There aren’t many meals quite as fulfilling as a huge helping of chips at the end of a night out – and an old relic in Manchester city centre had a reputation for exactly that.
The Station Chippy used to stand at Piccadilly Plaza, facing out onto rows of idling buses.
The Piccadilly Gardens takeaway wasn’t fancy, but it was the destination of choice for Mancs heading home from a night out for years.
At one stage, Station Chippy installed a hatch, from which it would pass out massive portions of chips swimming in gravy.
It also used to serve giant spring rolls and was famed for its spicy curry sauce, ladled onto chips.
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Piccadilly Plaza. Credit: Manchester Libraries
Professor Brian Cox even said, in an interview with the M.E.N. back in 2019, that it was his favourite place to eat in Manchester.
He told the paper: “I remember Piccadilly Gardens bus station vividly.
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“I didn’t go to Manchester very much until I was 16. I used to go to Cloud 9 on Cross Street.
“Me and my friends used to get the bus from Oldham to Piccadilly and walk down. I was a goth at the time so I used to walk down in overcoats and purple hair.
“Then at the end of the night we used to go to the chippy in the bus station chips to eat chips and curry sauce at 3am before we got the night bus back.”
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Memories of the Station Chippy were the talk of the town earlier this week, when people shared nostalgic memories in our Mint Manchester group.
Late nights in Station Chippy. Credit: Flickr, Portlandbill
Helen kickstarted the conversation with this post: “Does anyone else remember Station Chippy in Piccadilly Gardens, near where the bus stops are? Surely can’t just be me? Not sure what year it was there until but has to be at least 15 years as you could enjoy a post meal cigarette!!”
Chantelle replied: “Use to come out of Saturdays snd straight over there before getting our taxi home sh*t faced. Good old days”
Claire commented: “I do was it along the row of shops and picadilly radio was upstairs? Best chippy after the pubs and clubs at 2am in the 90’s”
Keri added: “Always finished the night queuing at the hatch before getting a taxi”
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Anita had a rite of passage at Station Chippy too, saying: “Had my first ever donner kebab in there!”
Station Chippy was underneath Piccadilly Radio. Credit: Manchester Libraries
Mark had a word of advice though, writing: “we use to order chips and gravy, then when they brought it over we’d say oh and can of vimto as well please, then leg it. Wasn’t a very good Idea running drunk with chips and gravy in a tray”
Over on Twitter, the subject turned to the stark lack of late-night chippies in Manchester these days.
Someone tweeted: “You know what you can’t get late on in Manchester after a few beers these days ? A decent chippy. Manchester used to be full of them. Every fkin corner. This is more important than Brexit.”
In reply, another said: “The station chippy at Piccadilly Gardens was the winner. Rest in peas.”
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Rest in peas indeed.
Featured image: Manchester Libraries / Wikimedia Commons
Food & Drink
Manchester’s free summer picnic is coming back to Oxford Road
Danny Jones
Manchester’s free ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ is returning to the Oxford Road Corridor later this year, promising plenty of live music and entertainment, family-friendly fun, outdoor activities and lots more.
Coming back to Circle Square for the second time, the now annual and completely free city centre festival will set up for its sophomore edition right on Symphony Park.
Surrounded by numerous local businesses located within the thriving Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group neighbourhood, this mini-district is once again set to draw in crowds from all over Manchester.
With that in mind, get your coolers, picnic baskets and blankets ready: it’s time for some alfresco fanfare.
Kicking off next month for one day only, Circle Square‘s ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ 2.0 will get underway pretty much from the outset, with the organisers promising a full day of festivities.
Visitors can look forward to an even more jam-packed schedule than last year, with creative workshops and interactive experiences, DJs right through to the evening, alongside roaming steel drum performances and even silent disco adventures, just to name a few.
Other events include: sip and paint sessions, pop-up mini golf and basketball shoot-outs; ‘foot pool’, a seasonal bouquet bar, as well as a dedicated picnic space for dogs, complete with bespoke pup portraits. Adorable.
2025 saw plenty of furry friends steal the show and become local celebrities for the day, and we’re sure ’26 will be no different.
The long picnic tables will once again take centre stage, creating a relaxed space for families and friends to come together over great food from Circle Square’s wide mix of indie restaurants and cafes, such as Gooey, Onda, Hello Oriental, Half Dozen Other, Saffa Soul, North Bar, Monkey Trio and more.
Punters are, obviously, to bring along their own picnic bits, packed lunches and favourite scran, but it’s nice to have the option of treating yourself to stuff on-site.
Better still, Circle Square’s proximity not only to Oxford Road train station, but the St Peter’s Square tram stop and various bus routes (even Piccadilly isn’t really that far) means that this is super accessible for anyone interested – not to mention that it’s completely free and open to all members of the public.
Taking place on Saturday, 8 August, we hope to see you there and hopefully with the sun shining.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures/Jody Hartley (supplied via SH Comms)
Food & Drink
Stockport bar that took a chance on Underbanks announces shock closure
Daisy Jackson
A bar owner who was called ‘mad’ for opening his business at The Underbanks in Stockport has announced he’s closing down for good.
The Cracked Actor was launched by actor Joe Patten back in 2019, long before the Underbanks was considered one of the coolest districts in Greater Manchester.
Joe said he ‘saw the beauty in those bricks’ and took a chance on the unit on Little Underbank, transforming it into a Victorian-inspired blues bar.
And although other operators told him he was ‘mad for opening anything on that street’, Joe proved everyone wrong, and The Cracked Actor became a real Stockport favourite.
Sadly, he has now announced that The Cracked Actor will be closing its doors in just a few weeks’ time.
Joe said that he wants the business to ‘go out at its height’, stressing that ‘it’s not a sad note we are closing The Cracked Actor – it’s more of a thank you for getting me all I had dreamed of’.
He wants to focus his attention on other projects, like The Banshee and Holy Diver.
His full statement reads: “So Stockport, its taken a long old time to make this decision. But some things have to end on a high. And boy its been a whirlwind.
“The Cracked Actor was my first bar in Stockport and has always weathered the storm. Sadly, these days I have a lot going on. And some things take away from the attention I can pay to my little bar. I want to call time on The Cracked Actor and go out at its height. It’s odd as I have always defended this bar against everything it came up against in this climate. I thought I would always pass this bar down to my kids.
“But it feels the right time to call time. This bar got me on the map and its opened the doors to soo much more that came afterwards. We now have The Bansbee and Holy Diver and exciting opportunities are always pulling me away from where I started.
“I want to focus on whats next and make sure what I’m doing has my full attention. So it’s not a sad note we are closing The Cracked Actor, it’s more of a thank you for getting me all I had dreamed of the day it opened.
“When I opened the bar 7 years ago every bar owner called me mad for opening anything on that street. Now its booming with bars that have come after wards. Some times you just gotta see the beauty in those bricks.
“I want to pay a massive thank you to my fiance Amy, whome without this bar would have closed 4 years ago. She took to it and saw how much it meant to me. And her Aiden and Oliver bought it back from a slump. Shes bought it back to all its glory and made it better than I ever could have,working endless hours.
“I want to thank all my customers many of of them who have been coming since day one Gary. TeJ & Gary, Boby Dylan, Simon and Ash, to name a few.
“We will be open for the next Two weeks to have a massive send of. And our final day to public will be Saturday 11th July. With a private send of on 12th.”
Daisy Jackson -
3rd December 2021 
