Food & Drink

Legendary student pub The Footage has suddenly closed its doors

Another blow for the Manc pub and bar scene in 2024.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 28th May 2024

Beloved student stomping ground and long-standing pub The Footage has suddenly closed its doors as university regulars and city centre locals have been left in shock.

The Oxford Road institution, which served as one of the busiest and most affordable student pubs for more than three decades and was rejuvenated back in 2014, looks to have sadly posted a closure notice over the May bank holiday weekend.

Formerly The Grosvenor Picture Palace, hence its modern-day name, the ex-cinema turned public house was also a great spot for student deals on no-nonsense pub grub and a go-to spot for watching live sport, having only recently shared a post welcoming England fans ahead of the Euros.

Unfortunately, it all looks to have been premature as The Footage is now listed as “permanently closed” online and the team has now shared a statement on their website.

footage oxford road
Credit: The Manc Eats

The brief statement simply reads: “We will no longer be trading after Saturday, 25 May. It has been a pleasure serving the community and we shall miss you!”

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The Footage was previously a branch of the Riley’s Snooker Club and pool hall chain before first opening as a pub, first called Flea and Firkin, back in 1990. The pub was then renamed to The Footage and Firkin prior to the takeover which saw the suffix ultimately dropped.

People reacting online have been left gutted by the news, with one user on Reddit commenting, “The last hold out of Scream Pubs from circa 2004. A sad day” and another going on to say, “Can’t believe it’s gone! I always go there for the football and it’s always busy?!”

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Social media is full of people mourning the pub and reminiscing years of watching live sports inside the Grade-II listed building and spending uni socials there. A third Redditor wrote: “One of my favourite bars in the mid-90s. So many nights spent with the bouncers asking us to stop dancing on the tables.”

when did the footage pub manchester close?
why has the footage closed manchester?
Credit: The Footage (via Instagram)

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Operated by Crafted Social as part of the wider Stonegate Pub Group, The Footage was one of several Manchester boozers said to be under threat earlier this year.

Stonegate is said to be in approximately £2.2 billion of debt and had to pay more than £300 million refinancing costs in 2023 to try and keep the various locations in their portfolio afloat.

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They operate 4,400 pub and bars around the UK in total, including dozens across Greater Manchester. We approached Footage and their owners for a comment on the abrupt closure but are yet to receive a response.

Rest in peace to a truly great pub that we ourselves spent many an evening in, you will be sorely missed.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/The Footage (via Facebook)

Food & Drink

You can now go on a Wetherspoons package holiday around the UK

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson You can now go on a Wetherspoons package holiday around the UK. Credit: Unsplash, Gonzalo Remy

Cheap pints, those blue floral plates, dodgy carpets and long walks to the loo – if the thought of all this, aka a quintessential Wetherspoons experience, fills you with joy, these new holidays are for you.

A UK travel firm has just launched the nation’s first Wetherspoons holiday, which will whisk you around the UK in a luxury vehicle seeing some beautiful sights and some beautiful Spoons.

Trips will start from £1300 per person, which is a little more expensive than you might expect for a vacation centred around the nation’s famously budget pub chain.

You can pick tours of the North or South, with the former ticking off major cities like Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool as well as the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, and Blackpool.

Along the way, as well as taking in the sights of each place, you’ll visit some of the UK’s finest Wetherspoons for a cheap pint and maybe even a Curry Club.

Pubs on the tours include The Sir Wiliam de Wessyngton in Sunderland, the cheapest Spoons’ in the north; The Winter Gardens in Harrogate, one of the country’s most beautiful Wetherspoons venues; and The Velvet Coaster in Blackpool, one of the UK’s largest pubs.

And here in Manchester, Wetherspoons tour guests will get to visit The Moon Under Water on Deansgate. I know – the glamour.

The Velvet Coaster in Blackpool is part of the Wetherspoons holiday package. Credit: Google Maps
The Velvet Coaster in Blackpool is part of the Wetherspoons holiday package. Credit: Google Maps

The new holidays come from travel company MyUKTour, which is renowned for its Bentley chauffeured tours around the UK and Europe.

A spokesperson from MyUkTour said: “All of us at MyUKTour are so excited to start offering this bespoke trip to one of Britain’s best known, and arguably finest, cultural institutions.

“Combining hearty pub grub and craft ales with historical monuments and stunning landscapes, this tour is sure to showcase the very best that Britain has to offer.”

You can enquire here for the Northern version of the Wetherspoons holiday.

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Featured image: Unsplash, Gonzalo Remy

Food & Drink

That’s Thai – the unassuming but brilliant Thai cafe attached to a garage near Strangeways

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson That's Thai cafe in Manchester

As you’re wandering around Strangeways with a prison on your right and a load of warehouses on your left, you’d never imagine that you’re in striking distance of some of Manchester’s best Thai food.

But I promise you, you are.

That’s Thai is a tiny little spot tacked onto the side of a garage, with space for only about six diners inside and a couple more on the pavement outside.

Owner Wan Pradit Hewitt has brightened up the cafe, formerly a greasy spoon, with posters of Bangkok street markets and shelves of ornaments, but she’s really the most dazzling thing in here.

The approach to the restaurant through this gritty corner of Manchester (and we don’t mean gritty in the same way that people sometimes describe the Northern Quarter) might be a little intimidating – like are we really going for lunch down this dead-end back street? – but it all melts away once you open the door.

You’re immediately smacked with the smell of punchy Thai food being flipped around in a wok, and given a beaming welcome from Wan.

She knows her regulars well, greeting almost everyone by name and often predicting their order before they’ve uttered more than a ‘hello’.

In the half-hour we sit inside, there’s a steady stream of customers popping in and out for lunch, most of them strolling across from the huge building site next door.

That’s Thai cafe in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Owner Wan Pradit Hewitt
Owner Wan Pradit Hewitt
Inside That's Thai in Cheetham Hill, which used to be a greasy spoon
Inside That’s Thai in Cheetham Hill, which used to be a greasy spoon

For such a small kitchen (there are only two of them cooking around a few woks, gliding around the small kitchen in a well-rehearsed dance) they manage to whip up a pretty comprehensive menu of Thai food.

On the street food-inspired menu you’ll find 21 mains, from fan favourites like Pad Thai and green curry to authentic takes on khao khai chiao (a Thai omelette) and laab moo (a spicy pork salad), plus starters like tempura prawns (quite possibly the best I’ve ever had) and spring rolls.

The portions are generous and the prices low – you won’t be spending more than a tenner here to get so full you struggle to walk back to work.

Food at That's Thai
Kuai Tiew Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) with extra chilli and a fried egg
Food at That's Thai
Tempura king prawns
Food at That's Thai
Gai Pad cashew nut stir fry with jasmine rice
Food at That’s Thai

The regulars have their favourites, that much is clear, and the favourite is often salt and pepper chips.

Wan is visibly taken aback and delighted when she reels off an order to a familiar face and he tells her ‘actually, I’m going to try something new today’.

The massive redevelopment taking place on this side of Cheetham Hill is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s giving That’s Thai plenty of footfall, but as dilapidated warehouses are pushed aside for new hotels, colleges and residential developments, her tiny restaurant may eventually be forced elsewhere too.

But for now, there is arguably nowhere better in Manchester for your Thai food fix.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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