Bolton’s legendary bakery Carrs Pasties has revealed some huge plans to expand across the UK for the first time ever.
Founded all the way back in 1938, and known as the ‘pride of Bolton’ with the town at the heart of everything it does, family-run bakery Carrs Pasties may not be known worldwide, but it has been “baking perfect pasties” for the past 83 years, with an original recipe that has been passed down through three generations.
The beloved bakery – which runs three shops in the Bolton borough – “takes great pride” in what it produces, admitting that it wants every single pasty to taste as good as the next and working extremely hard to achieve this feat.
Over the years, the company has gone from humble beginnings, to launching a click and collect service and a nationwide delivery service.
But up until now, it’s been pretty tricky to get your hands on the delicacies outside of Bolton.
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Carrs Pasties has been “baking perfect pasties” for the past 83 years / Credit: Carrs Pasties
For the foodies that are keen to tuck into a pasty on the road, Carrs has announced that it has submitted a planning application to upgrade the main Summerfield Road site to predominantly be a production and distribution facility.
It comes after the COVID-19 pandemic was said to have forced the business to revise how it operates going forward.
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Speaking on the huge expansion plans, managing director Joe Carr told Bolton News: “The blessing of COVID was that we had to innovate, and those who did innovate benefitted [so] we stopped serving fresh from the oven to all our partners and they now have to bake off frozen products.
“It’s fresher and better quality.”
He continued: “It’s opened up the whole of the UK and it has been a great success so far, so we hope to serve more and more people with what this town is proud of.”
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Mr Carr added that the company is “very excited” about the prospect of expanding across the UK, and says that “everywhere you see a Costa Coffee machine, we hope you’ll see a Carrs stall. In petrol stations and retail shops. You’ll see us up and down the country.”
The Carrs Pasties original recipe that has been passed down through three generations / Credit: Carrs Pasties
A big part of the Carrs expansion also aims increase employment opportunities, and to adopt an eco-friendlier set-up, with the company aiming to reduce its gas use and make every pasty van electric within the next decade, and Mr Carr adding: “Everyone is driving towards a better, greener future. It’s the right thing to do. We never even questioned that we wouldn’t do it.
“Our target is to also reduce the gas we are using for our ovens and every van in our fleet will be electric in 10 years.
“As we continue to expand, there will be more retail shops in what we call the Greater Bolton area, so you might see one pop up in Manchester, for example, but it has to be the right opportunity.”
Featured Image – Carrs Pasties
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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.”