HM Queen Elizabeth II died aged 96 on 8 September 2022.
During her reign, she served as Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth – undertaking an important symbolic and unifying role as a head of state, spanning numerous geographical regions, cultures, and religions.
She was not just the longest-reigning British monarch in history, but she was also the first-ever monarch to reign in the UK for 70 years.
With the UK now in a period of national mourning, it has been confirmed by Buckingham Palace and the UK government that on the day of the State Funeral, at 11am in Westminster Abbey on Monday 19 September, will be a bank holiday – giving mourners nationwide the chance to properly pay their respects to the late monarch.
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The day before the State Funeral, a ‘National Moment of Reflection’ will be also held in the form of a one-minute silence on Sunday at 8pm, and the public is being encouraged to observe this either privately at home, with friends and family, out on doorsteps or the street with neighbours, or at locally arranged community events and vigils.
But for the Greater Manchester residents who are planning on making the journey down to London for the funeral, or travelling in general, some travel information and advice has now been issued by TfGM and GMP.
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TfGM and GMP has issued travel advice for travel on the day of the State Funeral / Credit: TfGM
Due to the State Funeral being declared a bank holiday, this means that many public transport services across Greater Manchester will be operating on an amended timetable – with both bus and Metrolink services operating to a Sunday timetable.
Many transport services will also pause at 8pm on Sunday to observe the one-minute silence.
Following the end of the funeral service, another two-minute silence will be held, and again, as a result of this, TfGM says Metrolink services will pause at 11:50am to observe the silence, and will resume following the completion of it.
Passengers on board the trams will be notified when the silence begins and ends.
/ Credit: Network Rail
For those travelling by rail, services will be operating to a standard weekday timetable on Monday 19 September – however, services to London between now and Monday are expected to be exceptionally busy due to “the unprecedented number of people likely to be travelling to the capital”, TfGM explains.
This means that some passengers may not get a seat for a period or all of the journey, and they are urged to book in advance and allowing extra time for your trip.
Passengers are also advised to check the latest customer information before travelling, as tickets will still be required on all services, but peak restrictions will not apply on the day as it is a bank holiday.
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Find out more about travel on the day of the State Funeral on the TfGM website here.
Featured Image – Network Rail
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Manchester’s free summer picnic is coming back to Oxford Road
Danny Jones
Manchester’s free ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ is returning to the Oxford Road Corridor later this year, promising plenty of live music and entertainment, family-friendly fun, outdoor activities and lots more.
Coming back to Circle Square for the second time, the now annual and completely free city centre festival will set up for its sophomore edition right on Symphony Park.
Surrounded by numerous local businesses located within the thriving Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group neighbourhood, this mini-district is once again set to draw in crowds from all over Manchester.
With that in mind, get your coolers, picnic baskets and blankets ready: it’s time for some alfresco fanfare.
Kicking off next month for one day only, Circle Square‘s ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ 2.0 will get underway pretty much from the outset, with the organisers promising a full day of festivities.
Visitors can look forward to an even more jam-packed schedule than last year, with creative workshops and interactive experiences, DJs right through to the evening, alongside roaming steel drum performances and even silent disco adventures, just to name a few.
Other events include: sip and paint sessions, pop-up mini golf and basketball shoot-outs; ‘foot pool’, a seasonal bouquet bar, as well as a dedicated picnic space for dogs, complete with bespoke pup portraits. Adorable.
2025 saw plenty of furry friends steal the show and become local celebrities for the day, and we’re sure ’26 will be no different.
The long picnic tables will once again take centre stage, creating a relaxed space for families and friends to come together over great food from Circle Square’s wide mix of indie restaurants and cafes, such as Gooey, Onda, Hello Oriental, Half Dozen Other, Saffa Soul, North Bar, Monkey Trio and more.
Punters are, obviously, to bring along their own picnic bits, packed lunches and favourite scran, but it’s nice to have the option of treating yourself to stuff on-site.
Better still, Circle Square’s proximity not only to Oxford Road train station, but the St Peter’s Square tram stop and various bus routes (even Piccadilly isn’t really that far) means that this is super accessible for anyone interested – not to mention that it’s completely free and open to all members of the public.
Taking place on Saturday, 8 August, we hope to see you there and hopefully with the sun shining.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures/Jody Hartley (supplied via SH Comms)
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UK set for another ‘potential’ heatwave next week after warmest June on record
Emily Sergeant
England could be heading towards another potential heatwave early next week, the Met Office has revealed.
While it’s obviously true that temperatures this week have returned to average for the time of year, bringing largely settled conditions for many, once next week rolls around, some parts of the country could be heating up once again – with the Met Office revealing what Greater Manchester residents should prepare for.
For the early part of next week, temperatures will definitely rise and perhaps reach what are considered heatwave conditions for some.
But if this is the case, the forecast suggests that it’s ‘unlikely’ to reach the high temperatures and humidity of last month’s heat, and the North West won’t be getting the worst of it.
The potential of next week’s heatwave comes after last month was officially declared the UK’s warmest June on record.
After a week of respite from the heat, high pressure moves in this weekend, dominating many southern and central areas for the next 10 days.
A defining feature of the month’s heatwave was the ‘exceptionally warm’ overnight temperatures, with frequent ‘tropical nights’ helping to drive the highest average June minimum temperatures on record.
Giving an insight into what’s to come as we head into the weekend, Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster, Tony Wisson, explained: “Toward the weekend, high pressure will continue to build in across most of the UK as it extends from the Azores. This will lead to more settled, warm or very warm conditions for many, especially across England and Wales, though some rain may still affect the far north.
“The forecast for this weekend suggests that temperatures could approach high 20s°C across parts of England, perhaps 30°C in parts of the southeast, with values of mid to high 20s°C in Wales.
“Although a return to heatwave conditions is looking increasingly likely for some areas, the likelihood of such extreme high temperatures or high levels of humidity as last week is currently low.”
Emily Sergeant -
15th September 2022 
