Travel & Tourism

Man shows enormous queue of ‘people wearing trainers’ at snowy Snowdon summit

Even in the snow - trainers. Risky business.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 29th March 2024

Another day, another massive queue of people trying to reach the summit of Snowdon – when will we learn?

In a viral video shared on TikTok, one man has captured one of the longest summit queues we’ve seen yet.

And the real stinger is that he says a lot of the people at the top of Wales’s tallest mountain – which was covered in a blanket of snow – were wearing trainers.

Mountain Rescue’s most advice for hiking is to wear appropriate footwear and clothing, especially when climbing to such heights.

The weather up in the mountains can change in the blink of an eye, and at the time of writing, the summit of Snowdon is still blanketed in snow even if things are warming up further down.

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The video from last month, shared by Joseph Hunter, shows a line of people several hundred metres long, all waiting to touch the trigpoint and officially reach the highest point in Wales.

It seems like a crazy scene, but it’s becoming increasingly common as tourists flood to this national beauty spot.

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Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa, has an elevation of 1,085 metres and is one of the most beautiful places in the UK.

Queues of people at the summit of Snowdon. Credit: TikTok, @joehunter_outdoors
Queues of people at the summit of Snowdon. Credit: TikTok, @joehunter_outdoors
Queues of people at the summit of Snowdon
Queues of people at the summit of Snowdon. Credit: TikTok, @joehunter_outdoors

And despite being a good couple of hours from Manchester, there are plenty of Mancs making the trip to North Wales to climb this iconic mountain.

In the video, Joseph wrote: “When you reach the summit of the highest mountain in Wales and you’re sharing it with 3000 people wearing trainers…”

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Someone commented: “I recall doing Snowdon decked out in all the gear and when walking down seeing a fella in Lonsdale trainers and an Asda carrier bag.”

Another wrote: “I climbed it in trainers… broke my ankle on the way down and got airlifted off. Lesson learnt.”

One person commented: “So glad I got to experience this before it became TikTok famous.”

And if you really can’t bear the thought of queueing just to be that high up, the original poster later shared a video of much a more under-the-radar walk in Snowdonia.

@joehunter_outdoors

Brother eeww. Welcome to Snowdon. 😂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #snowdon #yrwyddfa #snowdonia #snowdonianationalpark #hike #hikersoftiktok #hiketok #hiking #northwales

♬ original sound – Chief Green Screens

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Featured image: TikTok

Travel & Tourism

No trams to run on major Metrolink line as ‘essential’ work to repair Victorian-era tunnel starts this weekend

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant A Metrolink tram in Manchester city centre

Travel disruption is expected across the next couple of weeks as ‘essential engineering’ work begins on a major Metrolink line.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that a reduced service will run on the Bury line this weekend, as work to replace ‘defective’ beams supporting the roof at Whitefield Tunnel means that no trams will run between Crumpsall and Bury on Saturday (10 May), or between Whitefield and Bury on Sunday (11 May).

Some weekend and overnight working is said to be ‘necessary’ to secure and protect the overhead line equipment, so that the beam replacement work can be completed as ‘safely and quickly as possible’, according to TfGM.

A crane is planned to be in use for the beam replacement work at times.

Closures on the line from this weekend come after the successful completion of preparatory work at the site, following the discovery of a defective beam.

No trams will run on a major Metrolink line as ‘essential’ work to repair Victorian-era tunnel starts this weekend / Credit: TfGM

As well as the suspension on services this weekend, as mentioned above, several other chances throughout this month and into the next on the Bury line are also to be expected.

No tram services will operate between Crumpsall and Bury on Sunday 25 May, and no again from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June, while no trams will run between Whitefield and Bury from Monday 26 to Thursday 29 May.

For the duration of all closures, replacement bus services will run between the affected stops on all the above dates.

Any so-called ‘noisier’ work is set to take place during daytime and evening working hours where possible, and several noise reduction measures – such as acoustic blankets and enclosures – also to be put in place during this.

As always, the Greater Manchester public is being advised to ‘plan ahead’ if they are travelling.

“Whitefield Tunnel dates back to the 19th century,” explained Ian Davies, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, “and this essential work will ensure tram services can continue to safely pass through it for decades to come.

“This is a complex job, but we will do everything we can to minimise disruption to passengers, residents and businesses.”

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He added: “I would encourage people who use the Bury line to plan ahead and check the Bee Network website, app, and social media channels for the most up-to-date travel information.”

Find out the latest on the TfGM website here.

Featured Image – Janus Boye

Travel & Tourism

Manchester named one of Europe’s ‘best’ cities alongside 17 other British places

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Manchester has been named one of the ‘best’ cities in Europe for 2025, according to a new ranking.

You may remember that our city – and wider Greater Manchester borough – has often featured on various round-up lists over the years, with it ranking on everything from being named one of the best places in the UK to buy your first home, and the best place to raise a family, right through to being one of the most creative cities.

But it arguably doesn’t get much better than a title like this.

For a long time now, the city has been cementing itself as a tourist hotspot, with new hotels popping up left, right, and centre, and integrated transport systems being introduced to make it easier to get around.

And it looks like all that has paid off, as Manchester has now been named one of the best cities in the whole of Europe for 2025, thanks to a new ranking by Resonance Co.

Manchester skyline
Manchester has been named one of Europe’s ‘best’ cities / Credit: Josh Taylor | Chris Curry (via Unsplash)

This year, the global placemaking company’s research encompassed 128 cities across Europe with metropolitan area populations of 500,000 or more, and evaluated each of them based on 30 performance indicators and perception metrics derived from surveys of more than 7,500 respondents across 10 European countries.

Once each of these performance indictors had been evaluated, every city was given its own ‘Place Power Score’ to determine its ranking.

A city’s ‘Place Power Score’ examines three core dimensions – liveability, which takes into account things like housing affordability, healthcare access, green space, air quality, and cycling infrastructure; loveability, which encompasses culture, nightlife, culinary scenes, and more; and prosperity, which includes business environment, talent density, GDP per capita, airport connectivity, and more.

While Manchester may have missed out on both the top 10 and top 20, considering it’s a top 100 list, our city has claimed the respectable 36th spot, beating out mega cities such as Venice, Nice, Athens, and loads more.

In fact, 18 British cities are included in the top 100.

Our city has ranked alongside 17 other British places / Credit: Mangopear Creative

Explaining why Manchester has been ranked, Resonance Co said in its city description: “You’ll be hearing a lot more about Manchester this decade, as the historic engine of English industry shifts into high gear across both culture and development.

“While the UNESCO City of Literature continues to shape global music – with 2024’s opening of the 23,500-seat Co-op Live arena, and a festival lineup that includes Beyond the Music and Worldwide Music Expo – Greater Manchester is also writing a new chapter in urban reinvention.

“A newly centralised ‘single pipeline for growth’ coordinates £1 billion of planned annual investment across six targeted Growth Locations, aiming to deliver tens of thousands of homes and jobs at a pace unmatched in the UK since the 2012 London Olympics. Among the boldest is the Western Gateway, anchored by the regeneration of Old Trafford around Manchester United’s stadium, projected to generate over 90,000 jobs.

“The Central Growth Cluster includes innovation districts like Crescent Salford and Victoria North. These ambitions build on an £80-billion economy that’s grown 50% since 2000 and now leads the nation in FDI outside London.

“Add a mature devolved governance model and transformative transit investments – like bringing commuter rail into the Bee Network – and the city’s Top 10-ranked airport and 15th-most Instagram Hashtags start making sense.”

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Which city took the title of the best city in Europe though? Well unfortunately, we have to give it to the southerners on this one, as London took the top spot.

But at least it’s an impressive win for the UK, if nothing else.

Featured Image – Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)

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