, spinning disco, funk, soul and much more, and they host open deck nights where anyone with a vinyl collection can get involved.
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The building itself has been restored beautifully, with plenty of odes to its former life, from the wooden ceilings to the parquet floor.
It’s located around the halfway point of the Fallowfield Loop – in fact the busy cycleway passes directly underneath Station South. You can sit in the sunny side room and watch people cycling, running, scooting and skating along beneath you.
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A sunny side room looks over the Fallowfield Loop. Credit: The Manc GroupThe outside space at Station South in Levenshulme. Credit: The Manc GroupA sunny side room looks over the Fallowfield Loop. Credit: The Manc Group
Outside, there’s a sunny terrace bedecked with festoon lighting, and their little patch of green has been thoughtfully rewilded with native wildflowers and hedging.
There are picnic tables perched beneath pergolas crawling with plants, and even a few raised beds growing herbs.
As is so often the case with these suburban venues, Station South has a little something for everyone and for every time of day. That means roast dinners on Sunday, family-friendly seasonal menus, local beers, great wines, and plenty more.
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On its breakfast menu is a fall-off-your-bike-in-delight breakfast muffin – the Manc Muffin – an intimidating stack of sausage patty, hash brown, cheese, egg, and relish. They don’t scrimp on the fillings. You’ll get in a mess eating it and you won’t mind.
We also ordered a confit tomato, halloumi and butter bean toast dish with just the right amount of pesto stirred through.
That intimidating Manc Muffin. Credit: The Manc GroupExcellent Station South Coffees. Credit: The Manc GroupHalloumi, confit tomatoes and pesto butter beans on toast. Credit: The Manc Group
On a Saturday morning the place is packed and bustling in a comfortable, familiar sort of way.
And without the community Station South now serves, none of this might have existed.
A once bustling and integral part of Manchester’s public transport network, the former Levenshulme Station was gradually downgraded as electric trams arrived, war ravaged the economy, and the railways were nationalised.
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The building slowly stopped serving passengers, then reduced to goods only, then became a coal depot that simply watch trains pass through on their way to Manchester Central, until that also closed in 1969.
Inside Station South now. Credit: The Manc GroupInside Station South now. Credit: The Manc Group
In the late 1990s, a small group of keen cyclists rallied to have the old railway line turned into an urban greenway that would link up key South Manchester boroughs – this is, of course, the Fallowfield Loop (not actually a loop, before you get lost).
But the building above whizzed through several different iterations as various retail units before being almost completely abandoned and quickly falling into disrepair.
In 2017 a group of Levenshulme locals started their mission to bring the dilapidated but still-beautiful building back into use.
Drink prices at Parklife 2025 as festival-goers face £9.50 gin tins
Daisy Jackson
Parklife festival is a bucket list item for a huge swathe of young Manc music-lovers, with a massive line-up of dance, electronic and house music up in the fields at Heaton Park.
As the biggest party in the calendar, tens of thousands save up for tickets and to let their hair down for two days of the summer.
But as with all music and entertainment venues, prices for everything are creeping ever-higher.
And Parklife is not immune to the rising price of drinks, with spirits, beer, wine, and even pre-mixed cans more expensive than ever.
In our opinion… still worth it.
Here are the drink prices across Parklife 2025.
Spirit and mixers
Smirnoff No.21 Vodka- £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Captain Morgan Spiced Gold – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Captain Morgan Black Spiced – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Johnnie Walker Black Label – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Gordon’s London Dry Gin – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Gordon’s Pink Gin – £11.80 for double, £7.90 for single
Casamigos Blanco Tequila – £14.80 for double, £10.90 for single
Included mixers: Pepsi Max, Pepsi Max Cherry, 7Up Free, Ginger Beer, Tonic, Soda, Grapefruit Soda
Rockstar Energy drink mixers: Tropical Guava, Peach Zero Sugar, Original – +£1
Free Glastonbury-themed festivals with pizza, tequila, and big screens to take place in Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Glastonbury weekend is upon us, and to celebrate the UK’s biggest music festival in all its glory, Nell’s is hosting its own festivals instead.
Hundreds of thousands of people will be making the trek to the fields of Worthy Farm next weekend, as Glastonbury 2025 headliners Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Young, and The 1975 bring the tunes, alongside a list of other talented names too big to even begin starting to reel off – as is always the case with Glastonbury, there’s something for everyone.
But for those of us not lucky enough to have bagged tickets to what is undeniably the biggest event in the British music calendar, not to worry, as Nell’s is where it’s at here in Greater Manchester.
The beloved New York-style pizza specialists – which now has four sites across the region – is turning two of its most popular restaurants into festival hubs next weekend, bringing all the spirit of Glastonbury to Kampus and Altrincham.
Manchester‘s thriving canalside neighbourhood Kampus will become home to the aptly-named Kampus Fest, while over in the Trafford town of Altrincham, Alty Fest will be in full force.
Nell’s is hosting its own FREE Glastonbury-themed festivals at Kampus and in Altrincham / Credit: Supplied
At Kampus, the gardens will be transformed into a city centre festival site for a free three-day party featuring big screens live streaming the full Glastonbury festival throughout, plus a pop-up market, face painting and hair tinsel stations, an outdoor tequila and margarita bar, happy hours, and of course, lots and lots of Nell’s pizza.
Altrincham is bringing you much of the same – the same big screens, the same tasty pizza slices, and the same happy hours, only over two days instead of three.
Family fun is also at the heart of both Kampus Fest and Alty Fest, so you can expect lots of crafting workshops and bunting making, accessory customisation stations, as well as all-day colouring sessions by Born to be Wild Child and Søstrene Grene.
Kampus Fest will take over the gardens at Kampus from Friday 27 – Sunday 29 June, while Alty Fest will take place at Nell’s Altrincham on both Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June.