A popular garden centre in Greater Manchester is hosting interactive gardening workshops for kids this summer.
The best bit? They’re absolutely free to get involved with.
With the summer break right around the corner now, there’s bound to be plenty of parents, carers, and guardians across our region who are looking for a variety of ways to keep the kids entertained and educated while schools are out for six full weeks – especially if this classic rainy Manchester weather continues.
Thankfully, Dobbies has got you covered, and that’s because little Mancs can head on down to the garden centre chain’s Altrincham store in a couple of weeks time to get stuck into some special hands-on ‘show and tell’ gardening classes.
The interactive ‘Little Seedlings Club’ workshop – which is called Show and Tell and Growing, and is suitable for children between the ages of four and 10 – is happening on Sunday 4 August, and is all sounding set to be a fun and engaging space for children to learn all about plants, wildlife, and the environment.
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Dobbies in Altrincham is hosting free interactive gardening workshops for kids this summer / Credit: Dobbies
The free sessions includes a demonstration by Dobbies’ staff, who’ll guide the budding gardeners through the various stages of plant growth, before sharing hints and tips on how to grow strong and healthy plants.
Children will also get to discover the different parts of plants and their roles, as well as get to explore all the diverse habitats where plants can grow.
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The special ‘show and tell’ section of the sessions then encourages kids to bring a plant they’ve been growing and nurturing at home, so they can share their green-fingered achievements with the group.
Hannah McAtamney, who runs the Little Seedlings Club at Dobbies, says she’s passionate about helping children to connect with nature at a young age, as she hopes this will help to inspire “the next generation of gardeners”.
Children will get to discover the different parts of plants and their roles / Credit: Chris Humphreys (via Dobbies PR on Instagram)
Speaking ahead of the workshop in a couple of weeks time, Hannah commented: “Our Little Seedling Club workshops at Dobbies’ Altrincham store are really popular with families in the area, and we can’t wait to take kids on a journey of discovery by exploring the lifecycle of plants, and the benefits and importance of gardening and growing.
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“We’re looking forward to seeing some of the plants they are growing at home, and we know they will be excited to show them off too.”
The Little Seedlings Club Show and Tell and Growing workshops at Dobbies in Altrincham will run on Sunday 3 August, with two sessions on the day – one at 10:15am, and one at 11:30am.
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Yard Act announce handful of new headline shows ahead of 6Music gig in Manchester
Clementine Hall
Yard Act are back as they announce first round of UK headline dates since 2024, including a show right here in Manchester – but not before their BBC 6Music Festival gig later this week.
We are so, SO back.
It’s been a few years, but Yard Act have just announced a limited run of domestic shows for later in the year including their homecoming gig at the O2 Academy in Leeds on Friday, 6 November.
But after playing over in Yorkshire, the lads will be performing shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse on the following Friday (13 Nov).
Yard Act completed the touring for their critically acclaimed second album, Where’s My Utopia?, with a victory lap back home at the 5000 capacity Millennium Square in Leeds in August ’24.
It was a record that brought a stark change of pace to the acerbic, post-punk of their debut, embracing something altogether more playful and bringing a different energy.
It shifted the dynamic on stage too, with the addition of dancing backing singers and additional musicians and openly challenged listeners to reconsider who they thought Yard Act were.
Since then, the band have been keeping busy writing and recording their third studio LP, as well as heading out across the UK and Europe with The Hives – oh, and that intimate one-off show at Blackpool Tower last May.
Following a lengthy stint in the studio, the band now look to this coming autumn for three big UK dates and we cannot wait. We spoke to them a little while back and know how much big stuff they’ve got further pipeline; you can see the interview HERE.
Booking just three headline slots, the handful of tour dates are as follows:
06 Nov – Leeds
13 Nov – Manchester
26 Nov – London
Tickets go on artist presale from 10am on Wednesday, 25 March before hitting general sale at 10am on Friday, 27 March. Sign up to grab yours right HERE.
As for those wanting to find out more about this year’s 6Music Fest, you find the full lineup and more down below.
Emily Sergeant -
10th July 2024 
