One of Manchester city centre’s beloved and most recognisable pieces of architecture has received a worthy accolade.
John Rylands Library has been voted one of the most beautiful libraries in Europe.
By collecting data from Google reviews over previous years, holiday rental site Holidu compiled a bucket list of the top ten most beautiful libraries across the continent – which includes five modern and five historic – that are considered to be a must-see at least once in a lifetime.
The Manchester masterpiece took the number one spot.
John Rylands Library was the only library in the UK to make the list, sitting alongside a collection of other stunning libraries in Vienna, Helsinki, Warsaw, Paris, Copenhagen, Stuttgart, Admont, Venice and Paris.
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Founded in 1889 by Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her late husband, John Rylands – an entrepreneur and philanthropist, who also happened to be the city’s first ever multi-millionaire – the impressive neo-Gothic building situated in the heart of Manchester city centre was designed by architect Basil Champneys and took 10 years to build.
The neo-Gothic building was designed by architect Basil Champneys and took 10 years to build / Credit: Flickr
With a catalogue of 1.4 million items, the John Rylands Library houses an extensive selection of books and many special collections.
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The library became part of The University of Manchester in 1972, and now houses the majority of Special Collections of The University of Manchester Library – which is the third largest academic library in the country.
The library has also earned an average Google review of 4.8 stars out of 466 reviews.
The Deansgate building finished top of Holidu’s ‘old-school’ library list, being joined in the top five by Stiftsbibliothek Admont in Austria, which is the oldest monastery library in the world, and the Kloster Wiblingen in Ulm, which is a classic example of Rococo art.
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The Biblitoeca Marciana in Venice – which contains one of the most important collections of Greek, Latin and Oriental manuscripts – comes in at number four, and the Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris takes the fifth spot.
The Deansgate-based building came atop of Holidu’s ‘old-school’ library list / Credit: Flickr The library earned an average Google review of 4.8 stars out of 466 reviews / Credit: Flickr
Us Mancunians know that John Rylands Library is one of the city’s most beautiful buildings, but now its beauty has been recognised throughout Europe.
Was there ever any doubt?
Featured Image – Visit Manchester
UK News
The hearing over Manchester City’s 115 FFP charges will officially start next week
Danny Jones
After more than a year of speculation as to when proceedings will finally start, it has been confirmed that the hearing regarding Manchester City and their 115 FFP charges is set to begin next week.
Man City were first slapped with the laundry list of alleged breaches of FFP (financial fair play) and failure to comply with Premier League rules on profit and sustainability (PSR) back in February 2023, but little movement on the case has been reported since then.
In that time, they also won the coveted Treble and their record-breaking fourth league title in a row; meanwhile, the club have continued to deny all claims of rule-breaking.
However, it has now been revealed that City‘s hearing will now kick off on Monday, 16 September.
BREAKING: The hearing over Manchester City's 115 charges will start on Monday 🚨 pic.twitter.com/9ujOCryVMF
As explained in various reports, given the extended nature of the claims made against the Manchester side, it is estimated that the case could run on for up to two months if not longer.
Furthermore, it is thought a decision isn’t expected to arrive until spring 2025 – again, this is simply due to the number of charges brought up over the best part of a decade.
In case you need a refresher, the allegations levelled at Man City date back to 2009 and concern a supposed nine years of financial irregularities, as well as subverting UEFA FFP rules.
Some of the accusations made against them also include failing to cooperate with the European football body and the Premier League, as well as offering ‘secret contracts’ so as to pay one particular manager a larger sum than what they recorded in their financial statements.
The final verdict, whenever it is reached, will be handed down by an independent commission and City will still be able to make an official appeal.
It goes without saying that were they to be found guilty, it would be the biggest financial scandal in English football history and could be seismic for the future of money in the sport and regulations surrounding ownership, which have already grown tighter following the charges being issued.
And in case you needed a more detailed refresher on what exactly they are being tried for and what the possibilities are regarding punishment if found guilty, here’s a quick rundown:
Featured Images — Arne Müseler (via Wikimedia Commons)
UK News
Oasis address Glastonbury headline rumours – but heavily hint at something much bigger
Danny Jones
Oasis have come out to address the widespread rumour that they will be headlining Glastonbury 2025, playing down the speculation and instead hinting at something much bigger.
The world’s heartbeat has barely even settled since the Gallagher brothers confirmed they will finally be getting back together for a series of reunion shows next summer, but they have continued to get pulses raising with each and every social media update.
For instance, their most recent post is arguably much more momentous than playing the globally renowned music festival.
While the official Oasis account did dismiss talk of them being the Glastonbury headliners for 2025 rumours, they did seem to casually announce a world tour instead. As you do…
As you can see, the words are there in black and white (quite literally): “Oasis Live ’25 World Tour”.
While it feels premature to jump straight to the conclusion given how nonchalantly this supposed announcement was delivered, the post does suggest rather blatantly that plans for a world tour – i.e. separate from the limited number of dates already announced – do exist.
If that wasn’t their intention then they really should have chosen different words as the replies were quick to fill up with reactions like, “WORLD TOUR YESSSSS. KNEBWORTH HERE WE GO”, “World tour???” and many more to that effect.
Once again, while there has been no official standalone announcement post detailing tour dates, it looks like the 14 comeback shows are just the start of the reunion and that the Oasis boys will be heading back out on the road properly after the likes of Heaton Park and Wembley shows.
Questions have also been circling around whether this reunion will include other previous members of the legendary Britpop icons or just the Gallagher brothers.
For now, as much as we want it to be true, there’s nothing definite and we’ll just have to settle for still being absolutely over the moon that one of the greatest rock bands of all time is returning to our lives in the most important music news for a generation.
Meanwhile, fans are currently being tested on their Oasis trivia in order to access the red-hot pre-sale ticket ballot. They’re making us work for it.
Emily Sergeant -
7th June 2021 
