A pub in Oldham has issued a lengthy apology after telling a customer that breastfeeding their baby on a Friday night was ‘not acceptable’.
The Angel Inn in Lees had been responding to a negative review from a customer, who had claimed they were told to leave as children and dogs were not allowed in the pub after a certain hour.
The scathing review blasted the pub for ‘shocking customer service’ and ‘money grabbing behaviour’.
The Angel Inn responded to the reviewer: “You also proceeded to breast feed your baby in a pub at 8.30 on a friday night whilst drinking strong alcoholic spirits that is not acceptable,” – a statement that they have since apologised for.
The initial review left for The Angel Inn. Credit: Facebook
The pub claims that the group of four adults, two dogs and a baby arrived and ordered drinks before it was noted that they had animals and an underage person in their party.
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They say that pub staff allowed the group to stay and finish their drinks and told them they would need to leave afterwards, but that the group ‘totally took advantage’.
The Angel Inn posted: “They [dogs and children] are not allowed in on a friday night at 8.30pm but seen as one of your members of the party ordered drinks before mentioning you had dogs our staff happily allowed you to stay to have the one drink to which your party totally too advantage off by dragging it out as long as possible, playing pool and lying all your coats on the floor of the tap room for the dogs.”
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Their response continued: “You also proceeded to breast feed your baby in a pub at 8.30 on a friday night whilst drinking strong alcoholic spirits that is not acceptable but yet again as my staff are polite they still offered to let you atay and deink your drink to which they did not have too.”
After receiving backlash from people for their breastfeeding comment, The Angel Inn issued a public apology, saying they are ‘upset and deeply sorry for any distress caused’.
They wrote: “We would like to publicly apologise for a comment made earlier by myself which I worded wrong and understandably caused offence. Myself and the staff working here have absolutely and rightly so no problem with breastfeeding, and that is not what the issue is about.
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“Rather than responding to the private messages and comments we are receiving I’d like to address the situation publicly.
“A group came to our establishment yesterday evening whilst I wasn’t on the premises and was served by my staff. The situation was not handled in our best interest as regrettably the group was served within hours that we do not allow children or animals on the premises for the safety reasons. We had a large band due to start and the group came in with two large dogs and a newborn baby. They was asked to move into the taproom (a quieter area) and told they could finish their drinks however they needed to leave soon due to our license.
“The group was clearly unhappy about this which is why the initial bad review has been made, please accept my apologies for the bad use of words made toward breastfeeding as that is not what was meant, my staff informed me that the woman breastfeeding was drinking spirits and the group was drunk with a newborn baby which encouraged my response to the initial complaint (worded wrong which is why I’m apologising as these are not my views).
“The group took advantage of our lenience with regards to our rules by drinking at their leisure and proceeding to play games of pool after being informed again they needed to drink up.
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“Upon reflection, we understand the group should not have been served in the first place which is something we will address with our team.
“Please be mindful that whilst you slander the business, tagging newspapers and private messaging the owners with threats and insults, the livelihood of many people is at risk which is unfair based on a comment made by one person. As owners, we put our hearts and souls into this pub. We are upset and deeply sorry for any distress caused by this situation.”
Featured image: Google Maps
Oldham
The route for the 2027 Tour de France Femmes revealed ahead of Manchester debut
Danny Jones
The route for next year’s women’s historic Tour de France has been announced, with some of the best riders in the world set to pass through Greater Manchester and more.
Yet another big coup for the region and our sporting scene.
Speaking with the City Council, now that the full route has been revealed, our very own Dame Sarah Storey joined many in celebrating another huge moment for us; the female Tour de France is not just back up and running, but aiming to become bigger than ever.
🚴♀️ The world’s best cyclists are heading to Manchester! 🚴♀️
The routes for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2027 have now been revealed, with Manchester set to host the Stage One finish on Friday 30 July and the Stage Two start on Saturday 31 July. pic.twitter.com/OMMlhdorqP
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) April 21, 2026
The Stockport-born swimmer turned Team GB cyclist and multi-Olympic gold medallist knows all about what makes this particular sport special, having swapped a previous and highly successful career for an entirely different discipline.
As has now been fully confirmed, the 2027 Grand Départ will be getting underway with our friends in Leeds, before heading through Yorkshire and into Greater Manchester.
Upon entering our neck of the woods, the course will pass through the likes of Rochdale and Oldham into Manchester city centre, before heading into Stockport and neighbouring North West county, Derbyshire, and finally heading back through the Peaks.
Spread across two incredible days, the race itself will finish in Sheffield, with another UK first happening down in London, as the capital will also host the inaugural team time trial held in this country.
You can see the official event’s breakdown of what locations feature in which stages of ‘The Big Loop’ in more detail below.
Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, went on to add: “Being able to watch the world’s best cyclists in action and in such an iconic event, taking place right here on our doorstep in the heart of Manchester next summer, is going to be epic on so many levels.
“Championing women and girls to participate in and enjoy sports – including cycling – at all levels from entry through to elite, is really important to us and next year’s Tour de France Femmes is set to play a huge part in helping inspire the next generation of sporting talent from our city.
“With millions of spectators expected to line the routes, including here in the city centre, we’ll be going all out to help ensure the event’s success with what is set to be a ‘Tour takeover’ of the city to maximise opportunities for local people and businesses to get involved, to grow their own sporting skills, and to take part in the many community activities being planned.”
Having hosted everything from the BRITs and the MOBO Awards to another Super League Grand Finals in both netball and rugby, not to mention numerous other huge events over the past couple of years, it truly is a great time to be living in Greater Manchester.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Manchester City Council)
Oldham
The Oldham Man and The Sea: the documentary about the Latics owner’s record-breaking Atlantic voyage
Danny Jones
It doesn’t matter if you’re not an Athletic fan or native to the borough; we think everyone should go along to watch the much-anticipated documentary about football club owner Frank Rothwell and his record-breaking journey across the Atlantic Ocean: The Oldham Man And The Sea.
One of the simplest and most satisfying names for a film we’ve heard in a long time.
For anyone who doesn’t know about the Oldham Athletic FC chairman turned OBE’s incredible story, Frank Rothwell has set multiple records with his impressive sea-faring feats in recent times.
This new doc, which just premiered at this year’s Manchester Film Festival, charts his latest trip across one of the biggest bodies of water on the planet in March 2024.
As you can see from the recent trailer, it’s almost as arduous a tale as the original Hemingway story.
This movie – produced by Journeyman Pictures and Chief Productions – made its full debut at the Odeon in Great Northern Warehouse for MFF 2026, and is set to have a number of other screenings in and around Greater Manchester in the coming weeks and months.
One of those is happening rather soon, in fact, over at Saddleworth’s Millgate Arts Centre on Saturday, 28 March, which is ideal for those local to the region; grab your tickets now.
ln fact, there’s also one happening even closer to his hometown the following month, with Oldham’s very own Queen Elizabeth Hall also hosting a special screening of Rothwell’s incredible achievement.
You can reserve your seats for that one right HERE.
Having not only become the eldest (70) Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge finisher back in 2021, but now holding the Guinness World Record for the oldest person to ever complete the crossing while rowing solo at 73 years old, he’s become nothing short of a local hero – and that’s just his stewardship of the Latics…
The film does, obviously, touch on his time at the helm of the League Two side, who finally returned to the EFL last June, but the heart and soul of this inspiring watch is the sail itself.
More importantly, it also documents not just the gruelling nature of the 64-day, seven-hour and 53-minute trek, but also how Frank has now helped raise more than £1.4 million on behalf of Alzheimer’s Research UK.
What an absolute icon.
Hopefully, this should be just about all the reason you need to watch The Oldham Man And The Sea the very next opportunity you get to do so – and, of course, all proceeds from ticket sales will also be going to charity, because just the kind of bloke he is.
And here’s hoping we get a streaming version sometime soon.
Daisy Jackson -
10th August 2022 
