Thor’s Cave is one of the Peak District’s most impressive structures – and the river that flows nearby has its own stories too.
When people think of caves in the Peak District, their minds will turn to the world-famous tourist hotspots Blue John Cavern and its neighbours in Castleton.
But there’s a mighty cave, down on the Staffordshire side of the Peak District, that’s often overlooked.
This is Thor’s Cave, a huge natural cavern located in a steep limestone crag.
Its structure dominates the horizon, but it’s the view from inside the cave itself that makes this well worth the drive.
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Once you scramble into Thor’s Cave – and the rocks can be icerink-slippy, so take care – its limestone walls create a picture frame looking over the Manifold Valley.
Thor’s Cave from above. Credit: Instagram, @aurimaskanThe cave in autumn. Credit: Instagram @jennieclaydon
Thor’s Cave is in the Staffordshire side of the Peaks, a little further afield than some parts of this beloved national park.
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It’s around an hour and a half’s drive from Manchester itself to the village of Wetton, or less if you live on the south side of the region.
But it’s well worth the trip.
It’s believed that this ancient structure was occupied by early humans in the Palaeolithic period, after remains, tools, pottery and bronze items were found here by archaeologists.
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If you’re thinking the cave looks familiar too, you might recognise it as the cover image of The Verve’s debut album, A Storm in Heaven, and from their music video for Blue.
A 7.5km circular walk from Wetton village will take you all along the course of the River Manifold and pass by Thor’s Cave, and other caves in the valley.
The river itself has been nicknamed the ‘disappearing river’, for good reason.
Unless there’s been particularly wet weather, the river vanishes around Wetton Mill and doesn’t reappear until Ilam Hall, about six kilometres away.
It’s all down to the limestone riverbed, which is pockmarked with sinkholes and underground channels and caves.
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In dry weather you can walk along the empty riverbed, knowing that the River Manifold is still flowing way beneath your feet.
And when you’re all walked out, you can settle down for a pint and a pie at the traditional country pub, the Royal Oak.
We’ve found some of the best Chinese food in town – being served out of a snooker hall
Danny Jones
Yes, you heard us right: we’ve stumbled across one of our favourite new places for Chinese food just on the outskirts of Manchester city centre – it just so happens to be served out of a best-in-class snooker hall.
And that really is just the tip of the iceberg here.
Some of you may have heard about and/or seen it already, but we’ll admit we were a little late to the party when it comes to Club 200, a.k.a. the pool, snooker, darts, mahjong club and more, which has so many different things rolled into that it’s really more a Russian doll than a Chinese restaurant or sports venue.
The hook speaks for itself: a place where people spend just as much time practising with chopsticks as they do their cues, as it really isn’t a gimmick, as some pessimistic folk would have you think – the food is banging and so are the vibes in general.
Not only is this quite literally the best snooker club in Manchester – complete with everything from classic American billiards and Chinese 8-ball to king-size snooker tables that the Ronnie O’Sullivan has played and won on, to a special AI system you won’t find anywhere else – it is SO much more than that.
Whilst the backroom was packed with everyone from casuals to those looking to get their pro certification via the official Q Tour, and lads in the front were practising their arrows, as co-owner Simon admitted they get almost just as many darts regulars these days, a storm was cooking up in the kitchen.
It would be unfair to say this place doubles as a bar and restaurant, because we really couldn’t get over how well put together this menu was.
‘Café 200’s food offerings involve classics like fried rice and chow mein dishes, to the kind of sides you could expect from your local Chinese chippy, but it’s even more authentic exports that really impress.
For instance, the beef ho fun seemed to be a big hit with everyone; we loved the salty seafood udon as well (a great chew on those noodles), and we know plenty of people still searching for proper Hong Kong-style French toast – they might just find it here.
Speaking of the special administrative region, which has a twisting and turning but nevertheless rich culinary culture all of its own, that last dish had us hopping with joy.
You’re looking at baked Portuguese rice: a Macau speciality rooted in the region’s colonial history.
We’ve never quite had anything like it before, even in all of our years eating this kind of cuisine around the 10 boroughs, but we haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
And then there’s everything else they do, from karaoke and bingo nights to catering for birthdays and other functions, or even just serving as a cool, somewhat tucked-away spot to watch the footy and other live sport come the weekend.
You can tell this place has built up a real community over the last 18 months or so, and while the food speaks for itself, it’s the sheer abundance and variety going on that makes it especially charming to so many.
Speaking of jack-of-all-trade venues, we stumbled across a similar multi-talented one over in Salford not so long ago, too…
‘Manc the Biff’: the Co-op Live crowd made the Clyro boys welcome on debut
Danny Jones
It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time to welcome Biffy Clyro back to Manchester, and they really didn’t disappoint on their Co-op Live debut.
Here’s our review of what was a proper rock show.
After a strong lineup of support acts with The Armed and Soft Play (formerly Slaves) injecting plenty of early energy into the crowds, already knew two things: the Scots wouldn’t disappoint, and a Manc crowd NEVER lets you down.
We knew everyone was on top form from the moment the Kilmarnock icons stepped out on stage under a swathe of blankets to the opener from their latest album, Futique.
Once the curtain was eventually lifted during ‘A Little Love’, which has quickly become one of the most popular singles for some time, you could see the sea of fans below start bouncing.
Rolling into the likes of ‘Hunting Season’ and Only Revolutions classic, ‘The Captain’, those bounces quite quickly turned into a healthy-sized pit, and those up in the stands with us finally got on their feet.
That was maybe our only complaint: we love seeing a seated section pretending they’re in standing from their start, but we get it and each to their own, of course.
In fact, the same goes for the rest of the session players joining them on the road this year.
One thing we weren’t expecting was quite how cool the production levels were going to be. We’ve never been Biffy fans for their creativity when it comes to toying with stage design or lighting rigs, but they threw in some fun effects regardless.
Highlights from the night included ‘Tiny Indoor Fireworks’, ‘Bubbles’, and ‘Black Chandelier’, though we were sad not to hear ‘Victory Over The Sun’, and it was especially gutting that one of our favourite tracks from the new record, ‘True Believer’, didn’t end up on the setlist.
Again, you can’t have anything – we’re just glad we got to be there and see a truly great British rock band proving that they are well and truly an arena-level band.
Lastly, even after all the years and an X-Factor cover trying its hardest to take the credit away from them, ‘Many of Horror’ is still an unbelievable rock ballad, and d’ya know who is an unbelievable rock band? “Biffy. F***ing. Clyroooooo.”
Daisy Jackson -
4th July 2024 
