Head down to The Royal Exchange arches on Cross Street today, and you’ll find yourself in the humble, heartwarming labyrinthine of hygge homeware.
The cosy Danish retail outlet Sostrene Grene sits peacefully at the entrance point – inviting passers-by to pop in and peruse shelves upon shelves of simple, elegant Scandi-style products.
By offering people a tranquil escape from the racket of the city around them, Sostrene Grene is in a rather fitting spot. After all, this section of The Royal Exchange has historically been associated with people ‘getting away’.
Back in the 1950s, this where you came to arrange trips to faraway lands.
It was, for a time, the Manchester Air Terminal.
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The old air terminal at The Royal Exchange where customers would check-in for their flights and board buses to the airport / Image: Manchester Libraries
The Manchester Air Terminal was moved from the corner of Oxford Street and Lower Mosley Street in the early fifties to The Royal Exchange – with the blue and silver buses parking up in St Ann’s Square.
Passengers were able to check in for their flights at the desks here and then board shuttle buses which would whisk patrons 10 miles south to Manchester Airport.
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Services were direct and didn’t stop anywhere else along the way – connecting with specific flights due to take off on that date.
These airport buses would also bear the names of the flight destination – meaning at the time you would see vehicles trundling around the city with ‘Madrid’, ‘Zurich’ or ‘New York’ splashed across the front displays.
According to Manchester Archives, the Air Terminal catered for passengers flying with multiple airlines – including BEA, BOAC, Air France, Swissair and Sabena.
The Royal Exchange in 2021, of course, is a very different place – with the Air Terminal long since shut down and the iconic building now populated by retailers.
After being forced into hibernation for much of the year due to the pandemic, The Royal Exchange arcade has now fully reopened – filled with 40 outlets ranging from fashion stores to cafes.
For more information about the history and upcoming events at The Royal Exchange, visit the official website.
In celebration of the 100th birthday, The Royal Exchange is encouraging anyone who has any stories or pictures they’d like to share on social media to tag @royalexchangemanchester (Facebook and Instagram) or @TheRoyalExMcr (Twitter) and use the hashtag #ExchangeMemories.
Alternatively, people can email f[email protected] with #ExchangeMemories in the subject line.
Featured image: Manchester Airport
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You can get a mobile massage treatment in your office – just like us
Thomas Melia
We’d like to introduce you to the pioneering personalised service offering massage treatments on the move at practically any location including direct from your office– including to those of us here in Manchester.
In a world where you can get practically anything delivered straight to your door, it wasn’t going to be long until some genius invented a way to get a massage from the comfort of your own office.
Named ‘London’s first digital beauty concierge’, Ruuby have been pampering the nation’s capital for almost a decade before branching out to further locations.
The gorgeous set up provided by RuubyLook at that lovely branding on the towels.They did wonders with our otherwise plain downstairs office space. (Credit: The Manc Group)
In October 2024, the company expanded beyond its domestic reach in the likes of the capital, the Cotswolds and Surrey into Europe, making its first mark Switzerland: the perfect country for both luxury and essential beauty treatments with a tailored experience.
The month following saw the group moving up North and all the way to Manchester, where people can now book professional treatments best suited to them, right on their doorstep.
If you’re feeling scepticalstill, you can take it from us here at The Manc; we couldn’t tell you how relaxing and comforting these massages are.
There are a range of treatments available and we opted for two bespoke massages, a sports massage and a deep tissue massage.
Each experience is suited to your personal needs meaning each massage therapist will be able to fine-tune their relaxation abilities to what benefits you best.
After choosing the bespoke massage that I felt would work best for me, I went into this with no prior massage experience and I came out feeling taller, broader and more refreshed. Highly recommend.
Mid-day office massage? Yes, please.How relaxing. What a shame you have to go back to work after!Credit: The Manc Group
My masseuse guided me throughout the whole process and we soon discovered that I was able to tolerate much harder pressure than I thought which helped release tension I didn’t even know I had!
The same applies to how firm you’d like your session to be, as the masseuse can help with a brief overview of your time together, but the amount of pressure you like is down to personal preference.
It’s not just massages either: there’s everything from waxing, nails and hair to physio and IV drips; how about getting Marbella ready in less than an hour with a spray tan service set up wherever you are?
As Ruuby is a mobile and remote work environment, there are a number of at any time up and down the country, meaning your next beauty slot could be as little as an hour away, find out more HERE.
Farm shops are cool now – and Albion Farm Shop is the best of the best
Daisy Jackson
At some point in life, your idea of a great day out switches from drinking and clubbing to visiting a farm shop, or a garden centre, or something similarly wholesome.
And up in the hills above Manchester is surely one of the best in the UK – Albion Farm Shop.
This Saddleworth favourite is half-cafe, half-shop, with produce all either grown right outside, or sourced as locally as possible.
And while places like Hollies Farm Shop in Cheshire pull in seriously big, glamorous crowds (maybe it’s the Molly-Mae effect), there’s something much more charming and authentic about Albion Farm Shop.
Maybe it’s the tractors parked outside, the fact the produce section is in a drafty barn, the mismatched shelves and cabinets. It’s not curated like this – it just is.
The food in the cafe itself is up there with the best British grub in the North West, and I say that with my hand on my heart.
Whether it’s a full breakfast spilling over the edge of a plate, sandwiches served in a doorstop of bread, or a full menu of burgers made with British beef cap and smoked bone marrow patties, you can’t steer far wrong.
Rag pudding at Albion Farm ShopChips with a side of bone broth gravy Those huge burgers
There are chunky chips served with a full bowl of bone stock gravy on the side (hello, this is Oldham), onion rings so big you can wear them as a bangle, and big bowls of homemade soup.
And it would be remiss of me not to mention the rag pudding, a traditional dish from this neck of the woods. Famously, she’s not a pretty menu item, but this steamed suet pastry stuffed with braised beef shin is comforting and delicious.
If you want to stick northern fare but don’t fancy rag pudding, you can also grab a wedge of cheese and onion pie, lambs liver with mash, or any number of seasonal specials (for us, it was roast pork).
There are cracking views of the surrounding countryside, a resident cat who’s usually sleeping in the entranceway, and charm packed into every square foot.
Albion Farm Shop is at Oldham Road, Delph, Saddleworth OL3 5RQ.
The resident cat at Albion Farm ShopRoast pork in the cafeThe Albion Farm Shop cafeAlbion Farm ShopInside the shop itselfThe produce barn Local cheesesBakery itemsThe produce barn
The Manc -
13th September 2021 
