Junkyard Golf Club in Manchester has unveiled a brand new look, giving its First Street venue an industrial-inspired makeover.
Doing away with the loud neon flecks and old vinyl that the brand has become known for, now, in its place, you’ll find a new style of interiors using stencilled paint – designed to set a more ‘grown up’ tone as Junkyard enters a new phase of its evolution.
First founded here in Manchester back in 2015, over the past seven years Junkyard Golf Club has expanded to six UK sites and is currently in the process of closing on a seventh – a second London location for the group.
It’s also tipped to be eyeing up expansion opportunities overseas this year.
Images of new-look courses show a sort of concrete urban jungle, with masses of corrugated iron and exposed industrial elements offset by sprawling foliage that drapes from the ceiling.
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Bright neon lights still litter the course, whilst the bar area is cleaner – the bleachers, it seems, are gone, replaced with the barrels and high stools favoured in other Manchester party bar venues like Crazy Pedro’s, Liars Club and Cane and Grain.
Elsewhere, the golf courses themselves have had quite the glow-up, too, with striking new set designs. In one instance – a real life-size aeroplane installation.
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Image: Junkyard Golf Club
Speaking on Junkyard Golf Club’s progression as it moves into this new phase, co-founder Mat Lake said: “The courses have matured and grown just as we have as a business.
“Visually they are a lot more impressive, more immersive, and more playable, so guests of Junkyard Golf Club are given the best possible experience.
“You can expect to see a major shift in terms of set design on each course, where we have added in some bigger scale production elements (vast real aeroplane installations) as well as upgraded lighting and general theming throughout.
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“The vibe will appear more over the top, but much more entertaining and fun-filled to improve our customer’s experience when playing crazy golf at one of our six venues.”
Image: Junkyard Golf Club Image: Junkyard Golf Club
Over the years, Manchester has watched Junkyard Golf Club grow from a low-fi, fledgling DIY pop-up determined to give crazy golf a new lease of life, to something altogether more grown-up and polished.
Emerging alongside a new leisure sector that brought us the likes of activity-led venues Flight Club, Swingers and Whistlepunks, Junkyard’s founders may have just ‘stumbled’ across the concept initially but over the years they’ve grown it into a nationally recognised brand.
Now, with a new look, a new logo and a new-look drinks menu, it appears the brand is gearing up to enter another new phase, all over again.
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On target to provide over 1.8 million games of crazy golf to the public in 2022, who knows, soon Junkyard Golf Club could become an international export.
Feature image – Junkyard Golf Club
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Andy Burnham to begin rolling out new ‘everyday fixes’ for Brits amid cost of living crisis
Emily Sergeant
A series of ‘everyday fixes’ to help combat the rising cost of living crisis are soon to be rolled out nationwide.
Kicking off with two measures today, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that he plans to ban retailers from making ‘misleading’ claims to customers about discounts.
The Government says shoppers have ‘increasingly complained’ about outlets artificially inflating prices to give a false sense of value, such as increasing prices only to then immediately advertise ‘discounts’ to make savings look larger than they really are, which goes on to create an uneven playing field for honest competitors.
The Prime Minister also wants to see an end to so-called ‘subscription traps’, where people find it hard to cancel their subscriptions, and contracts are automatically renewed at a higher cost.
Set to come into force in January 2027 and saving people an average of £14 a month for every unwanted subscription, the changes will mean businesses will need to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders. and a ‘much easier’ exit to contracts.
Andy Burnham to begin rolling out new ‘everyday fixes’ for Brits amid cost of living crisis / Credit: gov.uk | Piotr Cichosz (via Unsplash)
A new 14-day cooling-off period will also be introduced to let consumers cancel after a trial or long-term contract renews.
Certain charitable memberships, like the ones for cultural and heritage organisations for example, will be excluded from the new subscription rules due to the fact they have a unique role in preserving the nation’s history, landscapes, and cultural collections.
The Prime Minister says he is ‘determined’ to use every chance he gets to restore fairness and take pressure off people.
“I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps,” Andy Burnham said. “Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life, but I don’t think that’s right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people’s lives.”
He concluded: “These are just two of the everyday fixes we’re going to be rolling out.
“We want to put more money in people’s pockets and give people hope that politics really can work for them and their everyday lives.”
Featured Image – Piotr Cichosz (via Unsplash)
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Bury man jailed for life after being found guilty of murder at New Year’s Eve party
Emily Sergeant
A man has been handed a life sentence following the murder of another man at a New Year’s Eve celebration in Bury.
Antony Junior Murray, aged 25 of Tarn Drive in Bury, appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court last week (7 August) where he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 18 years after being found guilty of murder.
It follows the death of 23-year-old Joe Burton on New Year’s Eve last year.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that emergency services were called to reports of a disturbance at an address on Tarn Drive at approximately 11:56pm on New Year’s Eve (31 December 2025), and upon arrival, officers discovered Joe ‘unresponsive’ at the bottom of a staircase with a significant amount of blood around him.
Despite the best efforts of paramedics, Joe was pronounced dead at 12:43am on New Year’s Day (1 January 2026).
A post-mortem examination later confirmed he had died from a single stab wound to the back.
At the scene, Murray initially denied any involvement and claimed he had returned home from a pub to find the victim unresponsive, however officers quickly identified inconsistencies in his account.
Initial enquiries – including phone and location data – showed that Murray had been at the address throughout the evening.
Joe had been in a relationship with Murray’s sister and had been invited to the address earlier that evening, and then further investigation revealed that Murray, Murray’s sister, the victim. and another individual had been at the property together, drinking and setting off fireworks to see in the New Year.
CCTV footage recovered from the scene captured the events leading up to the incident, including the fatal attack, and showed Murray assaulting Joe and placing him in a headlock, before proceeding to stab him in the back.
Following a detailed police investigation, Murray was charged with murder and was subsequently found guilty at court.
“Murray carried out a brutal attack on Joe and then attempted to mislead officers about his involvement,” explained Duncan Thorpe, who was the Senior Investigating Officer on the case.
Georgina Pellant -
7th April 2022 
