Plans for Manchester’s annual Remembrance Sunday commemorations next month have now been announced.
All the road closures set to be put in place for the procession have also been confirmed too.
With the day to remember the fallen, and pay our respects to all those we have lost and who have been affected by historical or ongoing conflicts, only a few weeks away now, just as it does each year, Manchester City Council has revealed the details of how the city will mark Remembrance Sunday on 12 November.
As is generally the case most years, Manchester’s annual Service of Remembrance will take place at the Cenotaph in St Peter’s Square.
Proceedings will start at 10:30am and run through until midday.
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Veterans and military personnel will march from John Dalton Street to the Cenotaph, where a service will be held at 11am, along with a two-minute silence, all before a short march then takes places to Peter Street across St Peter’s Square.
Plans to mark Remembrance Sunday in Manchester have been announced / Credit: David Dixon (via Geograph)
The two-minute silence will be observed at 11am, and the start and finish of this silence will be marked by the firing of a gun.
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The Exhortation, The Last Post, and two-minute silence will be live-streamed on the day from 10:45am, and yo can watch it here.
In order for necessary security checks and safeguards to be carried out, Manchester City Council and CityCo has confirmed that a series of road closures will be implemented on Sunday 12 November between 7am and 1pm.
The following road closures will be in place:
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John Dalton Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
Princess Street (Cross Street to Portland Street) with a ‘hard closure’ at Back George Street
Cross Street (Princess Street to King Street)
Peter Street (Deansgate to Oxford Street) with a ‘hard closure’ at Watson Street
Oxford Street (Peter Street to Portland Street) with a ‘hard closure’ at Hale Street
Mount Street (Windmill Street to Albert Square)
Museum Street (Windmill Street to Peter Street)
Southmill Street (Windmill Street to Albert Square)
Bootle Street (Deansgate to Mount Street)
Lloyd Street (Deansgate to Southmill Street)
Jackson’s Row (Deansgate to Southmill Street)
Central Street (Southmill Street to Mount Street)
Cooper Street (Kennedy Street to Princess Street)
West Mosley Street (Booth Street to Princess Street)
Bow Lane (Clarence Street to Princess Street)
St James’s Square (South King Street to John Dalton Street)
Ridgefield (Mulberry Street to John Dalton Street)
All the road closures for the ceremony have been confirmed too / Credit: Manchester City Council
As well as road closures, there will also be a number of parking restrictions set to apply on the day too.
It has been confirmed that all parking bays – including accessible parking bays – will be suspended from 8pm on Saturday 11 November, right through to 5pm on Sunday 12 November.
The roads where parking restrictions will apply are.
John Dalton Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
Princess Street (Cross Street to Portland Street)
Cross Street (Princess Street to King Street)
Peter Street (Deansgate to Oxford Street)
Mount Street (Windmill Street to Albert Square)
Oxford Street (Peter Street to Chepstow Street)
Museum Street (Windmill Street to Peter Street)
Southmill Street (Windmill Street to Peter Street)
Southmill Street (Peter Street to Albert Square)
Bootle Street (Deansgate to Mount Street)
Lloyd Street (Deansgate to Southmill Street)
Jackson’s Row (Deansgate to Southmill Street)
Central Street (Southmill Street to Mount Street)
Cooper Street (Kennedy Street to Princess Street)
West Mosley Street (Booth Street to Princess Street)
Bow Lane (Clarence Street to Princess Street)
St James’s Square (South King Street to John Dalton Street)
Ridgefield (Mulberry Street to John Dalton Street)
When it comes to other forms of public transport, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that no trams will run through St Peter’s Square between 10:02am and 12:30pm on Sunday 12 November.
Chester Zoo named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors
Emily Sergeant
Congratulations are in order, yet again, for Chester Zoo… as this time its been one of England’s most popular attractions.
Merely months after being named the UK’s best zoo for the second year running, thanks to receiving more than 11,000 ‘excellent’ reviews from TripAdvisor, Chester Zoo has now got itself another prestigious title, as a major VisitEngland (VE) report has ranked it the third most-visited ‘paid for’ attraction in England – and the most visited outside of London.
The national tourist board for England gathered information from a total of 1,373 attractions across the country, and ranked the UK’s biggest charity zoo as the third overall in terms of popularity, with a whopping 1.9 million visitors in 2024 alone.
The Tower of London took top spot with 2.9 million visitors, while the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew was second place with 2.3 million visitors.
When it comes to free attractions, on the other hand, it wad the British Museum that claimed the top spot with 6.5 million visitors, while the Natural History Museum (5.9 million visitors) took second place, and the Tate Modern (4.6 million visitors) got third.
So as you can see, the south and London in particular is a pretty dominating force in England’s tourism industry – which is why it’s even more impressive to see Chester Zoo ranked so highly.
The new VE title also comes after the zoo was recently given £4 million of lottery funding to help ‘transform’ the local environment and restore wildlife habitats across the Cheshire and wider North West region.
Not only that, but if course follows Chester Zoo’s unveiling of its new immersive experience named Heart of Africa, which is the the largest zoo habitat ever created in the UK and is home to 57 iconic African species.
Chester Zoo has been named one of England’s most popular tourist attractions with 1.9m visitors / Credit: Chester Zoo
“As a major international wildlife charity, everything we do is focused on supporting global conservation,” commented Chester Zoo’s Commercial Director, Dom Strange.
“Whether it’s caring for highly-threatened animals and plants, making scientific discoveries, influencing Government environmental policies, impacting the National Curriculum to better connect young people with nature, or our conservation efforts in around 20 countries, we’re fully committed to protecting endangered species for the future.
“But none of this would be possible without our visitors.
“Every person who comes to the zoo for a fun and inspiring day out is helping to fund our vital work, so we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us to rank so highly in VisitEngland’s latest report.”
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Manchester Museum saves a ‘national treasure’ to ensure it stays in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum has made a stunning new addition to its natural history collections, and in the process has ensured a ‘national treasure’ stays in the UK.
Not long after claiming the coveted title of European Museum of the Year for 2025, Manchester Museum has done it again – this time working together with John Rylands Library to acquire Henry Dresser’s unique personal copy of his anthology A History of the Birds of Europe so that this ‘invaluable resource’ can remain in the UK for future generations.
The beautifully-illustrated collection of books provide an important historical record to help understand how and why bird populations have changed over time.
Dresser’s personal copy is heavily-annotated with personal notes and observations.
These books are deemed to be of ‘outstanding significance’, not only for scientific purposes but also for their aesthetic value, as they have also been illustrated by some of the leading wildlife artists of the day.
The volumes were recognised as a national treasure by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, which is supported by the Arts Council, and this meant that the Government placed a temporary export deferral on them to allow time for UK buyers to raise the funds to keep them in the country.
Brilliantly, the acquisition of these books reunites them with Dresser’s own bird specimens that are already cared for by Manchester Museum, including species such as the Slender-billed curlew, which is now believed to be extinct.
The now-extinct species’ presence in both Dresser’s beautifully-annotated volumes and the ornithological collections at Manchester Museum highlights the vital role that historical records play in tracking biodiversity loss over time to uncover the long-term impact of environmental change.
Manchester Museum has saved a ‘national treasure’ to ensure it stays in the UK / Credit: Manchester Museum
“Threats to the natural world and biodiversity have never been greater and while this anthology has historical value, it also speaks to the urgent issues of the present,” commented Esme Ward, who is the Director of Manchester Museum.
“These books are breathtakingly beautiful, and by bringing them together with natural history collections, we believe they will not only provide scientific benefit, but also capture the hearts of future ornithologists and conservationists.”
A History of the Birds of Europe will be officially unveiled at a private view on Friday 27 June, before being displayed to the public for the first time in Manchester Museum’s ‘Living Worlds’ gallery from Saturday 28 June 2025 right through until Sunday 25 January 2026.
Emily Sergeant -
26th October 2023 
