There’s a restaurant in Manchester doing a bottomless brunch with pies and we are completely here for it.
We’re talking about Pieminister, a happy resident of the Northern Quarter’s Church Street since 2013 and a long term favourite amongst Manchester‘s pie lovers.
Serving up award-winning pies for pushing on a decade here, today, the Bristol-based family of pie makers have two sites in the city, having opened a second on Deansgate in 2019.
Boasting over 50 gongs from The Great Taste Awards and a number of silver and gold wins at the British Pie Awards, whilst there are already many great reasons to visit, we think you’ll agree that a bottomless pie brunch gives pastry heads another welcome excuse.
We’re talking brunch pies. Brunch pies filled with all the good bits of an English breakfast, combined with all the good bits of, well, a classic pie.
Pieminister’s bottomless brunch in Manchester gives you a choice of four pies and 90 minutes of drinks. / Image: Pieminister
Suffice to say, Pieminister isn’t messing about here.
Whether you’re a meat lover, a veggie, vegan, or flexitarian, there’s something to suit – with a selection of four brunch pies on the menu, reports The Hoot..
You’re looking at just £11.50 for a brunch pie on its own or £25 to include ninety minutes of bottomless drinks, with some great cocktail choices like Aperol spritz, mimosa and bloody marys sitting alongside fizz and beer.
All pies come topped with garlic confit-style potatoes, crispy kale and vine tomatoes, and are served with smoky baked beans on the side.
Image: Pieminister
You can also add a stick of pigs in blankets, fried halloumi, or vegan sausages for another £2.
Brunch pie choices include the ‘Morning Glory,’ a free-range sausage and bacon pie with cheesy bechamel sauce and a baked egg, and the veggie ‘Sunny Pie Up,, stuffed with rosemary vegetarian sausages, red onion, bechamel, and a baked egg.
If that’s not for you, there’s also the ‘Bangin’ Bean Skillet,’comprised of smoky baked beans, halloumi, and baked egg, and the the ‘Vegan Banger – which is essentially a vegan take on the first two, made with vegan sausage, cheeze and bechamel .
Live football looks set to be prescribed by a section of the NHS in an effort to try and help people suffering from depression.
As part of the experimental new wellbeing and mental healthcare initiative, GPs across the UK could soon be able to suggest watching football in person as part of their wider treatment plans.
While it may sound like a somewhat unorthodox approach, it’s sparked plenty of conversation on social media and is already gathering some steam up and down the country.
The scheme is being pioneered by Labour MP, Dr Simon Opher, the representative for Stroud, as well as Ecotricity owner and green industrialist, Dale Vince.
Today we’ve announced Football On Prescription. Football clubs up and down the country and up and down the leagues can take part in this – and I hope they will. Mental health is a big issue, as are loneliness and isolation. One of the superpowers of football is its inclusivity -… pic.twitter.com/OWNOag6Fcc
‘Prescribed footy’, to coin a somewhat jarring colloquialism, is set to be rolled out to relevant patients across the Gloucestershire region diagnosed with depression and some other mental health conditions.
Those on the receiving end of these prescriptions will be offered free tickets to watch local National League side, Forest Green Rovers (FGR), based in the town of Nailsworth.
Vince, who founded Ecotricity – formerly known as Renewable Energy Company – back in 1995, bought Forest Green back in 2010 and is just passionate about football and mental health as the push for clean energy and environmental causes.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio in an interview on Tuesday, 22 July, the 64-year-old Norfolk-born OBE said: “We just do the things that we see, that we think could be done, should be done, that will help; whether it’s helping our planet, our country – people here [in Gloucestershire]…
“When you attend football matches, particularly regularly, you find yourself a part of something, a part of a group of people with a common purpose. It’s a wonderful social experience that we think would be really good for people suffering from mental health problems.”
Despite some doubters and detractors questioning his motives online and in the media, he insists the sentiment is purely altruistic, and FGR hope to aligning itself with big causes like mental health, even making the first fully vegan-certified football kits ahead of the 2025/26 season.
He also went on to add, “We also won’t take adverts or sponsorship from gambling companies: they do great harm in our society.”
As for Dr Opher, he has continued to champion ‘social prescribing’ across his medical and political career, backing it as a viable alternative to common medication such as antidepressants for some individuals with mild-moderate depression.
The live football on presecption concept has been met with plenty of pushback online, including lots of discourse surrounding priorities and the NHS remaining underfunded, but only time will tell how well these early trials go.
What do you make of the idea of football being put forward as an aid for depression and do you think it should be considered by the NHS at large?
There’s a comedy festival making its way to Rochdale for the first time ever, and it’s taking place over 10 days this autumn.
Rochdale is preparing for barrels of laughter, as the borough about to host a comedy festival for the first time ever later this year, as part of its events programme for being crowned Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
The lineup features some well-renowned names in the comedy world, many of whom have received awards and recognition along the way.
You can expect appearances from Lou Conran, who features as a regular support act for Sarah Millican, Tez Ilyas, from ‘Man Like Mobeen’, and TV comedy legend Mick Miller.
There’s even some Britain’s Got Talent alumni in the form of last year’s finalist Alex Mitchell and 2017 semi-finalist Jonny Awsum.
Tez Ilyaz and Lou Conran are just two of the acts listed for Rochdale Comedy Festival / Credit: Supplied
The lineup also includes Robin Ince, co-host and creator of Sony Gold Award winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage, and a whole host of stand-up acts who are all gearing up ready to make Rochdale giggle.
If you’re after pursuing a comedy career of your own, you’re in luck as, The Frog and Bucket performer Dave Williams will be on hand to teach you some of the skills he’s learnt after 25 years in comedy.
“Us northerners are famous for our sense of humour and there’s a big appetite for comedy,” commented Councillor Sue Smith, who is the cabinet member for communities and co-operation at Rochdale Borough Council.
Rochdale Comedy Festival has an array of comedians taking part including Jonny Awsum and Mick Miller / Credit: Supplied
“I’m happy to see Rochdale Comedy Festival launching during our year as Greater Manchester Town of Culture.
“It will bring together communities and give new comedians a chance to shine.”
So whether you’re in need of a cheer up, or you’re a comedy aficianado, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to crack a smile at Rochdale Comedy Festival, as it’s happening across 10 days this September and October.
Rochdale Comedy Festival is taking place from 26 September through to 5 October in various venues across the Greater Manchester borough- with tickets soon to be releasedHERE.
Featured Images – Supplied (via Publicity Pictures) / Unsplash