{"id":599589,"date":"2025-11-28T16:56:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T16:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/599589\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T16:56:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T16:56:22","slug":"the-mancunian-way-where-only-the-foolhardy-tread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/599589\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mancunian Way: Where only the foolhardy tread"},"content":{"rendered":"

PLUS: The hotel inspector\"AnAn asbestos danger sign at former Turner Brothers Asbestos factory in Rochdale(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)Hello<\/p>\n

Off-limits to the public, the abandoned factory is shrouded in mystery. The only people foolhardy enough to venture in are the \u2018urban explorers\u2019 who leave themselves at the mercy of the dangers within.<\/p>\n

That is, until local democracy reporter George Lythgoe and photographer Kenny Brown stepped up. For the first time in years, the razor wire-topped gates of the old Turner Brothers site in Rochdale<\/a> have been opened to the Manchester Evening News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once the world\u2019s largest asbestos manufacturer and a massive local employer, the plant was closed in the 1990s and has stood derelict for decades. \u2018Rochdale\u2019s Chernobyl\u2019, as it\u2019s become known, has been the subject of an ongoing planning row almost ever since with widespread concerns about exactly what hazardous substances the buildings and land on which stand might hold.<\/p>\n

\"AA walk round the site of the former Turner Brothers Asbestos factory, dubbed Rochdale’s Chernobyl(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

\u201cStepping through the entrance from Spod Road, like previous generations did in their thousands, the creaking of the metal roofing succumbing to the autumn wind reiterates how much of a crumbling wreck the place is,\u201d writes George.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurning a corner and heading up an incline to where the main manufacturing building is based, it\u2019s hard to believe this area was once an industrial behemoth. There is greenery everywhere. The landscape is littered with all manner of birds, squirrels and wildlife. Two roe deer even made a guest appearance, gliding through the trees and off into the distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust 30 years ago, what is now a wildlife oasis in the shadow of an eerie factory complex was the heartland of a production line of the silent killer, asbestos.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, as George writes, there now, finally, may be hope for the site. Houses are widely anticipated as part of the redevelopment, although the latest owners Spodden Park Ltd have remained tight-lipped on their proposals – which are expected in 2026.<\/p>\n

But their surveying consultant Suly, who gave Kenny and George the tour, says the firm is headed up by remediation specialists, who have experience with old factory and manufacturing sites littered with hazards. He says the slow progress is the result of endless surveys and assessments, and described this as evidence they\u2019re doing things properly.<\/p>\n

The hotel inspectorReporter Dianne Bourne looks back at her stays at Manchester’s “worst” hotels, including (pictured) The Britannia Hotel on Portland Street(Image: MEN Media)<\/p>\n

Dianne Bourne might well have stayed in more hotels in Manchester than anyone else. Over the years the M.E.N.\u2019s lifestyle editor has spent the night in some of the very best digs the city has to offer – and some of the worst.<\/p>\n

She once forked out \u00a3299 to stay in a windowless room in the much-maligned Britannia and says she still gets reminded about it every time she mentions she\u2019s spending the night in town.<\/p>\n

Here she looks back on the good (this one might surprise you), the bad and the downright ugly.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018One day no one will want me\u2019Jason Manford is preparing to star in panto in Manchester – capping off a hectic year for the busiest man in showbiz(Image: Phil Tragen)<\/p>\n

Jason Manford has fingers in so many pies it’s perhaps a surprise one hasn’t broken off before now. The comedian, actor, singer, quiz show host, padel devotee and soon-to-be-former-radio host might just be the busiest man in show biz.<\/p>\n

And in this lovely chat on the M.E.N.\u2019s new Premium service he explains how he\u2019s driven by a fear that \u2018one day no one will want me\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n

Through the roofThe Town Hall has been shrouded in scaffolding for years(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Manchester Town Hall will cost \u00a395 MILLION more to refurbish and reopen at least six months later than planned, council chiefs say. The revamp will now cost \u00a3524.8m and is expected to finish in \u2018spring 2027\u2019, taking nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

News of another delay and requirement for more money comes 13 months after Manchester council pushed the completion date back to August 2026 and asked for an extra \u00a376m. Ethan Davies reports<\/a><\/p>\n

Personal boundariesRivington Pike near Bolton(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

The 1972 Local Government Act sounds like a fairly arcane bit of legislation. But in redrawing the boundaries of some of our counties, its consequences were far-reaching.<\/p>\n

In fact some people are still banging about it even now. They include the good people at the Friends of Real Lancashire. To mark Lancashire Day, they told Charlotte Hall how they get ‘annoyed’ when places in the historic Red Rose county such as Oldham<\/a> and Rochdale, are referred to as being in Greater Manchester.<\/a><\/p>\n

Weather etc<\/p>\n

Weekend forecast: <\/strong>Saturday will see light rain with highs of 8C, while Sunday will be slightly chillier but dry with sunny intervals.<\/p>\n

Roadworks:<\/strong> Eight roads across the region are due to be closed this weekend. We\u2019ve rounded them up here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Manchester headlines<\/p>\n

Death probe:<\/strong> An investigation has been launched after the tragic death of a woman following her release from prison. Emma Tuff, 36, formerly from Denton<\/a> died in October after being released from women-only prison HMP Styal. Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Struck off:<\/strong> A teacher accused of telling a pupil over TikTok about his dreams of ‘kissing her all over her body, cuddling with no clothes on and having sex with her’ has been banned for life. Mark Rowley, who worked at Hazel Wood High School in Bury<\/a>, was suspended in 2022. More here<\/a><\/p>\n

College brawl:<\/strong> Nine teenagers have been arrested over a brawl at a college which forced students to go into ‘lockdown’<\/a> for an hour. The Manchester Evening News earlier reported how mobile phone footage captured violence erupting among students<\/a> at Stockport<\/a> College yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PLUS: The hotel inspectorAn asbestos danger sign at former Turner Brothers Asbestos factory in Rochdale(Image: Kenny Brown |…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,11653,25785,16,15,185318],"class_list":{"0":"post-599589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-premium","13":"tag-the-mancunian-way","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unmissable"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115628383129103408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}