Manchester’s a brilliant city, but it can sometimes be a little on the, er, *eccentric* side.
From the infamous characters we all recognise a mile off when you see them walking (or indeed cycling) around town to the moments you catch out of the corner of your eye that no one believes really happened, there’s never a dull moment here.
Or the guy who flew a helicopter from Salford to Preston to pick up a beef sandwich?
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Most recently, when we shared a video of a new Magnum billboard in Piccadilly Gardens, loads of you started telling us some of the strange sights you’ve seen in this notorious part of town.
So we asked The Manc readers what the weirdest things they’ve seen elsewhere in Greater Manchester are – and thousands responded.
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Here are some of our favourites.
One person managed to get stuck on top of this giant bike sculpture near Deansgate Locks. Credit: Google Maps
James told us he saw: “Pissed up people climbing that cycle statue at the end of Deansgate Locks. One of em made it and sat on it. Hadn’t a clue how.to get back down without falling, which he inevitably did …..poor sod”
Not sure how this one works – Keith said: “Was working in Gorton many years ago, went to a corner shop for a sandwich and was told there’s no bread so you will have to have toast. A true story.”
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Jennifer gave us another animal tale, saying: “A man walking down brooklands road in brooklands carrying a falcon on his hand whilst whistling sweet nothings to it”
Diane said: “Saw a rat the size of a small cat running down canal street with half a burger in its mouth. We cheered on the little fellow lol.”
Le Anne had an even weirder animal sighting, writing: “A couple of lads walking down by the canal side in Castlefield, with a lobster on a skateboard – like it was completely normal. Proof attached”
Credit: Facebook, The Manc Group via Le Ann
There are a lot of stories involving the weather, naturally.
Melissa wrote: “I was having a smoke outside where I worked one morning, absolutely pissing down rain and a woman rode past on a bike in a bikini top, ear muffs and no knickers on. I saw a lot working there but that was one of the most bizarre!”
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Amy posted: “This guy riding a scooter in the pissing down rain the other week… with two tesco bags over his feet to keep them dry.”
Far and away the most common weird sightings in Manchester relate to drunk people. There’s a surprise.
Helen recalled: “Me and my then boyfriend were coming home in the wee hours when we saw a chap, very drunk I’m presuming, sat in one of those pebble dashed bins they used to have back in the day. His backside was right inside it with him bent double and his arms and legs dangling down the side. I think he was drunk anyway…”
Someone witnessed a guy get a pint of beer stuck inside one of these horse heads. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nathan wrote: “Saw a guy at the cricket wearing one of those rubber horse masks. He had a pint but he was finding it really difficult to drink, with the horse mask and all. Eventually he managed to put the entire glass in the snout of the mask, and angle it enough that he could have a sip of it. But then he was stuck and he couldn’t get the glass back out because it was one of those useless flimsy plastic glasses, so his only option was to down his drink, which he did with the support of a roaring crowd around him.(A lot of it went down his shirt but let’s not let that take away from the magic of the moment)”
Laura found someone who probably had some deep regrets the next morning, telling us: “A man ‘swimming’ in a humongous pile of garbage at 3 in the morning in Deansgate. Actual front stroke and everything!”
Paul witnessed a real Mr Bean-style crime in a pub once, writing: “I was once drinking in a pub, the landlord was away and the barmaid was in charge..two guys walked in wearing white coats and said they had come to collect the tv which the landlord had booked in for repair. They took the tv.. The landlord knew nothing about it..”
And then here are a couple more just completely mad moments from our brilliant city.
Gaynor said: “I once saw a man trying to park a car on deansgate in a very small space, It was a Nissan micra. In the end the doors opened 4 stocky men got out, picked the car up and plonked it into the space job done”
And finally, this, from Jen: “A group of foreign students were sat in St Peters Square with a guitar, when an angry man with one leg, hobbled over and without saying a word, hit the one playing the guitar with his crutch. All whilst an unconnected gentleman was sat playing ‘two become one’ on a recorder.”
Oldham mansion that starred in an iconic pop music video is up for sale
Thomas Melia
A Greater Manchester mansion that’s featured in one of the most famous music videos of the past decade is now up for sale.
Situated in the picturesque village of Uppermill, Oldham, Ashcroft House is currently listed at £2,350,000 accepting offers in the region of this figure.
The property has six bedrooms, six baths and five reception rooms – this mansion is a party host’s dream.
Ashcroft House has four storeys with the lower ground floor currently set up as a gym space and the ground floor boasting an eye-catching grand entrance hall.
This isn’t everything the lower ground floor has to offer. There are a number of breakout rooms such as a wine store, cinema room and your own personal steam room.
When going up another flight of stairs, the first floor’s main selling point besides the very large balcony is the matched walk in wardrobes paired with each of the six sleeping quarters, yes please!
The girls styling themselves in one of the many walk in wardrobes at Ashcroft House.The bold statement front door in the Oldham mansion.Credit: Youtube (@littlemix)
Finally, if that wasn’t enough to draw you in, there is another flight of stairs leading to the second floor which is currently acting as the house’s ever-impressive storage area.
With the rolling hills of Saddleworth nearby and a local pub a ten minute walk away, how could life possibly get any better?
Oh wait it does! In 2016 one of the UK’s best selling girl groups of all time shot a music video for their worldwide hit right here in these very four walls.
X Factor prodigies and three time BRIT award winning girl group Little Mix perched up with their film crew to spend 21 hours recording the video for their groundbreaking single ‘Hair’.
The video itself has amassed nearly 500 million views on social media platform Youtube since being released eight years ago.
The grand staircase that greets you as you enter this Greater Manchester property.The Little Mix girls having a bite to eat in Ashcroft House.Credit: Youtube (@littlemix)
The previous owner of the house even revealed that once the music video shoot wrapped up, the girls stayed with the family to share a slice of pizza or two.
If you’re interested in owning a piece of pop culture history or just as nosey as we are you can take a virtual tour of this mansion in Oldham here.
People are finally discovering this super easy money-saving food hack
Danny Jones
These days, pinching the pennies and protecting the pounds wherever you can is more important than ever, so we have no intention of gatekeeping this game-changing itsu food hack.
For the longest time, we’ll admit that we thought itsu was just another good place to grab some fresh sushi, Asian-inspired meals and groceries, but after learning of this clever little loophole, it’s probably up there with one of our very favourite chains.
Starting out in London back in the late 90s, itsu has gone on to become a huge franchise with nearly 80 locations nationwide and, naturally, the risk that comes with a food brand getting this big is the almost unavoidable problem of waste.
However, what was once just a conveyor belt in Chelsea has turned into a super-efficient restaurant and fully established food brand that has also come up with a great way to not only help stop food from going to waste but save you money in the process too.
itsu Manchester on 1 Hardman Blvd, Spinningfields.itsu prices aren’t pretty decent to start with given the quality.We’re all about food hacks and cutting back the budget wherever we can. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Put quite simply, because itsu would quite rightly rather see food go in your gob than in the bin, they have a discount policy on their products that are about to go out of date.
Think Too Good To Go only more specific and with even more money off guaranteed.
Once the clock hits a certain time towards the end of trading hours, sushi, salad boxes and other cold food items can be purchased at 50% off their usual price to help save money and on food spoiling.
No, we’re not having you on: each and EVERY single day you can get highly-quality itsu sushi selection platters, rice and salad boxes, poke bowls and more at literally half-price. You can see the full details in their FAQs.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a random work night or a peckish walk home from the pub on the weekend, provided you go after 8:30pm and get there before they shut, you can grab some of your favourites at essentially a two-for-one rate. Sensational stuff.
You don’t even have to download an app, go up to the counter and have any kind of awkward conversation or anything like that: the digital pay screens will automatically update once the click strikes cha-ching and you can saunter out of the gaff with your scran.
Half price itsu? Don’t mind if we do.50% off itsu every night.Always leave looking this happy.Get your hands on half-price itsu whenever you can with this simple hack. (Credit: The Manc Group)
We’ll be honest, we often end up getting double the amount we came for but who can blame us with a value-for-money offer like that? There’s also a 15% discount for students and NHS workers, by the way.
We know that might sound counter-intuitive when we’ve pitched this as a money-saving life hack, but it’s actually come in handy when grabbing not just a last-minute tea for ourselves but hungry flatmates too; plus we go home knowing we’ve done our little bit to help reduce waste.
Eating out can get super expensive, especially in Manchester city centre during a cost of living crisis, but let’s face it, we all fancy a treat sometimes and the thought of cooking is too tiring to even think about – that’s what makes stumbling upon little happy discoveries like these makes so great.
Now, we’re not going to pretend you’re the first people to know about this: the ‘secret’ is out and is gradually getting more and more popular, so you’ll almost certainly find a fair few people queuing up with the same idea come 8:30pm, but that’s kind of the idea. The more we spread the news, the less waste.
itsu Spinningfields is currently the only branch in Manchester (the first-ever Northern site to be opened by the brand back in 2016) but if you need some discounted food whilst you’re travelling around, you can find your nearest location HERE. Enjoy!
Daisy Jackson -
22nd April 2022 
