There’s a luxury glamping site just an hour from Manchester, where guests can hang out with deer and swim in a heated outdoor pool.
Ribblesdale Park is located on the grand Gisburne Park Estate in Lancashire, with a small cluster of boutique bell tents placed in the grounds.
In the shadow of the historic mansion house are 10 tents, each with its own decking area and fire pit.
Inside, these cosy pads have got double beds, king-size duvets, and electricity, and elsewhere on the six-acre glamping village are a row of shower sheds.
The glamping village at Ribblesdale Park, at Gisburne Park Estate. Credit: Supplied
You can even book a massage or facial in your tent, or arrange to have a treatment by the river.
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For those who can’t stand camping – even when it is as posh as this – there are also luxury lodges with hot tubs, cottages, and historical houses for larger groups.
On the Gisburne Park estate is a heated outdoor pool that all guests can use, a wildlife sanctuary, and a restaurant and bar.
Hindelinis serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus Sunday roasts and afternoon teas.
Ribblesdale Park is around an hour’s drive from parts of Greater Manchester and is close to the Yorkshire Dales and Ribble Valley villages.
Featured image: Supplied
Feature
Quiet Corners: Cult and Coffee – the barbershop bar doing butties, beats and bags more
Danny Jones
Every now and again, we stumble upon one of those places that just gives you a great vibe from the moment you step in the door, and Cult & Coffee is one of those places.
Truth be told, we had been in here two or three times before: a couple of times before heading to Old Trafford, when it was packed with both home and away fans, and on a third occasion in the hopes they’d let a young nephew use the loo. They did, by the way (thank you again, guys x).
On all of these visits, we got a good feeling about it – especially from the staff – and in every single instance we said to ourselves, “we really need to go back there soon.”
Well, we finally did just that, and this time it wasn’t just a fleeting visit; we made sure to properly introduce ourselves and see just how much different stuff they had going on.
Partners Jordan and Harriette James are the husband and wife couple behind this jack-of-all-trades treasure trove that deserves a lot more hype than the largely local and cult following they have most weeks. See what we did there?…
In all seriousness, multi-purpose gaff like this can often feel like a bit of a discordant mix of things cobbled together and concepts shoehorned in on a whim – but not this place.
Somehow, it only takes a few minutes to get used to the open-plan space that rolls from casual cafe and remote workspace to barbers, listening bar, and a handy spot to grab a quick bite to eat.
Maybe it’s something about the largely open-plan nature of the hallway-centric room that simply has to flow from one portion into another, or the fact that there’s just an effortlessly laid-back and cool vibe to the entire venue.
Located over in Clippers Quay on the edge of Salford Quays, with their shopfront tucked just behind some residential railing and quite literally on a stairway leading down to the towpath next to the River Irwell, it simultaneously feels like a tad too hidden and yet also like, dare we say it?… A ‘hidden gem’.
That’s certainly the case when you look at their recently expanded menu, which has since gone from predominantly revolving around brews, bakes and the bar offerings, to a fuller spread than ever, including colourful macro-friendly health bowls and delicious, freshly-prepared focaccia sandwiches.
For those who fancy grabbing a coffee whilst getting a haircut, there was already plenty of reason to pop in here, but what Jordan, Harriette and their team have managed to do is turn it into somewhere you can spend the better portion of a day just sat, well, chilling.
In fact, on follow-up visits, we fully intend to order a cuppa and a butty to go, walk down the steps leading down from the door towards the public canalside benches, while we enjoy our dinner (lunch) whilst looking over the water. Preferably on a sunny day, please.
Even if it is a grim day, you already have a slick soundtrack sorted, thanks to their dedicated ‘Cult Sounds’ page, which is even accompanied by regular livestreams.
Barbering, butties, beats and a bar suddenly doesn’t seem so random, does it? Honestly, try Cult & Coffee over in Ordsall for yourselves sometime soon, and you’ll see what we mean.
As for other quiet corners across Greater Manchester that are still criminally unsung, you recommend trying the award-winning Oldham pub that might just be one of the cosiest spots in the whole region.
‘This isn’t just like home, this IS home’: Saffa Soul is feeding communities straight from the heart
Danny Jones
That quote isn’t one of ours, nor is it from the owners themselves: that’s what a South African native had to say as they literally welled up eating the food being served by Saffa Soul, who have officially been named among the Best Street Food in Britain.
And now they’ve taken up a new residency right here in Greater Manchester – Circle Square in the city centre, to be specific.
Keshal Devchand, a.k.a. ‘Huggy’, is the man behind the brand, bringing those tears to people’s eyes not just here in town but up and down the UK, as they found out not so long ago during the annual British Street Food Awards (BSFA) last year.
Winning the 2025 title, the reigning champions are simply meeting demand by posting up with their latest semi-permanent space, as an incredible rise in popularity has only ramped up since taking the crown. How they’ll fare remains to be seen, but as always, “the food speaks for itself.”
To be honest, we have every faith they’re going to be just as big a hit as the new resident kitchen inside The Taphouse as they were on Temperance Street and as their various street food stalls up and down the nation since this incredible journey started just 19 months ago.
Yep, this unbelievably hearty, authentic and award-winning foodie phenomenon isn’t even two years old yet, but the Johannesburg-born concept is already on course to write itself into cultural and culinary annals if they carry on the way they’re going.
Not only is everything from the braai (barbeque) meats, to the rich and smoky curries, that famous bunny chow, homemade sauces and everything in between unbelievably flavourful, this stuff is steeped in not just tradition but pure hard work.
‘Huggy’ and co. refuse to do anything that isn’t the real ‘saffa’ way, and it’s these simple but faithfully sustained principles that have seen this food connect with literally tens of thousands all over.
And that’s not just in this country: these guys have already journeyed through the likes of city-centric face-offs, and regional BSFA showdowns, to heading to Germany for the continental equivalent, where they also notched ‘Future Food Legend’.
It’s not hard to see why they’re officially the ‘People’s Choice’ and already mean so much to so many.
From importing wood from his homeland and stoking the fires by hand with a bellow, to keeping his mum’s yellow lentil recipe alive and sharing those same childhood memories with Manc, Brits and, indeed, the rest of the world, Huggy is doing proper boots on the ground community work.
Our favourite story from our recent visit was Huggy telling us about how their appearance at the 2025 European Street Awards turned into so much of a big deal that the entire South African consulate in Munich shut down early so they could eat his food for lunch. Just WOW.
And that’s not just for those who hail from South Africa and have since emigrated; as seen by his various pop-ups since starting out, Saffa Soul is a real come-one, come-all affair.
This is proven even more to be the case by his upcoming plans, too, as not only is the team looking to start their own regular Sunday roast club with inspiration from Supper, but they’re even going to be doing ‘beer cooler’ events in the summer.
Picture South African tradition, part US cook-out, with a sprinkling of Aussie and classic British BBQ parties – it’s one of the things we’re most excited about this year.
We’ve also had a little glimpse at other menu items soon set to be introduced into the rotation, and all we can say is that we’re already salivating.
Honestly, we implore you to go and show Huggy’s gang some love, and we promise you won’t leave a single scrap on your table.
Daisy Jackson -
1st July 2022 
