The Mancunian Way: Jewel in the crown

Manchester Evening News

08 August 2023

Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.

Here's the Mancunian Way for today:

Hello,

It’s an overcast lunchtime at Ashton-under-Lyne’s indoor market and the occasional sprawl of people coming in for sandwiches and coffee or to buy a week’s lot of fresh fruit and vegetables are greeting stallowners, many who they now know on a first name basis, as they go about their day.

But under the seemingly thriving picture of marketday, traders are fearful of what the next few months could bring.

“We want to thrive here,” one dispirited trader said. "But the odds are stacked against us. We are fighting a losing battle.”

Long regarded as the jewel in Ashton’s crown, the market has managed to make it through some very difficult times. But a high trader occupancy rate alongside those loyal customers has kept it from facing a similar decline that many other markets across the country have been dealt with in recent years.

But the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis and rising costs of energy and inflation have all hit stall-holders – as well as reducing the amount people have to spend. Many traders fear this could now be the final nail in the coffin of the iconic market, as they fight for support.

To add to that, traders have now received letters asking for increased rent, which is being backdated to April 1. For a large 67 sqm sized stall at Ashton Market Hall, the cost of renting will rise from £14,760 a year to £16,044 – a £1,284 increase.

“It’s going to have a massive impact,” Nat Mistry, who has run Nat’s Bombay Kitchen for 11 years, tells Local Democracy Reporter Charlotte Green. “What concerns me is if they are going to backdate the rent, but we can’t backdate our prices and our sales. It’s not fair on us.

“It’s going to be really hard. A lot of traders are going to struggle and some are going to go out of business. A lot of traders are just hanging on at the moment. People will be leaving by Christmas.”

Kath Briggs, together with her husband, runs Briggs Quality Butcher, a business that has been based in Ashton Market since 1938 and spanned numerous generations. After working in the market for 35 years, Kath said that this year is the hardest they have known.

“There’s so much to worry about and now, the worry of bailiffs coming if you can’t pay," she explains. "There’s no care in here at all any more. It was very busy in Covid because I started running a delivery service as well, first for vulnerable people but then everyone jumped on board.

“After Covid now, where is everybody? Mainly they’ve gone back to the supermarkets.”

Kath said that each of their last three energy bills have risen by £100 - money which they can’t keep affording. It’s led to the couple having to make ends meet through different means outside of their Ashton stall.

“My husband has had to get a second job at another butchers to subsidise what’s in here,” Kath said. “He’s doing more hours now than he’s ever done.”

Benaissa Derraz, who runs Ashton Hoodies, is one of the newer stallholders in Ashton Market, having relocated from Longsight Market in the last seven months to be nearer family.

He questions why the rent is being increased now, ahead of planned major works to the Market Square and outdoor market – being funded by nearly £20m of government Levelling Up funding – which the council acknowledges will cause a ‘phase of disruption’ to traders.

“It’s not the right time to increase the rent,” he says. “When I started here trade was ok, but now it’s a lot quieter. If the rent goes up and up, who knows what will happen?”

Bosses at Tameside council acknowledged the ‘high risk’ that increased charges could lead to more vendors vacating the markets which are operating in a ‘challenging environment’.

A Tameside council spokesperson said: “There have been no increases for the last four years and that burden has been borne by taxpayers and it should be noted we do not subsidise any other businesses, all of whom are struggling in the economic crisis.

"We believe this is a fair and reasonable decision that doesn’t simply maximise income generation through our market traders but supports them in a balanced way.”

Buzzing buses

Keen-eyed regular bus users in Bolton, Wigan and Leigh have noticed a recent splash of Bee Network yellow has arrived at all three stations.

The new revamped look comes ahead of the launch of Greater Manchester’s new ‘low-fare London-style’ transport system next month. The network launch would mean buses coming under public control for the first time since deregulation in the 1980s.

As Local Democracy Reporter George Lythgoe reports, the first phase of bus franchising will be rolled out in Bolton and Wigan as well as parts of Manchester, Salford and Bury from September 24.

As a result, the Bee Network logo – featuring the iconic Manchester bee on a yellow background – can now be seen above the entrances and around the three stations. Yellow buses have already been spotted on the Leigh Guided Busway route in recent weeks ahead of the handover.

Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner for Greater Manchester, said: “Our bus stations and interchanges in Wigan, Bolton and Leigh look great with their new splash of yellow and are now ready to welcome the first Bee Network buses in late September.

“All other stations and interchanges will progressively see the same changes as we work towards the entire network coming under the control of the Mayor and Greater Manchester’s districts by January 2025.”

In the shadow of the Etihad

You might be led to think that living with the Etihad Stadium in eyeshot could be a good thing (particularly if you’re a City fan). But people living on the edge of the stadium say their estate looks ‘embarrassing’ as they wait to find out if work they were promised will still go ahead.

Grey Mare Lane in Beswick was earmarked in 2017 for a large-scale ‘transformation programme’ as housing bosses looked to upgrade it. In the last 18 months, many homes have been done up but others are still waiting on renovations.

Plans to demolish some of the estate to make way for new housing have also now gone back to the drawing board with uncertainty over who will complete the long-awaited redevelopment project. The move came as housing association One Manchester was deemed 'not up to the task' of delivering the scheme in full.

But, in the meantime, as plans stop and start, the residents living in the estate are left wondering what is going to happen to their home, as they have been explaining to Local Democracy Reporter Joseph Timan.

"The point is we were promised it and now it's been taken away," Gayle Elliott, who has lived in Seabright Walk for 20 years, said.

"They were setting up scaffolding everywhere, but not on ours. They've spent all that money on the area, but they can't be bothered to put a couple of grand into this – we're smack bang in the middle."

On Quarry Walk, a couple who have bought the council house they have called home since the estate was built are worried the price of their property will fall. They believe the whole estate looks 'really run down' as a result of all the work.

"It looks terrible," one of them said. "For people visiting the Etihad, it just gives the wrong impression. It would've been better if they didn't do anything."

On Seabright Walk, one resident says the estate looks 'embarrassing' with many of the terraces done up, but some still looking old and sticking out. Another owner-occupier living in Digby Walk says the estate looks like a 'joke'.

Barbara Martin, who is in her eighties, has lived in Cairn Walk since the estate was built around 50 years ago. Her home is due to be demolished but she does not know when.

Due to the uncertainty, she has decided to move to Crewe where her daughter lives. She says some of her neighbours in the terraced rows surrounding her are also moving.

"It's heartbreaking," she said. "We've all been crying. We're losing our friendships. But what can you do?"

Lib Dem councillor Alan Good, who represents Ancoats and Beswick, is also unimpressed with the way the plans have evolved. “It is frustrating to see the plans be sent back to the drawing board yet again," he said.

"The new proposals have also been scaled down, with the council removing the community high street element. They want to develop The Grange but have proposed no alternative community space, unlike the previous masterplan. The plans no longer meet the needs of residents.”

Manchester council insisted that community space will still be at the heart of the plans. After an initial master-planning exercise the council will speak directly with residents and stakeholders about what they would like to see in the plan.

The council also said that planned works would continue as promised. Manchester council's executive member for housing and development Gavin White said "If anything, we expect that the scope for the regeneration plans could be wider than the original investment programme and we look forward to going back to the community with updated proposals for consultation later this year."

'Deplorable disclosure failures'

Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, said he feels ‘vindicated’ after three judges said his conviction was unsafe because of failures to disclose evidence.

Edward Henry KC, for Mr Malkinson, previously described these as “deplorable disclosure failures, which mostly lay at the door of the Greater Manchester Police”.

The disclosure failures included police photographs of the victim’s left hand, which supported her evidence that she broke a nail scratching the face of her attacker, and the fact the two eyewitnesses who identified Mr Malkinson had convictions for dishonesty offences.

None of this was available to Mr Malkinson’s defence team at his trial and Mr Henry said the failure to disclose the photographs “deprived” Mr Malkinson of his “strongest defence point – his lack of any facial injury”.

Lord Justice Holroyde ruled in Mr Malkinson’s favour on a further two grounds on Monday. He said: “In the very particular circumstances of this case, the non-disclosure of the two relevant photographs prevented the appellant from putting his case forward in its best light, and strengthened the prosecution case against him in a manner which the photographs show to have been mistaken.”

Following the ruling, Mr Malkinson said: “I feel vindicated by the court’s finding that Greater Manchester Police unlawfully withheld evidence, denying me a fair trial and causing my wrongful conviction nightmare.

“The evidence needed to overturn my conviction has been sitting in police files for the past two decades. Yet the CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission) did not bother to look and it fell to the small charity Appeal to bring it to light.”

Making music at the Hit Factory

A new Stock Aitken Waterman musical featuring the most iconic songs from SAW’s Hit Factory will premiere in Manchester later this year.

Telling the story of a jilted bride heading off on her sun-soaked honeymoon with her family and friends instead, I Should Be So Lucky will feature hits by the likes of Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and more.

But the location of choice for its world premiere is not by pure ‘luck’, it’s as if fate had a say. "Manchester really is integral to the SAW story,” Pete Waterman explained to the M.E.N’s Dianne Bourne.

“I was here every weekend, I was judging what we were doing because of this huge marketplace in the north west. It was important - my feedback was coming from the record stores in the north west, radio in the north west, television in the north west. London didn't really figure.”

The musical, which will also feature a digitalised Kylie, will open at the Opera House in November and Pete says it’s still astounding to him that SAW tracks still hold significance to people today.

He added: “When you write songs and make records you're in a vacuum, you're in a small room on your own with the artist, you never know when you walk out the studio, you think you've written a hit, it can go to number one, then three weeks later you try to get to number one again.

"Little did we think we'd get to 2023 and you'd still be celebrating all those songs.”

Has a friend forwarded you this edition of The Mancunian Way? You can sign up to receive the latest email newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by clicking on this link.

Weather etc

Wednesday: Sunny intervals changing to overcast by lunchtime. 22c.

Road closures: A57 Eccles New Road, Weaste, westbound closed due to Metrolink works from James Corbett Road to A5185 Stott Lane. Until Sept 25.

A667 Stoneclough Road, Kearsley, in both directions closed due to roadworks between Brook Street and Quarry Road. Until October 1.

Trivia question: Castlefield Congregational Chapel, which is now used as offices, was once used as a sound recording studio in the 1980s for Stock Aitken Waterman. Which Rick Astley song was most famously recorded there?

Manchester headlines

Dancing: Waterloo Road actor Adam Thomas has been unveiled as the latest star to take to this year’s Strictly Come Dancing ballroom. The Mancunian will join Bury-born actor Layton Williams on the line-up. .

Gallagher: Noel Gallagher launched a sweary rant on stage at the Bingley Weekender festival at the weekend. Held at Bradford & Bingley Rugby Club, the former Oasis co-fronter mocked a fan’s haircut before describing Bradford as a ‘s******’. Realising he was, in fact, performing in Bradford, he quickly changed his tune. Watch the on-stage moment here.

Tattoos: People in Manchester are being invited to get a letter of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights tattooed on them as part of a living art project. Curated by Dutch artist Sander van Bussel, the project is coming to the UK for the first time having inked people in 77 different countries so far. Details here.

‘Vendetta’: A woman in Wythenshawe said she feels she must have done something to upset her binman after he was caught on CCTV tipping her entire bin into a waste truck in the middle of the street. Read here.

Worth a read

When a sandwich shop says it has a menu dedicated to hash browns, you can’t help but be incredibly interested. Since launching in Stockport, Rack has built up a firm reputation across Greater Manchester and has ventured into the likes of Sale, Stretford and Ancoats in recent months. But it has now arrived at the Arndale to the delight of citydwellers.

What’s On Editor Jenna Campbell headed to the sandwich shop at the Arndale Market to see what all the fuss is about and it’s safe to say that she is fully on board with what they’re selling. Besides the tempting hash browns, Jenna's particular favourite was their ‘beef birria’ Mexican brisket sandwich.

“As [co-owner] Josh explains it all begins with one big Mexican broth cooked for around eight hours, or until the meat falls apart,” she details. “Once the meat is removed, the broth top is sieved ready to be served as a dipping broth, while vegetables are blitzed and reappear later as a paste served alongside the brisket, onions, coriander and cheese. It’s no wonder the Stopfordians went mad for it.”