There’s a bit of something for everyone in Greater Manchester, from the rough-and-ready strips of bars and restaurants around the city centre to the leafy streets on the region’s outskirts.
So it was no great surprise when The Times sat up and paid attention this year in its prestigious Best Places to Live list, naming both Prestwich and Altrincham as top spots in the UK.
We here at The Manc have already delivered you a pretty comprehensive guide to Prestwich, from its restaurant scene to its green spaces.
So for our next instalment of A Manc’s Guide to… we’re heading south, to beautiful Altrincham, a town that’s putting itself on the map for all the right reasons.
Shopping
Altrincham town centre has always been centred around retail, but its independent shopping scene has really ramped up in recent years.
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There is, of course, Altrincham Market, where traders selling everything from fruit and veg to homewares prop up the stalls.
But beyond that, you’ll find more unusual gems like Stutter & Twitch, a converted caravan parked up in the Stamford Quarter that sells vinyl records and coffees.
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There’s also the Stamford Quarter Pop-Up Shop, which offers a retail space to a rotation of small businesses, from art studios to streetwear.
Bang opposite the market, you can’t miss Idaho, a lifestyle shop that practically sucks you in with its windows stuffed with vases, hanging plants, candles, cushions, socks, and all the other lovely lifestyle goods. It’s just opened a second store at Stanley Square, too.
There are more plants and pottery, plus gifts and lifestyle bits, down the road at Green + Grounded.
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Bernie’s, the independent grocery store that had people queueing down the block when it opened in Heaton Moor (thanks, in part, to the curry pies it has on the counter), has just branched out with a second store here in Altrincham too.
And when it comes to clothing, Madam Butterfly’s boutique sells all the summery, bright clothing that will make you finally pack your big coat away for the season.
Food and drink
Sugo Pasta Kitchen – The original home of Sugo since 2015, this is where the infamous ‘Bella Italia co-founder’ vs Sugo row took place in 2017. It’s also home to some of the best pasta in Altrincham. Puglian-inspired dishes are made rich with datterini tomatoes, anchovies and chicken stock.
Riddles – A speakeasy-style cocktail bar decked out to the hilt in the style of the American 1920s prohibition era, Riddles is a long-standing favourite for cocktail lovers in Altrincham.
The Good Catch – For top-notch fish and chips, it’s got to be the award-winning, family-run chippy The Good Catch. Found opposite the famous Altrincham Football Club, you can get Hollands pies and salt and pepper squid alongside go-to Friday favourites.
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Roast rump beef, gruyère, celeriac remoulade, caramelised onions, dijon mayo./ Image: Batch Bottle Store and Deli
Batch Bottle Store and Deli – As well as coming here to fill up your growlers and buy some natural wine to take home, you can also dine in (or out on the terrace) with mega sandwiches, Sunday roasts, and deli platters all on the menu here.
Altrincham Market House An indoor food hall from the same team behind Mackie Mayor and Macclesfield Picturedrome, Altrincham’s Market House is home to traders like Little Window, Pico’s Tacos, Tender Cow, and Honest Crust. One of the first successful attempts of the multi-trader format to launch in Greater Manchester, it’s up there with the region’s best.
Common Ground – A great little coffee and brunch spot, Common Ground is currently gearing up to open later from the end of April with a boozy new spritz, wine and cocktail menu.
Blanchflower – Altrincham bakery and kitchen selling 3-day sourdough loaves, pastries, brunch dishes and bowls.
There’s a ‘secret beer garden’ behind Pi Bar., as well as more inside and to the front / Image: Pi Bar Altrincham
Pi Bar – A craft beer bar with 8 key lines and 3 cask ales, you’ll find beers from local breweries like Pomona and Sqwuak on the lines here alongside some international tipples. There’s a good selection of gins and spirits, too, with board games, chess and cards on hand to help while away an afternoon.
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Tre Ciccio – Another Southern Italian kitchen specialising in Campagna staples like pizza Napoletana and roasted chicken with potatoes. A beautiful outdoor terrace allows for al fresco dining in the summer, with wood-burning fires keeping you cosy through the winter months.
Libero – A cute craft beer bar with a penchant for football and a striking mural by Manchester artist Caroline Dowsett, it’s not unusual to see punters donning vintage football shirts in here. Libero was only meant to be a two-week pop-up, but six years later it’s still going strong.
Toast – As the name suggests, the whole menu revolves around putting things on toast. You can have toast for breakfast and toast for lunch. That said, you’ll also find the likes of cakes and cheesecakes here – both minus toast.
Image: Toast Altrincham
Nightlife and hotels
The historic hamlet of Goose Green has become a bit of a destination in its own right, with a clutch of bars and restaurants to while away your evening in.
There’s cocktail bar the Gin Can (open until 1am at the weekends) and Traders Tiki Bar, which serves all sorts of tropical delights until the small hours.
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King Pong stays open until 3am, with beer pong, retro games and DJs to keep you on your feet all night.
King Pong in Altrincham is included in the nightlife guide. Credit: Facebook, King Pong
One Central is another hotspot, even visited by Jesse Lingard during the Euros last summer (he hopped up on the DJ decks and at one point had a parrot on his shoulder).
If you need somewhere to stay overnight, there are the usual big chain budget hotels, but also some top-notch Airbnb options to get your own space.
This huge property on Manchester Road has been turned into some very stylish apartments too.
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Culture
Altrincham is far enough out of Manchester city centre that it feels very much like its own town, with its own identity and proper heart.
When it comes to culture, that encompasses everything from its luxurious boutique cinema, the Everyman (where you watch films with a cocktail, on a sofa), to its near proximity to the beauty of Dunham Massey.
There are events on at the National Trust property throughout the year, the most popular of which is arguably its magical Christmas lights display.
Altrincham has its own theatre, in the Garrick Playhouse, which has a bill of film screenings, family-friendly entertainment and up-and-coming theatre talent.
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The Vegetarian Society has a cookery school here too, where you can get stuck in learn some new kitchen skills.
The most recent addition has been The Bowdon Rooms, which opened last year with a line-up of talent that included Sir Lenny Henry, Shaun Ryder, and Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
Property
A typical traditional Victorian terrace in Altrincham. Credit: Rightmove
Houses in Altrincham are, on average, some of the priciest in Greater Manchester.
The average property price over the last year has been £533,789, the majority of which were semi-detached.
It might be right on the end of it, but Altrincham is handily connected to Manchester city centre on the tram line.
It also has its own train station, with Northern Line services running to both Chester and Manchester Piccadilly.
There are loads of buses serving the area too, and you’re never far from the M56, which will whisk you away to Cheshire and beyond.
Featured image: Unsplash / Sugo / Idaho
Trafford
2024 Manchester Marathon guide – start times, route, road closures and everything else you need to know
Danny Jones
The adidas Manchester Marathon is back for 2024 and the region is already getting set for thousands of Mancs to take on the annual challenge.
Not only the second-largest race of its kind in the UK but the fourth most popular in all of Europe, the Manchester Marathon welcomes more than 30,000 runners every year and even more spectators from all over the continent. We’re talking around 125,000 people lining the 26.2-mile route. Yowza.
With an unprecedented demand for places at this year’s event, which has been running rather unbelievably since 1908 (no pun intended), this year’s Manchester Marathon on Sunday, 14 April 2024 is genuinely set to be the biggest yet.
So if you’re taking part or just cheering the competitors on from the sidelines, here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 adidas Manchester Marathon.
Manchester Marathon Route, waves and timings
The 2024 Manchester Marathon map.The start line.Along the way, runners can expect to take in some of Manc’s most iconic landmarks, from Bridgewater Hall and the Beetham Tower to the Theatre of Dreams itself and many more
As with previous years, the route will start and end over in Trafford. Participants will set off underneath Trafford Arch at White City Circle, making their way past Old Trafford before heading back towards the city centre via Chorlton and Hulme.
After reaching the city centre, runners will then head towards Stretford, passing through Sale before turning off as they approach Timperley and eventually reach Altrincham around the 16-mile mark.
The final leg of the route will take runners through Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, with Talbot Road leading you back to the finish line. For those feeling any nerves (like the runner currently writing this), you’ll be glad to know the Manchester Marathon is one of the flattest in the country.
You can see the full breakdown of timings and coloured waves down below and you can see a more detailed interactive map of the route HERE.
The road closures for this year’s marathon include the A56 (Northbound and Southbound), with the officials set to start closing roads at 3am and begin re-opening roads from 2pm onwards after the course begins to clear.
The last closed road is expected to re-open around 8pm through Chorlton and Old Trafford towards the end of the course.
You can find further details on road closure and what other parts of Greater Manchester are set to be impacted HERE.
Travel advice
As mentioned, road closure will obviously impact people coming in and out of the city as well as to various spots along the marathon route, so whether you’re a local or travelling in from elsewhere, it’s worth knowing where to be and where’s best to avoid too.
Lucky for you, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has plenty of useful travel advice for competitors, spectators and everyone else in the area this weekend, just simply check out their website.
For starters, it’s worth noting that public transport around Manchester and Trafford will be very busy before, during and after the race, with several bus services set to be diverted and even those not directly impacted by the marathon route may still be affected by displaced traffic and congestion.
It goes without saying that there will also be a significant number of road closures throughout Sunday as well. However, once again, the wonderful organisers have you covered; you can see the full list of closures HERE and they have even put together an interactive map for you to check what’s shut when:
Public transport
People are also being advised to leave their cars at home where possible to avoid the busy roads, or to at least use the free park-and-ride services on the way into Manchester and travel to their destinations via our city’s wonderful tram network.
Metrolink will be operating a six-minute frequency on the Altrincham line with more double trams and increased capacity along various other lines too. That being said, services are expected to be extremely busy throughout the day, so if you can travel flexibly, the predicted quietest time to travel is around 4pm.
Once you’ve tapped on and tapped off, most fan corners, cheer zones and regular spots for supporters to gather together should only be a short walk away from your chosen tram stop.
New mascots, event shirts and the 2024 finisher’s medals picked by the public
This year, the adidas Manchester Marathon also welcomes on board a brand new mascot, Chester the Bee, who will join the event’s much-loved existing mascot, Manny the Bee to help bring extra cheer to the festivities on the day.
As we all know and love, Manchester has a vibrant LGBTQIA+ community and, as the organisers said in a press release, “introducing mascots that celebrate this diversity allows the marathon to reflect these identities within Greater Manchester. It’s a way to honour the unique contributions and experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals and showcase their pride within the larger community.”
Better still, the organisers donate £1 for every participant taking on the marathon straight to the Trafford Active Fund, which offers local groups the chance to receive a special allocation of funding to build a long-lasting sport and physical activity legacy in Greater Manchester. Money from the marathon also goes towards planting trees across the region through the Green Runner scheme.
You can also see what this year’s general public selected as the design for this year’s Manchester Marathon finisher’s medal design down below. It’s a pretty one.
Thousands of you voted on the colour of the 2024 medal. We can now reveal the official 2024 adidas Manchester Marathon medal is… GOLD! 🥇
A big thank you to Marv, Abbie, Alex and Andrew from Manchester Run Club and Chorlton Runners for revealing our 2024 medal. pic.twitter.com/yYancbt4Lr
With a record 32,000+ runners set to hit the streets of 0161 this year, we cannot wait for people all over the ten boroughs to get soaked up in the spirit of the day.
It’s genuinely one of the most wholesome dates on the calendar and we’re just praying for a sunny day to make it perfect.
It’s also estimated that the event will raise around £3.5 million for hundreds of charities, with nearly 2,000 places allocated to representatives from Alzheimer’s Society, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and The Christie. You absolutely love to see it.
Good luck to everyone taking part on the day — you’re all going to absolutely smash it.
Body found in Cheshire confirmed to be that of missing man Tony Williamson, as family pays tribute
Daisy Jackson
The family of missing man Tony Williamson have paid tribute to him after his body was found in Cheshire.
The 62-year-old father from Trafford had been missing since December 2023.
Formal identification of a body found in the River Mersey in Warrington on Sunday has confirmed, tragically, that Tony has died.
His family have now issued a moving tribute to him, and thanked the public and the police for their support since his disappearance.
Greater Manchester Police have been conducting a wide-ranging search using specialised resources since late last year.
Tony’s family said: “We would like to thank everyone for sharing social media posts, and members of the public and friends who have been out looking for our dad Tony.
“It is truly with great sadness to say that he has passed away after battling a chronic illness that caused a severe decline in his mental health.
“He was a much-loved, well-respected man and no-one had a bad word to say about him.
“He was a beloved husband to our mum for over 30 years, a devoted dad and grandad. We are truly devastated by his loss.”
During the appeal to find Tony, his family had shared that he had been suffering with an illness that had left him in ‘continual pain’.
Speaking on behalf of the force and the Trafford district leading the investigation for GMP, Detective Sergeant Rory Leicester added; “First and foremost, our thoughts and condolences remain with Tony’s loved ones, who we have been in constant contact with for a number of months, always remaining hopeful.
“This investigation has affected us all personally and is not the news anyone wanted.
“Officers were committed to bringing the family their loved one back home but wished it wouldn’t be in these devastating and upsetting circumstances.
“The way Tony’s family and friends have conducted themselves, along with the outpouring of love from the public, has shown everyone just how much he meant to a lot of people and we hope they take some comfort in this.”
Tony’s family have asked for continued privacy while they continue to grieve and lay him to rest.