Manchester’s favourite naughty dessert cafe has reopened its doors this week with a brand new pancake menu.
Not content with celebrating on just one day, the team is stretching Shrove Tuesday out into the whole week, serving up delightful late-night pancake stacks loaded with the likes of blueberry crumble, maple syrup, Kinderella cream and hot fudge from 4pm.
After that, they’ll be launching a new birthday-themed menu from 7 March to celebrate the cafe’s 7th anniversary with plans to introduce more cakes, cookies, gelato and brownies as the weeks go on.
Image: The Manc Eats
Black Milk loyalists will be happy to know that the famous milkshakes are staying, and pancakes will become a regular feature of the menu going forward too.
The brand is also working on a special new flavour of its lauded cream spreads, due to be released this spring.
Bosses have used the closure to give the site an overhaul: refreshing the interior with new ‘chocolate bar’ tiling, replacing the patterned wallpaper with fresh, neutral pale pink walls and installing a brand new kitchen for their new head baker, Kendra Groves.
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An award-winning pastry chef, Kendra has recently moved to Manchester from Queensland, Australia to take on the role, having previously run her own bespoke cake business Wild Child Cakes back home.
As Wild Child Cakes, she has baked up some crazily Instagrammable and colourful creations, decorated with everything from ‘drunken Barbies’ clutching miniature bottles of Absolut vodka, to festive dragons and gnomes – so we’re very excited to see what she’s going to create for them here in Manchester.
She tells us that for Black Milk’s birthday week, she’s planning on creating a huge “five-tier extravaganza” combining “lots of colour, sprinkles, and things like that.”
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Old school flavours will be the order of the day, with the buttery, vanilla birthday favourite that is funfetti due to make an appearance – perhaps crossed in some way with every Mancunian sweet tooth’s other obsession, Lotus Biscoff.
This week, the cafe will only be open during the evenings as they get settled back in with their new team.
Doors will open 4pm until 8pm from now until Friday, then on the weekend a soft launch for the site will see opening hours run from 12-8pm.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
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‘There must be a way’ – Andy Burnham vows to save Jodrell Bank after funding cuts
Emily Sergeant
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to save the UK’s largest telescope at Jodrell Bank.
In case you hadn’t heard, back in July, theUK Research and Innovation (UKRI) announced that the Jodrell Bank Observatory – which is home to the Lovell Telescope – will not be prioritised for further funding after its current agreement ends in March 2028, despite the telescope standing in its Cheshire home since 1957.
The UKRI said the decision not to continue funding priority was ‘the result of a comprehensive, evidence-based prioritisation process’.
Since the news broke, however, it has been a topic of national uproar and discussion as to how to ensure its legacy lives on.
A proud part of the University of Manchester (UoM), Jodrell Bank had a pioneering role in the development of radio astronomy, and has evidence from its emergence as a new science in the 1940s through to the present day, making it an outstanding part of scientific heritage.
The Prime Minister was pressed to address concerns surrounding the future of the site by Sarah Russell, Labour MP for Congleton, in the House of Commons yesterday (1 September 2026).
Mr Burnham replied: “Every one of my generation went on a school trip to Jodrell Bank, and there is no way that we can see its demise – it won’t happen under my Government.
“I know there’s changes that have been made in relation to research funding, but Jodrell Bank is a heritage asset for the country, as well as a research asset.
“There must be a way to save Jodrell Bank, and I give a commitment today, at this despatch box, we will find it.”
Featured Image – The Manc Group
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Northern’s ‘Flash Sale’ is back for 2026 with millions of train tickets on sale for £2
Emily Sergeant
Millions of train tickets are currently on sale for just £2 each, as Northern has brought its popular ‘Flash Sale’ back for 2026.
A whopping FOUR MILLION of them, to be exact.
For the last couple of years, the rail operator has made life a little easier for train travellers by giving them the chance to grab one of several million tickets for much cheaper than normal – and now, with the cost of living crisis sadly continuing to make its impact felt, Northern has decided to kick off the autumn season by slashing prices once again.
It means that millions of people will have the opportunity to make a cut-price journey across the north of England before the end of October is out.
With the company’s regular ‘Flash Sales’ having gone onto become a, somewhat, legendary event at this point, it probably comes as no shock that you’ll need to act fast if you want to be in with a chance of get your hands tickets.
Tickets went live today and the sale runs for three days, closing on Friday 4 September – with tickets valid for travel between 9 September and 23 October 2026.
The top local destinations with the most tickets available in the sale are Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport, Manchester Victoria, and Manchester Oxford Road, as well as Wigan and several other neighbouring towns.
A list of routes where tickets will be available can also be found using the ‘cheap fare finder’ tool on the Northern website here.
Northern’s ‘Flash Sale’ is back for 2026 with millions of train tickets on sale from £2 / Credit: Northern | Wikimedia Commons
“With four million tickets up for grabs, this is one of our biggest Flash Sales yet, and there’s something for everyone,” commented Alex Hornby, who is the Commercial and Customer Director at Northern.
“With millions of tickets available for just £2 each, our Flash Sale will make the railway even more appealing, and we believe it will inspire everyone to explore everything our fantastic region has to offer, from bustling cities to countryside and stunning coastlines.
Georgina Pellant -
2nd March 2022 
