Demolition work has officially begun to pull down two of East Manchester’s most memorable landmarks.
It comes after it was announced that the Gorton landmarks would make way for a new state-of-the-art high school and housing estate, with planning permission for the scheme granted in December 2019.
Despite it being reported last September by the MEN that campaigners had launched an 11th hour bid to save the venue, the former Belle Vue Stadium – which opened in 1926, and was seen as a crown jewel of the community as the first purpose-built greyhound racing stadium in the UK – is set to be replaced by 167 houses and 80 apartments.
Due to its listing as an ‘asset of community value’, campaigners were given a six-month window to try and raise enough money to make a bid for it, but that window has now sadly passed and developers have now acquired the 12-acre site.
Local residents and passers-by have noticed that the stadium has now been fenced off, with demolition work underway and that is set to last around 26 weeks.
Speaking on the start of demolition work, Gordon Innes – Managing Director at Countryside Properties – said: “We’re making great progress in our regeneration of this important site and have now commenced a delicate demolition and remediation process following the detailed archaeological excavation of the land.
“It is extremely important to us to recognise the heritage of Belle Vue and pay homage to its iconic status.
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“We have taken great care to record original parts of the stadium during the soft strip of the structure so that its history will be preserved while we strive to deliver much-needed affordable housing in East Manchester”.
Showcase Cinema – which occupied the site of the famous Belle Vue entertainment complex – was unlike anything the area had ever seen before when it first opened on Hyde Road back in 1989, and it was one of the first multi-screen venues to open up in Manchester – bringing blockbuster flicks, quick queues, and car parks to fit a 1,000 cars along with it.
It was a pretty eerie sight for anyone who has fond memories of the place, but it wasn’t set to be an eerie sight for long as Showcase Cinema agreed to sell the land to Manchester City Council last year.
This news also gave Mancunians a glimpse at plans for The Co-Op Academy Belle Vue – which will be a free school for 1,200 pupils – for the first time, before it will welcome its first set of 120 Year 7 students this September.
The plans released to the public showed a modern L-shaped building split into three ‘zones’.
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It starts with a two-storey sports block, which will boast a sports hall, auditorium, and a drama studio, and the central three-storey building includes the school’s reception, a community hub with a library on the floor above, and a dining hall.
Sir Robert McAlpine / Space ArchitectsSir Robert McAlpine / Space Architects
An adjoining sports hall also has a separate entrance for out of hours use by the wider Belle Vue community, alongside a 140-space car park.
To the rear of the proposed building – which is currently a car park – two large playing fields will be provided, along with a multi-use games area (MUGA) and training grids, which would have three courts to accommodate tennis and basketball courts, a five-a-side football pitch, and practice areas for netball and hockey.
Things are going to look very different, that’s for sure.
“We are very excited about this new school for East Manchester,” said the Head of The Co-Op Academy Belle Vue, Benjamin Barker – who started in the role in January.
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“Being able to build and help develop the Belle Vue area and help provide much-needed school places is very important and we are very pleased that Manchester City Council chose Co-op Academies Trust to help make this goal a reality.”
He added: “We’re here to improve the whole community, not just those who attend our new school.”
Councillor Garry Bridges – Executive Member for Children and Schools at Manchester City Council – also added: “We’re fully committed to ensuring there are enough school places right across the city in the areas where they’re needed, and that all children and young people in Manchester, regardless of where they live, benefit from the best education in the best buildings.”
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Manchester
A tribute festival in memory of Mani from The Stone have been announced
Danny Jones
After plenty of talk and rumours ever since his passing, a tribute festival in memory of Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield will honour the late great Stone Roses and Primal Scream bass player later this year.
Despite various organisations and regional residents having observed their own memorial services following his death on 20 November 2025, the city and Greater Manchester as a whole made it clear that they wanted to carry out a more dedicated form of remembrance.
And we couldn’t agree more.
Deciding to remember him in the past best way possible – by celebrating one of his greatest loves and legacies: music – ‘Manichester’ festival will be held this spring.
Hosted in partnership with Madchester.com and simply dubbed as “a tribute to a true Manc legend”, names both new, old and current will be joining the inaugural Manichester lineup.
Organised by the website and iconic Manchester streetwear brand GIOGOI, not to mention being “blessed by Mani’s family” directly, artists playing will range from those who were lucky enough to have played with him or, like us all, were simply left inspired by his unforgettable basslines.
As well as a ‘AAA headliner’ still yet to be confirmed, there are some serious legendary names on here, both local and beyond; at the minute, the roster of acts is looking like this:
Manichester 2026 lineup
Cast
Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order)
The Kowloons
A “specially assembled core band” featuring Aziz Ibrahim (The Stone Roses), Rowetta, Simone Butler (formerly Primal Scream) and Mick Rossi (Slaughter and The Dogs)
Dave McCabe (The Zutons)
Baz Fratelli (The Fratellis)
Zak Starkey (Mantra of the Cosmos)
Steve White (ex-Oasis drummer)
Jon McClure (Reverend and the Makers)
However, as they have teased in the announcement, “that’s just the start”, and with more names incoming, many are already trying to guess who the headliner could be. Some have even suggested Ian Brown himself might get up on the stage…
As per an official statement, key artwork for the event comes from the one and only and equally influential Stone Roses guitarist, John Squire, whose new designs will feature on flyers, limited-edition physical tickets and other promotional materials.
Manichester will take place on Saturday May 30, doors open 2pm.
Most importantly, all the proceeds from the special one-off in memoriam show will go towards Mani’s and Imelda’s twin boys, Gene and George – and who knows? This could be the start of a brand-new annual festival spawned in the name of a very special Mancunian.
GIOGOI added: “Manchester is the best city in the world, and we do things differently here. This is Manchester showing up. This is Madchester showing love. This is ‘Manichester’.“
Taking place on Saturday, 30 May and held at Diecast on Ducie Street in Manchester city centre from 2pm, it’s sure to be a momentous ocassions with thoughts of Mani and his family looming large in everyone’s minds.
The ‘secret’ cash-and-carry near Piccadilly that’s selling amazing Italian food for less than the supermarkets
Daisy Jackson
We all know the pain of finally settling on what you want to eat for dinner, only to Google a recipe and discover a list of ingredients that your local Tesco definitely won’t have in stock.
‘Where the f*** am I going to get guanciale from at this hour?’, you think.
Well, just a stone’s throw from Manchester Piccadilly, you’ll find a cash-and-carry that’s an Aladdin’s cave of Italian food – and a damn sight cheaper than a supermarket, too.
Amato is a name you might recognise, with their grey vans regularly trundling around Greater Manchester delivering top Italian produce to all your favourite restaurants.
But you don’t need a wholesale membership to take advantage of their massive range of pastas, sauces, drinks, meat, cheese, and just about everything else you can think of – or to make the most of the prices either.
Amato has given up a small section of its 20,000 sq ft warehouse to be a retail space, where you can pick up everything from fresh filled pasta to truffle oil.
There’s also a selection of produce from beyond Italy, like Kewpie mayonnaise and gochujang.
Part of the huge warehouse operates as a retail spaceBob Amato started the business more than 30 years ago
And they’ve honoured the prices given to wholesale clients too, with smaller retail sizing, meaning you can pick up affordable produce without needing to bulk-buy (or lug home a 25kg bag of flour).
The business was launched by Bob and Deloras Amato more than 30 years ago, getting top Italian ingredients to chefs across the North West.
But the retail side has really taken off since the Covid pandemic, Bob explains.
“It’s a bit of a secret place,” he says, “As we don’t tend to advertise it too much.”
It all began (as so many local businesses did) back in 2020.
He says: “During the pandemic, as we’re a wholesaler, we realised there was a big demand for flour, which we had plenty of. People were crying out for flour and we had absolutely tonnes of it in 25kg sacks.
A whole range of little pasta – or pastinaOne of two aisles dedicated to Italian pastaPasta shapes you won’t find in a supermarket
“So we got some of our staff to come in and to repackage it in smaller packages that we could sell to retail customers.
“From that, people weren’t allowed to go out and they wanted to make pizzas and pasta, so they wanted tomatoes and mozzarella and pepperoni and other products.”
As a customer now, you can pick up things like tinned San Marzano tomatoes, harvested in the foothills of Mount Vesuvius; fresh burrata from Puglia (or frozen, if you want it to have a slightly longer shelf life); and traditionally-cured meats like guanciale, speck, and prosciutto.
Essentially, there’s everything you need to make a hearty Italian feast from scratch, or you can grab a bag of homemade pesto and pasta, made fresh on site, from the fridges for an easier dinner.
Bob and his team are encyclopaedias of information about the food produced all the way across Italy, knowing the back story of every one of their 1,500+ products.
Cured meat including guancialeTrays of cannoli You can also pick up fresh filled pasta at Amato
He tells us about why pasta shapes get their name, like Schiaffoni, which loosely translates as ‘slaps’ because of the sound they make when they plop onto the plate.
Bob also explains the reason that Scamorza comes in a snowman-like shape, with the cheese being strung up by its ‘neck’ to dry and age.
He chats us through all the different flours, and why you would use which in your pizzas; why good tinned tomatoes are worth seeking out (cheap ones are like ‘bullets’); and that you should always bring your burrata up to room temperature.
Even as we’re checking out with our armfuls of pasta, the staff member serving us is passing on tips for a perfect amatriciana sauce.
Amato is open from 7am daily (except Sundays), and if you’re stuck on what to make for dinner, pay Bob and his team a visit.
Emily Sergeant -
25th May 2021 
