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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‘Prolific’ South Manchester burglar jailed for thefts which included peanuts…
Daisy Jackson
A ‘prolific’ burglar has been jailed for just over two years, for numerous thefts including sunglasses, airpods, and peanuts…
The man was caught red-handed inside someone’s property, where he claimed he was just wanting a glass of water – but was found by police officers to have the resident’s car keys in his pocket.
Fazal Alnesi, 26, from Moss Side, was then linked to a number of other burglaries, attempted burglaries, and thefts across South Manchester.
Fazal was sentenced to 27 months at Manchester Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to offences including six counts of burglary in June of this year.
He was arrested on 12 June, when a man returned to his home in Fallowfield in the early hours of the morning and discovered Fazal inside his address.
He claimed he was there because he wanted a glass of water but subsequently refused to leave, which led to police being called.
Officers placed Alnensi in handcuffs and found the resident’s car keys in his pocket, as well as indications that he’d been rummaging through the man’s drawers.
He was later linked to other thefts include a wrench set from a car, a pedal cycle worth £350, airpods, sunglasses – and even peanuts from one address.
He additionally took an electric bike charger from one address worth hundreds of pounds.
PC Jon Holden, from GMP’s City of Manchester district, said: “Alnensi took various items from several homes and cars across a two-week period earlier this year, making off with hundreds of pounds worth of goods.
“Ultimately, Alnensi left people feeling unsafe in his own home, and I am glad he is now behind bars.
“Our team will investigate all burglaries, and I would encourage people to get in touch with us – all intelligence helps us lock up criminals and bring them to justice.”
The top 10 ‘happiest’ places to live in the North West in 2026 have been named
Emily Sergeant
The top 10 happiest places to live in the North West have been named for 2026.
It comes as Rightmove has published its annual ‘Happy at Home’ index this week, just as it has done for the last 14 years now, exploring exactly what it is that makes people feel content about where they live, and highlighting the happiest places nationwide ahead of the new year – with thousands of residents across more than 200 locations providing feedback.
The residents told the leading property listing platform what they love (or don’t love) about their community, from the friendliness of their neighbours, to job opportunities, access to green spaces, and so much more.
The survey also outlined the differences in happiness in rural, urban, and suburban environments, as well as the way our sense of ‘home happiness’ changes as we age.
So, when it comes to the North West as a whole then, where do we have in the top 10?
Well, to kick things off, you may have already seen that one Lancashire market town has earned its place in the top 10 nationwide, not just for the North West region – and that’s Chorley.
Closest to the Bolton and Wigan boroughs, Chorley – which is is about a 40-minute drive outside of Manchester, and sits on a direct train route into the city centre.
But aside from the national top 10, when it comes to the regional top 10, the next two towns following Chorley in second and third are both in Greater Manchester.
The North West’s top 10 happiest places to live 2026
Chorley
Stockport
Altrincham
Chester
Macclesfield
Southport
Kendal
Wirral
Northwich
Carlisle
Altrincham has been named one of the North West’s happiest places to live / Credit: The Manc Group
The ever-thriving Stockport comes in at number two, followed by Trafford favourite Altrincham directly behind it at number three.
Other of the region’s inclusions like Bury, Bolton, Wigan, and the Manchester borough itself all ranked towards the bottom.
Speaking on this year’s list, Colleen Babcock – a property expert at Rightmove – explained: “The balance between greenery and everyday convenience runs through the wider findings. Even among people who would ideally choose a rural setting, access to amenities, parks and public transport remains important.
“This year’s results suggest that the places people rate most highly aren’t simply urban or rural, but often bring together some of the best elements of both.”
Featured Image – Roger Kidd (via Wikimedia Commons)
Georgina Pellant -
7th April 2022 
