You really don’t have to travel far from Manchester to find yourself surrounded by rolling hills and lush fields – it’s one of the best things about living here.
So for July’s instalment of our series A Manc’s Guide, we’re heading over to one of the prettiest spots in the north west, and just in time for summer.
Saddleworth is actually made up of several villages, all linked by twisting country lanes.
You’ll find glassy reservoirs, chocolate box villages, canals teeming with life, sweeping landscapes and bags more character here.
From Uppermill with its trendy high street full of bars and restaurants, to Delph nestled right down in the valley, there’s something to catch your eye.
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Food and drink
Albion Farm Shop and Cafe – This charming spot is worth the drive over to Saddleworth on its own. Food miles are pretty much wiped off the plate, with almost everything made on site with ingredients from Saddleworth. Expect seriously hearty farmer’s breakfasts, plus sandwiches on freshly baked farmhouse bread, cakes, and pies.
Grandpa Greene’s – Grandpa Greene’s ice cream is so legendary that during lockdown (when people were restricted to takeaways only), the queues forming outside literally stopped traffic. Their luxury ice cream pops up in restaurants all over the north west, but at its picturesque home on the canal you’ll find the full range of flavours, as well as pancakes, afternoon teas, and sandwiches.
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The Old Bell Inn – Not only is it home to a record-breaking selection of gin, The Old Bell Inn is also a properly decent country pub. We’re talking top-notch Sunday roasts, pies and puddings, steaks, burgers and hand-cut chunky chips.
Weaver and Wilde – Arguably some of the best coffee in the region is being brewed at Weaver and Wilde – it’s roasted down the road then made with milk a dairy herd grazing on Saddleworth grass. You can grab brunch, lunch and cakes here as well as your caffeine fix. They’ve just branched out with a greengrocers, selling fresh fruit and veg as well as other treats, over in Greenfield too.
Diggle Lock – Diggle Lock is one of the hottest hangouts in the north west, never mind in Saddleworth, turning an old textile mill into a daytime restaurant and pantry store. The team is focused on serving up ‘city centre sophistication’ in the beautiful countryside, with a menu of massive brunches and sandwiches, excellent coffee, and two-for-£12 cocktails. You can even order dog-friendly sides, like peanut butter or black pudding, for your pooch.
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The White Hart – For a pint with a view, The White Hart at Lydgate is arguably the best in the UK. This brilliant gastropub has earned plenty of critical acclaim for its food, but it still keeps the cosy community spirit of a village pub (complete with real ales, a roaring fire, and a lengthy wine list).
Health Honey – You might not hear ‘Oldham’ and think of cold pressed juices and acai bowls, but along came Health Honey in the village of Greenfield to change all that. This health-conscious cafe serves a brilliant range of breakfasts, lunches and drinks, including poke and buddha bowls, pancakes, and plant-powered full Englishes.
Donkeystone Brewing Co. – The craze for taprooms, where you can drink practically straight from the source and watch beer being brewed in front of you, has stretched over to Saddleworth. Donkeystone’s taproom serves craft beers in a space draped in fairy lights, and street food on the side.
Shopping
Uppermill in particular is an absolute hive of independent business, from local produce to clothing to gifts.
There’s Authentic, which describes itself as a treasure trove of artisan products; Puddleducks, which sells beautiful children’s clothing; and ‘slow fashion’ boutique Suki’s Wardrobe.
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You can pick up wines and spirits from Saddleworth Wine Vault or browse the mouth-watering deli selection at Oliviccio.
Then there’s the lovely Towpath Book Shop, sandwiched into a tiny building on the high street.
The Reclamation Room is a vibrant creative space for the community, and it’s also home to Style&Salvaged, which sources and sells ethical products.
Over in Delph, we’re very excited to see the doors to The Frostery Living’s homeware store open in the coming weeks.
A relative newcomer in Greenfield is The Old Cobblers, which sells natural wine, craft beer, great coffee and a range of gifts.
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Nightlife and hotels
If you’re wanting to go out dancing into the wee small hours, you’ll probably need to head a bit further towards Oldham town centre.
Having said that, the pubs here are usually buzzing into the evening, and Muse in Uppermill is open past midnight (with cocktail deals, DJs to go with your Sunday roast, and some occasional celeb spotting).
On the last Sunday of every month, the Off The Rails Comedy Club pulls up at The Royal George in Greenfield.
When it comes to accommodation, you’re spoilt for choice.
You can stay in several of the aforementioned pubs – like the Old Bell Inn and The White Hart – or rest your head in one of many beautiful cottages around Saddleworth.
This converted barn, complete with huge arched window, wooden beams, and loads of outside space, is pretty special too.
Culture
The Trinnacle above Dove Stone Reservoir. Credit: Instagram @peopleofthepeak
In a corner of Greater Manchester as picturesque as this, the great outdoors really is the best place to spend your spare time.
You can take a leisurely stroll or cycle along the many waterways, walk the perimeter of Dovestone Reservoir, or tackle the more challenging beauty spot above it (but be careful on this one, as more than a few walkers have come into trouble on the route).
It’s been cancelled again this year, but the Yanks weekend is usually a staple of Saddleworth’s cultural calendar, transporting the area back to the 1940s complete with entertainment, costume, vehicles and a parade.
You’ll also find a jazz festival, a blues festival, an art week, a traditional Rushcart and loads more things going on throughout the year.
The Weaver’s Factory is a contemporary art gallery that’s well worth a visit, and Uppermill Library is housed in one of the most beautiful buildings in the area.
Property
The outside of Hollins Hill Farm. Credit: Yorkshire’s Finest
Considering how beautiful and green Saddleworth it, there’s still a lot of relatively affordable property to be found (especially when you compare it to leafy suburbs like Altrincham and Didsbury).
According to the Land Registry, the average property price over the last year was £273,523, with the majority of homes sold being terraced houses.
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On the market currently you’ll find something at all ends of the budget spectrum.
Of all the villages in Saddleworth, Greenfield is the one that’s best-served by public transport.
The Transpennine Express train from Manchester to Huddersfield stops off here fairly regularly.
For the rest of Saddleworth, you’ll be reliant on buses to get around, like the 350 bus which helpfully weaves its way through Greenfield, Uppermill and Delph – and even stops right outside the Albion Farm Shop and Cafe.
Featured image: Unsplash
Feature
Circa Waves on their new album, unreal tour lineup, a big health scare and ‘the best band’ around right now
Danny Jones
With Circa Waves announcing a new album and a brand new UK tour early next year, we were very kindly given the privilege to chat with one of the most consistent indie bands of the past decade.
Sitting down with lead singer and rhythm guitarist Kieran Shudall, we were buzzing with questions about their upcoming record, what we’re dubbing as one of the best indie tour lineups in years, what they’re making of the UK music scene right now and, of course, why the North West is the best.
For anyone unaware, it’s been a pretty intense period for the Liverpool lads and their frontman, especially, after a health scare early last year, so we’re more grateful than ever that they’re back and looking in true fighting form ahead of their shows come February 2025.
You can read our full interview with Circa Waves down below.
Audio North interviews Kieran from Circa Waves
Circa Waves live in Kobetamendi, Bilbao at BBK Live 2017.Kieran gave us a really great, in-depth chat.Credit: Dena Flows/The Manc Group
Right off the bat, the sixth studio album is coming out, Death & Love Pt. 1. It’s a big, bold title – what can you tell us about it without giving too much away?
Well, ‘Death and Love’ was basically the first song I ever wrote for Circa. It was back in 2012 or something, but it never got released and it was just a title that was always lying around.
We were trying to think of a title for this record and with what I went through – like a big sort of health scare and then came out the other side and feeling very grateful for life – that seemed like a really appropriate title and I feel like it grabs your attention a little bit.
Feel free to move on if it’s too personal but if you would you mind telling us about the health scare?
We had to cancel a bunch of tours; I got told you have to sign this form that says you have a 100% chance of dying on the operating table, so that’s not cool. It was just mad and I kind of came through the other side feeling super grateful and happy to be alive and in a band, you know
I feel more fortunate now that I’ve got through it all, so a lot of the record is about getting through that and the fears that came along with it. It gave me some good material haha.
For sure, that trauma always serves great art at least. There’s obviously a part one in there too, so is the second done and was this a double album experience in the recording process?
I’m still doing it – finishing it right now actually. We kind of just had too many songs and thought let’s just split it into two. I guess back in the day it’d be like a double album but yeah, the first one is nine songs and this one I’m still deciding. Maybe 10?
There’s just had a lot of ideas and we thought, well, why not? In this day and age, it’s so easy to kind of put music out and people consume music so fast that it felt like we just may as well.
Absolutely. So where do you think you’ve pushed things sonically this time – is it more of an evolution or a continuation?
I feel like we’ve landed on our feet in what we’re about now, certainly what I think Circa Waves should sound like, so it’s kind of similar to the early records, I guess.
A lot more guitars, sort of raw, scrappy drums, and they feel like festival songs to me but obviously the subject matter is like 10 years on from the first record, so your life experience makes the lyrics different, but I hope that it sort of feels like a refinement of sorts.
And have you guys got a favourite track that you’re particularly excited for people to hear or a personal favourite?
The thing about band members is everyone just likes it when their instrument’s the loudest. I don’t know, there’s a track called ‘Hold It Steady’ which is quite different to anything we’ve done before; I’m excited for that one to be heard but I think they’re all bangers.
We’ll absolutely take that haha. For the tour, you’ve got an unreal lineup of support acts with Peace and our fellow Mancs, Corella – we’ve seen both of them this year and they were great – how did you go around picking your warm-ups?
Peace was a funny one, I sort of have liked them for a long time and I went to the old NME Tour that they were on in probably 2011 or something but I remember watching them being like, ‘Oh wow and man I’d love to do the NME Tour.
Circa Waves didn’t exist at the time and then a few years later we did it ourselves, so they were sort of a big inspiration for me to play indie music, so it was cool to have them on. And then Corella are just ones that have been cropping up every two minutes on my Instagram feed and they’re just like a really good indie band right now.
Peace at Kendal Calling 2024Corella had a pretty iconic moment on the main stage too…
So it all felt like a good fit and we kind of want to just make the night feel like a big festival of music that people will love that type of music really. It’s just a proper guitary indie night, you know?
Lovely, can’t complain about that. In terms of venues, you’ve got some great Northern institutions on there: The Academy in Leeds, Victoria Warehouse here in Manchester and your massive hometown show. How much do you love those dates as North West locals?
Yeah, I love it, man. I mean, there’s nothing better than playing up North and I know that sounds like something that people say to just please people from there but it really is the best.
Liverpool, obviously, for me is such a big one and my family all go to those ones, so it’s cool for that reason but Manchester’s always been an amazing crowd. I don’t know what it is about Manchester – Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Liverpool are always just amazing.
Bang on, and as for that hometown gig, how special is that Olympia show gonna be and do you have any special treatment up your sleeve?
You know what? I haven’t thought about it. There’s always the temptation of asking someone to get up with you. [Yeah, maybe get Jamie Webster on the go?] Yeah, I’ve been writing with Jamie and Miles [Kane] quite a bit but I don’t know. We’ll keep it all secret anyway.
Yeah let’s not spoil anything. Another one we’re always curious of is how much you consider that famous Manc vs Scouse rivalry in music. Do you buy into it at all?
I don’t know, I think in my life when you have like really p***ed up conversations with someone who’s more into the Manc scene than the Liverpool scene I just think we’ve got The Beatles, so we always win.
I do think, you know, you’ve got your Joy Divisions and your Smiths and your Oasis and all this – they’re amazing bands, but we’ve got The Beatles. So it’s just you can’t like. [Like the ultimate Top Trumps card] Yeah, in Pokemon, it’d be shiny Charizard.
Fair enough. What about other Northern acts you’re particularly excited by at the minute?
I mean, there’s so many but it’s too hard but the band I think are the best at the moment is Wunderhorse. I met Jacob [Slater] a while ago when he was doing Dead Pretties and I was like obsessed with his writing and he sent me a bunch of acoustic stuff and I was just like man, “You are f***ing annoyingly talented.”
Then when Wunderhorse came out and I was just blown away. It’s amazing to watch it just become this big thing now. It’s cool to see people on TikTok sharing clips of ‘Teal’ and just seeing kids getting into proper music. So yeah, love them, man – I’m so excited to see where they end up.
He’s not wrong, by the way. Their Manchester Academy gig in October was one the best of our lives and not to sound like needy cool kids but we’ve very much backed them from day one.
Chicago the Musical razzles (and dazzles) at the Palace Theatre in Manchester
Clementine Hall
A story of murder, greed and corruption was performed with style, ease and flair; Chicago is the longest-running American musical in Broadway and West End history, and it’s easy to see why now that it’s arrived in Manchester.
The jazz-fuelled fiasco is filled with catchy songs that you can’t help but click along to, funny one-liners, and likeable characters such as Miss Roxy Hart herself.
Best-known for appearing as Kate Connor in Coronation Street, the opening night in Manchester on Chicago‘s UK tour may have been a daunting prospect, but it’s one Faye Brookes pulled off seamlessly.
Here’s our full review…
Image: Press Images (Supplied)
Brookes is fantastically expressive and brings new energy to a classic, complemented throughout by a sultry cast dressed in buckles and mesh that really bring the ‘Razzle Dazzle’ to the stage.
Her co-star, Strictly Come Dancing‘s Kevin Clifton, struts through the show transformed into Billy Flynn – a flamboyant 1920s American lawyer who has the desperate inmates in the palm of his hand.
The opening number, ‘All That Jazz’, is spearheaded by Djalenga Scott as Velma Kelly and she does it brilliantly.
Image: Supplied
The cast slink their way across the stage with Scott at the forefront, who undoubtedly delivers a faultless performance and complements Brookes as Roxie Hart perfectly.
A highlight of course included the hilarious‘Cell Block Tango’, the audience were laughing along as the women sang the stories of their murderous deeds whilst performing sharp and sultry choreography.
Not even a toe out of place.
Image: Supplied
The set is minimalist, dark and simple, but is simply brought to life by the wonderful expression and lively musical numbers performed on stage by the live band.
The live band sits on a staircase centre stage and their playful use of instruments throughout is truly impressive.
Neil MacDonald, the show’s musical director, even got involved with a few on-stage conversations which was a fabulous touch that made the show feel bespoke to us.
Other notable performances included Brenda Edwards as Mamma Morton, whose powerhouse voice left the audience in absolute awe, and Joshua Lloyd as ‘Mister Cellophane’ caused a couple of pitiful “awws” from the auditorium.
Overall, this was a fantastic production of the Broadway classic – the standing ovation at the end proves I wasn’t the only one who thought that too.
Chicago the Musical is playing at the Palace Theatre Manchester until Saturday, 9 November and you can grab your last-minute tickets HERE.