The transformation that’s taken place in parts of Manchester in recent years is staggering, from huge skyscrapers to ultra-modern office blocks – but it’s part of the old university campus that’s gone undergone the most impressive makeover of all.
Kampus has taken part of the old Manchester Metropolitan University campus and turned it into a bustling neighbourhood that prides itself on its lifestyle offering.
There’s obviously the restaurant and bar scene that’s taking shape around the central garden, which shows off some of the city’s best operators.
But residents of the beautiful and modern apartments also have access to a gym that rivals the commercial gyms in town, a cinema room, private dining spaces and terraces.
The food and drink scene at Kampus
Kampus has already drawn on some seriously big local names from around Greater Manchester, with plenty more to come.
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Nell’s – the New York-style pizzeria from the team behind Common & Co – was in first, with its huge, glass-fronted restaurant and bar.
Then came more – Yum Cha, with its incredible menu of dim sum; Beeswing, where it’s all about the wine and the small plates; Pollen, the award-winning bakery with giant loaves and perfect croissants.
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Most recently, Great North Pie joined the Kampus neighbourhood, serving its incredible pies that are stuffed with ingredients from around the north west.
And the hoardings are up for others still to come, like queer cocktail den Red Light and the new ‘creative destination’ Maker’s Quarter.
The amenities at Kampus
The cinema at Kampus. Credit: The Manc Group
Renting a flat at Kampus doesn’t just get you a flat (though, those are pretty special) – it also gets you access to all the amenities built here by developers Capital & Centric and HBD.
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Residents can rent out the private cinema room for movie nights or to watch major sporting fixtures with friends and family.
There are also private dining spaces to help you step up your dinner party game (we all know the struggles of trying to host a big dinner in a one-bedroom apartment), which has a high-spec kitchen as well as huge dining tables.
The lounges and terraces around Kampus are there for residents to socialise and relax together, including rooftop spaces.
At ground level, it’s all about the canal-side garden that’s open to all and surrounded by restaurants, bars and cafes. Huge green plants pour out over the footpaths and benches and in summer, the garden is always hosting some sort of pop-up event.
And there’s Little David Street, a once-forgotten cobbled street that was closed completely for over a decade, but is now restored to even-better-than-its-former glory and steadily filling up with cafes.
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The Kampus apartments in Manchester
Inside Kampus in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Kampus has five pet-friendly buildings centred around the garden, each one offering something a little different.
The Grade II-listed Minshull Warehouse was once a Victorian shipping warehouse, now turned into an apartment building that still shows off its original features. There are similar homes in the Minto & Turner historic red-bricked warehouse.
The original 1960s tower block has been upgraded – ‘a tamed brutalist beast’ – with modern interiors but still original touches like exposed concrete and original waffle ceilings.
Then there are the North and South blocks, the former topped with a rooftop village of Dutch houses that have transformed the skyline.
To find out more about Kampus and to book a viewing, visit kampus-mcr.co.uk.
Featured image: The Manc Group
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Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s historic connections to slavery are to be explored during a major new exhibition coming soon to the city.
The Science and Industry Museum, in the heart of our city centre, is already known and loved for telling the story of the ideas and innovations that transformed Manchester into the world’s first industrial city.
But now, a new free exhibition is set to “enhance public understanding” of how transatlantic slavery actually shaped the city’s growth.
Produced by the Science and Industry Museum, in partnership with The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, and developed with African descendent and diaspora communities through local and global collaborations, this landmark project will put Manchester’s historic connections to enslavement at the heart of a major exhibition at the museum for the first time.
Featuring new research, it will also explore how the legacies of these histories continue to impact Manchester, the world, and lives today.
Set to open in early 2027, the exhibition will run for a year in the museum’s Special Exhibitions Gallery.
Alongside that hub at the Science and Industry Museum itself, the project is also set to have a collaborative city-wide events programme, and a lasting legacy – with a new permanent schools programme, and permanent displays in the future too.
As mentioned, the new exhibition is part of The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, which is a 10-year restorative justice project launched in 2023.
Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition / Credit: Science Museum Group Collection
Through partnerships and community programmes, the project aims to improve public understanding of the impact of transatlantic slavery on the UK’s economic development, and its ongoing legacies for Black communities – with a strong focus on Manchester, the city in which The Guardian was founded back in 1821.
The museum’s existing gallery content and ongoing work around sharing the inextricable links between Manchester’s growth into an industrial powerhouse and a textile industry reliant on colonialism and enslavement will be developed through the project.
Through a “collaborative re-examination of the past”, the exhibition will also share a more inclusive history of a city that prides itself on being at the forefront of ideas that change the world.
It’s opening at the Science and Industry Museum in early 2027 / Credit: Science and Industry Museum
Speaking ahead of the exhibition’s arrival in early 2027, Sally MacDonald, who is the Director of the Science and Industry Museum, says: “This will be an exhibition about important aspects of our past that are profoundly relevant to the world we live in today.
“Revealed from the perspectives of those who experienced enslavement and whose lives have been shaped by its legacies, we will foreground stories of resistance, agency, and skill.
“The exhibition will explore themes of resilience, identity and creativity alongside exploitation and inequality, and will feature a specific focus on the ways that scientific and technological developments both drove and were driven by transatlantic slavery.”
Further details on the project will be announced in due course, so stay tuned.
Featured Image – Science Museum Group
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Charlotte Dawson will be handing out compliments and big prizes in Manchester to brighten Blue Monday
Daisy Jackson
TV star Charlotte Dawson will be cheering up Blue Monday in Manchester, dishing out compliments to strangers and awarding some big prizes too.
The actress, who is the daughter of the legendary late Les Dawson, will be bringing her signature sunny energy to Printworks on Monday 20 January.
Otherwise known as Blue Monday, it’s believed that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year – so she’s here to nip that in the bud.
Between 1pm and 3pm on the huge gaming screen inside Printworks – part of its £21m transformation that included adding a huge digital ceiling – Charlotte Dawson will be spreading joy and laughter.
She’ll be live streaming straight to passers-by, spreading smiles and dishing out compliments.
Charlotte will also be treating visitors to some amazing prizes from Printworks’ collection of bars, restaurants and leisure venues.
These prizes will include free brunch for four at Walkabout, gaming sessions at Bierkeller, or family cinema tickets with Ice Blasts at VUE. Other prizes include Nando’s vouchers, a drink and activity for two at the new Trax Social, and much more.
And the top prize will be a luxury overnight stay for two at Hotel Indigo, just across the road in the very heart of Manchester.
Charlotte Dawson will take part in Blue Monday at Printworks, Manchester
There’ll even be free coffee vouchers for Todd St Cafe on offer to brighten your Blue Monday.
Kristian Brennan, Marketing Manager at Printworks, said: “We couldn’t be more excited to have Charlotte at Printworks this Blue Monday.
“As a true Mancunian icon, her vibrant personality is exactly what we need to brighten up the most depressing day of the year and we know she’ll bring plenty of laughs and smiles to everyone who stops by.
“What makes this event truly unique is the opportunity for the public to chat with Charlotte under Europe’s largest digital ceiling, which will showcase new mood-boosting content.
“It’s an innovative and exciting way for people to connect, and we can’t wait to see families and friends come together to create joyful memories in this truly unique setting!”