Tameside

Residents slam ‘shameful’ Christmas tree that ‘looks like it’s been shot’

She's a little on the skinny side...

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 29th November 2023

Residents have been brutally mocking an ’embarrassing’ Christmas tree that has sprung up to spread some festive cheer.

The tree – which has been described as being closer to a twig – stands outside The Hub in Hattersley, and despite efforts to pop a few fairy lights on its sparse branches, locals are still slamming the poor thing.

Tameside Council has promised that a more impressive cut tree will be brought along in time for the area’s Christmas Lights switch-on this week.

But in the meantime, locals have been flooding community groups online with jokes about their current specimen.

One person asked: “Oh dear God. Looks like it’s been shot at – is this for real?” while another said: “That’s got to be a joke.”

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Someone else posed the question: “What the sh*tting hell is that?”

One person on Facebook said: “May aswell not have bothered. what an embarrassment.”

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Another suggested: “Maybe they felt sorry for it, and didn’t want it to feel left out.”

And one user commented: “Welcome to shameside.”

The skinny little Christmas tree has also been compared by a lot of people to the shambolic fir that popped up in Mottram a few years ago.

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Which, er, looked like this, if you were wondering…

Mottram’s rubbish Christmas tree. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Tameside Council has said of Hattersley’s Christmas tree: “It’s a living tree that has been in place for a few years. A cut tree will be supplied for the Hattersley Christmas Lights switch on before it takes place on Friday (1 Dec) from 4 to 8pm.

“We are seeking sponsorship to replace the living tree and will seek a different species to help it thrive in this location.”

Councillor Jacqueline Owen said in the Hattersley Community Group Facebook page that the council had had ‘sadly unsuccessful’ attempts to grow a sustainable tree.

Clearly, Jacqueline…

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Featured image: Italian Wolverine via Mint Manchester

Tameside

The brilliant Tameside restaurant helping turn Stalybridge into a new foodie neighbourhood

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc Group

One of Greater Manchester’s coolest new restaurants has quietly opened in recent months, and if you’re looking in the direction of Ancoats, turn around – we’re off to Stalybridge.

This often-overlooked town in Tameside has welcomed Cafe Continental, a charming little neighbourhood restaurant that feels like it’s been plucked from a pretty Parisian back street.

With its cafe curtains, red leather furniture and wood-panelled walls, it feels like the sort of local hangout that’s been here for decades.

But Cafe Continental is barely eight weeks old, and already firmly finding its feet as one of the region’s most exciting newcomers.

As with all good neighbourhood restaurants, the menu spans breakfast all the way through lunch and dinner and into cocktails, stopping off for an epic Sunday roast too.

It’s also got one of the internet’s most viral sweet treats, a proper Paris hot chocolate, where you dollop thick cream into dainty cups of molten hot chocolate.

Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc Group
The Paris hot chocolate. Credit: The Manc Group
The Paris hot chocolate. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc Group
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc Group

This place might have caught the attention of the social media food crowd, but it’s far from gimmicky.

On its menu you’ll find classics that will stand the test of time, like giant tiger prawns with garlic butter, ribeye beef, flame-roasted chicken, croquettes and hand-dived scallops.

There’s a lunch menu that will stop you in your tracks – think seasonal soups with wedges of bouncy focaccia, spicy twice-fried chicken buns, and a steak sandwich with fries.

There’s also an excellent cacio e pepe pasta, served with an egg yolk on top that you can pop and twirl into the pasta.

It’s co-owned and created by Ryan Robinson, who’s quick to point out that Cafe Continental isn’t the first restaurant worth travelling for in Stalybridge, which already has a deep-rooted independent food scene.

The fried chicken bun. Credit: The Manc Group
The fried chicken bun. Credit: The Manc Group
Cacio e pepe pasta. Credit: The Manc Group
Cacio e pepe pasta. Credit: The Manc Group

“We’ve already got some really good food establishments in the area,” he said, “With Gladstone and SK15 and Guiseppes, so the skeleton’s there with Stalybridge, you just need to have some meat on the bones, really.

“And obviously, like we’ve jumped in and hopefully that adds value to the area and then hopefully we see a few more drinking and dining establishments.

“There’s loads of space for development in Stalybridge, and it’s just gonna get better and better.”

Ryan says his inspiration comes from his travels to cities around Europe, and the sort of off-the-beaten-track, full-of-locals restaurants that are so often the most memorable part of a holiday. 

“No matter where you are, whether it’s France or Italy or Spain, there’s always that one restaurant you seem to find that’s set in the back streets, and it’s busy and it’s noisy and the food’s amazing, and you end up having such a good time on the off chance, that you just want to tell everyone about it.

Soup and focaccia at Cafe Continental. Credit: The Manc Group
Soup and focaccia at Cafe Continental. Credit: The Manc Group
Cod bites and a chicken bun. Credit: The Manc Group
Cod bites and a chicken bun. Credit: The Manc Group

“You want to stay there all night, and that was kind of the inspiration for Cafe Continental.

“We just wanted to make a really buzzy local place.”

Ryan, who previously worked as a DJ and across the hospitality industry, has always had a big passion for food.

He’s teamed up with a good friend who is his head chef, and a couple of other friends as business partners, who just ‘believed in the idea and trusted it’.

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It seems to be paying off, with Cafe Continental already luring people out of the city centre to visit, and drawing in a decent returning local crowd.

Ryan finished by saying: “Support locally this Christmas – there’s a lot of great restaurants in Stalybridge and the surrounding areas that are working hard to bring people the best Christmas possible.

“So if everyone can support local, that would be amazing.”

Cafe Continental is open now at 5 Melbourne St, Stalybridge, SK15 2JE.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Tameside

Tameside ambulance worker jailed after trying to murder her boss in a ‘frenzied hammer attack’

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

An ambulance worker has been jailed after attempting to murder her boss in an ‘unprovoked and frenzied hammer attack’.

After what had been described as a “prolonged row” over work shift patterns, Stacey Smith, from the Tameside area of Greater Manchester, turned up outside her boss’s house in Dukinfield at 5:30am on 11 November 2023 when she knew the victim would be getting ready to leave for work, and repeatedly hit the her boss over the head with a hammer causing serious head injuries and leaving her with a broken wrist in defence.

The 46-year-old screamed at the victim during the attack that she was going to kill her.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) called Smith’s attempted murder of her boss – whom she had worked with since 2017 – an “unprovoked and frenzied hammer attack filled with rage”.

A number of neighbours came out to help the victim following the attack, giving her first aid and ensuring that the hammer that Smith left behind was covered in a plastic bag ready to be forensically examined by Crime Scene Investigators.

Smith later sent text messages to a friend after the attack saying: “I’ve done it. I’ve smashed her head in. Oppsie xx!”.

While initially telling her friend that she would “go on the run” to Liverpool, Smith instead handed herself into Ashton Police Station, and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Following police interviews, Smith pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but denied attempting to kill her boss.

Following a hearing at Manchester Crown Court this week, Smith was charged with two counts of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and attempted murder, and sentenced to a total of 25 years – including 20 years in prison – as well as receiving a whole-life restraining order banning her from contacting the victim.

Detective Constable Stephen McNee, GMP’s Tameside Criminal Investigation Department, described this as “a particularly violent attack”.

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Speaking after the sentencing this week, DC McNee said: “We are pleased with today’s result, which has seen a violent woman taken off the streets, and we hope that this goes some way to helping the victim to come to terms with what has happened to her and allows her to heal.”

Featured Image – GMP

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