Feature

Manor House Hotel & Spa – The magical garden spa near Manchester with TWO swim-up bars

What a gorgeous spot

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 2nd May 2026

There’s an increasing number of garden spas popping up around the UK, where you can soak and relax out in the open air.

But a lot of them are missing the key ingredient – the gardens.

That’s what makes Manor House Hotel & Spa over in Cheshire so special. It feels like it’s been built as garden first, spa second, in the way that pools and hot tubs seem to have been slotted in between established trees and flower beds and shrubs. 

It’s like stumbling onto the set of a romantic period drama, but with state-of-the-art spa facilities concealed into the grounds. I’m half expecting a sopping wet Colin Firth to emerge from a hot tub. 

And although the square footage of the garden spa is relatively small, it’s this clever landscaping that makes it feel like a never-ending maze where every turn reveals a new place to lie down. 

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There are covered, swinging beds in a herb garden. A sauna concealed as a potting shed. Private bookable hot tubs behind a hedge. 

And then the real whimsy – the secret garden. Opened just last year, this corner of the spa is home to a blisteringly turquoise heated pool, surrounded by charming sage green ‘sheds’ (which are actually a series of cosy indoor relaxation pods). 

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The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden
One of two cold plunge pools
One of two cold plunge pools
The relaxation sheds in the secret garden
The relaxation sheds in the secret garden
A huge heated pool
A huge heated pool
The Secret Garden's sauna
The Secret Garden’s sauna

There’s a second swim-up bar here, because why stop at one, a cold plunge pool with spring flowers wrapped around it, a lawn for sunbathing if you’re lucky, and a traditional Finnish sauna overlooking it all. 

It doesn’t stop there – weave along the footpaths and you’ll come across a sunken, circular hydrotherapy pool, a cosy summer house with noise-cancelling headphones you can plug in to, a gently heated panoramic laconium, hammocks, squishy sunbeds, swing seats, and so much more. 

The adjective that keeps coming to mind is ‘pretty’, but that almost feels too flippant for how gorgeous the spa garden is. 

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And you might think with it being an outdoor garden spa that it would be a waste of time in bad weather – but you’re wrong. 

Manor House has built subtle shelters which look more like garden pagodas over a lot of the facilities here, including part of the main pool and swim-up bar, and most of the double lounge beds. 

The main pool and swim-up bar
The main pool and swim-up bar
The Potting Shed sauna
The Potting Shed sauna
A classic cold plunge tub
A classic cold plunge tub
The hydrotherapy pool
The hydrotherapy pool

But even beyond that, your classic spa facilities like the saunas and salt steam chamber have been constructed in out-buildings, safe from the infamous North West weather, AND there’s a sizeable indoor pool, sauna and steam room back inside the main hotel building. 

The metal cold plunge tub is exposed to the elements – but if you’re being brave enough to dunk in this, a little drizzle is the least of your worries. 

They’ve got an enormous list of treatments on offer here, whether you want to be scrubbed and rubbed into a new person, or give your skin a real boost with a facial. Once you’re done with your treatment, Manor House has built a cosy relaxation lounge, where you can pull the curtains across your own private booth to sip a cup of herbal tea and unwind.

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Private relaxation booths for post-treatment
Private relaxation booths for post-treatment
Mezze lunch
Mezze lunch
Dinner in the Stables
Dinner in the Stables
Breakfast the next day
Breakfast the next day
The Salt Shed
The Salt Shed
Drinks from The Bothy Bar, a swim-up bar in the secret garden
Drinks from The Bothy Bar, a swim-up bar in the secret garden
The indoor pool
The indoor pool
The Stables restaurant
The Stables restaurant
Bedrooms
Bedrooms
Covered beds in the herb garden
Covered beds in the herb garden

Alongside all that relaxing, a typical spa package at Manor House may include an afternoon tea, a brunch, or a mezze platter lunch, with a glass of fizz served to you in the Pool House.

And if you go for the overnight, you’ll be sinking into a huge plush bed, full from a refined British gastropub dinner in the hotel’s cosy restaurant space, The Stables.

Manor House is currently running a full Spring Renewal Spa Escape, for the ultimate taste of everything that’s on offer while the gardens are in full bloom.

The Manor House Spring Renewal Spa Escape package

  • An overnight hotel stay
  • A 60-minute Collagen Renewal Ritual (a soothing, exfoliating back massage, followed by a luxurious collagen facial)
  • Full access to the spa, with 18 spa experiences, on both days of your stay
  • A delicious three-course dinner in the Stables restaurant
  • A full breakfast the next morning
  • A spa gift worth £20

You can see more and book it HERE. 

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Feature

Five Greater Manchester-based music artists you should listen to | April 2026

Danny Jones Danny Jones Best new Manchester music bands and artists to check out

Ay up, you lot – we’re back with another box office batch of music from in and around Greater Manchester for you to get your teeth stuck into.

We’d like to think you know the deal by now, but if not, here’s a quick rundown for you…

Every month, we look back on the local bands and artists, either hailing from or now based in the area, that are spending regular time in our rotation.

It doesn’t matter if they’re still just young prospects or they’ve been at it for decades: if it’s good and it’s been in our ears, it goes on the list. Ready? Let’s go, then.

Five Manc bands and artists we’ve been listening to recently

1. Harry Lyon

First up is April’s cover star: the wonderfully talented Harry Lyon, who is another born and bred and now quietly plying his trade here in Greater Manchester and already showcasing a great level of versatility early in his career.

He moved to the city from Sheffield not too long ago, and his creative output has only ramped up since he got here. Toying with everything from alt-pop/indie to straight singer-songwriter stuff that wouldn’t sound out of place on the radio, his often R’n’B-esque vocals mean he can turn to multiple styles.

We actually lucky enough to bump into him in person earlier this month over in Stretford, and you’ll be glad to hear he’s also as sound a person as we hoped he’d be; he even teased a new single on the way, but for now, we’ll recommend ‘Violet’, ‘Backwards’ and the piano version of ‘While We’re Still Young’.

In fact, he does acoustic versions for most of his songs, and a fair few of them genuinely rival the originals in their own way.

@harrylyonmusic

Can't a guy worry about violet in peace

♬ original sound – Harry Lyon

2. Black Grape

From an up-and-comer to some Manc veterans that often get overlooked in the shadow of their even longer-standing and more well-known predecessors, but we’re going to go out on a limb and say something controversial here… We think we might prefer Black Grape to Happy Mondays.

Before you bite our heads off, let us explain: while the Mondays are obviously way more iconic and had a huge influence on the overall Madchester scene, we would argue that their progenic spin-off are almost a more honed evolution of at least some of what the Ryders and co. first created a buzz around.

Not only do the likes of ‘Kelly’s Heroes’, ‘Nine Lives’, ‘String Theory’ and more have so much more guitar in them (which will always score extra points for me), but more importantly, there is so much more successful experimentation with different instruments, cultural sounds and blends of energy.

It can be hard to know where to start, but those three examples aren’t bad options, and ‘In The Name of The Father’ is also such a vibe – we’re hoping we see it on the setlist for Outwards Fest next month.

3. Hungry

For fans of Sports Team, Spangled, Deadletter, and pretty much any current post-punk pioneers, these former students who originally hail from Cambridgeshire but have come up in and around the local rock scene have been making a splash for a little while, and now it feels like things are hitting a fever pitch.

Sometimes the idiosyncratic lyrics put you in mind of rising Oldham star, Seb Lowe; there’s even one intro that could be the start of a more upbeat and melody-forward King Krule, and you even get notes of Slaves/Soft Play at times. Whatever you hear, personally, you won’t find a bad song – we haven’t yet.

As the lyrics on ‘Are You The Best Yet?’ state, some of this stuff literally makes our knees go weak. We can’t remember the last time a band came around that has you eagerly awaiting the inevitable guitar break, let alone when you fully lock into one and pull a face (we’ve all got our own).

They’re so, SO good, and they help prolong some songs that, while brilliant, could feel more like fast-paced flashes in the pan without them. It all amounts to something extra and ups an already healthy dose of swagger: that’s definitely what you get on the recent ‘Cambridge Is On Fire’ and most of their tracks.

4. Dead Stilettos

In at number four is another one to watch within the genre. Some industry figures have equated them to the likes of the Amyl and the Sniffers, Lambrini Girls, Viagra Boys, and so on, but we think there’s a much cooler sense of darkness going on with their approach – however familiar the repetitive guitar playing and aggressive, shouty vocals may be.

Luckily, their discography – not unlike that of their aforementioned punky peers – isn’t that extensive just yet, so you can easily work your way through all their releases soon enough, and they’ve also got a big gig at White Hotel coming up just after they drop their debut LP, Hodge Podge. Watch this space…

Our present picks would be ‘American Boy II’, ‘Marina’ for the foreboding sense of build and that central riff alone, and you simply have to listen to their latest single, ‘Creeping Offences’, which, understandably, is the best track in terms of production they’ve dropped yet.

We want to see them live before passing any decisive judgement, but we like what we’re seeing so far.

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5. A Certain Ratio

Now, we’ve touched on electronic-influenced alternative group in Black Grape, but what about another truly influential act from within that fluid space? Probably one of your bands/favourite DJ’s favourite artists, whether you know it or not, A Certain Ratio were tastemakers long before even they knew.

If the previous two are post-punk, then these lot are the funkier forerunners, known for their trademark muted strumming patterns, heavily distorted, codified and multi-layered mixes, ACR have been going nearly half a century now, and they were doing all this stuff long before virtually anyone else.

You’ll inevitably fall down a bit of a rabbit hole listening to their stuff, but ‘All Comes Down To This’ is a good starting point, and ‘1982’ has always made us think of what a Doctor Who-themed rave might sound like.

Oh, and purely because it still sticks with us as an eye-opening first listen, it really doesn’t get much better than this one:

And once again, that’s all she wrote.

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We hope you dive into at least some of these names over the long bank holiday weekend, as three uninterrupted days of listening couldn’t have timed any better.

As always, if you have any local shouts that you think we need to get on like yesterday, please let us know in the comments; it’s also worth checking out our new dedicated monthly and regional artist spotlight series over on Audio North.

Last but not least, be sure to check out last month’s list down below, and we’ll catch you again for another load of listening at the end of May!

Five Greater Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this past month | March 2026

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Featured Images — Press shot/Lucy Craig)/Southdown Sessions (screenshot via YouTube)

Feature

A masterclass in The Art of Loving: Olivia Dean brings two unforgettable nights to Co-op Live

Emily Johnson Emily Johnson Olivia Dean Manchester gig review

Olivia Dean took over Co-op Live for not one, but two nights this weekend – and what she delivered felt like a full-circle celebration of The Art of Loving, her incredible sophomore album. 

From the moment Olivia’s silhouette appeared behind the curtain on night two, opening with the album’s title track, it was clear this evening was going to be special.

With a sea of polka dots on arrival, it’s evident that the 27-year-old already has great influence when it comes to style with her fans, and you could spot anyone who was attending Olivia Dean around Manchester city centre immediately.

Despite performing to a crowd of over 20,000 people, the performance felt incredibly intimate, with interactions with the crowd through the evening, even pointing out a fan’s banner saying they had been a fan of Olivia since 2019, which she was humbly taken aback by.

Her voice carried effortlessly around the arena, somehow still managing to feel soft and personal, like she was singing directly to you.

No Dean show would be complete without her incredible outfits either, and last night we were truly spoilt, with two outfit changes throughout the evening, which split the night into three chapters. 

Initially appearing in a black sequin number, before reappearing in the middle of the crowd in an all-white outfit, evocative of an angel –  a moment that felt intimate even in a room that size. 

Later, with disco balls lowered and the energy lifted, she returned in another glitzy look for the more upbeat tracks, including a crowd-pleasing cover of ‘Move On Up’. With her band behind her, the sound filled the arena beautifully.

olivia dean concert review
olivia dean manchester gig review
Credit: Audio North

Everyone was on their feet having a good time, but no one was having as much fun as the woman herself, Olivia Dean.

And that’s the thing with Miss Dean, no one at her gigs is having half as much fun as she is. She’s always smiling, always glowing.

Put simply, she’s a proper ray of sunshine on stage. Towards the end of the show, Olivia looked up at the crowd and stated, “It’s magic in here tonight, Manchester”, and we all believed her.

Looking around at the crowd, arms around each other, best friends, couples – it was hard not to feel the magic too.

Highlights included ‘UFO’ with a sea of lights, which in the moment gave the whole room goosebumps, and of course, the confetti cannon, which was the grand finale to an incredible evening. 

coop live confetti cannon
Credit: The Manc

And on that note, if the opportunity ever arises to take a loved one to see Olivia Dean, there would be no stronger act of service than that.

What a TRULY unforgettable night. 

Over at Manchester’s other big music arena, the team also got to witness a much louder but equally special show…

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

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