A rice n three cafe in Manchester’s Northern Quarter was left with queues stretching out of its door this afternoon after regulars issued an impassioned plea to the local community for support.
A main-stay on Thomas Street for nearly thirty years, the family-run Yadgar cafe has stayed put in the Northern Quarter for decades whilst the city has changed around it.
The cafe has weathered many storms in its time, but the slow return of office workers to the area, following the successive lockdowns of the past few years, has hit it hard.
Inside, formica tables and minimal decor fail to give passers by a true impression of how great the food is. But today, thanks to a bit of community action, things seem to have started to turn around.
Not one to be put off by a bit of bad weather, loyal Mancs queued in the wind, rain and hail to show support for the cafe after local food and drink platform Eatmcr issued a plea on its behalf.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the page, which shared a heartfelt post to its Instagram account on Wednesday, on some days the cafe had been getting as little as ten people through its doors.
Image: Eatmcr
The post has since been liked over 5,000 times. In it, owner Patrick Brown wrote: “It’s been a big challenge just covering costs for the last 2 years and I promise you, this place is too good to be this quiet or struggling. Please go visit!!”
ADVERTISEMENT
“Yadgar is perfect for lunch or a quick healthy and cheap tea. They also have a really good selection of vegetarian options. I always go for the chicken, spinach potato and daal but you’ll figure out your own order after a few visits.
“I know a lot of people are heading back to offices atm and a lot more people are moving to town for the first time. If you don’t know this spot, I fully recommend you make it apart of your life for years to come and help keep Fred and his mum’s cafe going.”
The response was huge, leading hundreds to share the original post online and sending hungry locals flocking to the cafe this lunchtime to lend their support.
ADVERTISEMENT
A video shows people queuing out of the door in awful weather to get their rice and three, hats and gloves firmly on as they wait in the hail in a brilliant turn of events for the local business.
Speaking to The Manc about the huge response the post has received, Paddy said: “It’s just blown up across all of [our platforms] over the last 24 hours. A million plus views I think.
“I’d spoken with Fred at Yadgar a few times recently and he’d mentioned the cafe being really quiet.
“Then this week, Sulin from DGHNT reached out to us and said she’d heard the same from him so that spurred us on to go down and get a story put together.
“I think a lot of people have memories of going Yadgar before WFH was the norm, so it struck a chord with people that obviously this place is struggling.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Then we stopped by at lunch and it was just completely rammed. I’m so made up with the turnout. I think it’s going to give them a genuine boost as well long term, Fred seemed buzing with the response too.
“Which is all down to the local community picking this up, so thank you.”
An amazing example of Manchester’s brilliant community spirit. Long may it continue.
Feature image – Eatmcr
News
Mancunian has been named one of the ‘most attractive’ accents in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Manchester is, once again, celebrating what we already know – our accent is one of the “most attractive” in the UK.
In case you missed it, earlier this year, Manchester welcomed in 2023 with the news that our city’s accent had been named the “sexiest” the country has to offer – with a survey of 2,500 people by casino comparison site Best Casinos discovering that over half of respondents ranked it the most pleasing regional accent to the ear.
And now it turns out that that survey wasn’t a fluke, because a new study has called the Manchester accent one of the “most attractive” in the UK.
On a top 10 list compiled from the findings of a new survey of 2,000 people aged 18 to 55+ by online language tutoring service Preply, the Mancunian accent has claimed a pretty respectable fifth place.
But while there’s no doubt we can hold our heads high and be proud of claiming a spot in the top 10, this title does become a bit less impressive when you realise which other regional varieties have placed higher than us.
Mancunian has been named one of the ‘most attractive’ accents in the UK / Credit: Preply | Pexels
Fellow Northern accents Scouse and Geordie have taken second and third place on the list respectably, and the Welsh capital’s Cardiff accent rounding out the top five.
For us northerners, the grim reading continues when you learn that the London accent has clinched the top spot.
The Most Attractive Accents in the UK
London
Liverpool
Newcastle
Cardiff
Manchester
Glasgow
Birmingham
Bristol
Leeds
According to Preply, 21% of women survey respondents voted for the London accent as the most attractive in the UK, compared with just 15% of men, while 10.4% of the population picked the unique sound of the Liverpool accent as second best.
Only 8.7% of survey respondents considered the Mancunian accent to be the most attractive.
The results from this survey do, at least, go some way to shattering the findings from two surveys published last year that found the Manchester accent is considered to be one of the ‘least respected’ nationwide, especially in the corporate world of work, and that Northerners with strong accents are considered ‘less intelligent’.
Featured Image – Unknown
News
The first bright yellow Bee Network bus has hit the streets of Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Greater Manchester residents will soon start to see bright yellow double decker buses travelling the region’s streets in the coming weeks.
With exactly six months to go before Greater Manchester “brings buses back under local control”, Mayor Andy Burnham has joined a number of other local leaders in unveiling the brand-new ‘Bee Network’ co-branded buses.
In what marks the biggest change to transport in Greater Manchester for almost 40 years, according to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), bus operator Diamond – which currently runs services in Bolton – has teamed up with Go North West to run the first franchised services in Wigan, Bolton, and parts of Salford and Bury from September this year.
Diamond has agreed to start transforming their buses into Bee Network ones from this week, with more set to appear on the roads every month.
The first bright yellow double decker bus has now hit the streets of Bolton, and is serving the number 8 route – which connects Bolton and Manchester city centre via Farnworth and Salford.
The Bee Network is coming in September.
But from April you might see some yellow buses out and about. 🚌
If one of your buses is now yellow, please contact your bus operator in the usual way if you need them. 👍 #GetOnBoard for more info 👇
— Transport for Greater Manchester 🚲🚶🏾♀️ (@OfficialTfGM) March 24, 2023
As already announced by TfGM and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), when franchising is officially introduced on 24 September 2023, 50 brand-new electric Bee Network buses will hit the streets on day one, alongside new ‘Euro VI’ vehicles, and dozens more co-branded buses from the existing fleet.
A further 50 electric buses will then be introduced onto the network in March 2024, which is when the second part of franchising starts.
All of the 270 new electric Bee Network buses will be fully accessible, with wheelchair bays, hearing induction loops, audio and visual announcement systems, and anti-slip flooring.
Mayor Andy Burnham said the first Bee Network bus entering service is “very much the start of our journey”, and added that the scheme will “ultimately deliver a greener, integrated and more inclusive transport system that will transform how people travel around our city-region.”
The first bright yellow Bee Network bus has hit the streets of Greater Manchester / Credit: TfGM
Transport Commissioner Vernon Everitt also called the first bus’s introduction onto the streets as “a further significant step” towards the integration of the Bee Network and the “transformation” of public transport and active travel in the region.
He continued: “From September we’ll also have dozens of new state-of-the-art buses serving passengers in Wigan, Bolton, and parts of Salford and Bury.
“These will be the first of many across Greater Manchester that will, alongside the new lower fares – which are already increasing ridership – and improvements to travel information, improve bus travel for everyone who lives and works here.”
Georgina Pellant -
24th February 2022 
