The person behind the bizarre and hilarious ‘Angry Beetham’ Twitter account has announced that the page will be retired, after they suffered a stroke that has left them with ‘permanent damage’.
For 10 years, the witty parody account has been shouting and screaming across the Twittersphere, claiming to be the voice of Manchester’s landmark Beetham Tower.
The huge skyscraper, which famously hums when the wind picks up, has recently shared insights such as ‘MATT HANCOCK, BEETHAM SEND YOU MILLION BOULDERS VIA WHATSAPP. GRAAAAAAAAGH’ and ‘STAY HOME THIS WEEK. ANGRY TOWER ON LOOSE.’.
But today marks the end of the much-loved social media account, after its mystery admin revealed themselves and gave a health update.
On Twitter, the comedian, writer and artist known as Fat Roland said: “Hello. My name is @FatRoland and I have been running the Angry Beetham account since, well, forever. It is sadly time to retire the account. All is explained in the link.
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“SERIOUS? Yes, serious, Beethy.
“It has been so much fun running this account over the years. Such great followers and, hidden from you, sooo many laughs from me. You are all an absolute joy.
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“Weird thing is, I don’t have an angry bone in my body. It can be such an impotent emotion, and when mapped onto such an incongruous, singular building, makes for a fun Twitter account.
Hello. My name is @FatRoland and I have been running the Angry Beetham account since, well, forever. It is sadly time to retire the account. All is explained in the link.
“Anyway. So long and thanks for all the laser smashes and boulder bashes. GRRRRRR.”
Fat Roland has shared a lengthy blog post in which he detailed that he has suffered a stroke that has made reading very difficult, forcing the Angry Beetham account into extinction.
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He said that he had been at a gig in Manchester (Plaid, at Gorilla), when he noticed several disorientating symptoms and felt like his ‘head was exploding’.
Three days later, and Fat Roland was diagnosed as having had a stroke, which has left him suffering hallucinations.
He wrote on his blog: “The stroke has destroyed half of my eyesight. In true surrealist Fat Roland style, the missing halves are the right section of each eye. Because eyes dart about and the brain is clever, I don’t have black spots. I can see everything. But if my brain hasn’t received full information about a section of what I’m looking at, it makes things up. This causes hallucinations.
A sample of the Angry Beetham Twitter account. Credit: Twitter, @angrybeetham
“I have looked into the twilight sky and seen a hospital floating mid-air, in full detail. I have seen imaginary crows flapping around the edges of my vision. I have seen a cheerful dog on a lead being walked by a bush because my brain couldn’t register the difference between a dog owner and shrubbery. A quick dart of the eyes, and my visual register filled in the correct information. I think my brain is having far too much fun with this.”
He then went on to explain that he’d ‘lost the ability to laterally scan text’, which has made running Angry Beetham too much of a challenge.
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Fat Roland wrote: “The damage is permanent. The fried part of my brain will never be unfried. But I’m confident about recovery as I begin what feels like Life Part Two.
“I will be slowly integrating back into my role at the brilliant Burgess Foundation. My work with Electronic Sound will continue, although for now will be restrained to a slightly shorter column. I’m sure I will cartoon again, although I may need to learn new techniques. I will likely have to give up running my F1 Losers League because there’s too much detailed spreadsheet and website work.
“And because casual social media browsing is no longer viable, I am retiring the @AngryBeetham Twitter account which I have been secretly running for ten years.”
Dozens of messages of support have been flooding in today, including one person who wrote: “So long and thanks for the lasers. Wishing you best for the future.”
Another person said: “Farewell Manchester’s greatest Twitter account, I’ll never not see the tower as AB now. Who can forget his ill-fated Valentine date with a tent? Or the time he threatened to roll GMex on its back like a beetle? All the best for your recovery @FatRoland and thanks for the laughs.”
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And the reverse parody account of Happy Beetham shared: “Thank you for always being my better half AB.”
So that’s it. The days of Angry Beetham are officially over. Thank you Fat Roland for a decade of silly, delightful, very angry fun.
Manchester’s Pixel Bar has received a seriously next-gen upgrade
Danny Jones
In case you somehow missed it, even in all of its beaming neon and futuristic glory, Pixel Bar Manchester has recently undergone some serious renovations and we’re not just talking a lick of paint – this is a proper next-gen upgrade if we’ve ever seen one.
One of the city centre’s best activity spots and go-to hubs for gamers, specifically, Pixel Bar has been impressing Manc players since 2021, when it took over the old Bar 21 site – one we were sad to say goodbye to at first.
But in the few short years that we’ve had the pleasure of picking up pads at this place, we’ve slowly managed to get over it and now we’re just as madly in love with the gaming gaff as we were its predecessor.
The bar itself was already pretty engaging to begin with but after more than a few tweaks to the overall hardware and a major refitting downstairs, its videogame offerings are bigger and better than ever.
Let’s start with the first thing that hits you as you come in: those brilliant booths, complete with large LED screens, access to various different kinds of consoles and all manner of titles, all from the comfort of the plush padded seating.
Not only are these ideal for group bookings and parties, as they’re roomy enough to seat plenty of you, but you can also order a wide array of gaming-themed food and drink – still displayed within a cute little disc (cute) directly to your table.
You essentially never need to get up and take a break from playing beyond nipping to the loo.
There are, of course, your classic arcade machines dotted around the main floor as well as downstairs if you prefer old-school.
Credit: The Manc Group
Speaking of downstairs…
Now, this is where the levelling up gets seriously silly as not only have they transformed Bar 21’s old basement room into a shiny new large seating area, perfect for private hires, large groups or just a quieter room out back away from the bustle upstairs.
However, wander even further into the belly of this brilliant gaming venue’s lair and you’ll find there more than a few beasts waiting for you – in a good way.
Part of the former club room has now been turned into a hardcore gamer’s arena with a fully decked-out PC den and some extremely impressive rigs lining the walls.
Credit: The Manc
Boasting Razer keyboards, headsets and mice to boot, this has everything you need to host a proper old-school LAN party or for the esports hopefuls amongst you (and Manchester’s scene is growing fast, believe us), host competitive online tournaments.
Honestly, these guys are taking this stuff as seriously as you’d like them to; pull back a curtain plastered with UltaGear and Riot Games Play Club branding and you’ll even find a dedicated casting booth should you want some to commentate a live event or run a properly presented livestream.
We don’t need to go into the exact specs of what you’ll find down here as we could be here forever but let’s just say you won’t go wanting for much.
God knows how much Pixel Bar pumped into this major refurb of their Manchester site, all we know is we’re impressed and we’ll be coming back here very soon.
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival is returning to Greater Manchester next month
Thomas Melia
The BBC Radio 6 Music Festival is coming back to Manchester once again, and they’re bringing yet another phenomenal lineup with them.
National radio station and overall upcoming music connoisseurs, BBC Radio 6, are back with their music festival, and just like years previous, it’s taking place across Manchester.
Over the years, the festival has brought some of music’s biggest names to lots of local venues, putting on an array of brilliant live performances.
Last spring saw the arrival of rock band Gossip and Irish singer CMAT, both taking up residency in O2 Victoria Warehouse, Lily Fontaine of English Teacher at Band On The Wall, while DJ Seinfeld went B2B with Salute in Depot Mayfield.
Leading this glowing roster of performers is Ezra Collective, a Mercury award -winning band known for their brilliant jazz productions, and then from one Mercury-winning band to another, Lily Fontaine won’t be riding solo this year, instead she’s bringing all the crew with her, as English Teacher are set to perform at this huge festival.
Fat Dog, whose debut album is titled ‘Woof’, are joining in on the fun with Scottish band Mogwai also making a feature too.
There’s even a chance for an exclusive first listen too, as Kae Tempest will be debuting new material right here in Manchester.
Ezra Collective are performing at BBC Radio 6 Music Festival.English Teacher make a return to Manchester for this special event.Fat Dog are also playing the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival.
All performances will be taking place at a multitude of venues, like the previously mentioned O2 Victoria Warehouse, Depot Mayfield, and Band On The Wall, as well as loads of other events at entertainment bar, Yes.
Every highlight, alongside live and recorded live performances, will be taking place at MediaCityUK in Salford, in order to keep everything Manchester central.
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival is happening from 26 – 29 March 2025, with tickets going on sale from 6 February at 10am here.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd May 2023 
