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.
You can now get Deep South-inspired BBQ dishes on Manchester’s Deansgate
Daisy Jackson
There’s a brand-new menu of smokehouse-style BBQ dishes being served up on a sunny terrace on Deansgate.
Motley, the neighbourhood bar and restaurant on the corner of John Dalton Street, has added an authentic smoker to its kitchen.
That means they’ve got a whole load of new dishes, slow-cooked over hickory wood, that are bringing a taste of a Deep South BBQ to Manchester city centre.
The smokehouse-style meats are all seasoned in-house and cooked for hours, for a perfect fall-off-the-bone experience.
It might be an authentic American smokehouse menu, but it’s firmly British too, with most products locally sourced.
You can now get Deep South-inspired BBQ dishes on Deansgate / Credit: The Manc Group
Motley are calling on local suppliers like Althams Butchers (established since 1856) for their meat, plus greengrocers R Noone and Son, and Cheshire Farm for their real dairy ice cream.
Signature dishes on the new menu at Motley include slow smoked brisket, seasoned in Motley’s signature rub before being slow-smoked for more than eight hours.
There’s also a beef short rib with a chimichurri sauce, and a pork belly strip that’s seasoned with sage and onion and finished with a panko breadcrumb crust.
And for the veggies, there’s a vegan smoked veg kebab with courgette, mushrooms, bell pepper, sweet corn and red onion drizzled with homemade BBQ sauce.
Motley has added an authentic smoker to its kitchen / Credit: The Manc Group
Prices across the board start from just £16, served with beef dripping fries, rainbow slaw, pickles and homemade beef gravy.
As for small plates, you can expect short rib bonbons, homemade corn bread, spicy chicken wings, bang bang cauliflower, mac and cheese, and frickles.
House favourites like steak, vegetable hash, salads, and burgers will remain on the Motley menu.
Victor Gonzalez, food and beverage manager at Motley, said: “Our new signature smoked dishes are all crafted and seasoned in-house then slow cooked for hours over hickory wood to create rich and smoky melt-in-your mouth flavours.
“From our slow-smoked brisket to our home-made sides, everything has been carefully crafted to bring an authentic taste of the deep south to Manchester and we can’t wait for guests to try it.”
Motley can be found at 2 John Dalton Street on the corner of Deansgate in the city centre.
Featured Image – The Manc Group
City Centre
Phoebe Bridgers announces long-awaited return with HUGE phones-free arena gig in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
It’s official, Phoebe Bridgers is back on earth.
More than six years since her last studio album, Punisher, was released to the world, cementing her status as one of indie folk’s leading figureheads, Phoebe Bridgers has given fans the news they have been waiting so patiently for.
A new tour North America and EU tour is on the horizon, and she’ll be stopping off here in Manchesterlater this year for a huge arena gig.
Following a sold-out acoustic show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden last night (4 June), Phoebe has now revealed details of ‘The Lost Tour’ for 2026.
Other than the series of surprise pop-up acoustic shows that have wrapped around the country over the last few weeks – beginning in Roswell in New Mexico on 8 May, and continuing on to smaller venues in other US cities before culminating in last night’s dazzling MSG show – this upcoming full band tour marks the first Phoebe Bridgers shows since early 2023.
Phoebe will be taking to the stage at Co-op Live here in Manchester for one night only on 26 November 2026 – with tickets going on sale next week.
And just like the pop-up shows, the use of mobile phones, cameras, and other recording devices will be strictly prohibited on this tour, encouraging fans to be more present in the moment.
This means the Co-op Live event will utilise secure pouches to store all devices during the performance.
Phoebe Bridgers is playing a huge arena gig in Manchester on her UK tour later this year / Credit: Supplied | Raph PH (Wikimedia Commons)
Upon arrival, all phones, smartwatches, and related accessories will be secured in these pouches, the pouches will be unlocked at the conclusion of the show, and any guest observed using a non-permitted device during the performance will be escorted out of the venue.
If the news of Phoebe’s return wasn’t exciting enough for fans as it is, she won’t be the only one making a highly-anticipated return to the stage, as support on the UK & EU leg of the tour is to be provided by former Black Country, New Road frontman, Isaac Wood.
Wood stepped away from the ensemble band – and the limelight as a whole – right before the release of BCNR’s critically acclaimed second studio album, Ants From Up There, in 2022, citing mental health reasons.
Phoebe has also partnered with PLUS1 so that €1/£1 from every ticket sold on the European tour leg goes to local organisations throughout the EU/UK working to support those impacted by sexual assault and violence.
Phoebe Bridgers will be playing Co-op Live as part of ‘The Lost Tour’ on Thursday 26 November 2026.
Tickets officially go on sale first through the Phoebe Bridgers Pass Presale via Fan3, and Co-op Member Presale starting at 10am on Wednesday 10 June, before general sale then begins on Friday 12 June, again at 10am.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd May 2023 
