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Spooky abandoned church overlooking Hollingworth Lake to be auctioned off

St Hilda’s CE Mission was founded in 1931, but has been left vacant for over 24 years.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 11th October 2022

A creepy abandoned church that overlooks the picturesque Hollingworth Lake is set to be auctioned off later this month.

With the spooky season right around the corner, and Halloween soon to be here before we know it, a scary slice of history is set to go under the hammer in just a few weeks time, and it comes in the form of a dilapidated church building set beside one of Greater Manchester‘s most popular reservoirs that’s been left to ruins for over 24 years.

St Hilda’s CE Mission on Hollingworth Fold – which overlooks Hollingworth Lake in the semi-rural Rochdale town of Littleborough – was founded in 1931 and was the hub of a community, before it closed its doors for good in 1998 due to structural problems.

This is not where the story of building itself begins though, as it lived a life before then elsewhere and is believed to date back to the late 1870s.

A spooky abandoned church overlooking Hollingworth Lake is set to be auctioned off / Credit: Pugh Auctions

Records at the Touchstones Local Studies Library in Rochdale show that in the 1870s, there were around 250 Roman Catholics in Littleborough, and they were the ones who all banded together to build the church on its initial site Featherstall Road in 1878.

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It became known as the ‘Iron Church’ as it was made of metal sheets.

The church building was later bought by the Mission of St Hilda, before it was dismantled and rebuilt at Hollingworth Fold in 1931.

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The derelict abandoned building has been at the centre of locals’ intrigue ever since, and now it’s set to go to auction with a guide price of just £25,000.

St Hilda’s CE Mission is sat on a plot of land that extends to 899 sq yds / Credit: Pugh Auctions

With the church sat on a plot of land that extends to 899 sq yds, auctioneers say the site could be suitable for a variety of different uses in the future – including possible development potential, which is subject to any necessary planning permissions.

It’s also walking distance of amenities in Smithy Bridge too.

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Speaking ahead of the building going to auction, Edward Feather – associate director at Pugh Auctions – said: “St Hilda’s mission church is an intriguing and unusual property that presents a unique opportunity for the right buyer.

“Founded in 1931, the church closed in 1998 and has stood derelict ever since. The dilapidated remains have caught the attention of many history enthusiasts and passers-by because of its eerie appearance on the Lancashire landscape.

“Interestingly, it can only be accessed by foot which adds to the property’s mystery, but for the right buyer I have no doubt that this historic property is a true gem.”

The property goes to auction on 18 October here.

Featured Image – Pugh Auctions

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Paddy McGuinness teases potential return of Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere

Danny Jones Danny Jones Max and Paddy return

Right, we don’t mean to alarm you all, but Max and Paddy might finally be coming back after nearly 20 years. In other entirely unrelated news, there is a god.

We only ever got one solitary season of Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere, but it only took six episodes for it to leave us with lasting memories of rolling on the floor laughing and quoting lines all these years later.

The Phoenix Nights spin-off went on to be not just a cult favourite but an iconic British sitcom that rivalled the show that spawned it, cementing both Peter Kay and Paddy McGuinness as even greater household names than they already were.

Cut to nearly two nearly full decades later and Paddy himself has teased that the hit Northern comedy might not be done after all. Battle stations, people — we’re on the campaign trail now.

Speaking to Capital Breakfast this week, McGuinness came on to the subject of Max and Paddy return, saying that “the interesting thing about Max and Paddy, and Phoenix Nights is now, we are kind of all of an age of the people we played back then.”

He admitted that while they “do talk about it and what have you” and would love to see the full cast return someday, he just “can’t see it at the minute”.

However, he did go on to insist “never say never” and, more promisingly, that the comedy duo’s comeback, specifically, could very well be on the cards.

“Like Max and Paddy, for instance, we wrote a couple of Christmas specials, and we’ve still got them”, says McGuinness. “We never got around to doing one for whatever reason back in the day. But we’ve actually got them.”

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The 49-year-old went on to clarify that more than one script has already been written for some time, but they’ve just been kept on the backburner given that he is admittedly “inherently lazy” and likes “doing as little as possible”, it just never came to fruition.

“If you’re doing a scripted comedy show, it does take a long time. So to do something like [this], you have literally got to blank out 12 months of your life.

“He [Kay] is on tour. I’ve got all kinds of stuff going on, and it’s just sort of going ‘right, let’s get together. Let’s get our diaries together. And let’s blank out for that time'”. We don’t know a single person that wouldn’t want to see a Max and Paddy return in some form.

While hosts Roman Kemp and Siân Welby urged people to get flooding them with texts and posting all over social media, the former Take Me Out presenter joked it “won’t make a blind bit of difference.” Come on, Paddy, don’t let us down now.

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Featured Image — Channel 4

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Lidl’s iconic trainers have been spotted back in Manchester stores

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

Lidl’s sell-out trainers are once again back in its Manchester stores – and streetwear enthusiasts are already filing in in their droves to stock up.

The shoes, which usually sell out within days of going live, have hit shelves once again – and are already re-selling for hundreds online.

The iconic £14.99 trainers, which come in the budget supermarket chain’s signature red, blue and yellow colourway, have previously been amongst the Lidl’ clothing range’s most popular items.

When they first launched in 2021, the trainers were priced at just £12.99 but ended up selling online for upwards of £1,000 as sneakerheads outbid each other on Ebay and Depop for the last few pairs.

Now they’re back in a new look – and it’s fair to say that lidl shoppers are just as excited the second time around.

Image: The Manc Group

Donning the retailer’s logo on the tongue and heel, the new-look trainer design focuses on a white shoe with brightly-colored insets and seaming.

Read more: You can now get a full English in a loaf of bread at Ancoats General Store

Items from the range are already on eBay for £150 – so you’ll need to be quick if you want to cop anything for yourself.

Previously released as a one-off, the trainers are being sold in both women’s and men’s sizes, with women’s ranging from sizes 4 to 7, and in men’s sizes 7 to 11 and a half.

Read more: Amsterdam urges young British men to ‘stay away’ in new tourism campaign

As well as the trainers, Lidl’s in-demand clothing line has previously featured sports socks (from 99p), men’s swimming shorts and a foldable shopping bag.

Featured image – The Manc Group

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