When traveling on the tram in Manchester, the rules are clear.
Dogs are banned and have been since the Metrolink’s inception in 1992, with the exception of assistance dogs and pets being taken to/fromx the PDSA charity in Old Trafford.
Justifications for retaining the ban today include concerns regarding passenger safety, fouling, damage to trams, animals’ behaviour, delays and people with allergies. But for the majority of Manchester’s dog owners (and dog lovers), the whole thing seems rather ridiculous.
After all, if you can get the train (or bus) in with them – why can’t you then get on the tram? Those living in an outer borough (or even further afield) might not even realise this isn’t allowed until after they’ve already got into Manchester. It’s definitely been my experience, and it’s maddening.
There’s been a number of campaigns over the years to lift the ban, but we think that now – following a series of lockdowns where more people than ever have gone and got themselves a furry friend – is the time to make it happen.
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The first campaign to nudge against the reinforced door of Metrolink’s stubbornness came in 2014. A local change.org petition was created and amassed over 1,000 signatures, forcing Metrolink to agree to a review in 2013 – the first time such a thing had even been considered in the tram’s history.
That consultation involved 2,400 participants, surveying them through a mix of online and passenger surveys.
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The results? After a delay of four months in releasing its findings, TfGM Committee Report for Resolution in November 2015 revealed only 28% of Mancunians actually supported the current ban, with 43% in favour of allowing dogs to travel – if certain rules were met.
At the time, these included being on a lead, paying a child fare, traveling off-peak, and keeping off seats.
The remaining 29% supported dogs travelling at any time without restrictions – meaning that 72% were in favour. Begging the question, if most people are supportive of the move then why are dogs still banned today?
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Fast forward to 2015, and we find Lib Dem Councillor Iain Roberts fighting in our dogs’ corner.
Six years ago, the Stockport lead for TGfM campaigned hard for a trial run that would allow caged dogs to ride in carriages – overkill in our opinion. (In fact, we’d argue perhaps a few of the people traveling on the tram might benefit from the occasional cage, too).
In Roberts’ defense, though, at least he was trying. At the time, he told The MEN: “Until now, TfGM has always refused even to conduct a trial. I am very pleased the Lib Dem campaign is making progress.”
It’s not clear if those cages would have been supplied by dog owners or by Metrolink themselves, but it does seem that there was a proposed limit of one container per passenger.
This sort of proposal kind of reminds us of the NYC ‘dogs in bags’ debacle, in that it doesn’t really make much practical sense – and it’s the sort of thing us Mancs would love to defy.
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Here’s why. The idea of caging a dog might alleviate the fears of some passengers, but inevitably in practice all this serves to do is stress dogs out – making the whole thing a lot worse for all passengers, dog lovers or not, in the long term.
Just like we saw Dobermans wearing IKEA bags in New York, we expect it wouldn’t have been long until Mancs started getting equally creative with these cages.
In fact, we know for a fact many owners already do twist the existing rules – often putting assistance dog harnesses on their pups to get around the tram’s accessibility exemption for guide and hearing dogs.
Good intentions or not, Roberts’ careful plans were also rejected by Metrolink at a second bylaw review – despite support from RSPCA bosses at the time who said it would be beneficial for the animals if fewer pets were left at home all day.
2018 saw another failed attempt at overturning the ban, this time by local dog owners Adam Wilcox and Sam Elphick with a petition that gained nearly 7,000 signatures. The pair accused Transport for Greater Manchester of discriminating against dog owners, given that services elsewhere in the country don’t bother imposing such restrictions.
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The Met’s justification for upholding the ban today seems to be centered around a risk assessment from 2015, which relies heavily on the excuse that “Metrolink operates as a high-frequency, high-volume, unstaffed system and there is no representative on board to assess the potential risk posed by animals.”
This is what Councillor Andrew Fender, then-chair of the TfGM Committee, argued at the last review. But we’d dare to venture that things have moved on quite significantly since then.
New measures introduced due to Covid make this argument much less compelling today, given that Manchester Metrolink has now significantly upped the number of staff on the services it runs across the city.
The tram is also now running “double units” at ten-minute intervals to ensure social distancing on trams – proving that when there’s a will for change, there’s a way.
Perhaps someone at the met just really doesn’t like dogs? At this point, we really don’t understand why else this outdated bylaw is still in play.
Come on, Metrolink – now’s the time to turn it around and make yourselves popular with Manchester’s dog owners again. We’re slowly becoming the majority, after all.
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Bolton has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2024
Emily Sergeant
Bolton has officially been named Greater Manchester Town of Culture for 2024.
Taking over the reins from Stockport – which held the title in 2023, and recently hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close – it’s now the turn of the north-western Greater Manchester borough of Bolton.
Bolton has long been celebrated as hub of culture and creative activity within our region.
The area has notably produced some big-name stars in the arts, entertainment, comedy, and sporting spheres over the years, as well as having seen significant new residential and commercial developments popping up in recent times, and a blossoming food, drink, hospitality, and nightlife scene that continues to prove popular.
The Bolton Food and Drink Festival, IRONMAN, Bolton Film Festival, and Put Big Light On are all big annual events in the borough.
Bolton has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2024 / Credit: Bolton Food & Drink Festival (via Facebook)
And now, the town has got itself a fancy title to prove it – and along with that, a whopping £50,000 grant to support a year-long programme of events.
In case you’re unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about, it’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region – with Bury the inaugural title-holder 2020 and holding onto it into 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, and then followed by Stalybridge in 2022, and Stockport in 2023 – and it celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Bolton’s programme will have three parts, according to Bolton Council.
The town has taken over the reins from Stockport, which held the title in 2023 / Credit: Wikimedia Commons | The Octagon Theatre
The first is a taster programme packed full of cultural activities delivered in Bolton and its various districts, and then following on from that, there’ll be a grants programme designed to help support Bolton’s smaller cultural organisations, freelancers, and artists.
The grand finale will be the Bolton Gala – which is set to take place next March, and is gearing up to be a celebratory event jointly-organised by all cultural partners, and co-designed by residents too.
Bolton Council says it will be working with cultural organisations, creative practitioners, and residents to “strengthen partnerships” that’ll deliver a collective approach to creative programming, and Councillors hope to build on assets such as the town’s legendary Octagon Theatre, the newly-refurbished Bolton Central Library and Museum, and the Bolton Albert Halls too.
GMCA has awarded the town a £50,000 grant to support a year-long programme of events throughout the year / Credit: Paul Hayes (via Bolton Food & Drink Festival on Facebook)
“It’s fantastic that Bolton has been announced as the latest Greater Manchester Town of Culture,” Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, commented as the town took the title this week.
“Bolton already has some outstanding cultural venues and eventsm from the Octagon Theatre and the Bolton Albert Hall, to the famous Bolton Food and Drink Festival and the Bolton Film Festival, and Town of Culture will celebrate these existing venues and events, but will also shine a light on the smaller venues and events that are happening across the town.
“I look forward to visiting Bolton to join their cultural celebrations.”
Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Nick Peel, says he’s “thrilled” about the town’s new title, and added: “Bolton certainly has a promising future, and will be a great place to live, work, study, visit and invest in the future.”
Featured Image – Bolton Food & Drink Festival (via Facebook)
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Huge beer festival responds after attendees label it ‘Manchester Wonka experience’
Daisy Jackson
A massive beer and cider festival that took place in Manchester last weekend has addressed fall-out on social media after some attendees slammed it as the ‘weirdest most dysfunctional festival ever‘.
People have said that the International Brewing and Cider Festival had a ‘strange atmosphere’ due to there being ‘no one there’, had a limited selection of drinks, and was generally ‘a bloody awful evening’.
Some people have even gone so far as to compare it to the now-infamous Wonka Experience.
But the festival has now hit back at these harsh reviews online, saying that there were more than 400 different types of beer and cider available, with around 800 attendees over the weekend.
In a statement, they apologised for a ‘less than perfect experience’.
The International Brewing and Cider Festival – a not-for-profit trade organisation – stressed that ‘early teething troubles’ were ironed out as the event progressed through its four sessions.
As well as inviting breweries from around the world to serve up beers under one roof in one of Manchester’s coolest venues, the beer festival had 19 food and drink traders, and a programme of live music and DJs.
Despite only receiving a couple of actual complaints directly, the festival has been hit with criticism on social media.
Visitors to the beer festival at Depot Mayfield had shared photos of a mostly-empty venue at points over the weekend, with many saying it was ‘freezing’ inside.
One person wrote: “I went with a mate and we left after an hour. The venue was so freezing that the beer itself was too cold to enjoy.”
Someone else said: “This was by a country mile the worst event (not just beer event) I’ve ever attended. Truly horrific.”
The International Brewing and Cider Festival, a beer festival in Mancheser, has been hit with complaints. Credit: X, @SimonR
A detailed tale of the experience on Reddit, which said the International Brewing and Cider Festival was a ‘contender for Manchester’s Wonka experience’.
They said that they were ‘greeted by an extremely rude person’ and then struggled to order a beer, with several beers on the list unavailable and ended up with ‘a plastic cup of foam’.
The person said: “It was still early at this point so I expected it to get a bit busy but it never did combined with some depressing music and freezing cold temperatures the atmosphere was strange.”
Someone else said on X: “It was a massive scam. Willy Wonka type scam. No one there. Beers not great. It absolutely was not worth £40. The keg bar was closed, the cask bar closed at 8:30, the only decent beer available was from the few independent brewers who had decided to stick around (half had left). No atmosphere as no one there. Just awful.”
Another person said: “I don’t think I’ve been to a worse organised event. The term ‘Couldn’t organise a pi55 up in a brewery’ was made for this festival.
“Mid session there were less than 100 people. The signs on the cask and keg were too small to read at any distance. People pouring on the bar had no knowledge of any of the beers & no info in the app.
“For the entry fee of £20 to drink out of plastic, beer costing ‘town prices’, & some of the brewers had packed up and left hours before the end, left me feeling like I’d been ripped off.”
A spokesperson for the International Brewing & Cider Festival said: “We are very sorry that some people had a less than perfect experience – this was our first Festival and when you start something new, there will be learnings.
“We are a not-for-profit trade organisation representing the value chain, supplying the brewing and beverage industry.
The International Brewing and Cider Festival, a beer festival in Mancheser, has been hit with complaints. Credit: X, @SimonRThe International Brewing and Cider Festival, a beer festival in Mancheser, has been hit with complaints. Credit: Reddit, u/Luc1dJay
“As the organiser of the oldest international brewing and cider awards in the world, we held the Awards in Manchester this year and wanted to bring the entries from around the world to the public in the city.
“We adapted throughout the two days, ironing out some early teething troubles to deliver a better model as the event progressed.”
But now that Indy Man Beer Con has announced it won’t be returning for 2024, there’s definitely room in Manchester for a new beer festival.
Let’s it comes back to the city again and next time, is a roaring success.