Stockport’s music-themed pie shop is moving into Manchester
The existing Stockport site will become fully dedicated to Notion, whilst Come Together will introduce a new all-day breakfast menu and Sunday roast list
Stockport lockdown favourite Ate Days A Week has announced plans to move its award-winning handmade pies and Wigan kebabs to Manchester this spring.
Known for its top tier pies, fresh fish and chips and gourmet sandwiches (not to mention its infamous Wigan kebabs), the music-themed eatery has made quite a name for itself with dishes like Don’t Look Back In Banger and (I Just) Died In Your Barm since launching in 2020.
It’s been a meteoric rise for the brand, which quickly went from being takeaway only to opening a bricks and mortar site in a former chippy on Vernon Street in Stockport.
Image: Ate Days A Week
Now, chef-owner Andy James is moving again, this time into the city centre, having secured a site just off Albert Square to open Ate Days A Week under a new name, Come Together, continuing the Manchester music theme.
As part of the move, he’ll be expanding his menu to include all-day breakfast options and Sunday roasts on the weekend – as well as delivering the dishes for which Ate Days is already known and loved.
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That means the likely return of its three cheese and bone marrow burger sandwich, Live Forcheddar, and perhaps even 2021 British Pie Award winner Pie of the Tiger.
Ate Days A Week’s breakfast pie Bake me up before you Go-Go, stuffed with Olde English sausages, bacon beans, mature cheddar cheese and a homemade hash brown inside shortcrust and puff pastries. / Image: Ate Days A Week
Sharing the news to social media this week, Andy warned followers they were facing their last chance to get pies at the Stockport site. He said: “I think now is the right time to tell you that today is your last chance to get our incredible Award-Winning pies from our Stockport site so, we will be running limited numbers on the menu items today and we will not be on UberEats.”
Explaining that the Stockport site will ‘fully become Notion’, he added, “this wasn’t an easy decision to make but the way the last year has panned out it just makes sense”.
Stating that he wanted to “move Ate Days A Week to a site that allows us to continue to push on with what we do, get bigger and better and fully flourish” he acknowledged that “location will play a vital part” whilst hinting that followers should head over to @cometogethermcr to find out more.
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Image: Ate Days A Week
Ate Days A Week already sells an amazing breakfast pie (Bake Me Up Before You Go Go), which comes stuffed with Olde English sausages, bacon beans, mature cheddar cheese and a homemade hash brown inside shortcrust and puff pastries.
Image: Ate Days A Week
Now, though, chef Andy is looking to build on that with the creation of a new all-day breakfast menu in Manchester at Come Together.
Glimpses teased out on Instagram already have us very excited, showing an epic-looking fry up laden with all the essentials: fried egg, crispy bacon, fat sausages, beans, tomatoes, black pudding and homemade hash browns.
We can’t wait to see what else he comes up with. To keep up to date with further developments ahead of the spring 2022 opening, make sure to follow @cometogethermcr on Instagram.
Deansgate bar Simmons closes just over a year after opening
Danny Jones
London-born bar brand Simmons has closed their Manchester site just over a year after opening their first Northern location.
They’ve lasted roughly 15 months on one of our busiest nightlife strips.
Opening on Deansgate back in October 2024, Simmons Manchester wasn’t just their first foray here up in this half of the country but their only other venue outside of the capital.
An otherwise well-established and popular chain down south, they have a total of 15 different bars in central London, but things clearly haven’t quite taken off as planned here in Manchester.
Placing a poster in the unit’s shopfront besides the likes of Be At One, Yours, The Moon Under The Water Spoons and the Deansgate branch of Slug and Lettuce, as you can see, the fellow franchise founded over a decade ago said: “After much consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our doors.
“It’s never easy to say goodbye”, they add, “We’re incredibly proud of what the team built here and so grateful to them, as well as everyone who joined us over the past year.
“We’ve had some unforgettable nights. We love Manchester, and we hope to be back under the right conditions.”
They go on to thank everyone for being “part of the journey”, but for now, it looks like the room has closed effective immediately.
Simmons started back in 2012 when founder Nick Campbell opened the first bar below his flat in Kings Cross, and their presence has grown hugely since then. The closing sign was spotted and shared on social media earlier this week.
Offering everything from stylish cocktails to New York-style pizza, live music and even private karaoke booths, the place had plenty going on.
With rising business rates, energy bills and more dovetailing with the continuing cost of living crisis that is still hampering both hospitality and the nightime economy, they are just one of many to unfortunately close their doors of late.
For instance, it was only earlier this month that we saw multiple well-known names shut up shop here in the city centre or elsewhere in Greater Manchester, including another long-standing late-night favourite, Revolution.
It’s a shame for any business to close, and we certainly hope they’ll return someday with a model that can be sustained in the current climate.
Heaton Park’s historic tramway will be back up and running this summer after major funding secured
Emily Sergeant
Historic trams are set to run through Heaton Park once again from this summer thanks to some major new funding being secured.
For just over a year now, trams have been unable to run through Manchester‘s largest suburban park as the electrical substation which powers the Heritage Tramway needed an overhaul to bring it up to current safety standards – but now, some substantial funding has been secured to enable the essential restoration work to begin in the spring.
The trams operate on the only remaining section of the original tramway in Heaton Park, and offer locals and visitors alike a real glimpse into the past.
This piece of local history is operated by the volunteers of the Manchester Transport Museum Society (MTMS) on behalf of the Manchester Tramway Company Limited (MTCL) – a joint venture company between the Manchester Transport Museum Society and Manchester City Council.
This major investment into the existing infrastructure will ensure operation of the trams can continue for many years to come.
The £481,000 funding investment – which has been secured from Manchester City Council – should mean the tramway can restart in summer 2026, which just so happens to coincide with the 125th anniversary of Manchester’s first electric tramways in 1901, so it’s a big deal.
“Our support of the much-loved Heaton Park Tramway not only preserves an important piece of local heritage, but a piece of living history,” commented Councillor Lee-Ann Igbon, who is the Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods at Manchester City Council.
“The vintage trams hold a special place in the hearts of many people.”
Heaton Park’s historic tramway will be back up and running this summer after major funding was secured / Credit: David Dixon (via Geograph)
Geoff Senior, who is the Chairman of the Manchester Transport Museum Society, called the securing of funding ‘wonderful news’.
He added: “It represents a huge vote of confidence in the hard work and dedication [volunteers] have shown in the last 50 years of working to build, develop and run this vital piece of Manchester’s transport heritage, not only for the citizens of Manchester but those who travel to the park from wider afield.”
Georgina Pellant -
14th January 2022 
