Manchester

Manchester baker creates amazing ‘kiss off’ Love Hearts donut specials for Valentine’s

Forget flowers, forget chocolates, nothing says Valentine's like a box of 'U stink' donuts.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 28th January 2022

Whether you’re ‘into’ Valentine’s or not, I think we can all agree these Love Hearts donuts from Siop Shop are pretty damn excellent.

Not one to play by the rules, the TIb street donut shop has bucked the mushy romantic trend in favour of a bit of playful wit and produced these Love Hearts sweet-inspired treats instead – perfect for couples (and singles) with a sense of humour.

For many, the fruit-flavoured, tablet-shaped sweets were a childhood fixture – and their inscriptions, which featured cheesy messages like ‘Love Bug’, ‘Kiss Me’ and ‘Only You’, are forever fixed in our minds.

Perhaps you even tried to give a crush a sweet once, you know, as a ‘subtle’ hint.

ADVERTISEMENT
Image: Siop Shop

Well, this year the bakers at Siop Shop have decided to flip the script – taking the nostalgic favourite and bringing it firmly into 2022 with “crude, off-color sentiments” like ‘kiss off’, ‘u stink’ and, our personal favourite, ‘prize pig’.

There’s also some solid nods to another childhood favourite, The Simpsons (although let’s be real, we still love this show as adults) with one sassy inscription echoing Bart’s famously belligerent catchphrase, ‘eat my shorts’.

Filled with Diplomat chocolate crème, the prices haven’t been revealed yet but you won’t have to wait long to find out as the tongue-in-cheek goodies are set to go live for pre-order next week.

ADVERTISEMENT
Image: Siop Shop

Available in sets of four, you can treat yourself, a mate, or your Valentine (if you’ve got one) to a box of some of the best donuts in town. And, just for fun, you’ll get a limited edition Ralph sticker to go with it.

Forget flowers, forget chocolates, this is where it’s at this year. Nothing says Valentine’s like a box of ‘U stink’ donuts.

They’ll go live for pre-order from 10am on the Siop web shop as of Tuesday 1 February for pick up on the day itself.

ADVERTISEMENT

We recommend getting in quick, as there’s already been a huge amount of interest since the post went live on Instagram yesterday.

Sharing them online in a post that’s already amassed over 1,500 likes, the donut shop quipped, “Valentine’s day is no joke!”

They added, “We’ll have other suitably themed doughnuts the weekend leading up and on the day but not these ones. Preorder 10AM Tuesday the 1st over at siopshop.co”.

For vegans who are wondering, we asked – and yes, there will be some suitable for you (but not these ones). All is still to be revealed as to further specials, so keep your eyes on Siop’s Instagram for further updates.

Feature image – Siop Shop

Manchester

This Chorlton bar will serve a Sunday roast for you AND your dogs

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Over in South Manchester, local bar and restaurant The Chorlton Green is serving up a banging Sunday roast – and they’ll even do a special portion for your dogs.

Perfect for when you want to head out with your furry friends for a gravy-soaked dinner, this cosy neighbourhood spot has you (and your pets) covered for all your Sunday lunch needs.

An undeniable part of British culture, there’s not much better than heading out with family and friends on a Sunday for what is arguably one of – if not the – best English meals going.

And for those who can’t imagine dining out without their dog at their side, this south Manchester bar and restaurant is definitely one to put on the list.

With a choice of chicken, beef or nut roast served alongside carrot and suede mash, perfectly crisp roast potatoes, stuffing, seasonal vegetables and a giant Yorkshire pudding, The Chorlton Green dishes up a seriously good roast if we’ve ever seen one.

With absolute lashings of gravy on top, all roasts are priced at £15 (or £ for dogs) – with big steaming bowls of oozing cauliflower cheese served on the side for an additional £3.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

As for drinks, the bar is known locally as a wine specialist and has a great selection of bottles to go alongside your food.

However, if wine isn’t your thing don’t worry – because there is also a good range of cocktails, beers, spirits and soft drinks to choose from.

As well as serving up a hearty Sunday roast, The Chorlton Green also does a weekend bottomless brunch offer every Saturday between the hours of 12 and 4pm.

Read more:

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

Priced at £35 for the Gold Package or £45 for the Platinum, those heading down can get stuck into 90 minutes of non-stop cocktails and fizz alongside one of the venue’s famous brunch boards.

Think endless glasses of Prosecco, Pornstar Martinis, Bloody Mary’s and Captain’s Choice (all available as part of the Gold Package), or if you really want to go all out the Platinum brunch deal also includes vodka, gin and rum mixes as well as wine.

Read more: Brits apparently drench meals in gravy three times a week, according to new study

Based over on Beech Road, The Chorlton Green has long been a favourite with locals for its relaxed atmosphere and great wine collection. As well as being dog friendly, the bar also boasts a great live music offering. Suffice to say, for a neighbourhood spot it really does have it all.

Feature image – The Manc Eats

Manchester

Man uncovers long lost photos in charity shop depicting historic suffragette march

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Whilst digging away in a charity shop, a man has uncovered a set of old Victorian era glass slides depicting what appears to be Women’s Sunday – a suffragette march held in London, organised by Moss Side’s own Emmeline Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU).

Amongst a heap of slides that appear to be taken sometime around the early 1900s, one depicts a large group featuring women in the signature stripy hats worn by the protest group.

What’s more their new owner, Ray Newman, has even suggested that one of the photos may depict Emmeline Pankhurst herself.

Writing on Twitter, he shared a thread of the images with his followers: adding short commentary to each one.

One the photo in question, he comments: “If you zoom in on the woman in dark clothing seen looking towards the camera from between two PCs she looks like Emmeline Pankhurst, or am I fooling myself?”

Image: Ray Newman via Twitter
Image: Ray Newman via Twitter

Others have chimed in with suggestions as to the date of the photograph, with one writing: “The boater straw hats plus mutton sleeves equals c.1910.”

Given that the Women’s Sunday protest was held just two years prior to this in 1908, it does seem possible that this incredibly old photograph has captured one of the biggest moments in the suffragette’s history.

The event, organised by Pankhurst’s WSPU, featured the organisation’s colours (purple, white and green) for the first time in public. In days leading up to the event, over 10,000 scarves in the colours were sold at two shillings and elevenpence each, whilst men donned ties in solidarity.

Held to persuade the then Liberal government to support votes for women, the march is thought to have been the largest demonstration to be held until then in the country – drawing around 30,000 women marched to Hyde Park in seven processions.

Image: Palette㎙ 
Image: Palette㎙ 

Of course, the photos not being dated or marked in any way, it is hard to know if these really are images of Emmeline Pankhurst and the historic march but there are quite a few people online speculating that it could well be.

Several have pointed to the seemingly large police presence (and one person claims to have counted eleven officers), suggesting that that could indeed point to it being a photograph of a large suffragette protest.

Read more: The forgotten Manchester suffragist who inspired a teenage Emmeline Pankhurst

Elsewhere amongst the collection of photos, images show a stately home, school or institution with flamingos outside, what appears to be a boy scout troop or group of cadets armed with rifles, boaters on the water at Alexandra Park, and a number of people posing in period dress.

Writing above a picture that depicts an old British high street, Ray comments on how the glass slides are tricky to scan adding that he had to “do it with my phone against a bright white screen.”

He continues: “This is a high street… somewhere… c.1910, I’d guess. I can see a sign for an inn with an ‘excellent motor garage’ but can’t work out any more than that.”

Above another, he said: “A stately home, school or institution. There are statues of flamingos on the left. Definitely haunted. (House and slide.)”

Read more: These are the top 20 things Manchester has gifted the world

Offering a fascinating look into a lost world, some of the images are over 100 years old and taken when photography was something of a new art form. Unlike today, when everyone has a camera in their pocket, to own a camera was something of a rarity – making these images even more intriguing.

If you would like to see the full thread of pictures uncovered by Ray, you can do so by clicking here.

Feature image – Ray Newman

More Manchester

Art & Culture

This Manchester club has been shortlisted as one of the best in the UK

Christmas

Alternative Christmas Markets to drink, shop and eat at if you can’t stand the main Manchester ones

City Centre

Investigation launched after woman is raped by man who climbed through her apartment window with a knife

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches