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Christmas decorations stolen from Manchester bar by ‘absolute low-lives’

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 18th November 2021

A pair of customers at Manchester’s popular gin bar Atlas have walked away with stolen Christmas decorations.

The bar has shared CCTV footage of the duo, who left the Deansgate bar last night with a reel of fairy lights intended for the venue’s Christmas tree.

Atlas’s owner says it’s ‘unbelievable’ that someone would steal from the business after such a difficult year.

Elaine Wrigley, who runs the bar with her husband Mark, says they spend a lot of time and money on finishing touches like this to make the bar as welcoming as possible.

Atlas has also had a run of people stealing its cushions, with one woman even stuffing them up her shirt.

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The tree up in Atlas’s window last Christmas. Credit: Facebook – Atlas Bar.

Elaine said the bar’s manager had put the tree up and prepared the lights for decorating, but quickly noticed that they’d gone missing and checked the CCTV.

Speaking to The Manc, Elaine said: “It’s unbelievable. This couple have just taken the whole lot.

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“We wanted to do something special after being closed all last December.

“We’ve kind of done these new graphics in the window this year, and we always have our tree up in the window.

“We still put our tree up last year even though we couldn’t open and it was so nice, even during lockdown we had people coming out for their daily walk to see the tree.

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“We’ve had such a hard year and for people to do this, some people are just low-lives.

“It might not seem like much, but after a year of not taking much money, it’s just another cost.

Read more: Go for the cheap menu, stay for the experience: Six by Nico, reviewed

“The city centre still isn’t back to 100%.

“The worst bit is the impact it had on the team. They were so deflated that someone could do that.”

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Atlas is soon bringing back its early morning breakfast and coffee offering, with 8am starts on weekdays and 10am starts at the weekends.

Featured image: Atlas Bar

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30 years ago, the IRA detonated a 1,500kg lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the heart of Manchester – here’s the story

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant History behind the IRA bomb in Manchester city centre

Today marks three whole decades since an explosion from the inside of a lorry parked on Corporation Street shattered windows and destroyed buildings across the city centre.

Causing an evisceration that stretched for miles, when the 1,500 kilogram IRA bomb went off in 1996, it was the biggest detonation in Great Britain since the Second World War.

Following the explosion, the city fell silent – leaving rack, rubble and ruin in its wake. Famously, one red post box was left standing – today fitted with a memorial plaque in remembrance of the tragedy.

It seems scary to think that back then, most people could only stand there, watch on and worry.

mcr ira attack
Credit: Manchester Libraries archive

The bomb caused an estimated £700 million worth of damage to Manchester’s infrastructure and economy, and over a quarter of a century later, locals still tell the stories of where they were when it went off – and of the devastation it left behind.

Notably, one resident of the Cromford Court maisonettes on top of the Arndale – a 77-year-old RAF veteran suffering from the flu – didn’t even bother to get up when the telephone warning to evacuate hit, considering himself to have survived much worse feats during his time in military service.

Having been a rear gunner in a Lancaster in the war, he reportedly told police and authorities “he was buggered if he was going to let a small bomb affect him.”

In subsequent years, Danny O’Neill has become a part of an urban legend surrounding the bomb as his staggering story has been told time and time again.

Around 90 minutes prior to the detonation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army had telephoned in warnings – meaning that around 75,000 people were able to be evacuated from the area before the bomb went off from the back of a van.

However, the bomb squad were unable to defuse it in time, leading to over 200 injuries from people still left in the area.

Thankfully, despite those injuries, there were no fatalities, and many of those reported traumas came from the shattering of thousands of windows and other damage to buildings in which unsuspecting people were getting on with their days.

Several buildings near the explosion were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs, and this prompted the biggest regeneration of Manchester city centre ever – something that is still continuing to this day, arguably at a more rapid rate than ever.

The city lay dormant for days after the explosion, as people came to terms with what had happened and kept their distance. Many moved out of the centre for a period of time, while many more simply decided not to visit for fear of another incident.

It was a desolate place, eerily quiet, and in need of some serious TLC.

According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the 1996 blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.

corporation street bomb
arndale bomb
Credit: Manchester Libraries

Market Street – near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK – was considered by some a “fearful” place, and one that was to be “avoided like the plague”.

The prospect of pulling Manchester’s bustling city centre out of its darkest depression was not casually approached by those in charge.

It was acknowledged as a mammoth task from the get-go, but Greater Manchester has never let anything get in its way. Despite how steep the hill is that we’re standing at the base of, we always manage to reach the peak, ready to go again.

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Featured Images – Supplied/Courtesy of Manchester Libraries

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Manchester City Council green-light new venue at Medlock Square, with Mamma Mia! The Party to open the immersive space

Danny Jones Danny Jones New venue opening at Medlock Square Etihad Campus Mamma Mia The Party debut

The smash-hit ‘Mamma Mia: The Party’ is set to land in Manchester next year as the maiden event of another brand-new space set to open as part of the upcoming Medlock Square development.

Etihad Campus has seen a lot of moving pieces over the past few years, be it the building of Co-op Live, the ongoing expansion of Man City’s home ground, the soon-to-launch hotel attached to the stadium and now Medlock.

But those in control of the land are content with stopping there; this looks to be just the start of a whole new evolution for the East Manchester area, with an as yet untitled new immersive arts, experience and events venue also set to join the new slate of projects.

You see another glimpse of the purpose-built mini arena, of sorts, down below.

new arts venue at medlock square manchester
Credit: Medlock Square (publicity pictures)

With plans having now been approved by the City Council, the ‘immersive’ space will be situated between the Etihad, Co-op Live and Medlock Square itself, holding up to 600 guests per performance.

Currently set to open in late 2027, following the rest of the square’s launch window being fully rolled out, we still don’t know the name of this next addition, but the structure itself will dovetail with the surrounding buildings and areas as part of seasonal activations, live shows and sports screenings, as well as pop-ups, brand collaborations and more.

Looping back, the interactive, multimedia extravaganza that is ‘Mamma Mia! The Party’ will finally be making its Manc debut as part of the 10th anniversary of the all-singing, all-dancing and even all-dining in-demand production.

As per an official press release from the Medlock Square media team, the show will combine “live music, theatre, food and storytelling” and “offer visitors an unforgettable night out.”

The original UK production at The O2 in London has now surpassed more than 1,500 performances, with a total of 700k guests attending these shows in 110 countries across the globe. Safe to say it’s rather popular.

As for Medlock Square and the surrounding Etihad Campus, Manchester City supporters have also been given another look at the soon-to-open, immersive hotel tie-in experience.

With a skywalk, rooftop bar, a new MCFC shop and various other bits set to spill out onto Medlock Square, it all feels like a period of wholesale changes over in the blue half of the city – especially with the football club bidding farewell to their manager Pep Guardiola after more than a decade.

Following the new and improved North Stand being named after him in the first of many tributes, the City Football Group (CFG) are also set to commission a statue in his honour over the coming months.

Meanwhile, Medlock Square is also due to open later this year, although an official completion date has not been confirmed.

You can stay up to date with all the latest on Mamma Mia! The Part’s Manchester shows right HERE.

Not forgetting a brand-new women’s football facility, too, there is so much stuff going on over at the Etihad that it can be hard to keep track, but here’s the latest look at some of the rooms set to feature in the hotel of the same name.

First look at the lavish two-storey penthouse hotel suite opening at the Etihad campus
See more here.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Publicity pictures (CGIs via Medlock Square)

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