For the first time ever, Chester Zoo is going to stay open after hours so visitors can see its 27,000 animals once the sun has gone down.
If you’ve ever wondered what an elephant’s evening routine looks like, how a cheetah chills out after a long day, or what it’s like to sail the Lazy River as the sun sets, then now’s your chance to find out – because the UK’s biggest charity zoo giving you the chance to spend an enchanting evening exploring everything it has to offer.
The brand-new Into the Night sessions are running on an exclusive handful of evenings across July and August from 5:30pm – 9pm.
During the exclusive after hours sessions, animal lovers will get access to the whole zoo.
Into The Night is the first time Chester Zoo ever offered unlimited access to the zoo after hours, and this means that all visitors’ favourite parts of the zoo will be open – including animal habitats, indoor areas, and restaurants too
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The zoo says its animal houses will close at 8pm on event evenings.
As well getting to see all the fan-favourite animals in a whole new light as the sun starts to set, staff say visitors can also expect to be able to see some of the zoo’s nocturnal animals too, like aardvarks, bats, and more.
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🐻☀️VISIT THE ZOO AT SUNSET!☀️🦁
For the first time EVER, we're inviting you to FOUR special evenings this summer where you can see what the animals get up to after hours!⏰ pic.twitter.com/1j9uLFJFlo
The new Into The Night experience is being launched to raise money for the zoo’s vital efforts to prevent extinction in the UK and around the world.
If seeing the animals wasn’t exciting enough as it is, during the exclusive nights, there’ll also be the chance to tuck into some delicious themed food and drink, all while you watch a thrilling lineup of entertainment.
Some of the performances will include amazing acrobatics, dance, and upbeat African music by Tanzanian Acrobats – who have previously performed at the Glastonbury Festival – and Global Grooves will also bring playful puppetry and vibrant costumes to the zoo.
Chester Zoo is staying open after hours so visitors can see its 27,000 animals once the sun has gone down / Credit: Chester ZooThe brand-new Into the Night sessions are running on an exclusive handful of evenings across July and August / Credit: Chester Zoo
Fancy it then? Into The Night sessions are taking place on Friday 29 July, Saturday 30 July, Friday 12 August and Saturday 13 August, and given this is an extremely rare opportunity that’s never happened before, it’s expected to be popular.
Only a limited number of tickets are available each night, and will set you back £15 for adults and £10 for children aged three-17.
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
14th July 2022 
