Boroughs

Inside The Martlet, Rochdale Town Hall’s new restaurant with a northern twist

What a treat!

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia - 25th September 2024

The newest restaurant in Rochdale, The Martlet, is finally here, taking up a corner of the Rochdale Town Hall, and it’s being backed by some well-known names.

The much-anticipated restaurant has a smart menu packed with classic northern dishes, sourced locally, like Jackson’s rag pudding, and bacon chop with Bury Black Pudding and Denshaw egg.

The Martlet restaurant has opened in the heart of Rochdale town centre, in the multi-million pound renovated Rochdale Town Hall, which fully opened to the public for the first time in its 150-year history back in March.

And inside the stunning space, guests aren’t just treated to tasty delights, but visual delights too, with artwork adorning the eatery’s grand walls.

The Martlet is offering everything from seafood and meat and veggie dishes, sure to go down a treat with everyone who pops in to visit.

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The leading powerhouses behind this remarkable venture are renowned chef Tristan Welch and award-winning chef Darren Parkinson, who have expertly crafted the menu for the establishment taking careful consideration of its location.

Parkinson has previously worked at restaurants not too far away in Halifax including Shibden Mill and The Fleece Inn, growing up in Heywood less than 15 minutes away from where The Martlet is situated.

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Eager-eyed sweet-treat lovers may notice a familiar favourite from Grandpa Greene, a local ice cream parlour based in Delph, whose soft serve delicacy will definitely be a favourite with all dining guests.

The Martlet, the new restaurant at Rochdale Town Hall
Beef wellington (Front) and Cauliflower steak (Back) at The Martlet.
The Martlet, the new restaurant at Rochdale Town Hall
Espresso martinis on hand at The Martlet.
The Martlet, the new restaurant at Rochdale Town Hall
A lovely trio of Grandpa Greene’s finest ice cream.
Inside The Martlet, the new restaurant at Rochdale Town Hall

There are a multitude of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink choices with standouts being the aptly-named ‘Peregrine’ whisky, named after the resident birds that have been nesting in the eye-catching clock tower since 2008. 

Rochdale’s newest fine dining restaurant is named after a mythical bird, one which is featured in imagery of the town over the years and even on the borough’s coat of arms.

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The Martlet holds a respectable 70 guests with its seating arrangements spread across a range of booths and tables.

A two course meal at this new food spot is £30 and those who are feeling a little more peckish can tempt their tastebuds to three courses for only £35.

The restaurant is a multifunctional space, so from 10am until 4pm on Monday to Fridays, it’s providing guests with a café luxe day-time menu and afternoon teas, which stay true to the dining destination’s northern roots.

Visitors wanting to enjoy The Martlet can come down on Friday and Saturday evenings from 27 September and will be greeted to a luxurious menu utilising local produce in its exquisite recipes.

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Featured Image: Supplied

Boroughs

This Manchester suburb has just been named one of the UK’s ‘happiest’ places to live in 2024

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia Didsbury named one of the best places to live in the UK

An annual poll has named the Manchester suburb of Didsbury spot among 70 locations said to be the ‘happiest’ places to live in the UK.

Greater Manchester has got lots to say for itself, especially with its diverse and unique cultural landscapes, as well as various vibrant communities, so it comes as no surprise that one of our beautiful suburbs has been voted in a list of the UK’s happiest places to live for this year.

The survey included submissions from 5,000 people and there’s a lot of love being shown to the neighbouring areas of Yorkshire like Doncaster, Bingley, and Harrogate – the lattermost placed in second in the entire country.

But, ranking 62nd out of a possible 70 places, the distinct and vibrant area of Didsbury has been noticed by Furniturebox as one of the ‘happiest’ places to live in the UK.

Credit: The Manc Group

The results took into consideration good state schools, affordable housing, as well as accessibility to pubs, bars, restaurants, independent shops, retailers and more.

With multiple parks, walking destinations, and top-notch travel links with Bee Network trams and buses easily taking you back into the city centre and out to other boroughs, East, West and Didsbury Village all remain some of the most sought-after areas in the region.

There’s a whole host of indie retailers to enjoy, especially on the likes of the main high street and Burton Road, which effectively serves as its own cultural district, home to vintage clothing shops like Steranko, tailored styling opticians Fox Brothers and much more.

Burton Rd also boasts countless fantastic food and drink spots like The Great Kathmandu, SANTÉ, Volta and Proove Pizza, just to name a few; we’ve spent plenty of time just on this stretch of Didsbury alone.

If you’ve spent even a little time in Dids, you’ll know there’s plenty going on and it’s certainly one our happiest places in all of Greater Manchester and therefore the UK.

You can also enjoy the famous ‘Didsbury Dozen’ right on your doorstep.

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Elsewhere, and somewhat unsurprisingly, Shakespeare’s ever-romanticised hometown of Stratford-Upon-Avon once again reigned supreme at the top of this list.

That being said, it’s refreshing to see that these locations weren’t entirely related to wealth and similar factors, the survey took affordability into careful consideration.

Cheshire was destined for success with its cracking views and grand properties, as the North West county made waves for the region managing to place in fifth position, holding up against Falmouth in Cornwall which placed in sixth.

Although not nabbing that all-important top spot, Didsbury is carrying the flag for 0161 and showing what all know to be true: Northerners do it best.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – The Manc Group

Boroughs

‘Shocking’ images taken with AI camera of drivers using mobiles and not wearing seatbelts released

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Thousands of people in Greater Manchester have been caught using mobile phones while driving or not wearing their seat belts.

Images captured by the state-of-the-art ‘Heads Up’ camera system – which uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human reviewers – as part of a trial in Greater Manchester, show drivers holding mobile phones in front of their face, to their ear while behind the wheel, and sometimes with passengers next to them.  

According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), in several cases, the cameras also found drivers and passengers, both passengers and children, not being securely fastened in their seats or not wearing seat belts at all.

The trial aims to detect drivers who are potentially breaking the law and putting themselves, their passengers, and other road users, at risk.  

‘Shocking’ images taken with an AI camera of drivers using mobiles and not wearing seatbelts have been released / Credit: TfGM

AI is used as the first filter in a bid to ensure privacy for “the vast majority of law-abiding motorists” while also checking hundreds of thousands of vehicles over an intermittent period, TfGM explained – something which would likely take a human reviewer several months to complete.

Images containing “evidence of an offence” then go through a two-stage human check to confirm that an offence has taken place.

Any offences detected as part of the trial were then passed on to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to consider for further action, however if no offence was committed, the image was immediately deleted by the software.

The trial – which was carried out by AECOM and Acusensus, on behalf of Safer Roads Greater Manchester – was held across the region throughout September and October to “gather data” and “understand the scale of the issue” to inform future education campaigns and enforcement.

It comes after it was revealed that nearly 10,000 people who live in, work in, or visit Greater Manchester have been killed or seriously injured on our roads over the last decade.

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During the deployment, the ‘Heads Up’ system recorded 812 drivers distracted by using mobile phones behind the wheel, and 2,393 incidents of seat belt non-compliance by drivers or passengers. 

As it stands, no offenders have yet been prosecuted from this trial, TfGM confirmed.

Featured Image – TfGM

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