Rochdale Town Hall is one of Greater Manchester’s most impressive and historic buildings – but until now, large parts of the building have been closed to the public.
All that has changed this weekend when, following several years of careful restoration, the magnificent Grade I-listed giant threw open its doors.
From Sunday 3 March, people are able to visit Rochdale Town Hall completely free of charge seven days a week (excluding Bank Holidays), exploring grand halls, historic offices, and impressive sweeping staircases.
The landmark looms over the heart of Rochdale town centre, an easy walk from tram and train stations.
Up until this year, spaces were available to book for events like weddings, and it was used for official business, but has never been properly utilised as a tourist attraction.
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It’s taken a 500-strong team of volunteers and teams of conservation specialists thousands of hours to bring it fully back to its former glory – they’ve carefully stripped away years of grime using cotton buds and other equipment to expertly bring life back to the ornate stained glass windows and historic features in almost every room.
So what exactly is it like inside after its multi-million-pound refurb, you ask? Well it’s pretty damn impressive.
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The most breathtaking space of all is the Great Hall, where 350 hand-painted panels cover the vaulted ceiling, carved wooden angels hold lanterns, stained glass windows tower overhead, an enormous organ stands on the stage, and a huge Magna Carta mural covers one wall.
The incredible hand-painted ceiling panels in the Great HallInside Rochdale Town Hall
It’s a room filled with red and gold patterns, including images of the English lions and Scottish thistle, and you might recognise these colourful walls from a little show called Peaky Blinders…
But before you even reach this point, there are wonders to behold.
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The Grand Staircase sweeps its way up from the ground floor – look up and you’ll see enormous stained glass windows documenting Rochdale’s place on the global stage.
The Exchange will be used as the town hall’s main entrance, where different shades of granite and marble were used to make candy-striped ceilings, and craftsmen carved various flora and fauna into the stone pillars.
The Great Staircase at Rochdale Town HallThe Exchange will be used as the main entrance for Rochdale Town Hall
Off here there’s a brand-new exhibition space, known as the Welcome Gallery, which tracks the timeline of the landmark, including the fire that destroyed its original clock tower (it was later re-designed by the legendary Alfred Waterhouse).
There are also historic spaces, where the walls are covered not with wallpaper but with hand-painted patterns. These intricate designs have also been restored.
In one room, you can see the history of the cotton industry in the paintings, from the Ancient Egyptians all the way up to the industrial era that Rochdale played such a huge part in.
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And as well as celebrating the historical features of Rochdale Town Hall, there are also new artworks that have been created with local community groups and schools, celebrating present day Rochdale.
Rooms which were formerly used by council staff and councillors have been turned into usable spaces for the public, like the new Bright Hall, which has double-height ceilings, angels along the walls, and a window overlooking the Great Hall from up high. The Bright Hall will now be available for community use and events.
Hundreds of volunteers and specialists have worked on Rochdale Town Hall’s refurbishmentAnother grand space in Rochdale Town Hall
When it officially reopens on Sunday 3 March, there’ll be bookable tours, longer opening hours, and new exhibition spaces for locals and visitors to explore.
And in a few months’ time, a brand new restaurant – The Martlet – will open, under the steer of executive chef Darren Parkinson who has honed his craft at some of the country’s best gastropubs.
The whole building has been made fully accessible for the first time, and there are new heating systems and a sturdier roof in place to future-proof Rochdale Town Hall for decades to come.
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Councillor Neil Emmott, leader of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It’s been a long wait for our residents and I’m delighted that they will finally get to see their beautiful town hall, fully restored in all its glory.
“Not only will they see the town hall they know and love, looking as good as it would have when it first opened in 1871, but they will see brand new features, like the Welcome Gallery, which makes it an even better space than it was before. We can’t wait to welcome people back in.”
One of many beautiful stained glass windows inside Rochdale Town HallThe huge organ in Great Hall
Councillor Janet Emsley, cabinet member with responsibility for Rochdale Town Hall, said: “Sunday 3 March will be a wonderful celebration, but it’s really just the beginning for our brand new town hall. Our new offer means that residents will be able to see it and enjoy it seven days a week.
“We will soon be offering guided tours, alongside a full activity, events and education programme, which will be revealed soon.
“We anticipate the opening day being very busy, so people who would prefer a quieter experience may wish to come along another day. This beautiful building certainly isn’t going anywhere and our new extended opening hours offer many opportunities to enjoy this special place.”
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The huge project was made possible with funding support to the tune of an £8.9m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
For its launch weekend, there’ll be activities at Rochdale Town Hall like rug tufting workshops, the roving Bombay Raja brass band, and a special puppet show by Fool’s Paradise.
Pre-booking is now full but walk-ups are available, so, if you don’t mind a wait, you can head to Rochdale Town Hall between 10am and 4pm this Sunday to see the incredible spaces for yourself.
For more information about the town hall, including opening times and upcoming events and activities, go to rochdaletownhall.co.uk.
Did you know the world’s biggest pancake was made in Greater Manchester?
Harry Quick
Greater Manchester holds a lot of records, but did you know that we’re the proud title holder of the world’s biggest pancake?
Yep, cast your mind back to Rochdale in 1994 and you may remember a Guinness World Record-breaking attempt to create the biggest pancake ever seen.
Tens of thousands of Mancs poured out to watch the enormous breakfast item being flipped.
The event took place several months outside of Shrove Tuesday, aka Pancake Day, in August, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of The Co-operative Union Ltd.
And it’s a record Greater Manchester still holds today.
It took a tanker full of pancake mixture made using Co-op products, and a 50ft pan to create the massive pancake in Rochdale.
Actual cranes had to be brought in to do the flipping throughout the day, to ensure both sides cooked evenly.
At the end, it measured 15 metres in diameter and weighed three tonnes, measuring an inch thick.
After a few complicated flips, the finished product was dusted off with lemon and sugar, which seems like the safer option than an industrial vat of Nutella.
The world's biggest #pancake was created here in #Rochdale in 1994. Measuring 15.1 metres diameter and 2.5cm thick, it weighed 3 tonnes! #PancakeTuesday The feat was organised by The Co-operative Union Ltd. Flippin fantastic! @GWR 👏😋 pic.twitter.com/fDdvB9Zrdf
Guinness World Record experts were in town to confirm that it was in fact the world’s largest pancake and not just a massive waste of flour eggs and milk.
And actually, none of it was wasted – the giant Rochdale pancake was cut up and divided into 15,000 individual portions, sold at 24p a pop.
Apparently, and unsurprisingly, the 50ft crepe tasted crap.
According to the Co-operative Heritage Trust, 40,000 people attended to witness the great pancake flip.
Were you there? Did you eat it? Share your memories with us on Facebook here.
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | February 2025
Danny Jones
Well, how now music fans!? We’re back again for February with five more Greater Manchester-based artists, be they new, old or already high-flying, that we’ve been listening to over the past 28 days in this case.
And believe us, this month’s a corker.
If you’re new to the series this year, it’s pretty self-explanatory: every month we round up five up-and-coming or just downright entertaining artists from around the region to spotlight and remind ourselves why our hometown is the absolute best place for music in Britain – nay, the planet.
Hyperbole? Maybe. Do we care? Nah, so let’s waste any more time and introduce to to some Manchester artists that might be new to you.
Greater Manchester artists of the month
1. Bou
First up on our list new Manchester music you need to be listening to is, rather fittingly, Bou. We didn’t plan for that to rhyme, but what we can tell you is that the 25-year-old producer and DJ is making some serious waves.
Having just announced a tour of the USA and Canada this spring into summer, the Algerian-British beatmaker’s name could soon go stratospheric as our friends across the pond continue to immerse themselves in more UK dance and electronic music, as well as grime and DnB.
Bou made a big name for himself in 2023 after hopping on ‘Baddadan’ with the legendary Chase and Status; he’s just dropped a big new track with Aitch too but he’s actually been grinding since 2015. He’s only getting better but we’d say start with ‘Raving In The Studio’, ‘Wicked & Dark’ and ‘Streetside’.
From the EDM side of things to indie excellence from over Wigan way and one of the most promising bands to have come out of Greater Manchester—sorry, Lancashire* (they were insistent on that) and that is, of course, The Lathums.
We’ve made no secret of our love for these lads over the last few years in which they’ve seen a meteoric rise and now their third studio album, Matter Does Not Define, has officially dropped, we were more than willing to dive back in. Interview dropping on socials soon, by the way, so keep your eyes peeled…
You’ll get more of those charming folk vibes with plenty of swaggering guitars, trotting drums and more of their trademark “dark Western” approach intros and riffs, but the decibels, rock feel and vocals have been dialled up a notch. ‘Leave No Stone Unturned’, ‘No Direction’ and ‘Long Shadows’. You’re welcome.
TRUCK FESTIVALLLL!!!🚛🎪
We are absolutely buzzing to announce we’re back at @TruckFestival this year🔥
We cannot wait for this, gonna be one to remember 🫡 (vid is from last year😮💨) pic.twitter.com/cVOxS8dMhI
Now this one is for all the moshers, throwback rock and pop punk fans, as well as anyone who loves it when British rock bands aim to recreate that unmistakably American sound – only this stuff is contemporary.
Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but we’re pretty confident if you regularly tuned into the likes of Kerrang TV, NME and Scuzz back in their heyday, not only would you instantly fall in love with them but they’d already be massive now.
We saw these local lads live and Night and Day recently and not only were they brilliant but their unapologetic frontman was great value. They’ve just released their debut EP Northern Blood, on which you can see the Manchester skyline and hear ‘Can’t Get Over It’, ‘Principles’ and ‘Remember His Name’.
As far as new Manchester music goes, we’re glad the city is pumping out stuff like this.
4. Oceans on Mars
Next up is another band we saw that very same random weeknight on a whim and also managed to get us very excited. Opening up for All Now were fellow Manc rockers Oceans on Mars, who provided everything from Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains to Nirvana, hints of Soundgarden, Deftones and more.
It felt rather fitting that we got all these vibes before the headliners finished with a cover of ‘Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)’, but it’s also rare that you get a night full of growly-guitar, gravelly-throated grunge like this in 2025. Not that we were complaining. It was ace.
The intro to ‘Mousetrap’ makes us instantly think of ‘All Apologies’ only instead of Kurt Cobain you get Haydyn Biddle’s voice and it certainly sticks with you. ‘Let Me Know’ is another catchy track and third place goes to ‘Mirror’, which kicked off the post-2020 era with their new frontman. Give them a go.
Last but not least is a reminder that not every new discovery necessarily has to be new; in this case, it can just be a rediscovery of an experimental genre-bending collection of musicians that were way ahead of many other Manchester artists of the time.
If you’ve never taken a deep dive into the world of Durutti Column, we will warn you that it can turn into a bit of a rabbit hole. In fact, beyond the most well-known tracks like ‘Otis’, ‘Jaqueline’ and so on, we’re not going to even recommend tracks this time: just immerse yourself in the incredible soundscapes that Vini Reilly and co. built over several decades.
Be it making a sandpaper LP sleeve that damaged other records stored around it (so nonchalantly punk), or their sheer amount of variety in the discography, we firmly believe they’re among the most overlooked artists in Manchester music history. They even featured in the soundtrack of the most recent series of The Bear, which gave us an immense amount of joy, especially with just how well they used it.
Oop! Would you look at that? Once again, we’re out of time already. Sad face.
We hope you enjoyed digging into more Manchester music, both new and old, that you might not have heard before. Do go away and do your extra research on them too, that’s part of the fun.
In the meantime, you can find out our first picks of the year in our list of new Manchester bands and artists we were in January, but for now, we’ll catch you next time.
Oh, and don’t forget to keep it locked to Audio North for more round-ups, music news, gig guides and interviews like this one:
Daisy Jackson -
29th February 2024 
