The Meteor

Panto flash mob gather to save Oldham Coliseum building

The Oldham Coliseum closed its doors for the final time on 31 March this year with their emotional farewell performance, ‘Encore’. Last weekend, on what would have been the opening performance of the theatre’s renowned pantomime, members of the Save Oldham Coliseum Campaign Group formed a flash mob through the town in a bid to reopen the Fairbottom Street building.

ByZoe Hodges

Culture

Why my biography of folk producer Bill Leader is really a social history of the Twentieth Century

When music critic Mike Butler discovered a folk legend in Manchester’s midst it was the beginning of much more than an adventure in sound.

ByMike Butler

News

Who pays your MP: how much are Greater Manchester MPs earning from second jobs?

Research by Sky News and Tortoise Media finds that the average MP has received £72,046 outside of their Westminster job since the last general election.

ByKacy Preen

News

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Features

Greenheys Remembered

Sat behind Manchester’s Oxford Road lies a small pub named the Old Abbey Taphouse. It’s the last remaining building from Greenheys, now part of Hulme. Greenheys was demolished in the 1960s and early 70s in what became known as the…

The uncertain pirate

Interview with Sam Conniff, author of Be More Pirate and founder of Uncertainty Experts

This is Greater Manchester: Trafford

Photographer Gary Roberts was back on the road again last month, gathering images of life in Trafford as part of our whistle-stop tour around Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs.

This is Greater Manchester: Bolton

This month, we sent photographer Gary Roberts to Bolton, to see if there was anything good happening there. It was a mixed picture.

Universities in Manchester need to value their students more than their profit margins

ByJamie Greer

Manchester student returning to University this year after experiencing the last academic year under the Covid lockdowns, reflects on how the marketisation of education contributed to the dire experience of students through the pandemic.

BySean Benstead

The Labour Party’s blocking of a Green New Deal motion is a catastrophe for the party, the country and the climate, argues Sean Benstead.

ByGuest Writer

In response to recent news that Richard Leese is to stand down as leader of Manchester City Council, local disabled activist Brian Hilton shares his personal views on Sir Richard and his legacy.

Interview with Kevin Leach, technical manager at Oldham Coliseum

Kevin thankfully managed to secure a new position for himself as Stage Manager at Manchester Opera House, luckily keeping one of our most skilled theatre technicians in the North West,…

Review: Encore Coliseum

Both Act 1 and Act 2 began with two of its famous pantos; a bright, vibrant beginning to what was a rollercoaster of emotions. First Act comics Justin Moorhouse and…

Friends of The Meteor

The Friends of The Meteor category contains articles that have been published elsewhere and selected by The Meteor team as worthy of sharing to our audience. They will generally have a Manchester or Greater Manchester focus and are from publications we trust and respect.

Friends of The Meteor

T-Levels: more vocational courses roll out – but post-16 choices in England are still limited

Today’s Friends of the Meteor article is from two University of Manchester academics, Elizabeth Gregory and Hannah Ruth McCarthy, on the early findings from the first school year group to complete the new T-levels as an alternative to A-levels.

ByGuest Writer

Friends of The Meteor

When is it illegal to strike?

In the UK, never. But it’s often unlawful. The climate strikes have highlighted the draconian British anti-union legislation and exposed confusion about the law and the consequences of striking unofficially. TUC solidarity organiser Ian Allinson explains the current legal framework – and how it needs to be changed.

ByGuest Writer

Friends of The Meteor

DWP: Are you poor and over 60? Get to work or drop dead. We’re here to help etc

This week’s Friends Of The Meteor guest article is by Kate Belgrave, who visited Stockport’s brand-new jobcentre and spoke with attendees about the farcical rules that jobseekers almost at pension age must follow to qualify for Universal Credit.

ByGuest Writer

Panto flash mob gather to save Oldham Coliseum building

Why my biography of folk producer Bill Leader is really a social history of the Twentieth Century

Who pays your MP: how much are Greater Manchester MPs earning from second jobs?

Greater Manchester ticket office closures

The Desperate House Hunter’s Blues

Just Stop (New) Oil Protest Saturday 17 June

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Features

Greenheys Remembered

The uncertain pirate

This is Greater Manchester: Trafford

This is Greater Manchester: Bolton

Opinion

Universities in Manchester need to value their students more than their profit margins

Blocking the Green New Deal motion is a huge mistake for Labour

Sir Richard Leese’s swan song was to commission a memorial to inequality

Culture

Interview with Kevin Leach, technical manager at Oldham Coliseum

Review: Encore Coliseum

Friends of The Meteor

T-Levels: more vocational courses roll out – but post-16 choices in England are still limited

When is it illegal to strike?

DWP: Are you poor and over 60? Get to work or drop dead. We’re here to help etc

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