Roxy Ball Room has announced plans to reopen its Manchester city centre venues over the next couple of weeks – and there’s some new gaming options and a brand new seated terrace on the way.
Now that ‘Step Two’ in the government’s roadmap to lifting England’s current national lockdown has commenced – which crucially allows hospitality businesses to reopen for outdoor service – Roxy Ball Room has announced it will be opening a brand new seated terrace at its Withy Grove site in Manchester this Thursday.
Both of its city centre venues will then open indoors as soon as restrictions lift on 17th May.
Roxy opened its second adults-only entertainment venue in the city centre last October at the Manchester Arndale amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, taking over the 17,000 sq ft former Birdcage site to create the ultimate over 18s playground.
The outdoor space will be a new addition to the venue, with Roxy’s pizza and drinks menu to be served on the purpose built terrace this spring.
The newest Roxy Ball Room venue at Manchester Arndale – which spans the vast open plan, ground floor unit and is kitted out in the brand’s signature style with UV graffiti wall paintings, all set to an indie rock soundtrack – boasts six full-size bowling lanes and twelve holes of Roxy’s newly-launched game, Crazy Pool.
There’s also been a Bank Shot Shuffleboard game added to its range of entertainment options while the venue has been closed to the public.
Roxy Ball Room
Both Roxy venues will relaunch with a popular selection of games, including American Pool, Shuffleboard, Olympic standard Ping Pong tables, and Beer Pong battle stations, plus arcade games galore.
As well as the many gaming opportunities, Roxy also offers an American-style food menu with a huge choice of dishes, including loaded nachos, chicken wings and burgers, as well as stone-baked pizzas.
There are vegetarian and vegan options available as well.
The bars boast an extensive draught beer and cider range, with up to sixteen draught lines – including local craft beers – on offer at any time, and there’s also a full new cocktail menu with a range of classic and signature cocktails at just £7.50 each.
Speaking on the Roxy reopening plans, Joel Mitchell – Brand Development Manager at Roxy Ball Room – said: “Our newest venue was only open for a few weeks last year before restrictions meant we needed to close again, and so this feels like a relaunch for us [and] we can’t wait to welcome our fans back.
“We pride ourselves on offering a fun environment for our customers and staff to enjoy.
“We want to reassure customers that the Roxy Ball Room experience will be safe, but uncompromised, [and] it goes without saying that our venues and staff have undertaken and implemented rigorous risk assessments and hygiene measures across each Roxy Ball Room”.
Roxy Ball Room is currently accepting bookings for up to six guests from 17th May.
All games can be pre-booked, and there will be enhanced cleaning between all games. Guests will be able to order food and drink via the QR code on every gaming table, drinking table, and beer pong table, with orders brought to customers by staff in PPE.
Aitch is playing a huge hometown set at The Warehouse Project
Danny Jones
Aitch has booked another massive hometown slot as the Moston-born rapper will be playing none other than the home of clubbing here in Manchester: The Warehouse Project.
Joining the WHP25 programme, which is already stacked right up until New Year’s Eve, the 25-year-old is the latest rapper to take on the famous club venue, following the likes of Little Simz and Loyle Carner, who played the event series back in October.
Aitch‘s new album, 4 – which denotes the number of studio LPs he’s made to date and acts as a nod to the M4 postcode – was released on June 20 and has already proved popular with fans.
Having just played Parklife as well as a secret set at Glastonbury this year, he’s already performed most of his biggest slots for the year, but the ever-rising local rapper thought he’d given Manchester another big gig and one more chance to see him live in 2025.
As an increasingly popular main event act across the UK, a headline show at Warehouse Project is nothing short of a massive deal for any artist, let alone a Manc.
The date itself will see him see him performing songs from the new record, which is his second to hit the top 10, as well as a selection of multiple platinum-selling hits.
Sharing details of early access tickets on Instagram stories shortly after the announcement, the UK hip-hop and grime star reminded fans: “This is the only chance to see me shut this sh*t down this year!!!”
It’s actually his only major domestic show in full stop, so if you’re a die-hard fan of Harrison Armstrong and his music, you really don’t want to miss this one.
He’s not the only big name coming to Mayfield this season either.
WHP25 /// FISHER – TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Don’t miss out on what’s set to be an unmissable night – packed with infectious energy from beginning to end – as he takes over Depot Mayfield alongside a lineup coming very soon.
Featured Images — Jahnay Tennai (supplied)/Aitch (via TikTok)
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‘Dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture goes on public display in Greater Manchester after fears it was lost
Emily Sergeant
A long-lost masterpiece of Victorian silverwork has been saved and is now on display to the public in Greater Manchester.
Anyone taking a trip over to the National Trust’s historic Dunham Massey property, on the border of Greater Manchester into Cheshire, this summer will get to see the ‘dazzling’ sculpture called Stags in Bradgate Park – which was commissioned by a former owner in a defiant gesture to the society that shunned him.
The dramatic sculpture of two rutting Red Deer stags, commissioned in 1855 by George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford, was said to be an ‘act of love and rebellion’.
It also serves as a symbol of ‘locking horns’ with the society that ostracised him over his marriage to a woman considered ‘beneath him’.
“This isn’t just silver – it’s a story,” says James Rothwell, who is the National Trust‘s curator for decorative arts.
“A story of a man who fell in love with a woman that society deemed unworthy. When the Earl married Catherine Cox, whose colourful past was said to have included performing in a circus, Victorian high society was scandalised. Even Queen Victoria shunned the couple at the opera and local gentry at the horse races in Cheshire turned their backs on them.”
Modelled by Alfred Brown and crafted by royal goldsmiths Hunt & Roskell, Stags in Bradgate Park is a meticulously-detailed depiction of nature, and was considered a ‘sensation’ in its day.
Showing the rutting deer positioned on a rocky outcrop with gnarled hollow oaks, it graced the pages of the Illustrated London News, was exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862, and at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867 – both of which were events that drew millions of visitors.
A ‘dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture has gone on public display in Greater Manchester / Credit: Joe Wainwright | James Dobson (via Supplied)
The silver centrepiece was the celebrity art of its time, paraded through streets and admired by the public like no other.
Gradually over the years, some of the Earl of Stamford’s silver collection has been re-acquired for Dunham Massey, and this particular world-renowned sculpture, thought to be lost for decades and feared to have been melted down, has miraculously survived with its ‘dramatic’ central component being all that is left.
“The sculpture is not only a technical marvel, with its lifelike depiction of Bradgate Park’s rugged landscape and wildlife, but also a dramatic human story key to the history of Dunham Massey,” added Emma Campagnaro, who is the Property Curator at Dunham Massey.
Emily Sergeant -
20th April 2021 
