One of Manchester’s most beloved micropubs has announced its permanent closure, with a heartbreaking farewell letter plastered to its shutters.
The Ancoats Lad said that it had been ‘a tough two years with that clown in No 10’, which made the decision to ‘say goodbye to Oldham Street’ easier.
A lengthy laminated note taped to its frontage shared the gut-wrenching reasons behind its decisions to close for good.
Signed by landlord Phil Bell as well as Jackie, Anne, Nicola, Michelle and Diane, the note says that their relationships with their customers have given them the ‘greatest joy and our greatest pain’, paying tribute to some close friends who have sadly died in recent years.
A heartbreaking farewell for the pub. Credit: The Manc Group
They wrote: “We have lost some exceptional people in the last few years, my close pal Stevie Poyning being just one of them and then our beautiful vivacious Anne (Jackies partner in crime) died last week.
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“When this happens you really do rethink your life.”
The note also said: “We are getting closer to ‘Gods waiting room’ and we need to spend a few years doing our own thing.”
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The Ancoats Lad, which is nestled in a tiny unit next to Gulliver’s pub, added that it was proud to have ‘encouraged awkwardness’.
They wrote: “It was never a PC Bar it never went ‘woke’, we encouraged awkwardness, our customers were old school.
Although the pub has only been open since 2016 – nearly two of which were spent in Covid restrictions – Phil’s family has owned businesses in the city since the 19th century, including pubs, pet shops and hairdressers.
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“We were and are Ancoats through and through,” he wrote.
“Ancoats will be forever, the new people are the same as us older ones, they just have different values, oh and shiny new buildings and posh bars and restaurants ‘we didnt’.”
The full heartbreaking note posted at The Ancoats Lad pub. Credit: The Manc Group
Its final paragraph reads: “To all our friends who enjoyed the Lad we will leave you with this.
“Sometimes saying goodbye means quitting something you’re good at. Saying goodbye sometimes can be so difficult especially with all that we’ve been through along with everything we felt about you….
“The memories that we made, all the fun we found, looking back on those years will always make us both sad and glad, in equal measures. The past is where we met, and where we rekindled old friendships, we went back into that wonderful world that we grew up in and lived and loved in.
“The future is where we are all going, who truthfully knows what tomorrow may hold. But please always remember you were part of our lives and we will miss you ‘Moving on is a simple thing, what it leaves behind is really hard’.
Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”