UK News

‘Mind the poo’ – Popular beauty spot Snowdon left in vile state after Easter weekend

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 19th April 2022

One of the nation’s most popular beauty spots has been left in a ‘sad’ state after the four-day bank holiday weekend, with ‘human stool’ spotted on footpaths.

Gemma Davies, who runs guided walks around Snowdonia, posted that the ‘beautiful mountain is now a public toilet’.

She reported that the summit of Snowdon has felt ‘incredibly unhygienic’ as thousands of tourists flocked to enjoy the long weekend of sunshine in north Wales.

The guide said she even found one person defecating on the Snowdon railway line and had to start warning her group to ‘mind the poo’.

‘Mind the poo’ – Snowdon guide Gemma Davies reported seeing a person defecating on the railway. Credit: Unsplash

Gemma also noted a large amount of litter along the mountain’s footpaths, from beer bottles to disposable barbecues – which goes against the Countryside Code.

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She posted on Facebook: “Our beautiful mountain, is now a public toilet !!

“Totally disgusted with the amount of rubbish on Snowdon this morning, from glass beer bottles to BBQ’s.

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“The Llanberis path was covered in human stool, not to mention catching someone having a sh*t on the railway line. Horrified taking a group up saying “mind the poo”.

Read more: Beach hut with no electricity or running water goes up for sale for £200,000

“It felt incredibly unhygienic at the summit, I couldn’t wait to get down. This is very sad. What is to be done?”

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She later added to the BBC: “There was a lot of stool in paper cups, under stones, and as we were descending it was on the path.

“I understand people wanting to go to the toilet but doing it on the paths is not hygienic and it is not nice to see.”

Featured image: Unsplash

UK News

Flashbacks: The timelapse of the Trafford Centre construction that’s gone viral

Danny Jones Danny Jones

The Trafford Centre might look like some decadent Roman emperor’s palace or as if it was plucked from the heart of Ancient Grecian city, but as anyone old enough to remember it’s opening and/or construction will tell you, it seems strange to think its not even been around for three decades yet.

As Greater Manchester’s and one of the North West’s most famous shopping centres full stop, the iconic attraction first began being built back in 1996, when John Major was Prime Minister, Manchester United were still Premier League champions, Britpop was at its peak and George Michael was number one.

It’s fair to say that a lot has changed since then and although Oasis might be back come 2025, The Trafford Centre and surrounding area are pretty unrecgonisable compared to nearly 30 years ago.

All told, it took approximately 27 months to erect the neo-classical epicentre of all things shopping, leisure, food and fanciness – and here’s what the process looked like:

Pretty wild to watch it all back, right?

With the initial 14 million sq ft shopping centre being completed in September 1998 following approximately 810 days of work, The Trafford Centre debuted to the Manc public and beyond.

It took more than 3,000 builders to bring the 60 hectare site to life at the peak of construction and since then the plot has only grown bigger, bolder and more ambitious over time.

Present day, it has everything from cinema screens and a mini Legoland to a Sea Life location, multiple bowling alleys and countless other forms of entertainment beyond just rows of shops and restaurants – hence why it remains busy pretty much year-round.

Back then, British celebrities, popular local names of note, politicians, dignitaries and prominent figures from the retail industry got to visit as part of exclusive preview events in the days before its launch date.

You can see the spectacle and fascination surrounding the official opening event here:

Seems surreal watching this today but the construction of the Trafford Centre was a huge moment not just for 0161 but all of the North.

But of course, the entire complex itself has seen multiple extensions over the years, including massive developments such as Barton Square and The Great Hall.

At the outset, it cost more than £600 million to build The Trafford Centre; the major renovations mentioned above which took place in 2008 cost another £100m and the Trafford Palazzo revamp around a decade later came in at around £75m.

There has and always will be lots of money put behind this intruguing monument to modern consumerism, and big brands will continue to flock to open units within the huge expanse whenever they can: some of the most recent being Archie’s, Flying Tiger, Sephora, Tiffany, Gymshark and more.

We’ll admit the aesthetic still makes us double-take from time to time (though not as much as confused Londoners visiting for the first time), but it’s not like this part of the world hasn’t boasted plenty of other curiosities in the past…

Five forgotten Manchester landmarks and sculptures from years gone by
We love looking back at the Greater Manchester of old.

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Featured Images — Charles Bowring (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group

UK News

You can win a free hotel stay for you and a friend as part of Random Acts of Kindness Day

Danny Jones Danny Jones Win a free two-night hotel stay Travelodge

Fancy doing a loved one a solid and scoring them such much-needed rest and relaxation this month courtesy of a free hotel stay? You’re a kind soul, of course you do.

To help celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day this year, Travelodge are giving away a handful of free hotel stays at locations up and down the UK as a way of letting friends, colleagues and just all-around good eggs know that they’re top bananas.

Now that’s the kind of unconditional positivity we can get behind.

So, if you know someone who could really benefit from a fresh hotel bed, a ridiculously long shower and a lovely British mini-break this year, keep reading.

If you’re wondering how it all works, it’s quite simple – to enter the prize draw and nominate a bestie or beloved, you simply have to tag them in the Instagram reel above.

Alternatively, you can @ them in the comments on Travelodge’s Facebook or nominate them HERE, and make sure you give lots of lovely reasons as to why they deserve it, of course.

But wait for it, here’s the best bit: if they happen to be selected YOU get to win a free hotel stay too. Happy days times two!

Good friends = good prizes on Random Acts of Kindness Day 2025.

And that really is about as complicated as it gets; the lucky winners must book their stay at a Travelodge hotel within a month of winning the prize and enjoy the room within the next 12 months but, other that that, it’s all pretty straightforward and lovely.

If you love it around so much you have no interest in leaving, there of course multiple Greater Manchester locations (Credit: Travelodge)

One last thing, you must enter by before 11.59pm tonight (Monday, 17 Feb) in order to be eligible and all valid entries will then be selected via a random draw by 27 February 2024.

You can find the full terms and conditions HERE.

Good luck and remember to kind out there – not just day or this week, every week!

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Featured Images — Travelodge/Mikhail Nilov (via Pexels)

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