The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II is taking place today, and there’s several ways the people of Greater Manchester can come together to pay their respects.
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 in a period of national mourning, it was confirmed by Buckingham Palace and the UK government that the State Funeral would be held at 11am in Westminster Abbey today (Monday 19 September) – with a bank holiday declared, so that mourners nationwide have the time to properly pay their respects to the late monarch.
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Due to the bank holiday, many businesses, companies, and organisations across the country have made the decision to close their doors today as a mark of respect, but for those wishing to watch the funeral in the company of others, there are still several ways that people can come together to do so.
Here’s a round-up of different ways to watch the State Funeral in Manchester today.
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The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II is taking place today at Westminster Abbey at 11am / Credit: The Royal Family
Big Screens
For those who wish to publicly pair their respects, Manchester City Council has confirmed that big screens in the city centre will show coverage of the State Funeral from 9am in these three popular locations:
Cathedral Gardens
Exchange Square
Inside Manchester Cathedral
Each site will be open to the public without the need for tickets.
There will be bag searches in operation and access to the squares will be limited when they reach capacity, but the Council has confirmed that people will be able to move in and out of the big screen areas throughout the day.
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“This Monday will be a historic occasion as Queen Elizabeth II is honoured with a State Funeral,” said Cllr Bev Craig – Leader of Manchester City Council.
“We recognise that many people will take comfort in gathering together to share the moment as they pay tribute to the late Queen and reflect on her long and momentous reign and we are pleased to be able to support this communal remembrance through a public screening of the event.”
Coverage of the State Funeral is to be broadcast nationwide from 9am / Credit: The Royal Family
Cinemas
While Odeon, Cineworld, Picturehouse, Showcase and The Light – most of which have sites across Greater Manchester and the North West – have all confirmed they will be closing theatres nationwide today, others have taken a different approach.
Curzon and Arc are two of the cinema chains that have chosen to screen the funeral for free and cancel the rest of scheduled programming the day.
Vue – which is one of the UK’s largest cinema chains, and the operator of a handful of sites in Greater Manchester – has decided to do a combination of both, by cancelling all of its scheduled screenings today, but opening a select number of venues to screen the funeral from 11am.
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“Seats will be free of charge and we will close our retail stands, but will offer complimentary bottled water during the broadcast,” Vue said in a statement.
With UK government guidance giving hospitality businesses nationwide the option to decide how they operate on the day of the State Funeral, several chains have chosen to keep their doors open and screen the funeral for free rather than shut up shop.
A few of the hospitality chains that have confirmed screenings today include.
HM Queen Elizabeth II died aged 96 on 8 September 2022 / Credit: The Royal Family
Stonegate
This pub group more than 70 sites in Manchester, including The Slug & Lettuce on Deansgate, Walkabout Printworks, the Oxnoble in Castlefield, The Railway in Sale, The Beech Inn in Chorlton, and The Metropolitan in Didsbury.
Another popular chain that operates 20 pubs in the Manchester borough itself – including the Lass O Gowrie, Ye Olde Cock in Didsbury, the Kings Ransom in Sale, the Matchstick Man at Salford Quays and The Trevor Arms in Chorlton – as well as plenty of others throughout the city region.
Wetherspoons has confirmed that “the majority” of its pubs nationwide will be open from 1pm today following the State Funeral coverage, and will operate “normal trading hours after that”, so that means several of the city’s most popular drinking sites – including the Moon Under Water on Deansgate, The Waterhouse on Princess Street, and the Sedge Lyn in Chorlton – will be open for business to celebrate the Queen’s life.
‘Christmas chaos’ on the cards as Manchester tram drivers vote on staging strike action next month
Emily Sergeant
There could be major disruption to festive travel in Greater Manchester next month, as hundreds of tram drivers are currently voting on whether to strike.
Almost 320 tram drivers are being balloted over working conditions and fears around fatigue.
The drivers – who are members of the union, Unite – all work for KeolisAmey Metrolink Limited at the Warwick Road South and Queens Road depots in Manchester – and they operate trams on all routes in Greater Manchester.
As it stands, the drivers’ shift patterns currently mean they have to work 450 hours over a 12-week period, which results in some having to work 50 hours on, followed by just two days off, then back into another 50-hour work pattern.
Drivers also have fewer rest days compared to all other operational departments, and this is said to be causing safety concerns around fatigue.
‘Christmas chaos’ is on the cards as Manchester tram drivers are currently voting on staging strike action next month / Credit: TfGM
Drivers say they concerned about operating heavy vehicles while exhausted and unable to have proper breaks, but after raising the issue with management, Unite has been told there is ‘no funding available’ to support any ‘meaningful’ improvements to working patterns.
Instead, management has asked drivers to start work earlier – which Unite says is only ‘adding insult to injury’.
The ballot is set to close on 11 November, and if drivers vote in favour of industrial action, strikes could then begin in late November, causing widespread cancellations and delays throughout the region during the busy festive shopping period – particularly coinciding with Manchester’s world-famous Christmas Markets, known for attracting millions of visitors to the city each year.
“Any strike action will cause a great deal of disruption but it is entirely the fault of Metrolink, which is not taking the issue of driver fatigue seriously,” commented Unite Regional Officer, Colin Hayden.
“It is dangerous for fatigued workers to be driving trams and they should not be put in this situation.
“We are demanding that Metrolink and Transport for Greater Manchester work with Unite to find a solution to this problem to avoid industrial action.”
Featured Image – Janus Boye
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A local Manc content creator is looking to set a world record by running around Old Trafford
Danny Jones
A local content creator, who specialises in running/hiking content (and sandwiches), is looking to raise money and potentially set a world record by jogging around Old Trafford.
Oh, and by jogging, we mean running – for a really, REALLY long time…
If you’ve never come across his channel before, let us introduce you to local influencer and videographer Sam Matthew, a.k.a. ‘Peaks and Pubs‘.
Boasting plenty of fans on both Instagram and TikTok within the world of trail running, the outdoors community and beyond, he’s set to toastreaching a very specific achievement by “turning a milestone into a mission” and doing laps around Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club.
As explained in the video, he’s now surpassed 74,310 followers, i.e. the same capacity of supporters you can fit inside the Theatre of Dreams itself.
We know, it’s distance running and feats of endurance aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they are a great way of raising money and awareness, not to mention possibly getting yourself in the official Guinness Book of World Records.
Explaining the challenge in the caption of the video, Sam writes: “There’s now enough of you lot following this daft account of mine on here to fill a stadium I’ve adored since I was a little boy. And that genuinely means so much to me.
“So why not celebrate the occasion by punishing my legs and raising money for good causes along the way? Donations are, of course, the aim, but I understand that not everybody is in the position to do that, so any engagement on this post is hugely appreciated.
“I mean it from the bottom of my heart that you lot genuinely make this all happen for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful that I get to do silly stuff like this on a random Wednesday [29 October]. Giving off pure ‘your unemployed friend on a Wednesday’ vibes, but I love it!”
Raising money for the club’s in-house Manchester United Foundation, which has already shown its support for the upcoming ultra-marathon distance event, they are also looking to generate crucial funds with the return of another annual charity event too.
The Foundation does some incredible work all year-round, if you’d rather swap running around Old Trafford for sleeping.
Once again, Sam will be kicking off the serious step-count from approximately 9am this Wednesday (28 Oct), he’s estimating it’ll take him around a whopping nine and a half hours, “with plenty of breaks for food and fluids”, thank god.
As the man behind most of the Bada Bing videos, we expect plenty of butties to fuel the running.
Furthermore, although he’s set to take on the distance solo for the morning, he’s invited as many people who fancy getting involved to come and join him for a lap or two from 12 noon onwards; hopefully, he’ll see the Guinness people popping along to see if he registers a world record while he’s at it, too.
We hope there are a few pints at the pub waiting for you at the end, as always, Sam.
Emily Sergeant -
19th September 2022 
