When Gary Usher’s new country pub The White Horse at Churton opened its booking system last Friday, fans of his Elite Bistro’s empire rushed to secure themselves a table at the soon-to-open village boozer.
It might not open its doors until 3 March but over the weekend the pub received over 500 booking requests for its first three days, showing that enthusiasm amongst fans is running high as ever.
Fully crowdfunded to the tune of £220,000 by Elite Bistro restaurant-goers in just 24 hours, it will be the eighth venture for Usher, whose group already lays claim to popular Manchester restaurants Kala and Hispi, as well as Chester’s Sticky Walnut and Wreckfish in Liverpool.
However, it’s not all been smooth sailing for the new pub so far. This weekend, Usher was forced to take to Twitter to defend his menu prices at the pub after he came under fire for listing a dry-aged burger with Comté cheese, mustard, relish and pickle with skinny fries for £19.50.
In a video posted to Twitter on Sunday, Usher said: “I wanted to address a few comments about the burger on the menu, the burger’s £19 [sic] and I just wanted to address that and explain a few bits about what we do and why we do it.
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“So I don’t even know where to start actually, well let’s start with a couple of comments…
“‘We should be comparing ourselves to the pub down the road and that’s how we should be finding out our prices?’ That’s just ridiculous,” he said.
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The newly-released menu for The White Horse at Churton pub has caused some controversy online thanks to a £19.50 burger. / image: The White Horse at Churton
image: The White Horse at Churton
“I’m not the most confident person, I’m painfully shy to be honest, but with the business I try not to be arrogant about it ever, I’m not, but we have to give ourselves a bit of credit for who we are and what we’ve achieved and how we’ve got to where we’ve got.
He continued: “This pub isn’t our first venture, this is number eight and were bl**** successful at what we do, so you have to give us some credit… give us the confidence to make the right decisions with this.
“I’ve been working my whole life in this industry. This is my sector. This is what I specialise in. I’m an expert at it, we all are in this business.
“And you know to be told things like you should be comparing it to the business down the road is just ridiculous. That’s not how you price up a menu.
“The burger is £19 [sic]. Now, we don’t look at other places to do that. Comparisons are great – be aware of what other people charge…
“You know to price up the menu, we source the ingredients, the very best ingredients. We get all our own raw ingredients, we add them up and then we take that into account and then work out the percentage that covers all of our costs. That’s how we came up with the cost of the menu item. That’s why the burger is £19 [sic].”
Homemade pork pie, picalilli and pickled chillies at The White Horse at Churton (£7.50). / Image: The White Horse at Churton
Beer-battered haddock and chips with minted pears and tartare at The White Horse at Churton (£15.50) / Image: The White Horse at Churton
Speaking to The Telegraph in an article on Sunday, Usher expressed concern about opening and confessed that he felt they were ‘really risking it’ by opening ‘in these times’.
“There was a lot of talk about pubs closing down, and I thought if I could be in a position to get hold of something it would probably be a good time to buy.”
It’s clearly a labour of love for the acclaimed chef, who has previously revealed that he is a huge fan of the area as his parents live nearby.
Located eight miles south of Chester, the historic pub has long been a local favourite. However, it was shuttered at the start of the Covid pandemic when its former licensees Dave and Jackie Biles found the business was becoming “unsustainable”.
The White Horse at Churton will also serve Sunday roasts. / Image: The White Horse at Churton
An old picture of The White Horse at Churton. / Image: The White Horse at Churton
On its newly-released menu, alongside the now-infamous £19.50 beef burger, diners will find traditional pub grub favourites like beer-battered haddock with chips (£15.50) and an 18oz dry aged sirloin of beef to share with chips and salad (£62) alongside the likes of homemade pork pie, stout rarebit, curried lamb pie and herby lamb faggots.
Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
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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
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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.”
Georgina Pellant -
6th February 2023 
