A huge new mural of punk rock singer and guitarist Pete Shelley has appeared in Leigh, Greater Manchester, this afternoon.
Created in tribute to the late punk rock icon, it sits in the heart of the community where he was born and grew up and still has family today.
Based on the cover of The Buzzcocks’ 1978 single Ever Fallen In Love and a portrait of Shelley, created by artist Chris Gabrin in the same year, it’s been designed by artists Malcolm Garrett and Akse P19.
The latter is well known in the city for his photo-realistic portraits of pop culture icons, and his work is often seen popping up in prime locations across Manchester.
Image: Akse P19
Situated close to Leigh Town Hall and the historic Turnpike Centre, the new mural is Akse’s biggest yet – sitting smack bang in the heart of Leigh. Initiated by The Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign, it has taken over three years of fundraising in order to complete the project.
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At a whopping 200 meters squared, it’s not an easy one to miss if you’re in the area and has taken around a week to complete – with the finishing touches, including a final coat of protective varnish, being applied by the street artist this afternoon.
Whilst the artwork has been unfolding over the past week, locals have had some fun trying to guess who it might be – with Akse posting a range of updates to his social media showing the piece at various stages of completion.
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Sharing an image of the mural with just the hair, background and outline complete, he asked: “Slow progress, can you guess who’s the subject I’m painting?” – and got some surprising responses.
Image: Akse P19
A surprisingly large number thought it could be Ghislaine Maxwell, perhaps created in response to Quebek’s recent Prince Andrew mural which appeared in Manchester over the Jubilee weekend.
Others guessed it could be anyone from Hayley Cropper to Bruce Lee, Jonny Marr, or even Liza Minelli.
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One person commented: “If it’s not Jonny Marr, it’s not too late to make it Jonny Marr anyway”
Another said: “With just that hairstyle I’d have to guess any Mancunian man between the ages 35 – 45?”
A third got it spot on, saying: “Pete Shelley but first thought was Liza”.
The mural is now complete, to the delight of Shelley’s cousins Howard Lycett and Rebecca Hamilton, who still live in the local area.
The pair told Louder Than War: “As a family, we are delighted to have Pete back in his hometown and looking as vibrant as he ever was.
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“Pete was always incredibly proud of his northern roots, and we hope that the mural will help Pete’s legacy live on and inspire more young artists and musicians to break down barriers and follow their dreams”.
‘Danger to life’ amber wind warning issued for Greater Manchester as Storm Éowyn arrives
Emily Sergeant
Storm Éowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption to Greater Manchester later this week.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Met Office named Storm Éowyn yesterday, and confirmed that it will begin to influence the UK’s weather from early on Friday – with strengthening winds initially expected in the south west first, accompanying heavy rainfall, before it quickly spreads to the north and the rest of the UK as the morning progresses.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for large parts of the UK, including the majority of Greater Manchester, for most of the day on Friday.
#StormÉowyn has been named and is forecast to bring strong winds to much of the UK on Friday and into Saturday.
Coming into effect from 6am this Friday (24 January), the weather warning his means that power cuts are likely to occur, transport services will be affected with delays and cancellations, and there is a chance that buildings could be damaged.
Worse than that though, there’s even a ‘danger to life’ too, with potential injuries occurring from flying debris.
Speaking ahead of Storm Éowyn’s arrival in a couple of days time, Mike Silverstone, who is the Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Storm Éowyn will bring a period of very unsettled, potentially disruptive, weather to the UK through Friday and into Saturday.
Warnings for strong winds, heavy rain and snow are in place across many parts of the UK during Thursday, Friday and into the weekend ⚠️
“The strongest gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, northern England, northwestern Wales and western Scotland, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas.
“There will also be some heavy rain, bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week.”
The initial warning for Storm Éowyn has been issued several days in advance, so it’s important to stay up to date with the forecast on the Met Office website here in the coming days.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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The 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season has been delayed
Danny Jones
The next Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season has been officially delayed by nearly three weeks.
Announced on Tuesday, 21 January, the decision has been taken in an effort to help promote the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC), the proximity of which is rather close to the national union championship competition.
With sporting bodies also trying to nurture a growing interest in female rugby, the start of the next PWR season will be pushed back not only to give players more time to rest but in an effort to drive a larger audience to the WRWC as well, the final of which is being played here in England.
The hope is that it will also better the Red Roses’ chances of winning the international tournament in turn – fingers firmly crossed.
Get excited 🤩
The PWR 2025-26 Season will officially kick off on Saturday 25th October PLUS the PWR Cup will return 🙌
The conclusion of the international tournament is taking place at Twickenham Stadium in London on 27 September, just days before the 2025/26 Premiership season was due to start.
Local side Sale Sharks are sadly at the bottom of the table this current campaign, which kicked off on 5 October 2024 and ends this March, but with eyes already on the WRWC the focus for lots of players in the division will no doubt already be shifting.
Not only is the domestic women’s rugby season being delayed by nearly three whole weeks – meaning the first games won’t happen until 25 October – but this comes after the current schedule of fixtures was also reduced with player recovery in mind ahead of the World Cup.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the PWR’s operations manager, Amy Walmsley, said: “The Rugby World Cup is a generational moment for women’s rugby and will create a huge opportunity for both PWR and our clubs to grow and celebrate with their fans.
“The optimum time between the Rugby World Cup Final and our first league match will ensure we capitalise on what we already know will be the biggest and best World Cup ever, while also ensuring player welfare with adequate rest across the season.”
The stats back it up too as 2024 saw numerous milestones for the women’s game; in addition to record crowds at the Olympics, last year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations was the most viewed on record with 8.1 million fans tuning in, not to mention an increased interest among 18-24-year-olds.
You can find the run-down of the Sale Sharks Women fixtures below:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗜𝗻
All of our fixtures for the 24/25 season are locked in. Let's bring that Northern roar to every game #SharksFamily 🦈
As for the final of the Premiership Women’s Rugby, the date has been reverted to its usual window in June, which should also fit within what congestion remains.
Nevertheless, with the Women’s Six Nations in late April and England – who have won all but one of their last 51 games – set to begin their World Cup on 22 August, the margins are still going to be somewhat fine if they are to head into the tournament in the best shape possible.
With the tickets selling extremely well, the expectation is that the Rugby World Cup final break is set to break the world record for the best-attended women’s rugby fixture in history.
In the meantime, Greater Manchester is gearing up for the men’s action as the Six Nations gets underway at the end of this month and the city is boasting the perfect place to watch it.
Georgina Pellant -
7th July 2022 
