Manchester is home to so much beautiful art, from the masterpieces hanging in its impressive galleries to the statues and murals that line its streets.
Wander around its back alleys long enough, though, and soon you’ll discover that what’s on the official tourist trail only scratches the surface.
Beyond the main thoroughfare, there’s more to seek out – with pieces of art sequestered on hidden backstreets, down city centre ginnels, and even up high on the top of buildings and – sometimes – carparks.
Keep reading for a true local’s guide to the hidden unique artworks you won’t find on the official maps.
Sound Bites on Oldham Street
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Image: Cypheronline
Image: Cypheronline
Created by Manchester-based artist Tim Rushton, it’s highly likely you’ve walked over this piece on a Northern Quarter pavement without noticing it’s there.
Comprised of 20 cast iron triangles, it is essentially Manchester’s very own Hollywood Walk of Fame – set into the pavement outside Fig and Sparrow.
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Commemorating the greats of Manchester’s music industry, it honours the likes of Oasis, the Twisted Wheel Club, and The Hacienda.
The brainchild of anonymous French artist Invader, these alien artworks can be found dotted in various locations around the city.
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Known locations include Salmon Street, Dantzic Street, Canal Street, Newton Street, and Bunsen Street – but there could be many more.
Invader calls themself a UFA, an ‘Unidentified Free Artist’. Invader explores international densely populated urban areas and “invades” them. Displaying 20 to 50 pieces per city, Invader sometimes returns several times deploying different “invasion waves”.
The Ancoats Peeps
Image: Geograph
SONY DSC
More urban myth than reality nowadays, a few of the Ancoats peeps remain in the area but sadly most have disappeared.
Initially designed to preserve a glimpse of history into the area’s days as a leading powerhouse of industry, unfortunately, many have been swallowed up in to new build apartment complexes.
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That said, if you look really hard you can still discover a few – with maps online to guide you.
The mystery of the Spring Garden Murals is one that has puzzled many art lovers.
Brutally bold murals sit above the counters of Spring Gardens Post Office but are often unnoticed by busy Mancs panic-mailing their Christmas presents or scribbling away in birthday cards.
It seems strange they are so overlooked, as it’s hard not to notice them once you know they are there. Even stranger, however, is that no one knows who made them to this day.
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Apparently, they were a gift from Manchester University when the Post Office opened in 1969, but some are not convinced.
There is no credit from an institution, student, or artist – and they sit unclaimed and unnoticed.
Can you solve the mystery?
Perched Exotic Birds
The Northern Quarter is bustling with art and colour, its streets are literally paved with art. So is the sky.
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Roosting above John Street, watching the shoppers go by, is Guy Holder’s sculpture ‘Perched Exotic Birds.’
The Brighton-based artist sculpted a cluster of ornamental birds and parrots to sit on old fire escapes and window ledges above the streets of the Northern Quarter.
At first glance they look like your standard street pigeon, however, closer inspection shows they are brass and have a much more interesting story.
Moving into the Victorian Era, Tib Street residents shaped the trading community by featuring live animals in their muddy markets – at one point it’s believed 20,000 people descended on the area in one evening to enjoy the sights.
The idea behind Holder’s birds is that although the markets are gone, the birds are not – they escaped capture and fled to the surrounding streets. Today they live freely and forever above our heads.
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You wouldn’t know they were there unless you were told. Now we’ve told you – you won’t unsee them.
Manchester is one of the chosen ones, and we feel honoured.
Boardman’s Entry
This ginnel just off King Street, adorned with plasterwork umbrellas, is dedicated to famous Mancunian John Dalton – also known as the father of meteorology.
There used to be four metal umbrella tops hanging overhead too, but these have since been removed.
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Nearby, you’ll also find Dalton Entry and Mulberry Passage – also dedicated to the meteorologist.
Big Boys Toy
A 12-meter-high art installation on the top of a Northern Quarter car park? We have so many questions.
Located in an NCP car park, Peter Freeman’s installation often goes unnoticed, but its purpose is important to our city.
Originally installed as part of the Northern Quarter Street Festival in 1998, Freeman wanted to reflect the vibrancy of the regenerated part of town so when night falls the beacon lights up in brilliant neon lights.
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Sadly, for five years, the lights were switched off due to a dispute between CityCo and the NCP on how the installations would be powered and paid for.
Thankfully they sorted out their differences last summer, and now between the hours of 11 pm and 1 am you can’t miss the beacon as it lights up the Northern Quarter.
Lemn Sissay’s ‘Flags’
The poetry of Lemn Sissay has paved Tib Street for 24 years, stretching out for just under a mile.
Lemn Sissay was the official poet of the 2021 London Olympics and has been Chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015.
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Sissay is also the artist/poet behind Rain, the beautiful mural above Gemini Takeaway near the Oxford Road university campus.
The Flags poem had long been a part of the Northern Quarter’s fabric but, understandably, the ceramic letters wore away – breaking it down into a valuable artwork and equally unreadable poem.
One could say it was words interacting with life on a very intimate level, but the Manchester City Council, Bruntwood, and the Arts Council decided it was time for a re-vamp.
Now you can visit an updated version of Flags with a new poem written by Sissay specially for the occasion.
Working once again with artist Tim Rushton, remember him from the Sound Bites? Well Rushton also designed with original Flags font back in 1997 and worked again on the most recent version.
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The Northern Quarter’s got Sissay and Rushton written all over it, you just need to know where to look.
Sat above one of the busiest street corners in Manchester is the Binks Pineapple.
The artist Kate Malone was commissioned in the late 1990s by Majolica Works said of the piece: “I see my pineapples as a symbol of friendship and hospitality.”
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The work sits at the top of the Binks Building based in an area steeped in history, art and culture with a view of the walls and gates of Speakman, Son and Hickson’s Wholesale Fish Market.
Featured image – Geograph / Supplied
Feature
Stockport town centre’s first ramen spot sat above a coffee shop that we can’t get enough of
Danny Jones
If you’re a local Stockport resident or have even walked along the increasingly cultured cobbles of Underbank, chances are you’ve passed a place called Ōdiobā, but did you know that by night, its loft turns into a stylish listening bar that also serves some of the best ramen around?
Seriously: not only is it, to our knowledge, the only venue serving traditional ramen in Stockport town centre, but it’s some of the best we’ve had in years. Literally, YEARS.
Central Manchester has the benefit of being spoiled by numerous noodle masters – New Wave, Ramenshop (formerly known as Tokyo Ramen), Shogun, etc. – but we’d genuinely wager that this relative newcomer known simply as Uma is right up there with them.
In fact, it might currently be vying for the top spot itself.
We really try our best to shy away from the most ultimate of superlatives where we can, especially because we’re lucky enough to come across so many culinary gems and new restaurants all the time, but the more we’ve revisited this place, the more we’re convinced it’s utterly brilliant.
On a personal note, in a post-Cocktail Beer Ramen + Bun world, we feel like we’ve come very close to finding a new go-to that’s on a par with the late, great CBRB; perhaps we’ll never quite get there, or maybe we’re falling victim to the rose-tinted lens of nostalgia, but Uma is at least in the conversation.
Something we can say for sure is that they’ve gone with the tried and tested method of doing just a few things extremely over trying to cater to everyone.
Offering a small but stunning menu, with just three small plates and three options when it comes to ramen, each one is well-balanced and portioned, guaranteeing a filling bowl of ramen finished with great quality toppings.
You’re not left needing a single noodle more, nor do they cut you a single spring onion shy – but let’s be honest, this cuisine also leaves you craving more broth.
This might be a small thing, but we even like how the deep bowls come with built-in grooves/utensil holders for you to rest your spoons and chopsticks in. It’s only a little extra, we know, but it’s a nice touch, nevertheless.
Having now done a couple laps of the menu over the course of just a handful of visits, there are few taste bud journeys as satisfying as those gently-seasoned edamame beans, with the vibrant, lightly-acidic pickled daikon radishes and cucumber cutting through, before the savoury bomb of those mains.
And above all else, it’s the broth. My word… that broth.
Most impressively of all, perhaps, is that while we were expecting to enjoy the shoyu or red miso option the most, it’s the vegan ramen that we found to be the most flavourful.
The white miso and vegetable soup base is about as rich as you could hope for from any broth, as are the surprisingly satisfying slices of sweet soy tofu.
The smell of this freshly-charred chashu. Wow. The ideal thickness – great, minimal chew, too.Is Stockport town centre’s first ramen spot also one of the best in Greater Manchester right now? It might just be. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
Put simply, this particular bowl truly puts the Uma in umami.
It really is perfect as is, complemented by the shitake mushrooms, mustard greens, bamboo shoots and aromatic roasted sesame.
However, we honestly believe we have mastered a flawless order: choosing the vegan bowl and then adding pieces of chashu pork, a gooey ramen egg and maybe some chilli oil for good measure.
Try it for yourselves and tell us we’re anything other than absolutely bang on.
As for the space itself, you’ll struggle to find another spot as simultaneously casually aesthetic and atmospheric as the top floor of this building.
It’s well worth a visit to try the sophisticated selection of cocktails co-curated by founder Nam Tran – who first won over foodie fans with his conveniently self-titled Vietnamese venue in Ancoats, which sadly closed in 2024 – or sample his handmade hi-fi system alone, but the bonus of ramen takes the cake.
With DJ sets from the man himself as well as other selectors and artists, not to mention jazz nights and other live music during the week, it’s an effortlessly cool couple of floors that just so happens to serve some of our favourite food to the highest order.
Now, we will confess that we’ve only seen Ōdiobā in its ‘shadow self’ form, for lack of a better phrase, and are yet to sample the artisan café side of this business, but we assure you that it is a failure on our part and one we’ll be making up for as soon as possible.
Let’s just say, if the coffee is as good as the other liquids we’ve drunk here, be it the booze or the very last drop of broth from the bottom of the bowl, it’s probably some of the best in Stockport.
You can guarantee we’ll be coming back to this place time and time again whenever we visit the borough.
First look at Albert Square as Manchester Christmas Markets return to their spiritual home
Thomas Melia
Manchester Christmas Markets are back and all our Christmas wishes have come true, as its spiritual home Albert Square joins in on the festivities for the first time in six years.
Grab a mulled wine, toast yourself a marshmallow and take a seat, because we’re going to take you on a quick tour of this brand-new offering.
You’ll be able to tick off your Christmas Markets wish list in one place, as Manchester has got all your usual favourites and so much more taking place right here outside of its iconic Town Hall.
As soon as you walk in you’re greeted by a huge sign spelling out the city’s iconic abbreviation ‘MCR’, just in case you forgot where you were, that also doubles as a nice photo opportunity.
Albert Square in Manchester city centre is getting into the Christmas spirit for the first time in six years / Credit: The Manc Group
As you walk into Albert Square there’s a mix of nostalgic wooden huts and brightly coloured modern street food vendor stations waiting to tempt you with all their tasty treats.
There’s no messing around at this Christmas hotspot because not even 10 feet after you enter, you can warm up with a glühwein and bratwurst, yes please.
Think you’re done sampling some festive feasts? Think again as there’s a marshmallow toasting station, a roasted chestnut cart and lots of huts are offering their own hot chocolate creations.
Local street food vendor Rita’s Reign has made her mark in Albert Square too, serving up her foodie feasts with a seasonal spin such as the ‘Festive Feast’ and ‘Christmas Crunch’ combo boxes.
Rita’s Reign is just one of many food vendors at Manchester Christmas Markets / Credit: The Manc Group
As you keep making your way round there’s some lovely gifts and trinkets to browse including tree decorations, ornaments and some vibrant pieces of art.
There’s plenty of ways to keep the kids (and big kids) entertained with some carnival-themed games and stalls as well as a vintage carousel, if that doesn’t get you in the Christmas spirit what else will?
Of course, there’s even more food to mention like mini dutch pancakes, toasted sandwiches, French toast, the list is endless (Much like many of our Christmas lists).
And we couldn’t finish our visit without acknowledging the elephant in the room, also known as The Manchester Big Wheel, which is the perfect people-watching spot, but maybe hop on this ride before you try all the tasty treats mentioned above.
Georgina Pellant -
2nd June 2023 
