Thousands of locals have rushed to sign a petition and prevent a popular Manchester landlord from being deported by the government.
Russell Young, who is originally from Melbourne in Australia, moved to Failsworth four years ago to be with his partner and took up residence in local pub The Sun Inn.
The pair ploughed their savings into the local pub to prevent it being purchased by developers, but after months of enforced closure during the pandemic, Mr Young has been stopped from hitting the necessary earnings threshold for a living visa in the UK.
Now the Home Office is telling Mr Young he must leave the country after rejecting the pub landlord’s appeal, leaving him with just 14 days to try to overturn the result.
The Sun Inn in Failsworth / Image: Facebook
The move means Russell now faces having to leave Tracie and his family behind in the UK while being left homeless in Australia.
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His partner, Tracie Young, who first worked in the pub as a barmaid in 1986, before returning as bar manager in 2015, said it has left the duo “in an impossible situation”.
She stated: “Despite the difficulty of running a pub in the pandemic, we finished our first year in business with a profit.
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“Throughout this year so many people have been separated from their loved ones – and now, through no fault of our own, our life together is at risk.”
Ms Young added: “How can we just walk away from what russ invested and close the door on The Sun Inn? Where would we live and work?
“I’ve [got] no answers all I know is we need help.”
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A petition urging the Home Office to reconsider their decision has received almost 5,000 signatures, whilst a GoFundMe page has raised the best part of £1,000.
Ms Young has described the support so far as “mindblowing”.
“Thank you so so much for your support words cannot express just how grateful we are,” she added.
Manchester Christmas Parade 2023 returns this weekend – road closures and travel advice
Daisy Jackson
One of the city’s newer festive events will return to the city centre this weekend when the Manchester Christmas Parade hits the streets.
On Sunday 3 December, hundreds of snow queens, candy cane stilt walkers, dancing snowmen, giant Nutrackers, reindeer, owls, festive dinosaurs and even dancing sprouts will parade through town.
The festive event debuted last year and is now promising a bigger and better parade for 2023.
The Manchester Christmas Parade is due to set off at 1pm from Manchester Cathedral, following a route down Deansgate, onto St Ann’s Street, then along Cross Street and Corporation Street as far as the National Football Museum, where it will turn onto Fennel Street for the finish.
Father Christmas will be popping along to join in the festivities, along with the life-size Bengal tiger puppet of Richard Parker from The Life Of Pi, which is at The Lowry between 5 December and 7 January.
The Manchester Christmas Parade will be soundtracked by live music from the Global Grooves Nutcracker Bloco Band playing Santa’s favourite Christmas songs, joined by troupes of dancers dressed in their sparkly best Christmas kit.
Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson said: “We can’t wait to welcome everyone back again for another fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade.
“Last year’s first ever parade was an absolute delight, the heart-warming event of the season, with Manchester at its magical Merry Christmas best.
“Bigger and even better this year it’s going to be brilliant so wrap up warm, grab a Christmas hat and some tinsel and come and join us!”
To facilitate the Manchester Christmas Parade, road closures and changes to public transport will be necessary.
The Manchester Christmas Parade 2023 route mapThe Manchester Christmas Parade 2022
Road closures for the Manchester Christmas Parade 2023
Road closures from 8am until 5pm:
Victoria Street
Road closures from 11am until 2.30pm:
Cateaton Street (Deansgate to End)
St Mary Gate (Cross Street to Deansgate)
Deansgate ( Victoria Street to John Dalton)
St Ann’s Street (St Mary’s Street to Cross Street)
Cross Street (Albert Square to Market Street)
Corporation Street (Market Street to Fennel Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street)
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square)
Access to the Marks and Spencer car-park will be managed as much as possible via Victoria Bridge Street, but there will be two periods of approximately 20 minutes when we’ll have to pause this.
Changes on on-street parking and Metrolink
As well as a Metrolink tram suspension of the Second City Crossing route (St Peter’s Square, Princess Street, Albert Square, Cross Street and Corporation Street) between 12 noon and 2.30pm on Sunday, there will be on-street parking suspension on the following streets:
From 6pm on Friday 1 December until 6pm on Sunday 3 December:
Victoria Street (Deansgate to Cathedral Approach)
From 6pm on Saturday 2 December until 6pm on Sunday 3 December:
Market Street and St Mary Gate (Cross Street to Deansgate)
Deansgate ( Victoria Street to John Dalton)
St Ann’s Street (St Mary’s Street to Cross Street)
Cross Street (Albert Square to Market Street)
Corporation Street (Cross Street to Ring Road)
Cateaton Street (All)
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street)
The 10 best ramen places in Manchester
Danny Jones
Whenever it gets cold and rainy (which is at least 75% of the time here in Manchester), there is nothing we like more than slurping on a steaming hot bowl of noodles and broth, so it’s a good job we’ve got some of the best ramen places in the country.Yeah, we said it.
For many people, ramen still conjures up images of Pot Noodles and packet food you simply ping in the microwave or stick the kettle on for, but the truth is that the Japanese comfort dish with roots in China, Korea, Indonesia and all over the world is a deeply rich cuisine has decades of culture behind it.
It isn’t just a case of dumping any old carbs in a bowl of soup and sprinkling a few bits and bobs on top: the very best ramen chefs in the world pride themselves on the expert craft of slaving over broths for days, perfecting homemade noods and fine-tuning the dish into something more gourmet and special.
Fortunately, there are plenty of people who take ramen seriously here in Manchester and serve up bowls made with just as much finesse as love — here are some of the best:
Starting off with a noodle bar that has been duking it out for the top spot on Manchester city centre’s ramen scene for years now, Tokyo Ramen is and always will be one of our absolute favourites.
Being the first place responsible for introducing us to fried chicken in our ramen and experts at tweaking their broths with various types of tare, there’s a reason this place is walk-in only because not only does it pride itself on its informal setting but it would be booked out all year-round otherwise.
Known not only for a small but superb menu of four different bowls of broth, noodles and toppings but popular Japanese sodas, twists on classic cocktails and an absolutely banging playlist (we couldn’t not shout it out), for many people Tokyo will always be one of if not the best ramen place in Manchester.
2. Maki and Ramen – Central
Next up is a relatively new addition to 0161: Maki and Ramen. Starting out with one restaurant in Edinburgh before going on several more and then sister sites in Glasgow, Leeds and now Manchester, we have literally no complaints about their start to life in our city. Even their takeaway containers are ace.
From founder Teddy Lee‘s time studying the art of both ramen and sushi making in the heart of Tokyo to being welcomed through the doors with the banging of a drum as all the staff shout a traditional Japanese greeting, you get that feeling of authenticity right from the off.
The sushi, side plates and other mains are all genuinely delicious too but we all know what you’re here for and while the classic tonkotsu never misses, the steak tataki is lovely and creamy and the salmon miso one is a nice light take on things, we’ve never had anything quite like their black garlic ramen. Wow.
The 2.0 site has all the charm of its parent pop-up and is still ordering in the freshest and most sustainable Japanese ingredients available. You can get your standard miso and shoyu ramen, but specials like the chicken and meatball are so lip-smackingly umami we can never get enough, and the spicy lamb Tantanmen is just unreal.
We won’t lie, it helps that the new place is literally right around the corner from The Manc office but we’ve been enjoying their hearty bowls for a hot minute and now they’ve even got ex-CBRB chefs working in the kitchen for all you former ‘Girl Gang’ members (guilty as charged).
Formerly known as Wasabi, which itself was already a popular and budget-friendly little city centre spot for a good while, this Faulkner Street gem is basically the same ramen and sushi restaurant just levelled up, open six days a week and, once again, walk-in only.
Offering some of the more unique concoctions we’ve stumbled across in Manchester, including the likes of roast duck tonkotsu, ramen filled with nothing but broth and gyozas and the Chef Special packed with all the best proteins, this place unsurprisingly gets a lot of Chinatown footfall.
In at number five is Lucky Ramen which is based out of the Mule coffee shop over in Ancoats and only comes out when the intimate little spot tucked away into the side of a building on Blossom Street turns into a cult favourite ramen and sushi bar in the evenings.
Chiming perfectly with the immaculate and stylish design of the interior, this place promises clean and complex flavours served in colourful bowls topped with the freshest ingredients. We’ll say one thing, though, don’t expect ladles upon ladles of broth here: it’s all about savouring things — and you can always fill up on sushi.
As we cross the halfway mark, we’re going aiming for smack bang in the middle of the ramen experiences here in Manchester and one of the longest-standing places on this list: Samsi.
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Situated near the Gay Village and not far from Piccadilly Station and Oxford Road, Samsi has been sitting as a go-to food spot for all things ramen and Japanese cooking not only thanks to its central location but because of its reputation for delivering no-nonsense but traditional and incredibly tasty food.
It might look somewhat unassuming from the outside but the second you step inside to see the cherry blossoms and red accents, you’re already transported. All that being said, their beef and Jagoki chicken ramen are the stuff of legend and the ‘Kinoko’ might be one of the best veggie ramen we’ve ever had.
Stepping out of the city centre and into the reaches of Chorlton, we’re heading to another ramen place that prides not only on its authenticity but being one of the best when it comes to price point.
Boasting queues that went all down the road and around the corner after Sacha Lord chose to pay for everyone’s billin August 2023, Shogun Ramen went from feeling like one of our best-kept secrets and instant recommendations to friends out-of-town to one on everyone’s list of must-try food spots.
We can’t speak highly enough of this place but we have tried in the past, and if we can tell you one thing is that more people should make and eat chicken teriyaki ramen. They even do kid-sized portions — though we assure you they’ll be asking for more.
Ok, getting to the business end of things now and if you’ve not jumped on the Mr Su‘s hype train yet, what are you playing at?
Joining the ever-growing list of food and drink units at Circle Square, Mr Su’s is flying the flag for the Chinese side of the dish and while it might be simply listed as ‘noodle soup’ on the menu, there can be no mistakes as to the rich tradition you’re enjoying here.
With over 20 different types of noodles, five different broths and 30 different fresh and authentic ingredients to choose from, you can essentially build a different and potentially perfect ramen, noodle soup, hot pot or whatever you want to call it every time you visit. A real interactive experience.
From one Leeds fave to another, House of Fu is our penultimate pick and another newbie here in Manchester, but it inserted itself into the top 10 places to go for ramen the second almost immediately.
It might have started out in Yorkshire but we couldn’t give these lot a warmer welcome as the noodle bar serves up some of the nicest scran you could ask for when the weather’s a bit crap. If their trademark ‘Spicy Fu’ or incredible kimchi and cheese ramen doesn’t sort you out, nothing will. Their broths are also thicker and creamier than most and that can only be a good thing.
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This place also has the bonus of not only a wide selection of other non-noodle-based items, as well as some pretty banging cocktails, but it also has private rooms and a karaoke bar downstairs after you’ve finished fuelling up. Ramen, booze and a sing-song — what’s not to like?
Last but not least, this list of the top 10 ramen spots in Manchester wouldn’t feel like we’d done it right without adding in another relative newcomer which has quickly become one of the most popular in The Manc office, and that’s Suki Suki.
Chuckle at the name all you like, these lot know what they’re doing and after trying virtually everything on the menu at their Great Northern site, we can confirm the ramen is up there with some of the very best stuff they do — and they do a lot really well.
From soft-shell crab, prawns, karaage chicken, char sui pork and more to choose from as your toppings as well as four different broths — miso, shoyu, tonkotsu and their take on a curry ramen — we promise each bowl is the umami bomb you’re hoping for and you’ll neck every last drop.
And that’s it, that’s your list of the top 10 ramen places in Manchester — or at least what we believe is the best we’ve had from the region’s budding scene.
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Thankfully, this is just a drop in the MSG-infused ocean of noodle spots across the various cuisines in the city overall and there are literally too many of them to mention, so we’ll all have to go away, do our research and reconvene when it comes to the best Chinese hot pots, bowls of pho, laksa and so on.
The Manc -
3rd June 2021 
