I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I stopped once this summer. Festival season hit hard, there was Oasis, the sun was shining for a good chunk of time and everyone was constantly wanting to do stuff. It was fun, but oh so tiring. So when Moddershall Oaks got in touch about a little spa retreat, who was I to say no?
Currently nominated for ‘Best Spa For Wellness’ in the 2025 Good Spa Guide Awards, and previously named ‘Experience of the Year’ at the 2022 Staffordshire Tourism and Good Food Awards, this beautiful country spa has been making waves for a number of years.
Set in 72 acres of private Staffordshire countryside, this gorgeous retreat has a lot to offer – luxurious indoor and outdoor spa facilities, new woodland pods, a newly renovated restaurant and balcony bar, and an extensive menu of spa treatments to enjoy in their cosy former farmhouse.
The venue is also a stunning location to host a wedding reception, with a wedding taking place during our visit. The lake gives a beautiful backdrop for those all-important pictures.
It’s a warm welcome from the team when we arrive, with a tasty elderflower spritz to enjoy while we fill in our preferences for our spa treatments. We’re shown to our boutique bedroom suite, which is stylishly decorated and has a view of the peaceful green space outside.
ADVERTISEMENT
With time before dinner, we quickly change into our swim gear and jump straight into the outdoor spa pool, nestled in the central courtyard. Here you can order drinks to the poolside, so full relaxation can commence.
A spa suite at Moddershall OaksThere’s even a spin studioModdershall Oaks gymA sauna at Moddershall OaksThere are outdoor and indoor spa facilitiesThe beautiful groundsThere are outdoor and indoor spa facilitiesDinner at The Oak House restaurantThe 10m indoor pool
We dine in The Oak House restaurant, which has recently been renovated to an obviously high standard. The team are attentive without being overbearing and make fantastic suggestions for what to try. The menu hosts seasonal produce, with the peppered seabass being a standout. With it being my guest’s birthday, the restaurant team surprised him with a birthday pudding – a wonderful surprise.
ADVERTISEMENT
We finished our evening with cocktails on the new balcony bar, with fantastic views of the lake and local countryside – a tranquil end to our first day.
Being the keen bean that I am, I was up early to make full use of the fitness facilities. There are classes which you can book onto through the spa reception as part of your stay, but I just made use of their modern gym, which I had all to myself for my workout. A quick sauna to relax the muscles after my session was a welcome addition to the start of my day too.
Breakfast at Moddershall Oaks takes the shape of a continental buffet breakfast, perfect for those, like me, who love a cereal salad (if you know, you know). Being in Staffordshire, I had to opt for the traditional oatcakes, which were delicious. They’re kind of like a pancake, but savoury and also like a wrap? Hard to describe but well worth sampling while you’re in the area.
ADVERTISEMENT
We enjoyed a short session in the private heated pool, which you have to pre-book. There is even a button you can press to request drinks to be delivered to you – how much more boujee can you get?
My guest enjoyed an orange blossom oil massage, the first time they’d ever had a spa treatment in their 40 years on this earth, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I treated myself to a triple session, with a reflexology foot massage, back, neck and shoulder massage and a facial to finish. I practically floated out of the room, I was that relaxed. I was also completely unconscious from about 8.30pm that night until my alarm went off at 7am the next morning, so something definitely worked.
Within an hour from Manchester, this lavish country spa deserves every accolade and should make its way onto your autumnal itinerary for a well deserved post-summer reset. You won’t regret it.
You can find out more about Moddershall Country Spa and book your trip here.
The tiny van parked beneath a tram stop that’s quietly making some of the best coffee in town
Danny Jones
In a city as big and bustling as Manchester, let alone all the other great on-the-go food and drink spots across the ten boroughs, it can be hard to know where to start – that’s why Elliott’s coffee van is cleverly grabbing people on their way in and out of town to sample his stuff.
With brilliant blends, bakes and other kinds of brews up for grabs, it’s becoming a regular stop for us.
Finding a good cafe in transit can often be somewhat of a challenge, especially when you want to support independent businesses wherever possible.
If you’re happy to settle with one of the big brands that you’ll find at most major stations, grand, but if you want a proper good grind, perfect temperature, not to mention great service from a friendly face, then come and see Elliot.
Having recently celebrated more than a year since he first posted up outside the admittedly ‘no man’s land’-ish Metrolink station, this busy little bee has brought a welcome dose of energy and colour to this particular Bee Network interchange.
While Cornbrook doesn’t feel as lonely and forgotten as, say, Pomona, just one stop along, it’s long felt ever so slightly too out of the way, lonely, and a bit grey.
Thankfully, these days (at least if you time it right), when you go around the corner and head towards the archways bordering Castlefield and the edge of Trafford, you’ll now hear tunes coming down the road, and instead of simply smelling petrol or dank water, you’re hit with a whiff of freshly roasted beans.
We get the same warm feeling when we arrive here as when we see neighbouring Libby’s canal boat cafe floating just outside The Wharf.
It’s also worth noting that Elliot doesn’t just buy any old grounds: he’s a passionate barista who has such a love for the good stuff that he decided to buy a little Piaggio Ape 50 three-wheeler van and turn it into a mobile cafe, serving speciality coffee from around Greater Manchester and loading it all up himself.
Spotlighting everyone from Kobean and Assembly to wholesalers like Carter – not to mention fresh pastries and sweet treats from beloved Stockport bakery, Sticky Fingers – this lovely lad is indie through and through.
As well as loyalty, he even does gift cards.When we say everything is freshly pressed, we mean it…
Having gone full-time last August after starting in June 2025, we’re chuffed to bits to see it going so well for him, especially seeing him slog through the Manc weather come rain or shine, even giving us our fix during the colder months in that often rather dark Cornbrook corner.
What’s more, he’s also got some solid tunes on rotation, whether you need an extra early morning pick-me-up on your commute besides the caffeine, or just want that added boost later in the day.
Elliot serves with a smile and is always happy to have a little chinwag; better still, while he’s getting bigger and longer lines nowadays, the queue always moves quicker than you think it will.
For anyone looking to pay him a visit, his opening hours are 7am-1pm every day bar Mondays (six days a week is still no joke), and you get him for an extra hour until 2pm on Saturdays.
First-ever JD Wetherspoon pub to open at Manchester Airport
Danny Jones
In news that we feel many Mancs and travellers all-round have been waiting on for a long time, the well-known British chain, JD Wetherspoon, will be opening its first-ever pub at Manchester Airport.
That’s right: soon that first airport pint of the holiday could actually be a relatively cheap one.
While Wetherspoons are no strangers to popping up in terminals across the UK and Ireland, they’ve never done so here in Manchester despite having three, yes THREE, in Gatwick alone.
Not for much longer, though, as soon T2 will be lending more than 3,000 square feet of its prime leisure and retail real estate to a new Greater Manchester ‘Spoons’.
Posting on social media, the airport wrote: “Wetherspoon comes to Manchester Airport this September! The pub will be located in the Terminal 2 Departures lounge and will have more than 300 seats.
“This will become the final major food and drink venue to open its doors as part of our decade-long £1.3bn transformation of Terminal 2. It will be named ‘The Belle Vue’, in a nod to Manchester’s historic showground [now a sports complex and leisure hub].
“It was a focal point for social life in the city from the Victorian period up until 2020, when the final event was held at Belle Vue stadium. The design of the pub is inspired by the history of Belle Vue and the sporting culture of the North West of England. We look forward to welcoming you all in September!”
While a lot of money has been pumped into T2’s refurb as a whole over the past few years, it remains unclear just how much this particular new addition will cost; we do know that great sums were set aside for the launch of the Great Northern Market last year.
The inaugural Manchester Airport Spoons is just the latest in a series of major renovations.
As mentioned, the company already operate several up and down the country – 10 airport pubs, to be specific – but this will be the first in the North West.
Speaking on the news, JD Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson said in a statement: “We are looking forward to opening at Manchester Airport. We believe our new pub will prove popular with travellers of all ages and be an asset to the new terminal.”
With Manchester Airport adding a dozen new routes to its roster this summer, you can expect to see even more people flying in and out than ever – no doubt having already polished off a cut-price pint or two beforehand.
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston -
19th September 2025 
