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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Here’s our petition for ‘Wonderwall’ to become England’s new football anthem
Danny Jones
All things considered, England have made a great start to the 2026 World Cup, pitching themselves as one of the great entertainers this tournament, and the scenes of the supporters and players alike serenading an entire stadium with ‘Wonderwall’ after the full-time whistle gave us chills.
So why not time for a change?
After all, that feels a lot like what this World Cup squad is about: a new manager, new teammates, not clinging to the previous ways of playing – and perhaps it’s time to put ‘Sweet Caroline’ to one side.
Now, we’re by no means saying that we’re ‘done’ with the John Denver anthem that has been reborn as a Three Lions anthem, but look at how good it was watching England belting out Oasis with the fans.
“Today is gonna be the day that England beat Croatia 4-2”, as BBC’s Match of the Day cleverly quipped.
Obviously, we’re biased as Mancs, but we also think there’s something special about having that particular track feel so good to hear again.
As much as we love Oasis, for a long time, it felt like we couldn’t enjoy arguably their biggest-ever single anywhere near as much as we once did.
We assume it’s something akin to hearing ‘Mr Brightside’ non-stop for what felt like millennia, and in truth, hearing those repetitions of “ba, ba, ba… SO GOOD, SO GOOD!” over and over again at sporting fixtures beyond just national team games has taken the magic out of it at times.
Perhaps it’s just a case of saturation in certain settings and songs simply being overplayed – FIFA’s co-hosts over in the US certainly helped see to that when it came to ‘Wonderwall’ for a long time.
On the other hand, it feels like we’ve now come full circle; singing those famous lyrics at the top of our lungs in a sea of Mancs and fans travelling from all over to Heaton Park for Live ’25 last year felt better than ever, and like we’d all remembered how great a tune it’s always been. So did this…
In fact, this felt so emotional that you’ve got people who aren’t even English praising both those on the pitch and up in the stands for the moment online.
Even the admittedly rather American Man vs Food himself, Adam Richman (though he does have British ancestry), felt compelled to write a moving response on social media: “Shut up. You’re the one that’s crying. Bravo, England.”
He’s far from the only one who was left bowled over by the atmosphere – us included.
And in case you’re wondering just how strongly we feel about this one, you can sign a literal petition we’ve made for ‘Wonderwall’ to become the new England World Cup anthem for 2026 right HERE.
Featured Images — Oasis/ITV Sport (screenshots via YouTube)
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New images released of Piccadilly Gardens as transformation plans take a big step forward
Daisy Jackson
Plans to transform Piccadilly Gardens to make them more ‘colourful, vibrant and safe’ have taken a big step forward today, with new images released.
Manchester City Council has shared the vision to the public ahead of a planning application being submitted this summer.
The plans to finally give Piccadilly Gardens some love were revealed last autumn, but things are now moving at pace with a delivery team appointed to design and build the new public space.
The new images show the vision for more green space, including lawns, trees, planting, seating, and colourful horticultural displays.
The temperamental fountains will also be removed for good, replaced with a new space called The Pavilion which will host family-friendly events.
The low concrete walls and raised planters at the edge of the gardens will be ripped out, improving the setting of the Queen Victoria statue.
There’ll be a new, larger playground for younger children, created in the same high quality style as the new parks at Mayfield Park and Ancoats Green.
A pre-planning consultation has started today and will run until Wednesday 15 July, with plans to submit the final planning application later this summer.
The new-look play area at Piccadilly GardensPlans for the new Piccadilly Gardens from above
The council has said that these new designs reflect feedback from the public and opinions on what we want to see at the new Piccadilly Gardens.
Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig said: “We’re getting on with sorting out Piccadilly Gardens. We all want to see a space which Mancunians can be proud of – a welcoming and attractive environment which people want to spend time in.
“So as well other initiatives which are delivering more police and more CCTV, we’re bringing forward this scheme to transform the public space. That means investment in more flowers, more greenery, a new welcome pavilion, a new and bigger playground and an altogether more inviting Piccadilly Gardens. A bright new chapter is just around the corner.”
Further planned improvements to the area around Piccadilly Gardens in the coming years will include a multi-million pound investment by Transport for Greater Manchester to create a new, modern transport interchange.
Georgina Pellant -
7th April 2022 
