The teams behind Mackie Mayor, Altrincham Marketand Tender Cow have revealed plans to expand into the world of pubs, letting slip that they’ve just bought a boozer in Cheshire.
Sharing the news on Tuesday morning, the team ecstatically told their followers: “We’ve finally gone and done it. We’ve bought a pub and a rather spectacular one at that.”
They’ll be taking over the Nags Head, they revealed, a stunning, characterful Tudor-style pub in the pretty Cheshire hamlet of Houghton Moss, just outside of Tarporley.
Image: Facebook
Bosses will be joining forces with chefs behind fellow experienced market eateries including Honest Crust pizza, Picos Tacos and Altrincham’s Little Window to help put together this ‘proper, British pub’.
As part of the move, The Nag’s Head team will be rearing their own animals, creating their own charcuterie and moving closer to offering nose-to-tail dining by incorporating whole animal butchery on site.
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It’s one step beyond what the Tender Cow team already does to highlight lesser-known cuts of beef from some of the best producers and farms in Britain at both its Altrincham and Mackie Mayor’s food halls.
Tender Cow is a popular market stall in both the Altrincham and Manchester site dedicated to serving lesser-known cuts of beef from some of the best producers and farms in Britain. / Image: Tender Cow
Grilled leeks and new season asparagus vinaigrette topped with Red Bank organic eggs, crispy capers and Cambridge sauce. / Image: Little Window
Altrincham’s Little Window team – Beth, Ashley, Kate and E – pictured at their stall at the Altrincham Market House for International Women’s Day. / Image: Little Window
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As for local produce, they’ll be working with some of the area’s very best farmers and butchers – including Cinderwood Market Garden, Jane’s Farm Shop, Littlewoods Butchers, Swaledale Butchers, Wholly Cow Beef and Red House Farm.
There’s a strong focus on sustainability, and teams have said it will be ‘a proper British pub tying together everything we’ve been learning and building towards over the last few years.’
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The news of the purchase of the historic boozer follows a two-year appeal led by Cheshire locals to save their historic pub from demolition, after various planning applications were submitted to convert the site into residential dwellings.
Image: Tender Cow
The Grade-II listed building has already survived two world wars and innumerable economic crashes, and now – thanks to the Mackie Mayor and Tender Cow teams – it will hopefully continue to operate as a local community pub for many more years to come.
The new opening will be headed up by Head Chef Alex Coppenhall, who’s been running the Tender Cow kitchen in Macclesfield and is described as being ‘at the forefront of moving us along as a business.’
With an opening date currently set for 9 June 2022, the team is now on a tight recruitment drive to find new team members to help them build their vision of a ‘local, sustainable and honest’ pub.
If you would like to apply for a position, email [email protected] with your CV and cover letter.
Feature image – The Nag’s Head Facebook
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Salford man jailed after pointing loaded gun at police and members of public while on the run
Emily Sergeant
A man from Salford has been jailed for more than a decade after he pointed a loaded gun at police officers and members of the public while he was on the run.
Jay Conway, of Leicester Walk in Salford, appeared at Manchester Crown Court last week (6 March 2026) where he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm without a licence, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and assault of an emergency worker, as well as also pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and class B drugs.
His sentencing comes after officers from Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Salford Challenger team were patrolling Albert Park in plain clothes on Tuesday 20 May 2025.
They spotted a man riding an e-bike and wearing a balaclava, and attempted to detain him there and then, but despite their best efforts, he fled the area, brandishing what officers believed to be a pistol in the process.
The suspect – which was later identified as Conway – stole a bike and cycled on to Great Clowes Street, where a neighbourhood officer heading towards the incident attempted to detain him but he resisted. The officer deployed his Taser but he drew the pistol for a second time, pointing it at police and also at a member of the public.
Conway then dropped the firearm – which police later confirmed as a viable, loaded pistol – and a mobile phone, and fled for a second time.
Thanks to a ‘fast-paced and thorough’ investigation by specialist GMP teams, involving forensic analysis of the phone and CCTV which identified Conway as the suspect, he was arrested by armed officers the following day in Whalley Range.
“Nobody – a police officer or a member of the public – should be confronted by a gun,” said Detective Superintendent Simon Moyles, following Conway’s sentencing.
“These were frightening incidents and Conway is clearly a dangerous individual who is rightly serving a prison sentence. We need to commend and recognise our officers who showed immense bravery in trying to stop Conway.
“Guns have no place on our streets and the work we are doing in Salford, and across Greater Manchester, in relation to firearms incidents continues.
“If you know anyone who is using, or possesses, an illegal firearm, we urge you to get in touch with us as, for each firearm we recover, that’s potentially a life saved.”
Featured Image – GMP
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Nearly 300 new ‘social rent’ homes given go-ahead as part of £500m Wythenshawe regeneration
Emily Sergeant
Nearly 300 new homes are set to be built in Wythenshawe as part of a wider £500 million regeneration scheme.
In case you didn’t know, Placemaker Muse and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group submitted three separate planning applications for 422 new affordable homes back in December 2025, following a public consultation with locals.
Now, works on two of the three new communities can begin, with the third expected to get the green light in the coming weeks.
Brotherton House – which is a former office building – will be transformed into 216 new homes, including an extra care apartment building with 109 homes for people in later life and those living with dementia, while C2 The Birtles, also currently retail and office space, is situated next to the former market square and will be replaced with 81 one and two-bedroom apartments.
Alpha House, which is currently awaiting a planning decision, has now been demolished and will be rebuilt to provide 125 one and two-bedroom apartments – including 16 wheelchair accessible homes.
According to developers, all the homes will be ‘affordable, high-quality, and energy-efficient’, with additional outdoor and communal spaces to promote health and wellbeing.
The approval given to build these new homes forms part of the wider ‘ambitious’ plan to transform Wythenshawe over the next decade.
The wider masterplan for Wythenshawe will see up to 2,000 new homes created over the next 10 to 15 years, which will complement the wider investment currently underway in Civic – supported by £20 million of Government funding, and £11.9 million from Manchester City Council.
Nearly 300 new homes have been given the go-ahead as part of a £500m Wythenshawe regeneration scheme / Credit: Muse (Supplied)
New community facilities in the town include the Culture Hub – which is now underway – the Food Hall, currently awaiting a planning decision, new workspaces, and improvements to the outdoor spaces in Civic, all designed to create a ‘greener and more welcoming’ town centre.
“For us, this is about delivering the truly affordable homes local people have told us they need,” explained Andrea Lowman, who is the Executive Director of Development at Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.
“Every one of these homes will be for social rent, giving more families, older residents and people with additional needs the opportunity to live well in the heart of Wythenshawe.
“As the local social housing provider, we are focused not just on building new homes but on creating sustainable communities and making sure this investment strengthens the town centre for existing and future residents alike.”
Georgina Pellant -
19th April 2022 
