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Bury Times •

Parent speaks out over daughter's suffering at school after toilet rule change

Tottington High School has introduced a new rule to ban students using the toilets during lessons and has even installed extra locks on toilet doors to enforce it.

Students who have medical reasons for the toilet or menstrual needs are able to gain access to separate, disabled toilets.

The pupils this applies to are given black wristbands to indicate their exemption.

Students who are menstruating have to notify staff, usually at the start of the day, to obtain a band.

A parent has spoken to
Bury Times •

Bury town centre bar reveals reopening date after fire

Stanley's of Bury on Silver Street will be welcoming customers again on Friday, December 8.

The bar has been shut since April after it was reported that a bin compound at the rear of Stanley’s caught fire, causing several buildings in the area to be smoke-logged.

Stanley's was hit hard after the fire (Image: Newsquest)

Stanley’s suffered the worst of the damage though, with firefighters saying that the flames breached the ground floor and first floor.

In September, the bar announced that the
Mancunian Matters •

Nerf Action Xperience launches its first European location in Manchester

Manchester indoor entertainment centre Nerf Action Xperience situated on the ground floor at Trafford Palazzo and spanning 35,000 square feet, is now open seven days a week.

The centre features four action-packed NERF zones, including thematic blaster battlegrounds, training activities, and a NERF sports arena and has partnered with the iconic Archie’s next door to provide an F&B offering.

Furthermore, one of the centre’s combat zones will be using the high-performance Gelfire blasters – an ex
The Bolton News •

Frustration at 'nightmare' path that regularly floods leaving children 'soaking wet'

A discussion was sparked on social media when a man posted that someone had placed ‘breeze blocks’ down as stepping stones on a flooded section of a footpath that leads to Eagley Junior School and Turton High School.

The path runs between Lords Stile Lane and Chapeltown Road, and the Bromley Cross resident said he thought the makeshift stepping stones were dangerous as he nearly tripped over them in the dark.

Dean Kirwin, who placed the stones down, said he only put them there as “all the chil
Bury Times •

Retired soldier from Bury to solo-row the Atlantic in World’s Toughest Row

Since 1999, on his ‘milestone nought’ birthdays, Alan Fortuin has undergone an endurance challenge to raise funds for the charity

He is now planning to hit the waves with his one-man mission of rowing the Atlantic in the 2025 World’s Toughest Row event.

After serving in the army for 35 years, with both the Airborne and Commando forces, he said: “A challenge is there to be taken on and I’ve taken them on all through my career.

"This is just another challenge. A very tough one.”

He’s been trai
Bury Times •

‘The Oscars’ themed night in aid of much loved Bury service

Munro Greenhalgh Insurance Brokers, based in Ramsbottom, held a ‘The Oscars’ themed charity ball to raise money for Bury Hospice.

The evening was held at The Stables Country Club in Walshaw and attended by around 200 ‘stars’ who included local businesses and friends and family of staff at the firm.

People were asked to either dress in black tie or take a shot at dressing as a Hollywood star, with a Marilyn Monroe and a Mrs Doubtfire making an appearance.

Dazzling entertainment for the night i
Bury Times •

Access to footpaths dwindles in last century - but still higher than national average

Walking charity The Ramblers teamed up with The New Economics Foundation to complete extensive comparative analysis of historical and modern maps.

The data found an estimated 39 miles of protected footpaths in the Bury area have been lost over the past century.

Figures from the Department for Transport shows 55 per cent of Bury residents walked for leisure at least once a week last year, a small drop from the national average of 56 per cent.

Mike Bell, 65, from Lowercroft, who is a member of
Mancunian Matters •

Watch: Reactions to Rishi Sunak's key pledges at Conservative Party Conference

Following the Conservative Leader’s closing speech in Manchester, Mancunian Matters spoke to HS2 minister Huw Merriman and Conservative Home Author Tim Montgomerie.

Rishi Sunak has closed the Conservative Party Conference at Manchester’s Central Convention Centre with his speech outlining policies he wishes to implement.

The speculation around the fate of HS2 dominated the conference this year, with Sunak finally deciding to scrap the West Midlands to Manchester route and instead invest the £3
The Times •

Save writing course, star authors urge University of East Anglia

A group of writers including Ian McEwan and Tracy Chevalier has written to the University of East Anglia to condemn job cuts which are seen as a threat to the university’s “world-renowned” creative writing degree.

More than 750 people are signatories, including current and former students at UEA and “members of the broader literary community”.

The letter, which is published in The Times today, accuses the university of failing to explore other methods of saving money, including introducing a s
The Times •

Windsor Castle intruder ‘swapped sexually explicit messages’ with AI bot

A former supermarket worker who broke into Windsor Castle armed with a crossbow and threatened to kill the late Queen shared thousands of sexually charged messages with a chatbot that encouraged him to carry out the assassination, a court was told.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, climbed over the castle walls with a rope ladder on Christmas Day 2021 and roamed the grounds for two hours before being arrested near the Queen’s apartment, where she and other members of the royal family were staying.

Chai
The Times •

Queen’s would-be crossbow assassin ‘egged on by chatbot’

A former supermarket worker who entered the grounds of Windsor Castle with a crossbow and threatened to kill Queen Elizabeth was encouraged by an artificial intelligence bot to carry out the plot, a court was told.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, climbed over the castle walls with a rope ladder on Christmas Day 2021 and roamed the grounds for two hours before being apprehended at 8.10am near the Queen’s apartment, where she and other members of the royal family were staying.

Chail, who was 19 at the
The Times •

Wimbledon 2023: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has a magic moment watching Murray’s victory

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe described her joy at watching Andy Murray win on Centre Court after he secured her a spot in the royal box for his first outing at SW19.

The two-time Wimbledon champion arranged for Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 45, to join the Princess of Wales and Roger Federer in the stand after she revealed last year that she had watched his 2016 triumph while detained in Iran.

Murray was her guest when she edited Today on BBC Radio 4 in December. During the interview Zaghari-Ratcliffe said
The Times •

Kevin Spacey trial: actor a ‘snakey predator’, driver tells court

Kevin Spacey is a “slippery, snakey and difficult” person who allegedly “groomed” then sexually assaulted a man a dozen times, a court has been told.

The Oscar winner, 63, is said to have stroked the complainant’s leg, rubbed his neck, touched his penis over clothing and smacked his bottom several times in the early 2000s.

Southwark crown court was told that the actor placed the man’s hands over his groin “quickly and hard” before laughing it off.

The man, a former driver, claimed: “He was fo
Mancunian Matters •

Real life 'Throne of Glass' from popular fantasy novel series to visit Manchester Arndale

The throne from Sarah J. Maas’ first fantasy series, Throne of glass, will be in Waterstones in Manchester Arndale from May 5.

The Throne of Glass is a series of eight novels following Celaena Sardothien, the most dangerous assassin in the Adarlan empire, who is aged just 16 in the first book.

And Bloomsbury, Maas’ publisher, have partnered with Waterstones to take a real life throne around the UK to celebrate the series.

The series has also just been re-released with new covers for both the
Mancunian Matters •

Watch: Families of the Manchester Arena bombing victims react to damning report on MI5

Sir John Saunders today revealed his devastating findings into MI5 in the third and final volume of the Manchester Arena Enquiry.

Saunders said there was a “realistic possibility that actionable intelligence could have been obtained which might have led to actions preventing the attack”.

This follows the inquiry in November which identified a catalogue of mistakes by the emergency services following the terror attack, where one victim, John Atkinson, could have survived had the emergency respo
Mancunian Matters •

Culture Review Podcast: Episode 2 - Books and Beyond

In the second episode of our podcast, we delve into the depths of Manchester’s rich literary past, present and future.

Including a review of the tour around Chetham’s Library and an exclusive excerpt from Natalie Haynes’ Manchester Literature Festival event which surrounded her new book, Stone Blind.

Not only that, but a reading from Haynes herself features too. If your thing is books, fantasy, and little-known facts, then this one is for you.
Mancunian Matters •

Big screen bounce back: how UK cinemas are recovering from the pandemic

COVID-19 lockdowns hit cinema where it hurts, but the industry is clawing it way back.

Analysis conducted on data released by the UK Cinema Association shows the extent of the UK cinema industry’s recovery.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, UK cinemas closed for months at a time on two separate occasions – causing the industry to lose out on millions of pounds.

Many people in this time began subscribing to streaming services, with a survey by finder showing that nine out of ten Brits have used a
Mancunian Matters •

RSPCA launch Adoptober as rehoming numbers drop

The RSPCA has released new figures today which show the extent of the decline in animal adoption in Greater Manchester.

This week marks the start of the RSPCA’s annual Adoptober campaign which aims to promote adoption and highlight the vast number of animals the charity has waiting for their forever-home.

However, this year the charity fears the cost of living crisis means more animals are coming into their care, while fewer animals are being adopted.

Releasing new figures today, they have hi
Mancunian Matters •

Manchester United back on form as City get 'dream result'

Manchester United got back to wining ways with a 2-0 victory over Brighton at Old Trafford last night that saw them move into the top four.

Both goals cam in the second half with Cristiano Ronaldo ending a six game goal drought and Bruno Fernandes doubling United’s lead with a stoppage time goal.

Shortly after the first goal Brighton were left struggling after their captain Lewis Dunk was sent off following a VAR review of his foul on Anthony Elanga.

It was a crucial three points for the Red
Mancunian Matters •

Mother from bury accuses The Range security guard of assault

A mother from bury has accused a security guard at The Range of assault.

Abbie Murray was enjoying Christmas bargains at the newly opened store with her 5-month-old baby and 11-year-old stepson when the incident occurred on Saturday 27 November.

Murray, from Bury, who took to Facebook to share her ordeal, says she spent £25 at the till.

However, she had made the common mistake of forgetting to give the checkout operator two packets of paracetamol, that she’d placed on her sons pram.

The next
Mancunian Matters •

The hidden 19th century library housing exhibitions, book launches and more

Above a pub on a Manchester street, accessed through an inconspicuous door, lies a hidden gem for book lovers.

The Portico Library was opened on Mosley Street in 1806, making it 215-years-old and one of Manchester’s oldest institutions.

The regency-period building, designed by Thomas Harrison, was exclusively home to the library until 1921, when the Bank of Athens leased the ground floor, formerly a news room.

The ground floor is now occupied by The Bank pub.

The library’s collection include
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