The Mancunion - Open Day Issue

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Best Student Publication in the UK & Ireland 2022

Open Day Issue

www.mancunion.com Established 1964

Welcome to Manchester:

UoM campus map On pages 2-3

Your ultimate guide Halls guide On pages 8-9

Societies

Photo: Erin Botten @ The Mancunion

Full list on pages 12-13

City guide

Food & Drink

Music

Fashion

Science

Cultural hotspots: Activities & Culture Officer’s guide to the city

Where to take your parents for dinner

Exclusive interview: Noel Gallagher

Fashion Soc x LGBTQ+ Soc Charity Fashion Show

Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw: Black holes and fame

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2 Campus Guide

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Campus Lucy Giles, Mitali Shylesh, Annabel Benton, Alexandra Baynes, Erin Osman, Jacob Robinson, Jess Walmsley, Ella Robinson Mancunion Writers

1.Students’ Union: 532 532 is a student-run bar and restaurant located on the ground floor inside the Students’ Union on Oxford Road. You can’t miss it as it’s the first thing you see through the main entrance. Before 6pm it has a tranquil, wh o l e s o m e atmosphere.

After 6pm is when it starts to get busier and livelier, with people coming in to watch the game or grab a pint with their friends. 532 also has a pool table so you can socialise over a game, and the food and drinks menu adheres to a student-friendly budget. There’s a variety of seating available, so whether you want to sink into a cosy couch or sit around a booth with a large group, 532 has you sorted. It’s a must-visit place at the heart of UoM’s Students’ Union.

Corridor Corridor Coffee is conveniently located on the ground floor of the Students’ Union and is the perfect place to pick up quick food or drink on campus. The café is one of the cheapest campus coffee spots, with most hot drinks costing just £2.50 (and filter coffee for £1!), so it’s ideal for a pre-lecture pick-me-up. Lots of snacks from Corridor also come with a free cup of tea or filtered coffee.

You can enjoy lunch in the busy atmosphere of the SU with one of Corridor’s paninis, toasties, or meal deals. They also have daily deals ranging from discounted frappes to free syrups in coffees, as well as seasonal specials such as pancakes in February and gingerbread lattes in December.

The Hive Located on the first floor of the Students’ Union, The Hive is an open-plan study space with tables, beanbags, study booths, and even a picnic bench, offering a comfortable and collaborative working atmosphere.

From FemSoc talks to Baking Society’s Bake Off screenings, and even performances from student bands - there’s always something going on in the Hive!

The Mancunion Office Just off The Hive, The Mancunion Office is home to the Best Student Publication 2022, and where all the students from the media group hang out. We have a sofa made of newspapers (where we interviewed Council Leader Bev Craig, p.25), eight computers for design, and a brilliant Spotify playlist. Come and say hi!

2. Milk and Honey Milk and Honey is a quieter and more wholesome spot for sit-down food on campus, located directly opposite Brewdog. It’s run by a friendly team of volunteers, who serve a wide range of light (and cheap!) healthy lunches, catering for many dietary requirements. The cafe has a friendly and welcoming atmosphere to it, making it the perfect place to escape from the hubbub of Oxford Road.

3. Benugo Located on the ground floor of the Simon Building, Benugo is the kind of place you might treat myself to after you have braved attending your 9am lecture. The coffee is, in the opinion of our Food&Drink section, one of the best on campus.

And surprisingly not too expensive either – a cappuccino starting from just £2.80.

The food at Benugo is just as delicious. They offer a variety of gourmet sandwiches (a favourite being the brie and caramelised onion) as well as soups, pastries, salads, and homemade cakes.

4. Kro Bar Found opposite the SU, Kro Bar is a great spot for a quick bite to eat or drink - the outdoor seating beside Oxford Road is always full of students when the sun comes out.

The café-come-bar has a huge selection of sandwiches, b u r g e r s and Danish i n s p i r e d dishes to accomp a ny a catch-up with friends in a prime location.

E a c h day they offer food deals, such as two-forone hot dogs, and d r i n k s aren’t ridiculously overpriced.

There’s even a ‘Manc Lager’ for those wanting to get into the local spirit.

5. Lime Café Located on the ground floor on the Samuel Alexander Building (abbreviated to Sam Alex by students), the Lime Café is operated by the University’s FoodOnCampus team. The easiest way to get to the Lime Cafe is through the west wing of Sam Alex (the newer side of the building). Serving a range of sandwiches and pastries, as well as Chicago Town pizza, it’s the spot to go for something quick and easy, especially if you don’t have a lot of time. The apple danishes are our guilty pleasure. The Lime Cafe is a nice study space too as it usually isn’t that busy - definitely worth using if you come to Manchester!

6.TAKK Head up Oxford Road past Manchester Museum to TAKK, located in University Green. TAKK is an independent coffee company, with three sites across the city. With decor inspired by that ever-so timeless Scandinavian minimalism, the cafe has a chill yet welcoming feel.

The lunchtime food options are perfect if you want something a bit more substantial, and they seem to regularly change too. When we first visited we had their falafel sandwich, which desperately needs to make a return to the menu. It goes without saying that their coffee is of a high-quality, and it’s of course worth popping in for your caffeine kick.

Campus Guide 3

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s Guide

multiple cafés.

Aesthetically, the building resembles something IKEA may have sponsored. It is very modern with all new facilities - no chance of a faulty plug socket or broken computer. It’s a bright and chatty place to study with coursemates.

10. Manchester Museum

7. Christie’s Bistro Christie’s is a University café upstairs in the Whitworth building.

It is the perfect vibe for those of you who like to romanticise your studies by imagining you are a flustered academic in the 1800s.

Think old leather sofas under high ceilings held up by pillars, and floor to ceiling bookshelves amongst paintings of previous directors of

the u n ive r s i t y.

It is old-institutionaesthetic perfection.

You can get coffee, cakes and various sandwiches. Similar to most university owned cafés. If you know the right spots, you can find the right place to sit near the various plug sockets dotted around, just ask the friendly staff to guide you.

It can be a little tricky to find our current campus secret. To find it, head to the doors of the Whitworth building that sit facing student services and head up the two flights of stairs.

8. Main Library It’s worth exploring the maze-like Main Library. Branching out from the newer ‘blue’ area into the older section of the library, you can find cosy rooms, huge windows,

wood-panelled reading rooms, tonnes of desks, and collaborative study spaces.

9. Engineering Building A little walk away from campus is the Engineering Building.

Although potentially daunting at first, with a flurry of STEM students bustling in and out, the Engineering Building is a great study spot for all students. It’s accessible without a student card, and has over four floors of study spaces and

The museum on Oxford Road was recently refurbished and has everything from a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, called Stan, to a Vivarium, which houses many different species of reptiles and amphibians.

It’s the perfect day out for anyone interested in zoology, conservation, history, biology, and best of all - it’s completely free!

11. Whitworth Gallery

Art

Just a five-minute walk from the Main Library, Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery boasts a diverse collection of paintings, sculptures, architecture, fabrics, and sketches. Its café overlooks Whitworth Park, with floor-to-ceiling windows that create the ideal biophilic environment.

Students’ Union s Union 4 Student’

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Cultural hotspots:

Activities and Culture Officer’s guide to the city Explore beyond Fallowfieldwith withour ourguide guide to itsits culture Explore beyond Fallowfield tothe thecity cityand and culture

Robbie Beale Activities and Culture Officer

H

eya, I’m Robbie and I’m your elected officer for activities and culture heading into this year, and I love nothing more than mooching around Manchester finding cool music spots. My role means I cover societies, events, and international students - I spent a lot of my degree running music events so this section should help you find the coolest places too! Feel free to drop me a message on insta @robbie_umsu if you’ve got questions about anything music related or SU related.

The student scene For student music, look no further than Gigs and Bands Society, an award-winning student society that ran 20 events last year for over 2000 2,000 students, including a day festival. I may be slightly biased, as I did set up Gigs and Bands last year, but it is a great entry point into the student music scene across the city, and they work closely with a number of the venues I’m about to introduce you to!

Fuel Cafebar, Withington Fuel is the epicentre of the student music scene, if you’re a first year and you’re already going to Fuel you’re doing bits! It isn’t just a music venue, it holds cool spoken word events, arty stuff, and it’s a nice spot to hang out or study during the daytime.

XLR, Withington XLR is across the street from Fuel and a hub for the student dance music scene. It is a venue purely for student events, there aren’t regular nights so there is lots of freedom for student promoters to run incredible dance events. It’s a small, one room venue, but it’s close to home and it closes at 2am which is actually a really good thing because no one really enjoys or remembers the 2am-3am hours. Lots of great takeaways around there as well so crack on with y o u r

afters. will be selling cheap Warehouse came to Manchester because you Manchester and the firsy atom was Big Hands, Oxford Road Project or Psych Fest tickets. They love The Smiths, this is the place for split by University of Manchester Big Hands has lots of student have rare vinyls, test pressings, and you. It has loads of cool memorabilacademics. Malcolm X even spoke bands and DJs playing, but is also a limited editions - everything you ia including Morrissey’s unopened at the Manchester Academy! brilliant spot for a drink in the sun need to fulfil your vinyl desires. post from the 80s.

To find out more about The Eagle after lectures, as it has an awesome Explore the street art around Eagle InnInn Manchester ‘s history I would terraced beer garden - and when Northern Quarter I went to the Eagle Inn in first highly recommend a visit to the I say garden, they have flowers!

You can do a walking tour year on my first Mancunion solo People’s History It has an alternative, grungy vibe of the street art or just see mission (yes I used to write for the Museum. Part of downstairs but it’s actually a realwhat you can find. paper!) to review a Canadian rock the Communist ly welcoming place.

Frog and Bucket duo, The Blue Stones. It’s a prop- Manifesto was Of course, I’ve also got to give Comedy Club er old pub with a little venue out written at the a shout out to your friendly, loGo on a Monday night for back, it looks very defiant standing John Rylands cal Manchester Academy - keep a their ‘Beat the Frog’ night. Tickets amongst the car parks and tower Library which lookout for Gigs and Bands society are only £3 as a student, and drinks blocks of Salford. is now home to showcases! are pretty affordable by Northern Curry Mile the British Pop A day out in Northern Quarter Quarter standards. 12-15 budding The Curry Mile has the highest Archive. You can study there and You’ve moved to Manchester, comics have to keep the audience concentration of South Asian resit feels a bit like you’re in Hogwarts! it’s time to explore the city - this is laughing for five minutes each. If taurants in the United Kingdom, deThe Science and Industry Mumy ideal day out in the Northern they get voted off before their five pending on who you ask! Sultanahseum is also well worth a visit. It’s Quarter, showing all that the city minutes are up they haven’t beaten met Grill is a lovely Turkish place the furthest thing from your typical has to offer. the frog. It’s phenomenally good I’d highly recommend if you’re dusty museum, it’s actually quite Affleck’s Palace value and really funny! looking for somewhere to eat. Peocool! They had an amazing exhibiYou’ve definitely got to go to AfGullivers ple do love a Ziya’s too. tion on Factory Records. fleck’s Palace. They sell everything To round off your night go for The city’s history It’s worth doing a walking tour from clothes to Star Wars figua drink at Gullivers. They have a Manchester is an inspiring of the city and hearing about the rines; fake tattoos to real tattoos; jukebox filled with brilliant songs, place, far beyond the music scene. history at the Corn Exchange, cassettes; posters, and arcade mait’s only £1 to choose five!

It was the birthplace of Trade UnSt Peter’s Square (which has the chines. You are guaranteed to get Manchester institutions ionism and the Suffragettes. It was Pankhurst statue outside C central lost in there, but it’s such a cool Albert Hall at the centre of the Co-operative, Llibrary), and the history of the place, and there’s a cafe (if you can Albert Hall is my favourite venChartists and ComPeterloo massacre. find it!) ue in Manchester, it’s in a convertmunist movements.

Empire Exchange ed church and is absolutely beauThe first stored proThis is another odds and ends tiful with huge glass windows. It’s gramme computer type of shop, but more of a hidden a brilliant venue with a standing was invented at the - HO gem than Affleck’s Palace. They’ve area, and tiered steps above which University ME a the - Con at r got props from Doctor Who, old you can sit or stand on for an amaztact Thea e, cinem stud a, t re e ! vinyl, model cars - all sorts of craing view of the audience and stage. n t the o n t h g a l l e r y, cha o ecs a t re and r e Ox s a zy knick knacks. Everything in the Salford Lads Club n ’ ce nt n fo rd t d the ie - C h a h e O x fo R b o l b o a d a n ra l c re a t i c rd Ro p e lto a l co o basement shop is for sale, but none If you ve h u R d big ad mmu w s h ow b supp it h n i t y. ing o n Pictur ! of it has a price, so you can haggle! w o r te rs A r e ld cl bar a lso t Hou e of assic h h n d fo s t e e I usually just go to look around, it’s r be st -as s, an od a - Wh mall mod lot t fu re a ( i i t wo s i b a really cool spot. came n G o d RU B f uni rth A a epen is on ) que rt de nt O x fo e ve n Terrace NQ Cafebar lore cine rd Ro G a l l e r y a p ts, w L x ma e v E l a w e it h a d n a y s It’s time for a coffee g re a hulm s l ove h jazz a t to k s e b ly n r M illi ig ht ill tim a rk e break, and maybe lunch? and - Cas ts (a e b e t a nt ex h i b The l t s l w e o it ion een l Gher chec Terrace is not the most well-trods and - Goo field Ca e kin f k ou na d or di t t h e c t u re s den place which is why I like it, you nner - F l e t T i m e G a l s a re g re T a l ly r ) mes cher at to a n d ’s boar can get the whole roof terrace to M - Wit f re e d g a m wa l k a ro hy P o s s P a rk u n e u s d yourself. When you orb of ot c l a i c f e Hall he Insti der food it comes from - T w r e ve n t s , t ute e nt y beer - hos fe s t i t we n one of the local restauping ts Dr va l s , ty T pong ink a a w nd m o t nd D able rants nearby, so it’s a res a rke a r aw s , a rc r e a ts and l ly f u ade m ally community-centric lots n un achi d n e es an rg r o u venue. dac n d bar w inem Piccadilly Records a it h A real Manchester institution, artists sometimes do acoustic sets there, as well as signings.

If you’re lucky they

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Food & Drink 5

Where to take your parents for dinner:

The ultimate guide to Manchester's food scene The best spots for food off campus, from local cheap eats to city showstoppers

City Centre Evuna Mowgli Street Food Mowgli Street Food promises diners a magical experience with its fairy-tale décor and breath-taking dishes. Located in the city centre’s Corn Exchange, this restaurant serves authentic Indian food bursting with spices and herbs. From ‘street meats’ to ‘tiffin boxes’, Mowgli discredits Anglified curries by providing a true taste of Indian cooking. The restaurant’s stunning fairy lights and vibrant dishes will transport you to a realm of enchantment, creating a truly unforgettable experience. Hattie Watts

Salt and Pepper Now a well-known player in Manchester’s food scene, Salt and Pepper is a must-visit for anyone looking for a quick lunch in the Piccadilly area. This place has perfected the UK Chinese takeaway classic, offering salt and pepper tofu, prawns, chicken and even kebabs!

All their dishes are garnished with chillies, sesame seeds and a pickled salad but the biggest attraction for me was the help-yourself sauces bar. The atmosphere is perfectly laid back and a great spot to chat with friends however be warned, they are incredibly popular so finding a place to sit can sometimes be a waiting game.

Nevertheless, this local independent store provides fantastic service and high-quality food for a student-friendly budget and therefore cannot be missed! Neve Hammett

If you’d like your parents to imagine that they’re on holiday a few thousand miles away from Manchester, then look no further than Evuna. Evuna is the best place in Manchester for authentic Spanish tapas, with two restaurants in the heart of city centre; one in bustling Deansgate, and one in the everpopular Northern Quarter. Although Evuna has a smaller menu than most restaurants, less truly is more here. The menu caters for the majority of dietary requirements, with a range of popular dishes and some special editions.

With its intimate atmosphere (i.e parents will need glasses to read the menu), fresh food and traditional feel, it’s a great place to take your parents – but be sure to book ahead, as there’s often a queue out the door. Alexandra Baynes

Flawd Wine Located on the New Islington Marina, a gorgeous little part of Manchester students don’t normally venture to, this is easily my favourite spot in the city. The menu of small plates rotates every week, staying reasonably priced and creative. Don’t skip the bread and butter, honestly I’ve never had a slice of bread quite like that. Glasses of house wines of all colours start at about £6, with plenty of other bottles to choose from and even take home. The staff are passionate about both the wine and food, taking time to explain the wines to make sure you pick the perfect glass. Flawd manage to curate a laid-back vibe whilst keeping the highest quality of dining, far more atmospheric than the other wine bars in town. Libby Elliott

Rudy's It would be doing a slight injustice not to mention Rudy's in a round up of Manchester restaurants. First hitting the streets of Manchester back in 2015, they now boast 5 sites across the city. You might be wondering, what's so special about pizzeria? I'll tell you - the dough. Rudy's do a soft thin base with a fluffy crust: heaven on a plate. I admit it’s hard to get a margarita pizza wrong, but even the classics are top tier. Rotating specials keep the menu fresh, a perfect excuse to keep visiting. And their tiramisu is to die for, if you have any room left. Booking is highly recommended but they do reserve tables for walk-ins too.

Pop across to Seven Brothers for a pint if you happen to visit their site in Ancoats. Jacob Robinson

BAB Located at the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter, BAB is the perfect parent-friendly (yet still sufficiently cool) food spot.

While it leans on the pricier side, the food is well-worth the cost, especially if it's your parents who are picking up the bill. BAB’s speciality is - you might have guessed it - kebabs. But alas, these gourmet babs are a far-cry from the greasier kind you might find in Fallowfield. I opted for the chicken and chorizo bab, with spicy sriracha mayo and crunchy zingy slaw, which was utterly delicious and very generously filled. BAB also offers great veggie and vegan options, as well as mese dishes and gorgeous-looking desserts. The atmosphere is cool and berlinesque, with exposed brick walls, an open theatre-style kitchen, friendly staff, and a backdrop of soul music. Cool, fuss-free, and delicious, BAB easily wins a spot on our list of parentfriendly restaurants.

Erin Osman

Chinatown Didsbury

Mr Hong Beef Noodle Located in Chinatown, Mr Hong is a great place to take your parents for a delicious Sichuan-style meal. Don't be thrown off by the name; this restaurant is accommodating to both vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians. Their piece de resistance is the 'Mr Hong noodles with braised beef', which might attract your attention initially, but I'm confident you will stay for everything else on their menu. One of my favourites is the crispy eggplant in garlic sauce. They have two menus; their red menu is tailored to the Western palate. However, for an authentic experience, I recommend you request the blue menu, which has a wider variety of delicious dishes. Mitali Shylesh

WAZUZHI Tucked down one of Chinatown's many side streets is WAZUZHI, a Japanese sushi and ramen restaurant. It isn't the biggest restaurant so you might have to wait, but its price point is one of the major reasons it's worth a visit. Their set menu is £12.50, with three appetisers and a main dish included in this offer - plenty to keep you satisfied as an evening meal. Apart from the set menu, WAZUZHI offers a mix of popular starters, teppanyaki, rice and noodle dishes; but the highlight is definitely their ramen. Jacob Robinson

Yuzu Described by Jay Rayner as like eating inside "an elegant, well-lit wardrobe," YUZU is a Japanese tapas restaurant again in Manchester's Chinatown. Whilst the menu is not extensive nor wildly original, what YUZU do offer is understated yet well executed classics. Their sashimi platter, despite being on the more expensive side, lives up to the high price point simply for the quality of the fish. Definitely worth picking a few small plates to share (their gyozas particularly stood out) before settling for one of their larger dishes as a main. Jacob Robinson

Baity Baity is an authentic Palestinian kitchen located in Didsbury serving the classic mezze small plates you will have probably tried before, but on another level.

You’ve literally never had hummus like it (get the one with the sumac onions). Yet, the true highlight of Baity is their Sunday Palestinian roasts, a little bit pricey so definitely get the ‘rents to treat you if you can. Translating to ‘my home’ in Arabic, the restaurant owners aim to celebrate Palestine and their culture through generations-old recipes. Baity operate an alcohol-free restaurant with a halal menu, with a lot of the cuisine accommodating vegetarians also. Libby Elliott

6 Food & Drink

CITY GUIDE

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Canal Street and beyond:

The highlights of Manchester’s gay scene Manchester is home to the world famous Gay Village with various hotspots for a fabulous night out Hannah Wellock Food & Drink Editor

W

ith LGBTQ+ history month upon us, where better to spend it other than in Manchester’s infamous Gay Village: Canal Street and beyond.

From bars to clubs to café, Manchester has it all when it comes to safe spaces for the queer community in this city. Making your way down Canal Street, there is a selection of bars and nightclubs to sink your teeth into.

The New Union Hotel First up we have the New Union Hotel, which has a show bar, club, and hotel. New Union was one of the first openly gay venues in Manchester, established in 1860. The Hotel has something for everyone: pool and a quiet pint during the day, or a dance floor if you’re looking to dance the night away.

Themed nights are hosted throughout the week including Karaoke, Bingo, The Slightly Late Show (a cabaret night on a Sunday) and my personal favourite Alternative Nights on a Thursday.

All nights are hosted and DJ’d

by Manchester’s notorious drag queens. Sometimes it can take a while to warm up, but once there’s a crowd, you’re guaranteed a good night.

G.A.Y Just over the way we have G.A.Y, one of the more well-known clubs in the Village. If you’re after some singalongs, then this may be the club for you. With two floors and a very large dance floor, G.A.Y is an institution in Manchester (and other cities). The cheesy tunes and cheap drinks keep flowing until the early hours of the morning making G.A.Y one of Manchester’s late-night destinations.

The Brewers Down the other end of Canal Street, we’ve got The Brewers.

With two floors, Brewers is well known in the Village for its legendary weekly student night: Filthy Gorgeous on a Tuesday.

Arguably one of the best nights in Manchester.

A host of Drag Queens from the House of Filth take to the stage every Tuesday with everchanging weekly themes from Mario Kart to Filthy Airways to Disney Princesses. Throughout the night, the Queens take to the stage to perform sets choreographed to perfection.

If you happen to find yourself in Brewers on any other night, don’t fear, as you won’t be disappointed.

Lit up with rainbow lights, Brewers is a safe bet for a good night with some great music and plenty of space on the dance floor to let loose.

The Molly House A stone’s throw from Canal Street, you’ll find The Molly House tucked away on Richmond Street. You’ll know you’ve found the right place when you see the large mural on the side of the building with five famous queer icons including drag queen Anna Phylactic, feminist Emmeline Pankhurst, and scientist Alan Turing.

The Molly House is a vintage pub in a three-storey terrace house, beautifully decorated and one of the more cosy spots in the Village. They serve a selection of wines, beers, cocktails, and tapas. The Molly offers an alternative experience to the bars and clubs in the Gay Village for the community. If you’re looking for a spot for a relaxed pint, this is the place to go.

The Feel Good Club Stepping slightly away from the Gay Village and into the Northern Quarter you will find The Feel Good Club on Hilton Street. You might have also seen their Sunday reminders series on Instagram or their iconic pink billboards around the city. The Feel Good Club has a more relaxed vibe, the perfect place for a coffee date, a catchup over brunch, or an after work cocktail.

The coffee shop and bar is owned by wives Kiera and Aimie, who are on a mission to make everyone feel good. The Club aims to be a space where everyone feels safe, good, and comfortable being themselves.

Not only are the vibes good, but the food rivals every brunch spot in Manchester, the cocktails are classic and iconic, and the cake, bakes, and cookies come from local independent bakeries with a daily treats board.

That’s just a small selection of the queer bars in Manchester.

The city’s Gay Village has an extensive selection of spaces with somewhere and something for everyone.

Sport

Photo: Anotnio Ross @ The Mancunion

8 Lifestyle

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A guide to: City halls

Our guide to the often lesser-known city halls at the University of Manchester, which cater to both undergraduate and postgraduate students Annabel Benton and Miles Davenport Lifestyle Co-Editor and Lifestyle Writer Whitworth Park: Whitworth Park is one of the more secluded accommodations on offer here at Manchester, but it does have its charms. The biggest advantage by far is its proximity to campus. You can leave your flat at 8:50 and comfortably be at most buildings on campus on time for a 9am lecture, and rest assured, you will be thankful for this!

The nearest pubs available are the in-house Grove Bar, Kro Bar, Big Hands, and the Turing Tap, all of which are excellent options for evenings with friends.

If that isn’t enough, Whitworth is close to the city centre and close to Fallowfield! Whitworth is one of the quieter accommodations compared to the others, but don’t let that deter you.

There is plenty that Whitworth has to offer, and if you end up living here, you might not ever be late for a lecture again (though you probably will).

Weston Hall: Weston Hall is by far the most central accommodation offered to students by the University of

Manchester at only a five-minute walk to Piccadilly Train Station on Saville Street. The halls neighbour UoM’s North Campus, and are also perfect for those who want to explore the city’s nightlife.

A minute’s walk will take you to popular student clubs YES, Factory, and Joshua Brooks, and it’s only a minute further to get to Manchester’s iconic Gay Village on Canal Street.

Weston Hall itself is self-catered, with single en-suite rooms in flats of eight students. The decor isn’t the fanciest, yet the eight person student flats mean that you shouldn’t find freshers socialising too difficult.

You’ll also have all of the amenities that you’d ever need on your doorstep and can have the rare experience of being a city-centre student in Manchester, whilst only having to walk around 15 minutes into university.

Denmark Road: Denmark Road is Whitworth Park’s classier neighbour. Set back from Oxford Road, this hall gives students only a ten-minute walk to lectures, close proximity to shops and bars, and modern facilities.

Priced at roughly the same weekly rate as Unsworth Park in Fallowfield, residents are treated

to a similar double bed, en-suite bathroom, and self-catered lifestyle.

The flats are light and airy and come accompanied with modern common rooms. Flat sizes are either five or six students, however, so if you are wanting a more sociable first year, Denmark Road might not be the choice for you.

Despite this, the location and facilities make the halls a great option for those willing to put in more effort socialising outside of their flat (which is always recommended!).

Park View: Park View is very similar to Denmark Road, although it is slightly further from the university, located on the opposite side of Whitworth Park on Moss Lane. By adding the extra five minutes to your morning walk, you’ll enjoy extremely modern halls equipped with large, double bed rooms, ensuite bathrooms, and open kitchen and dining rooms.

The morning walk will also take you through Whitworth Park, a lovely green space to have on your doorstep for those moments when the stresses of student life get a bit too much. Park View is a short walk from shops such as Lidl, Superdrug, and Tesco, as well as

the local spoons for a cheap start to nights out.

George Kenyon Hall: George Kenyon Hall is restricted to just post-graduate students and is comparable in price and facilities to many of the undergraduate halls in Fallowfield.

The facilities aren’t as swanky as some of the other city halls, yet you’ll still have an en-suite, self-catering space for flats of six students, and lots of storage. Also, you really couldn’t live closer to your lecture halls if you tried.

This hall has the most central campus location, alongside the Kilburn, Roscoe and Alan Turing Buildings, which means it’s only a fifteen-minute walk up Oxford Road into the city centre. The kitchens have nice views across campus, and the location also means that your sleep shouldn’t be disturbed by any suburban noise.

H o r n i m a n House: Horniman House is another option for post-graduate students, and contains almost 40 one-bedroom flats suitable for single postgraduate students or couples which come with en-suite

bathrooms. You can also opt for a deluxe flat, which comes with its own additional study area.

The price does reflect the fact that Horniman House provides students with single flats, and it’s by far the most expensive accommodation offered by UoM. However, you do get a great location included, with the halls found on Oxford Road above a Costa café and a Sainsbury’s local. You’d be right next door to the Stopford Building, so not far at all to make those 9am lectures!

A guide to: Victoria Park halls Found between the university campus and the Fallowfield halls, we’re giving you our guide to UoM’s Victoria Park student accommodation Delyth Henley Lifestyle Writer

T

he Victoria Park campus may not be as widely known as Fallowfield but it deserves just as much attention.

It’s home to all kinds of students and boasts a variety of different halls to suit individual needs.

This campus is typically quieter than much of Fallowfield, but this just means that it’s easy to balance studying and socialising. There’s not really one person who represents the typical Victoria Park resident – it’s very diverse a n d you’ll find

your people. Each accommodation has its own team who organises socials and activities for residents, but there are also wider events from BBQs to balls where students from all over the campus can come together.

The three newest accommodations are Brook Hall, Daisy Bank, and Rusholme Place. These were previously private and then taken over by the University, meaning that they’re the most modern halls on offer in this campus. All three of them have fairly small flats of around 3 to 5 people, so if you want a quieter environment with newer facilities then these might be for you Dalton-Ellis Hall and St Anselm Hall are the two most old-fashioned halls. These are both catered accommodations with beautiful dining rooms and formal dinners. Dalton-Ellis has its own sporting facilities

and there’s a nice student community here, whilst St Anselm shares both a bar and library with its newer neighbour, Canterbury Court.

Hulme Hall (and the next-door Burkhardt House) feels like the centre of the campus, home to the lively Victoria Park bar for drinks at incredibly cheap prices as well as regular quiz nights with cash to be won. There’s also garden space to enjoy the warmer summer days and regular formal dinners for the hall.

Primarily, Victoria Park is in a great location for residents, not far from the city centre or the university but still having the appeal of being its own distinct student area. In terms of grocery shops, it’s next to a Lidl, a Tesco E x -

press, and a Coop which will guarantee your essential food needs.

There’s also the pleasant Ford Madox Brown Wetherspoons if you don’t fancy the student bar, and further cafés, restaurants, and the long Curry Mile are less than a stone’s throw away.

If you’re looking for green spaces, there’s the large Birchfields Park to relax on warmer days or the Whitworth Park and lovely Whitworth Art Gallery which are easy to pop into on the way back from the university.

All the Victoria Park accommodations are under a half

hour walk to university, meaning that you won’t have to get up so early nor rely on the frequently irregular bus service to get to class.

For many, it’s the perfect place to be – a large student community in a great spot between the Fallowfield and City campuses which feels like a safe and welcoming area to spend your first year. You likely won’t have to fight for sleep during exam season but it’s still a sociable campus with a wide range of people where everyone can find their place.

Lifestyle 9

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

A guide to: Fallowfield halls

The Mancunion has compiled a comprehensive guide to Fallowfield Halls of Residences to help freshers pick their new home Erin Osman and Alexandra Baynes Lifestyle Co-Editor and Lifestyle Writer Oak House: It’s only fitting to start with the infamous Oak House. We’ll begin with the positives. Firstly, Oak House actually has nice kitchens.

This might come as something of a shock, given that most people know Oak House specifically as dirty, cramped, and objectively ugly. But hear me out…

The kitchens are unintimidating, the perfect vessel for bunting décor, posters, and fairy lights.

With large windows, it’s usually nice and light. Okay, you might get the occasional wasp (or seven) flying about, fruit flies will become tenants in your flat, and yes, the cookers are seriously in need of an update. But it’s part of the Oak House charm.

You will grow to love your little mint green box room. But don’t say you haven’t been warned: it is tiny.

If you’re expecting to enjoy a nice big room at uni, it’s probably best to look elsewhere. It is also very, very noisy. The walls are so thin that you can literally hear every move and whisper - your flatmate singing badly in their room will become the soundtrack of your life.

While the stereotyped Oak House ex-private school gal/guy holds up, it’s a pretty mixed bag of people in reality. The best thing about Oak is the price. Cheap, fun, and (generally) cheerful. Just be sure to buy some ear plugs, or better still, noise-cancelling headphones. Sleep is highly underrated in Oak House.

Richmond Park: Richmond Park is made up of two courts: Willow and Poplar.

They are pretty much identical.

The kitchens in Richmond are huge, with a great big dining table, spacious cooking area, decent cookers, and a two-fridge-freezer situation which compares better than the one-of-each over in Oak House.

Basically, the

facilities all around are better in Richmond – and the price you pay for rent is definitely indicative of this. The rooms are nice – with a big desk, a chest of drawers, a built-in wardrobe, a desk chair, an armchair, a single bed, two bookshelves, a push-pin board, and a bathroom.

The bathroom is tiny and gets absolutely soaked after 20 seconds of your showing running – hence why they call it a ‘wet-room’.

It does get pretty gross in there really, and leaving the bathroom door open can trigger the fire alarm, so be mindful.

Richmond is a lot quieter than Oak House, bigger, and probably more liveable in general. It gives you space to breathe and, crucially, sleep. If you want a nice in-between, Richmond is your best choice. Not as crazy as Oak House, but still fun and sociable.

Woolton Hall: Woolton Hall is situated opposite Oak House and is a quieter, catered option for Fallowfield living.

Rooms are spacious with big windows, a nice desk, chair, and a single bed. There is a shared common room, and 15 bedrooms on each corridor with shared showers, toilets, and a small kitchen. Rent is more expensive than self-catered accommodations, and it is a much quieter space.

One thing to note is that breakfast and dinner are served only at specific times, so if you miss it you miss it. Hungover and up after 9:30? Say goodbye to breakfast.

According to resident Ada, the best thing about Woolton is the catered food and the variety of options. For her, it has been really handy in the first year. She found it easy to make friends during breakfast and dinner, as everyone sits together at allocated times for the meals.

In all honesty, I’m not sure how exciting living in Woolton Hall is. But then again, I’ve only really heard good things from the people living there. Richmond and Oak are right next door for the parties, meaning you can escape home for peace and quiet later.

Sheavyn House: There are so many things I’ve grown to (not exactly love but) appreciate about

Sheavyn…Walking up three flights of stairs holding two huge shopping bags, and seeing someone’s takeaway from Mo sprawled down the stairs. Opening the door which slams so violently the corridor shakes. Putting chicken nuggets in the oven which activates the loudest fan in existence. It’s far from quiet or boring.

One injustice is that the rooms are so huge that having a single bed is a joke. Especially if there’s a shelf above the bed which you hit your head on every morning. But granted, the room is huge, accompanied by a massive window and ‘wet room’.

The building itself is pretty modern, with large kitchens - if you live on the top floor, the kitchens are double the size. All of them are decorated with everything from 256 posters to fairy lights to words which my mother would drop dead at.

Sheavyn has a really homely vibe to it, and every night there’s something happening in one of the flats. Living in a self-catered flat with eight other people may seem like a recipe for chaos, but it’s actually great because you can essentially ‘pick ‘n’ mix’. Suddenly a conversation between two people becomes a conversation between eight.

Ashburne Hall: If you’ve ever read Mallory Towers by Enid Blyton, you can compare it to Ashburne. Dark, quiet, gothic, archaic; could maybe be romanticised as ‘dark academia’ with its beautiful library. The Hall is catered and has shared bathrooms, giving the sense of it being a girl’s boarding school. Did I mention that out of the entire Ashburne population, only 12 boys live there?

Catered halls give students the opportunity to socialise with others, adds more structure to the day, and eliminates the stress of cooking and budgeting.

However, when I had a poke around Ashburne, I saw that the kitchens were genuinely tiny.

N o t a b l y,

every kitchen was stacked with Dominoes and Deliveroo bags, which suggests that the food is inadequate.

The shared bathrooms didn’t seem that bad – clearly, the Uni was on a budget, as the bathrooms are painted in the same colour green as in Oak House. But they are pretty spacious. In fact, the entire building is spacious. Given the inability to socialise in the kitchen, you’d assume that people would socialise in the huge corridors, or in rooms – but no one was to be seen and no noise was to be heard.

Ashburne is a pretty ‘safe’ place to live. It’s catered so you’ll always have food in your stomach, and it has shared bathrooms so you know it’ll be cheaper than other accommodations. Plus, it’s quiet so you know you’ll sleep well. Ashburne’s boarding school vibes are pretty much Oak House’s nemesis.

Unsworth Park: Unsworth was built in 2019, and provided the Fallowfield Accommodation Campus with dozens of modern, well-equiped blocks of flats, each housing ten undergraduate students.

Everything about Unsworth is just brand new. Not only does it have well-designed green spaces which curve around the entire complex, but it also has (get ready for it): a library, a lift, a cafe, a laundry block, sofas, a TV, a common room, and postage lockers. Nearly everything which every other accommodation doesn’t have.

In terms of the rooms in Unsworth, they’re probably nicer than your room back at home.

They’re bright and modern, with a ¾ bed, a large desk, a full-length mirror, and lots of storage facilities.

Unsworth has ensuite bathrooms, and the kitchens

look like something Kirsty Allsopp would mooch around in her home renovation programmes.

Seriously, Unsworth is nice with a capital N. But, it’s worth bearing in mind that it’s the most expensive accommodation in Fallowfield, has the highest number of applicants, and is the furthest away from the main road. You can’t have it all. But if it makes you feel better, Richmond residents pay £10/week less and get none of the perks.

Uttley House: Uttley is Fallowfield’s newest accommodation, and is a weird mix of every type of halls available. When you walk up to the building it looks like someone’s posh family house. Then, when you enter it looks like a hotel. By the time you walk into the kitchen, it looks like a chaotic travel hostel.

When you talk to the people it seems like they all know something you don’t. From what we’ve heard from an Uttley resident, it seems like everyone is involved in everyone’s business. Perhaps that’s inevitable, given that there are 16 people per kitchen.

Before it housed Manchester Uni’s freshers, Uttley Park was a hotel. A hotel fit for a queen, or even, the queen herself. If there is ever a ranking system for Manchester’s Uni accommodation, perhaps this is it.

The Fallowfield halls offer freshers a student community in a busy suburb of Manchester, and there’ll certainly be something to suit everyone. With catered or self-catered, small or large flats, and quiet or lively reputations, Fallowfield has a range of options for first years wanting to find their new home in the South of the city.

10 Student Media

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Student Media Matters: Student media makes sense in a world which doesn’t Your time at university is the optimal time to explore your passions, take a stand, and work to improve and shape the world how you see fit. Student media alone won’t do all of that for you - but it just might help Max Earnshaw Opinion Editor

S

tudent media is vital.

Maybe I am biased (I definitely am) but in starting my role as Opinion Editor for The Mancunion , I have had some time to reflect on the invaluable role student media has played, and must continue to play, in society.

I must stress at the outset this isn’t a one-sided rant about the flaws of the mainstream media. I genuinely believe that for every government sycophant writing in a right-wing tabloid, there is a dedicated and passionate investigative journalist elsewhere committed to amplifying voices and exposing wrongdoing.

This was particularly highlighted during the pandemic, when Partygate was broken by the Daily Mirror , and BBC Panorama produced the ‘Cashing in on Covid’ documentary which exposed links between Conservative MPs and

companies who made millions through PPE contracts.

However, the reach of the mainstream media is dwindling with regard to students. TV news is being replaced by news produced for social media, and the newspaper market has been thoroughly cornered by ageing white men from the political right who have about as much in common with the average Fallowfield student as an alien.

Stress-inducing stories about the cost-of-living crisis, climate crisis, warfare, and inequality are available 24/7 on rolling news channels, and reposted on social media just in case you managed to miss it. It is no wonder that many of us are beginning to feel overwhelmed by and hopeless with the state the world is currently in.

This is where student media such as The Mancunion newspaper comes in. It stands to reason that students can talk to other students in a way which resonates far more than the national press at large. Whilst I am aware this makes the whole article sound like an incredibly unsubtle advert, it is true to say that we are able to

break the most relevant and important stories for students and young people first.

The best evidence for student media’s success is that The Mancunion has led the reporting on various student matters of national importance. It reached country-wide recognition for stories surrounding the Fallowfield fences during the Covid lockdown; it also acts as the official media partner for the Reclaim the Night feminist protest march.

By demonstrating the willingness and ability to break stories that matter to everyday students, and by sharing this content in a digestible and accessible way, I believe The Mancunion shows that engaging with the news doesn’t have to be hopeless. As volunteers, everyone who writes for this paper is doing so because they have a passion to share, a story to tell, or truth to uncover. Student journalists are able to develop their skills free from peering eyes over their shoulder who insist that a particular political line be taken or narrative to be followed.

By starting with student matters that are particularly pertinent to the readership, our paper breaks down the woes of the world into more bite-sized chunks.

Campaigns by t h e

paper have produced results: , student activism is prevailing from strength to strength, and, most importantly, people at the University of Manchester have a way of making sure they are heard through the metaphorical loudspeaker offered by student media.

The effect of all of this is that contributing to, or reading, student media makes problems appear more solvable. It makes the world seem less daunting by showing that, as students, we can make a difference by asking the right questions and demanding answers.

Of course, student media can’t claim to be able to initiate great societal changes alone, but by promoting our skills, as students, in speaking truth to power and standing up for our beliefs, I believe it can shape a new attitude for a generation which will have to tackle some major issues over the course of our lives.

In the title of this article, I suggest the world doesn’t make sense; it is easy to feel that that is true for all the reasons I have discussed in this article on both a local university level and beyond. But your time a t university is the optimal time

to explore your passions, take a stand, and work to improve and shape the world how you see fit.

Student media alone won’t do all of that for you - but it just might help.

Want to get involved?

We want you to join The Mancunion!

Come along to our section meetings 5-7PM Monday and Tuesday in The Hive or follow us on Instagram @themancunion to see our section meeting schedule. Can’t wait to see you there!

Lifestyle 11

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Behind the scenes at Fuse TV

We take a look behind the scenes at Fuse TV, which now features a wide ranging portfolio of news programming, drunken debate, documentaries, and short films Aidan Rhode Fuse TV Station Manager

T

ucked away next to The Hive in the Students’ Union, you can find the University of Manchester’s very own student TV station, part of the Manchester Media Group family encompassing The Mancunion and Fuse FM .

If you’re yearning for some light entertainment, a student-centric First Dates, the latest coverage of on-campus news, exclusive interviews with leading Manchester figures like Andy Burnham, or drunken interviews with Factory queuers, Fuse TV is the answer to all of your wildest hopes and dreams.

Starting out with a single camera and computer in the basement of the SU, Fuse TV has now been in existence for over a decade. Having won three awards at the recent National Student Television Awards in London last month, Fuse has had an exceptional year with its largest ever committee and new content being released across all major platforms once per week.

New shows and videos are conceptualised at weekly departmental meetings, held in The Hive,

by Fuse ’s Drama, Sports, Factual, Short Form, Entertainment, and News Heads of Department.

The meetings are open to all Fuse TV members, and training sessions are held throughout the year to train members up to use camera equipment and editing software.

Major projects Fuse TV has worked on over the past academic year include Andy Burnham’s Charity DJ Battle at Warehouse Project, Strictly Come Manchester, Reclaim The Night, TEDx University of Manchester, the LeadMCR Elections, and many more. They have collaborated with other stations around the UK too, such as in Leeds for the National Student Television Association’s inaugural Winter Live Show.

This also includes the resurrection of a Fuse TV show first aired in 2018, Slurred Lines , where competitors get drunk and debate controversial topics. In the latest episode, themed around Harry Potter, Head of Entertainment and Host, Nell Conron, said “drunken arguments raged and there

may or may not been some vomiting off camera. But the real question is who was more drunk: the contestants or the host…”

Anja Samy, MMG Coordinator, said “ Fuse TV ’s resurrection after the pandemic has been a long process but it’s really wonderful to see the momentum that has picked up in the past few months!

For many students, the knowledge gap that COVID restrictions caused has meant they have had to build their confidence and media skills from the ground up. But what has emerged is a station that is a very welcoming place to all abilities. All you need is the initiative to get involved in a committee-run project or pitch an idea of your own. I can’t wait to see what else they produce.”

A staple production this year has been the cross-collaborative Under The Spotlight series with The Mancunion , interviewing major Manchester figures such as Bev Craig, Andy Burnham, and Sacha Lord. “It was our way to get national politics and connect it with student life. We wanted to bring student issues to the forefront of national debate as it has been left out of the conversation, even though students have suffered the brunt of pandemic restrictions and cost of

living crisis,” said Shikhar Talwar, series producer of Under the Spotlight and MMG News Producer. “Afzal Khan MP brought up points raised in our interview in the House of Commons, which was a highlight of the series, and showed the impact that we aimed for when conceptualising the show”.

The creation of this content does not happen overnight, and the often overlooked pre-production and post-production processes are an important and collaborative pro-

cess. There is the freedom for members to dabble in any aspect of the creative process, such as camera operating, presenting, editing, or even live vision mixing due to this year’s revival of Fuse ’s live broadcast equipment, which had previously been rendered redundant due to a lack of knowledge handover post-pandemic.

Thanks to input from MUTTS, Fuse has been able to broadcast several live events this year, including LeadMCR Elections Hustings, TEDx, and Live From The Hive.

Due to the University not having any dedicated practical filmmaking or broadcast journalism degree, getting involved with Fuse TV is one of the only opportunities to acquire the practical skills and hands-on experience required for getting a foot in the door of this highly competitive media industry. Members can have a bit of fun, get exclusive access to cover major events around M a n c h e s t e r, come up with and pitch their own show ideas, and build up a great CV and portfolio at the same time.

You can watch Fuse TV on YouTube, TikTok, and over on Fuse TV’s new website: fusetv.co.uk

Women in Media: Everything you need to know The student-run conference is an inspirational informative weekend Annabel Benton Lifestyle Editor

W

omen in Media, the annual conference run by students from Manchester Media Group, returned to the University’s Student Union in April. The conference is a brilliant way to learn more about careers in the media and network with inspirational women.

However, it may not be clear to all students just what WIM is, or what they could gain from attending. As such, we are giving you the run-down of all the information you need to know about the event.

Women still face many barriers to entering careers in the media, an industry which has been historically dominated by men, especially in positions of authority. To try to promote diversity in the media industry

and inspire the next generation of women in media, Manchester Media Group puts together an annual two-day conference, with keynote talks, panels, Q&As, and workshops celebrating those with successful media careers.

Exciting speakers for the 2023 conference included Branwen Jeffreys, Education Editor for the BCC, and Keisha Thompson, the Artistic Director of Contact Theatre in Manchester.

There were also panels covering a wide range of media careers, from podcasting and investigative journalism to filmmaking and radio. Other panels included ‘Media in Manchester’, with the conference focusing on championing those doing incredible work in the media of our city.

The fun does not stop with talks, however, as the

conference also put on a series of interactive workshops across the weekend. Events included a

breaking news workshop with News Associates’ Lucy Dyer, a creative workshop with Ajifa, and a zine-making workshop from Stephanie Francis-Shanahan.

Celebrating women and creating inspiring environments is not just confined to WIM weekend. On March 20, WIM held a belated International Women’s Day fundraiser club night in Withington venue XLR, with music from Moll of NotBadForAGirl, and student DJs Sash and Gooru.

The fundraiser was both a fun student night out and a chance to benefit the local Manchester c o m m u n i t y, as Women in Media is completely non-profit.

This

year’s conference sponsored two incredible charities working to support women in the city: Manchester Action for Street Health (MASH) and Smart Works Greater Manchester.

MASH helps women working in the sex industry to have better access to good health, safety, and emotional well-being. They provide drop-in health clinics as well as personal case workers who help women set up bank accounts, report crimes, attend appointments, apply for courses, and fill out forms.

Smart Works also does fantastic work, helping women across Greater Manchester secure employment and write their CVs— helping to change the trajectories of their lives. The team managed to raise over £1200 for these amazing charities. The Women in Media Conference will return in 2024, follow @wimconmcr for updates.

A-Z

CLUBS & SOCIETIES A A Cappella and Beatboxing ABACUS - Association of British and Chinese University Students Academic Surgery Society Accelerate ME Access All Areas Volunteering (AAA) Accounting Active Anthropology Actuarial Society Adventist Students on Campus - ASC Aerospace Society (AeroSoc) Afghan African Caribbean African-Carribean Medics Society (ACMS) Ahlul Bayt Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association (AMSA) AIESEC in Manchester Aikibudo Aikido Algorithmic Trading Alpha kappa psi Sigma Upsilon Phi American Football American Studies PGR Amnesty International Anaesthetics Analytical Game Theory Optimal Study of Poker Anatomical Anime Anti Journal Journal Club Anti Wolfgang-Gang Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Arab Archery Society Armenian-Society Art Business Arts and Crafts Society Asian Women in Law AskDoc Student Astrobiology Astronomy Athletics Audio - Primary and Secondary School Project AAA Aviation and Space Medicine Society

B BA Econ Badminton Baháʼí Society Bahrain Society Baking Society Balkan Society Baltic Society BAMEdical Bangladesh Society Barbershop Singers (MUBS) Baseball and Softball Basketball BASS (BA in Social Sciences Society) Bhakti Yoga Bhangra Society BHZ Connection Biko Bikes - Sustainability Project SA Bingo Biochemistry Bioinformatics Biological Sciences Biotechnology Birdwatching Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) Politics Black Girls’ Space

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C Caledonian Calisthenic Society Canoe Capoeira Cardiothoracic Cardiovascular Career Accelerator Society CAT MEOW Catholic Celtic Society Central Asian Society (CAS) Cheerleading Cheese and Wine Society Chemical Engineering Chemistry (ChemSoc) Chess Society Chilean Society Chinese Christian Fellowship Chinese Culture Integration Chinese Orchestra Chinese Students Chinese Students & Scholars (CSSA) Choir & Orchestra Christian Union CHUMS Civil Engineering Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology & Egyptology Closet - Sustainability Project SA Cocktail Society Code Club - Primary School Project AAA Coffee Society Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology Comedy Comics Art & Illustration (MUCAI) Communist Society Competitive Integration Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) Consulting Reach Convo Club - Refugee & Asylum Seekers SA CPR for Schools Society Crackchester - Cybersecurity Society Creative Medics Creative Writing Society Cricket Criminology Cross Country Cubing CueSports Cycling Czech & Slovak Society

D Dance Dance Competition Darts Data Science Daytrip Society DC society Debating Union Decolonise East Asian Studies Dental Research Dental Students (MDSS) Dentman Dermatology (DermSoc) Direct Access - Womens Project SA Disabled Student’s Society Disney Society Diversity & Equality Community Dodgeball Society Dogs Unleashed Doubleday Centre Students Drag Kings of Manc Drama Society Drum & Bass Duke of Edinburgh Award

E E-Commerce E-Sport Eastern African Effective Altruism Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEESoc) Emergency Medicine Emirati Students ENACTUS Engineering: Volunteering & Outreach (EVO) English Literature Society Environmental Law Equestrian Escape Room Estonian Society Ethical & Sustainable Finance European Law Students Association (ELSA) Eurovision Ex-Yugoslav Exchange Expedition Club

F Fashion Feminist Collective Fencing Filipino Film Afternoons - Intergenerational Project SA Film Society Filmmaking FinTech and LegalTech Society First Love Society Folk and Ceilidh Food Culture Football Data Analytics Formula Student Frankenstein Appreciation French Speaking Friends of David Nott Foundation Friends of Manchester Student Housing Cooperative Friends of MSF Manchester Friends of Palestine Funfair - Primary School Project AAA Fuse FM Fuse TV Future Teachers Social Society Future Women Lawyers

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G Genetics Society Geography (MUGS) German Get Crafty for Charity Ghanaian society Giant Foamboard Aircraft Research and Outreach Programme Gigs and Bands (GABS) Golf Google Developer Student Club Green Finance Society Gymnastics

H Haematology Handball Sports Heads Up Healthcare Alliance (HEAL) Healthy Lifestyle Hedge Fund Association Hide and Seek Society Hiking Club Hindu Society Hip Hop Society Historia Normannis (Historical Reenactment) Historical Fencing History Homeless Healthcare Hong Kong Public Affairs & Social Services Human Rights Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) Hungarian Hyperloop Manchester

I Ice Hockey Improv Society Incredible Edible - Sustainability Project SA India Society Indian Cinema Society Indian Dance Indian Music Indie society Individual Student Events (Staff Use) Indonesian Society Innovation Club Institute of Biotechnology Postgraduates International Business, Finance & Economics (IBFE) International Medics Society Iraqi Irish Society Islamic Society (ISoc) Italian ITMB Society

J Japanese Society Jewish Jewish Students’ Kehillah Jiu Jitsu Judo

K K-Pop Kabaddi Club Karate

Kickboxing Kilburn After Hours Knitting and Crochet Society Korean Korfball Krishna Conciousness Kurdish Society Kuwait Society

L Labour Students Language Society Laparoscopic Latin & Ballroom Latin American Lebanese Society Leftist Action LGBTQ+ LIGHTSS - Secondary School Project AAA Linguistics Lithuanian Local Pub and Gig

M Mahjong Makeup Society Malay Language & Culture Society (Malecs) Malayalee Malaysian Students’ (MSSM) Maldivian Management and Entrepreneurship Manchester Chinese Business Manchester Investment Fund Manchester Revue Manchester Student Renters Union Mancunion Marrow Society Marvel Society Marxist Masonry Match Manchester MathSoc MatSoc Mauritian Society Mechanical Engineering (MechSoc) Med Ahead MedAid Medic Care Network Medical and Biophysics Society Medical Education Society Medical Ethics and Law Society Medical Microbiology Society (MMS) Medical Orchestra and Choir Medical Research Students Medical Students Society (Medsoc) Medicine Peer Mentoring Medics Badminton Club Medics Basketball Club Medics Football (Men’s) Medics Football (Women’s) Medics Hockey Club Medics Netball Club Medics Paediatric Society (MUMPS) Medics Panto Medics Rugby Union Meditation and Mindfulness MedReach - Medicine Project AAA MedTech Foundation Men’s & Mixed Lacrosse Men’s Football Men’s Futsal Men’s Hockey Men’s Rugby League Men’s Rugby Union Midwifery Mindful Medics Mindfulness Practice and Research Club Minecraft Mixed Martial Arts Mixed Netball MMRSSoc Outreach Conference - Medicine Model United Nations Modern Language & Business Management Society Motorsports Society Mountaineering-Climbing Museum

Music (MUMS) Musical Theatre Society Muslim Medics Muslim Northern Women

N Natural Hair Nepalese Netball Neuroscience Nigerian Nightline Nordic North African North West Biotech Initiative Nuclear & Particle Physics (NPPS) Nursing (NURSOC) Nutritank

O Obstetrics & Gynaecology Omani Society Once a Month - Homelessness Project SA Oncology Ophthalmology Society (UMOS) Optometry Society (OpSoc) Oral Medicine Organ Donation & Transplant Surgery Orthodontic Society Otaku Dance Other Sounds Outreach - Homelessness Project SA Outreach Dentists (MOD) - FE Project AAA Outreach Medics (MOM) - Medicine Project AAA

P Paediatric Dentist Students Pakistan Foundation Pakistan Society Pantomime Society Paranormal, Occult and Esoteric Society ParliaMentors Peer Buddy Scheme - Wellbeing Project Pensa Manchester People and Planet Persian Peruvian Society PGR Disability Society Pharmacology Society Pharmacy Society (MUPS) Philosophy Society Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) Photography Physician Associate Society (PASoc) PhysSoc Pint of Science Pirate Society Planet Bee Magazine Planning & Landscape (PLUMS) Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Preston Medical Preston Medics Badminton Preston Medics Football Preston Medics Netball Preston Oncology Preston Paediatric Preston Psychiatry Preston Surgical Pro Bono Psychiatry Psychology Punjabi Society PWP Tues - Accessibility Project SA PWP Weds - Accessibility Project SA Preston Medical Preston Medics Badminton Preston Medics Football Preston Medics Netball Preston Oncology Preston Paediatric Preston Psychiatry Preston Surgical Pro Bono Psychiatry Psychology

Punjabi Society PWP Tues - Accessibility Project SA PWP Weds - Accessibility Project SA

Q Qazaq Society Quadball Club Quantum Computing Queer Medics Quiz Society (MUQS)

R Radiology Society Raise & Give (RAG) Ramp Society ReachOut Society Reading Mentors - Primary School Project AAA Real Estate Society Relaxed Alternative Events Renewable Energy and Net Zero Robotics Society Rock, Metal & Alternative Roller Society Romanian Rowing Royal Society Run Wild Russian Society

S Sailing Salsa & Bachata Satellite Development Group Saudi Academics Saudi Scientific Saudi Society Scalpel Surgical Scout & Guide (SSAGO) SEMSoc (Sports and Exercise Medicine) Sexpression Manchester Sheconomics: Minorities in Economics Shogi Shorts Friday Society Sign Language (BSL) Sikh Society Simpsons Singapore Students’ SINOS (Manchester’s Ent Society) Skateboarding Sketching Skydive Club SMART Combat Snowsports Socialist Workers Student Society Sociology Somali Spanish Speak Up SA Speech & Language Therapy Society Speleology Club Spread the Word Society Squash Sri Lankan Steely Dan Society STEM Philanthropy STEM Research Stockport Food Project - Homelessness Project SA Strathclyde - Homelessness Project SA Student Action Volunteering Student Angels - Wellbeing Project Student Bioethics Forum Students for Sensible Drug Policy Students for the Exploration & Development of Space (ManSEDS) Students for Universal Healthcare Access Sub Aqua (MUSAC) Sudanese Society Surf Sustainable Engineering Initiative Swimming Swing Dance Society

T Table Tennis Tabletop Roleplaying Taekwondo

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Taiwanese Tamil Tango Taylor Swift Society Team for Rohingya Technical Theatre (MUTTS) TEDx Telugu Tennis Thai The Breast Project The Dead Poet’s Society The Forum The Law and Current Affairs Society Thrift Society Touch Rugby International Trading & Investments (MUTIS) Trading Card Game Trading Society Trampoline Transcend Trauma & Orthopaedics Travelab - Primary School Project AAA Turkic Society Turkish & Northern Cypriot

U UAV Ukrainian Society Ultimate Frisbee Uni Boob Team UniCS UoM Sport Urban Lawyers North Urology

V Vegan and Vegetarian Society Vietnamese Society (VietSoc) Vinyl Frontier Volleyball

W Want Not Waste Warped - Sci-Fi and Fantasy Water Polo Wealth and Asset Management Welsh Society Widening Participation Medics Wilderness Medicine Society Willowbank - Childrens Project SA Wine Tasting Woman, Life, Freedom Women in Business Women in Engineering Women in Media Women in Medicine Society Women in Science & Engineering (WISE) Women in Surgery Women’s Amateur Hockey Women’s Football Women’s Hockey Women’s Lacrosse Women’s Rugby League Women’s Rugby Union World Citizens WrapSociety

Y Yoga Society Young Academics Young Conservatives Young European Movement Manchester Young Greens

Z ZenPaint Zombie Apocalypse Survival Zoology Zumba Dance Fitness

Societies

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‘Style’ ‘Mirrorball’, although

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16 Music

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Noel Gal

“Cosmetically, Manchester chang The Mancunion sit down with Noel Gallagher to talk about Manchester,

Alex Cooper Deputy Music Editor

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course, is Manchester itself. The streets of Longsight and Burnage is where Noel Gallagher grew up, and his music is forever linked to the city. Council Skies reflects this, with the photography for the album (shot by legendary Man-

hen Noel Gallagher was sitting at home locked down in 2020, he had a lot of time, like the rest of us, to reflect. The product of this reflection is his new album, Council Skies.

Exploring young love, and coming of age in the “concrete and the dirt” of council estates, The Mancunion sat down with Noel Gallagher to find out more.

“This is the first album which my actual band all played on, because usually I would do it all myself”, Noel Gallagher tells the Mancunion. “When you eventually get to hear it, it’s very eclectic. It’s not as far out as Who Built The Moon?, but there’s a run of the first six or seven songs, not one song that follows the other is the same stylistically.” Referencing the infamous addition of Charlotte Marionneau to the band on his last studio album, Gallagher adds that “there’s no scissors on it.” One rumour dispelled, at least.

Council Skies comes from the name of a collection of Pete McKee art, which Noel Gallagher owned and caught a glance of it on his coffee table when writing the titular song. “He paints people from council estates […] I just glanced at that book that was on a coffee table at home and I was like ‘ah, f*ck, hang on a minute’.” “I called Pete and I said, ‘am I alright using this?’, and he said, ‘yeah of course’, and then it all started to take shape really.”

Lockdown was also an important factor in the writing of the record. “If you can put yourself back into that period, we didn’t really know what the future was going to be because none of us had lived through a pandemic before.

We were kind of stood, looking at the skies going ‘What the f*ck?

What is the next few years gonna be like?’ […] I was just reflecting on how I’d got to where I’d got to and I had a lot of time to sit and think about it. It’s a reflective album,

cunian photographer Kevin Cummins) features locations from Gallagher’s life in the city. “I took photographs of significant spots on the way into town from Burnage. There’s Sifter’s Records”, infamously referenced in Oasis song ‘Shakermaker’, “there’s Burnage Community Centre where we used to go glue sniffing, the Apollo, the shops of Levenshulme and Ardwick and Piccadilly Station […] it’s got a very council estate, northern feel to it.”

The front cover artwork is of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ equipment set up on the centre circle of Maine Road, the demolished stadium of Gallagher’s beloved Manchester City in Moss Side, which is now a housing estate.

While Noel Gallagher is keen to

more than anything.”

The other important factor, of

stress t h a t the album isn’t about Manchester, it’s clear that his love for the city is something that has influenced C o u n c i l Skies. “When you go back to Manchester, you’re very aware that you’re in a city with a strong

identity, with an amazing history, and an amazing musical history, and a very f*ck-

ing cool present […] it’s why people like us, we never really lose our accent because it’s embedded in us […] when I go back to Manchester, on the surface, there’s a new street here, there’s a new thing in the Northern Quarter there, but it

never really changes because the people are the same.”

Growing up in Burnage, a stone’s throw away from Manchester’s student areas, Noel Gallagher is well acquainted with Fallowfield.

“I used to work at a restaurant that used to be called the Jabberwock.

It’s a big old pub on the corner […]

I used to be a dishwasher, just on a Saturday night. One of the guys that used to work in there was the drummer from Magazine.” The building that housed the Jabberwock is now occupied by 256 and Studio Bar. “And of course, one of the maddest buildings of all time, The Toast Rack […] because the album artwork took a few twists and turns, I got a load of old pictures from Manchester from the 60s and 70s, and there’s an amazing picture of the Toast Rack. What a f*cking mad building that is!”

Noel Gallagher keeps returning to the same strand of thought on Manchester, which is that the more it changes, the more it stays the same. “When I follow [Manchester] City away, I don’t go in a box, I’ll go on the terraces with fans. The culture and the language and the humour is still the same as it was 30-40 years ago, just that people are wearing different clothes. With cities like Manchester and Liverpool and Dublin and Glasgow, they’ve all got a soul, and it’s in the dirt under your nails. It must be something in the water where cosmetically, the city changes, but it forever stays the same.”

Council Skies’ singles display many different sides to Gallagher’s musicianship.

There’s ‘Pretty Boy’ which is reminiscent of The Cure’s style, the noir of ‘Dead To The World’, and the soaring titular track, where the video was filmed at the recently reopened historic venue New Century Hall.

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ges... but it forever stays the same” his new album Council Skies, and his headline gig at Wythenshawe Park.

“When it was decided ‘Council Skies’ was going to be a single, it was like, w e ’ r e going to have to film it in Manc h e s t e r, and then s o m e body had showed me pictures of New Century Hall and the lighting rig that’s in the ceiling. We were going to film it outdoors in Manchester and I was like, ‘Look, it is going to f*cking p*ss it down’. It rains in August so it’s going to f*cking rain in March.”

“You know down each side of the room, there’s those padded bars right the way down the wall that you can lean on. They had in them the longest ashtrays in the world. It was one big ashtray, and it was just like a trough […] all the fellas used to stand smoking while their wives were all dancing on the dancefloor to whoever was playing that night. They were all drinking bitter and smoking.” Gallagher also notes that Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones played there in 60s and 70s, which musician, journalist and friend John Robb told him during the shooting of the video.

Robb

makes a cameo as a barman.

“This is again one of the great

things about Manchester. An old building like that, it never gets knocked down, it’s been kind of reimagined, and now it’s reopened and it’s great. Whereas, in London, that would already be flats, because London’s forever expanding and it’s a sprawling thing. That would be luxury flats now. And it would be a piece of local history gone forever.” The more it changes, the more it stays the same.

Noel Gallagher will return to Manchester on the 26th of August, headlining the first major outdoor show in Wythenshawe Park. “My promoters were saying that they were thinking of doing this regular thing in Wythenshawe Park, and this is

before they knew anything about the album. Ironically, this is gonna be my first British gig promoting an album called Council Skies, in the middle of the biggest council estate in Europe.

It just all fell into place which is f * c k i n g magical.”

W h e n asking if Mancunian gigs are still the best and most special for him, there isn’t an atom of doubt in Noel Gallagher’s tone. “Of course. Mancunian gigs, either side of the show itself are quite stressful because you know everybody and everybody knows you, and they want to get in, and there’s tickets and guestlist and then you’ve got to stick around and see everybody.

But the crowd itself, someone was asking me to describe a Mancunian crowd, and to me, it always just looks full of f*cking young people.

More so than anywhere else I ever play. People go to concerts in London. And they stand there, and they want to hear this and this and this, and they f*cking leave because the tube f*cking shuts at 11 o clock. Whereas I just think Manchester’s all for kids, just out having great time.”

Manchester is like this in the present day. Just one glance at listings and there’s at least ten gigs a night in town, and they’re more often than not sold out. Bands without singles rub shoulders with the authors of their hopes and dreams, and the music that these budding musicians got hooked on in their bedrooms becomes a pillar of community. “And it was always

the same.”, Noel Gallagher agrees.

“More articulate people than me have tried to sum it up down the years but I guess, the one quote we always go back to is the one from Tony Wilson saying, ‘we do things differently up here’. There’s always

been this thing about youth culture, and youth culture itself is not as mainstream because everything’s geared towards the economics of f*cking ridiculous pop music. But you have to go looking for it, and you know, that’s no bad thing really.

But it’s there, and it’s vibrant, and it’s young, and it’s f*cking cool.”

“In the late 80s and early 90s, Manchester was the centre of the

universe almost. But just because now there’s not huge, big f*cking bands, one a week coming out of Manchester doesn’t mean it’s not happening, it is happening, you’ve just got to go and look for it […] I do pity, pity isn’t the right word, my two teenage boys now. They were born and raised in London, and I often just think how different they would be if they were Mancunians.

They’re still cool and my children and all that, and they’re amazing, but I just think how different would they be?

Because they look like Mancunians but sound like they’re from the home counties.”

Life is different for Noel Gallagher now, and Council Skies’ reflection doesn’t stop at the music. “I tell my kids tales of growing up [in Manchester] and they literally don’t believe you.

And I’m just like ‘mate, this is like a regular thing, this is a daily thing up there’.” I tell him there’s a man at my local pub that sells cheese; he recalls that someone used to sell legs of lamb at his. Strangely, our

conversation comes full circle, as things in Manchester seem to have remained remarkably untouched between generations. “The more they change, the more they stay the same.”, Gallagher proclaims. It’s very hard to disagree with him.

Council Skies is out 2nd June.

18 Music

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Will silence hit the North?

Night & Day Café and The Leadmill facing closure

​​Historic Northern music venues Night & Day Cafe in Manchester and The Leadmill in Sheffield are at risk of closure Jacob Broughton-Glerup Music Writer This article was originally published in December 2022 and was shortlisted for ‘Best Arts and Culture piece’ at the Student Publication Awards.

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ust a five minute walk into the Northern Quarter from Piccadilly Gardens, any music-lover will know how to find Manchester’s Night and Day Café. Walking into the venue in broad daylight, there’s a sober sense of preparation for the evening, when this intimate space comes alive.

The walkway to the toilets is swamped with gig posters - ticket-stubs surrounding each wall, some dating all the way back to the venue’s opening almost 31 years ago – meaning you simply cannot escape the Café’s history. It is sown into the building. Just opposite the bar, there is an exhibit of Liam Graham’s 12 x 17cm creations, pieces of colourful art vibrantly accompanying the all-important centre-piece – the stage.

Liam Graham is himself signed to the independent Waxing Crescent Records, and his various pieces are accompanied with a David Bowie print by famed Mancunion illustrator Stanley Chow. This is a truly creative space, furnished accordingly.

Sitting down to speak with Reece Ritchie - the In-House Promoter here at Night & Day – we discussed much of what makes this venue so special to so many here in Manchester: “Manchester isn’t Manchester without music.

The only reason it’s such a musical city is because there’s a gig on every night”.

The venue itself has played host to an extraordinary variety of large commercial acts, includ-

ing both Elbow and James Bay. The venue is a well-connected one, regularly being praised by the likes of Matty Healy of The 1975 and Everything Everything, who’s initial rehearsals and recordings began downstairs. Just behind where we sat, Reece was keen to point out a poster for Nile Marr, playing on February 3 of next year.

The venue is famed for being a springboard for talent: “We were the first venue to take a punt on My Chemical Romance in the UK” - a clear point of pride for all involved at the Café, playing their part in the momentous ‘emo’ group’s rise to fame. The same can be said for the ascension of Wet Leg, who played a gig here – surprisingly not sold out for anybody who has tried to see the Isle of Wight group in their last tour - over a year ago, just prior to the meteoric rise of their debut single, ‘Chaise Longue’. “There are tickets available for the bands of tomorrow.”

Having mentioned he was running up to six events per week up until recently (given the approaching end of a typical tour cycle), Night & Day still provide an incredibly lively supply of both established and up-and-coming artists to the burgeoning Northern Quarter. The intimate venue creates a unique experience for gigs, with the ceiling flanked by glitter-balls recognisable from any live-footage. Reece made sure to stress the importance of young bands in their rotation: “We’re always looking at young talent. That’s what Night & Day has always been built on.”

As an ex-Manchester University student himself and former editor of The Mancunion’s Music Section, Reece still maintains connections with the ‘student scene’. As he puts it, “That’s really the ethos; we are all about young live bands.” Just last September, King Violet headlined the Café with a bill full of bands provided by the U n i -

versity’s Gigs and Bands Society. “It’s my job to connect those young bands who make great music, but maybe don’t know how to put it in front of 250 people”.

In 2021, the Northern Quarter stalwart were issued with risk of closure

by Manchester City Council. Ironically, for a bar prided on its creation of sound, a noise complaint dispute placed the beloved gig-venue into a long list of threatened small venues across the UK. With a ruling not expected until at least the January 17 2023, uncertainty seems to dominate the air. “Promoters have to think about, I have to think about it, the bands themselves have to think about it”, Reece commented.

There is also a genuine sense of struggle against an economic environment where seemingly, the last thing on the agenda is creativity and fun. With inflation rates soaring over 10% alongside the absurd increases in domestic bills, it is sometimes difficult to be optimistic for our plucky, smaller venues, reliant of course on paying customers. However, Reece was quick to remark upon how important the support of the campaign had been: “It’s wonderful and the team here are so so grateful”. Celebrity endorsements and a petition at over 86,000 signatures strong have helped along the way, alongside many a strongwilled Twitter exchange in the Council’s direction. “It makes all of the effort to fight it worth it”.

Just an hour away, across the Pennines, a similarly frustrating ordeal is playing out on the front-line of live music. The Leadmill is Sheffield’s oldest music-venue and club, having played host to the flowering careers of the likes of Pulp and Arctic Monkeys prior to both bands’ infamy, as well as other renowned groups from the city, such as The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire.

First opened in the spring of 1980 as The Leadmill Community Arts Cooperative, the venue primarily functioned as an arts-centre oriented towards the young and unemployed – a grass-

roots organisation formed purely as a space for creativity. Autumn of the same year saw the venue take shape, with summer of 1982 seeing the ‘Festival Against Unemployment’ rock the venue – true enough to ‘The People’s Republic of South Yorkshire’.

In March of this year, the venue’s landlord issued a year’s notice for eviction, a shocking attempt at prising the venue out of good hands and into the clutches of a more corporate space. Sparking similar outrage to that of Night & Day, The Leadmill’s struggle with their landlord has inspired the likes of ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, comedian Eddie Izzard, and even infamous Tory Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries to call for a resolution to the dispute, alongside a plethora of artistic names (comedian Joe Lycett and The Libertines frontman Peter Doherty to name but a few).

Currently, the Save the Leadmill campaign petition sits at just over 46,000 signatures, but there is little indication that this is taking serious effect as of yet. The venue itself is a piece of Sheffield music-history, a legacy littered with oddities: from a Jarvis Cocker directed pantomime in 1982, to the Arctic Monkeys’ secret album launch in 2007 during a customary club-night – a rallying cry at the centre of the campaign to halt the eviction.

The venue itself is not only an artefact of a Sheffield music-scene been and gone, but – much like Night & Day in Manchester – an ever-present and active part of the South Yorkshire music scene. Tramlines festival in Hillsborough Park has its second stage named after the venue, and it regularly wins Exposed Awards’ Best Live Venue title (victorious as recently as 2019). Just last summer, local band Minds Idle – a charming 60s revival pop machine lead by talisman Ted Mitchell - sold out their smaller room,

joining the ever-growing list of young talent to grace the venue.

Club nights at The Leadmill are a mainstay for any Sheffield teenager, as are gigs, with it serving as one of the last refuges in South Yorkshire for a major touring act – particularly if the artist or band in question lean towards the ‘indie’ side of things (read that as you may). This falls despite that part of Britain often being forgotten en route up North in favour of Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club or Manchester’s 02 Ritz.

Sheffield’s music scene does not live or die by The Leadmill, as important as it is to its heritage. Venues such as the relatively new Sidney and Matilda and Delicious Clam do support bands and artists coming through their doors, as well as embracing touring artists. The likes of the new Desolate Spools record label (spear-headed

by Adrian Flanagan, of Eccentronic Research Council and Moonlandingz fame) pushing to the fore the odd and interesting of Sheffield-based music prove the health of music in the region, as an electronica reimagining of the likes of The Human League sits on the horizon.

But The Leadmill, just like Night & Day Café, is an intrinsic part of Northern gig-culture. To lose either would be a catastrophe for any music lover, and as such these venues need protecting at all costs. Given the nature of being a young artist or band today, with literal pennies earned from Spotify listens, performing live is an integral part of any musician’s living. Artists and bands all over Britain will not cease to write, rehearse, and record the nation’s next adopted anthems; but without venues to inspire and host this country’s next generation, we risk more and more great artists getting lost in the algorithm. Spotify has its virtues, but nothing replaces a grassroots venue.

Photo: The Mancunion and Wikimedia Commons

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Review: UoM Musical Theatre Society’s Autumn Showcase

UoM’s very own Musical Theatre Society’s Autumn Showcase assembled snippets from the outstanding shows performed last academic year Hanna Patla Theatre Writer

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ith an assembly of songs from last year’s productions Pippin, A Very Potter Musical, Company, and A New Brain, the musical theatre society wowed their audience with perfect pitch, fantastic comedic timing, and unadulterated joy for their craft that shone through in each performance.

A Very Potter Musical was a brilliant beginning, with Ginny (Hannah McCoy) singing with a cheeky romantic look in her eyes and a bright, youthful voice.

She was accompanied by Harry and Ron (Xavier Moras Spencer and Charlie Steggall) as backup dancers. They swayed to the music before joining in, a creative decision which sparked many well-deserved laughs from the audience.

Arran Kemp continued the fun with a rendition of ‘Be Polite to Everyone’ from A New Brain. The number was sung in a gorgeously deep voice with a humourous tone that worked well to establish a

sassy villain persona.

Next up was Charlie Steggall, who sang (to my disappointment) the only song from Pippin that was included in the line-up.

Nevertheless, his performance of ‘Corner of the Sky’ was enough to have me berating myself for not seeing the full production last year.

Rosa Gatley weaved sincerity through her character when singing ‘Not Getting Married Today’ from Company . Although her timings were a little off in places.

Her voice overlapping with Rowan Wilson’s and Aimee Wilmot’s at the end was goose-bump worthy.

‘Mother’s Gonna Make Things Fine’ from A New Brain was possibly my favourite song from the whole performance, deftly sung by Lucy Whelan.

She not only captured the fraudulent positivity of the character at this moment, but the power of her voice gave the song a sustained momentum that had the audience captured. She reminded me of Stephanie J. Block, which as any theatre lover will know, is a huge commendation.

The whole cast had an amazing

understanding of harmonies, which was especially noticeable in ‘Granger Danger’, sung by Charlie Steggall and Ella Kendrick.

Their performance was another highlight for me.

Having seen the 2018 run of Company at the Gielgud Theatre in London, I had a high bar for Fran Wolfin’s ‘Ladies who Lunch’, and she certainly did not disappoint.

Her projection

was strong, and the character development was a masterclass in performance.

In the future, I’m certain she could give Patti LuPone a run for her money.

Aimee Wilmot’s ‘Change’ from A New Brain was not only technically glorious but commanded a strong stage presence. She sprinkled in an appreciated bit of humour at the end by giving a few lucky audience members some coins she had in her pocket.

The pianist, Leo Gatty, must also be given major props as, despite apparently having only four days’ notice, he handled each song with the nimbleness of a professional.

Technical issues were handled well, eliciting laughs from the performers and audience alike. My particular favourite was the moment one of the microphones seemingly fell to pieces in one of the cast member’s hands. However, the accompaniment being a tad too loud during ‘Being Alive’ (sung

by Xavier Moras Spencer) did sadly drown out some of the softer moments of one of the most impressive renditions of this song I’ve heard to date.

The showcase overall exceeded all expectations I sat down with.

The obvious camaraderie and glee

the performers get from each other and what they do had me grinning all the way through. It wasn’t just me either; the whole room seemed to buzz, whether from the sound system, the fact that most of the audience was indulging in a drink from 532, or from the pure energy that flowed through each song. I personally think it was a perfect combination of all the factors. I couldn’t tell whether freshers’ flu hadn’t affected a single member of this cast, but the beautiful tones they sang with certainly suggests not.

To get involved with UoM Musical Theatre Society, follow them on Instagram @ummts

Review: Stump (UMDS) The Mancunion reviews Stum, performed by the University of Manchester Drama Society at The Brewers in The Gay Village Witiko Grevel Theatre Writer

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night brimming with frolicking animals and hysteria on the edge of witchcraft.

All this while slaying a club in the legendary Gay Village. The play follows the after-effects on Ingrid (Holly Langlois) and Finley (James Murison) after an enormous oak is felled outside their home. Ingrid won’t let go and believes the tree must live again.

This rendition, written by Eris Kennish, explores the inner turmoil of a couple after an ancient Oak was slain in front of their house to make way for a major motorway construction. Exploring strong themes of a threatened natural environment and community.

The story starts off with impressive and majestical dancing furries swirling through the audience. As they slowly approach the main stage, Ingrid is standing paralysed with mourning for the stump before her; all that remains of the mighty oak. In this fairy den atmosphere, the animals twirl and throw confetti before her very eyes, but she is alien to this. Celebration

is happening all around Ingrid, but she can’t seem to join in the fun. The animals consisted of a magnificent dancing troupe including the magnetic Fox (Carlos Lee), the graceful Crow (Isobel Oldroyd), the slinking Snake (Stella Stevens), and the swirling Moth (Ben Chesworth).

The Brewers in the Gay Village hosted the performance, while upstairs the club was in full

swing. People were waiting with anticipation to watch the U K Drag Race Finale and the music from upstairs reverberated through the ceiling and walls. Our audience members sipped from pints bought from the bar at the side.

Before the play even commenced, the director

(Adelaide Marshall) made an announcement from the DJ corner, welcoming everyone for the night ahead. As Adelaide intended, a theme of community and teamwork was apparent throughout the world of the play.

The dancers were always working together effectively in a group.

They even executed duet danceoffs despite the constraints of the small stage. Finley stayed loyally close to comfort and reassure a hopeless Ingrid. The soundtrack couldn’t be queued or recorded on the system, so Adelaide played the music and sound effects from his DJ set. This air of authenticity to the music combined with the jovial atmosphere only a club can guarantee, and the performance of the dancers and cast ensured a captivating night for all.

Finley, the golden retriever partner of Ingrid, struggles throughout to bring sense back to the stubborn and anguished Ingrid.

When people take turns standing on the tree stump during a birthday party (to make speeches), Ingrid gets especially annoyed. This leads to an intense argument between her and Finley. They finally relent

when an awkward and almost sarcastic “Happy Birthday” is sung to remind them of where they are.

Still tense when cutting the cake for everyone, Finley cuts himself which sends him to the hospital and Ingrid warms up slightly, as does the atmosphere, as Ben Chesworth satirises the A&E waiting room with his comedic portrayal of an overworked Nurse.

Tensions between Ingrid and her sister Grace (Stella Stevens) also escalate. Grace is pregnant and needs help from her only sister. Ingrid doesn’t seem to fully comprehend what is going on anywhere in her life.

Still crazier is when Ingrid calls on dark magic and help from the forest creatures to resurrect the tree. Starting slowly and gradually gaining grandeur the furries reappear and surround her. They sacrifice parts of themselves to be added to the bowl of ingredients.

Ingrid begins chanting and the creatures enact a hypnotising and powerful dance which seems to propel the incantation. This draws out longer and longer and slowly loses ambition as Ingrid realises her spell isn’t working.

In the final scene, critically upset, if she wasn’t already before, Ingrid gets on top of the trunk.

She finally recognises the beasts around her. She welcomes them and lets them lower her down to sit and one by one they surround and embrace her. When she has returned from whatever plane of reality she was on and accepts the furries as her friends. Ingrid has moved on from grief and has returned to trusting and listening to those around her.

Stump was performed at The Brewers Club in the Gay Village from November 23 to 25. Four Furries and a Necromancer title is courtesy of Jack So.

20 Film

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“The most revolutionary thing is to show Black people having fun” Ana Maria Jessie Serna on Pan-Africanism, queerness, and documentary filmmaking

Ibiwunmi Balogun Deputy Film Editor

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na Maria Jessie Serna (she/her) is a Colombian and Black, Pan-Africanist, lesbian filmmaker of Raizal heritage and a recent graduate of MA Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester. Serna strives to share the stories of black, indigenous, lesbian, and queer communities in joyful, beautiful, and insightful ways.

Studying History at undergraduate level, Serna learned the importance of documentation.

For her first project she decided to shed light on the experiences of women from a small Colombian community who, for the most part, could neither read nor write. Out of respect for their story, Serna decided to incorporate audiovisual elements to the project to best represent the experiences of this community. This experience solidified her position as a filmmaker and reflects the ethnographic approach found in Serna’s films.

Culture and the respect of culture are themes that found in Serna’s films. She told The Mancunion that, “My presence is my ancestry, so everything is ancestral and traditional. The Raizal community is an afroindigenous community. We believe in the importance of defending the ocean and our ancestral territory.

I carry the sea and the Caribbean with me all the time. Culture is always inside me. Even working with the camera, rather than fishing or agricultural work, my tradition and culture is very important.”

Serna’s film Because I Know How Beautiful My Being Is will be coming to film festivals soon and is a celebration of. and much needed

expose into, the Black, lesbian, and queer community in Manchester.

Serna talked about the difficulties and successes she had finding participants to include in the project and how “it was really hard because it’s not easy to speak about your sexual identity”.

“Especially if you belong to a Black family…it’s still something very dramatic in the Black community even in the UK.” Serna

expressed her surprise to this as she was expecting queerness to be normalised, “especially with Manchester being an important queer city in the UK”, but there was some hesitation from potential participants.

Serna draws inspiration from many Black and/ or queer revolutionary creatives and spoke about the importance of “honouring those that started everything”. She discloses that in Manchester she felt the loneliness of capitalist culture in a new way.

Being far away from her family and friends Ana started reading book by authors like Audre Lorde, Frantz Fanon, Angela Davis, Toni Morrison and many more Black writers and academics.

“I was just in my room reading a

lot. Crying a lot. I decided to make a dedication for these people that came before us. My film ( Because I Know How Beautiful My Being Is ) is a dedication to Audre Lorde. She is very important in my work and my research”.

Additionally, Ana makes references to academics and filmmakers such as Beatriz Nascimento, Leila Gonzales, Sarah Gomez, a Black filmmaker from

Cuba, and Safi Faye, a Senegalese filmmaker, as her “favourite film in the world” is Faye’s Mossane .

Finally, Cherish Oteka, a BAFTA award winner, because “their vibration is very important for the black queer movement in the UK”.

When I asked her about the importance on representation and her opinion on the state of it, Ana disclosed that the question should be more concerned with the “lack

of real education on anti-racist movements”. Serna critiques the false promises of human rights, culture, diversity, and respect that white people tend to make because “when they have the opportunity to show you respect they decide to reduce you, and not all of them but most of them”.

“It is not necessary to promise kindness and respect … you need to

“They teach us to learn their language, their culture and even to love their queens but why don’t they take their time to educate educate yourself. They teach us to learn their language, their culture, and even to love their queens but why don’t they take their time to educate themselves. They don’t want to teach us our history because if they teach it they need to carry many responsibilities they don’t want to assume”.

Serna pointed out that knowledge is becoming more and more accessible and that “as minorities we do not have the responsibilities to teach you anything anymore because we need to live our lives”. It is for this reason that her films are “not about these things” because “the most revolutionary thing to do is to show black people having fun, enjoying their lives and living their dreams”; however Serna finalised her thought by acknowledging the importance of “speaking about our pain but in a different way”.

Serna consider herself to be a Pan-Africanist woman so for her it is very important to “create another image of being Black in the world” because “the audio-visual, the television and the film industry is responsible for some of the racist structures in the world”.

The subjects in Serna’ films tend to lean on vulnerability to share their experiences. She discussed with us her filmmaking process from an ethical point of view. Her first rule is that “the person is more important to me than the film”, and that honesty about the project is crucial to make a film that both the filmmaker and participant/actor is proud and happy with.

For Serna, “ethics are not only about a system but it is about the filmmaker as an individual, that’s why with every project that I do, I have to make a manifesto. If I don’t do that, I am going to forget that the person is a person and that the film is just a film. Respect is a very

create more magic because that’s what we need. We are in a really beautiful moment of Black magic, with Afrofuturism or Black existentialism, that I think we need to continue to express. The colonialist and capitalist forget us so we need to trust each other

fragile line so you always need to have conversations about your ethics”.

Serna speaks about working with white filmmakers on set and why she sometimes prefers to work with Black people. “I work with Black people because I think that’s the magic, because if you put a white person in the team, even if they are the best at what they do, it’s a waste of precious time because if they don’t understand the essence of your being, it’s so hard to explain to somebody else what is inside of you. If I work with them (white people), they have to be very very educated about racism and blackness”.

“Even when there are different mentalities in a Black team, your definitions of racism can change, but most of the time you don’t have to explain certain things. I think that marginalised people feel something that is very similar and we can work together and

more and give ourselves more opportunities”.

Serna acknowledges that she’s commencing her career but advises up-and-coming Black and queer filmmakers to: “Just go dance and enjoy your time. Find your people, those who share your dreams. Finish your shooting or whatever it is and show your work to the world. You do not have to be the best, you have to be yourself”.

Nonetheless she wants them to know that its going to be hard and that “you are going to understand that in this society when you are Black and when you have such a lack of opportunities you need to know that you’re going to have to try even harder, especially if you are in a white context”. Finally she concludes by saying that they should try to enjoy the process and follow their passion and that this passion “does not have to focus on blackness or on Black or queerness issues”.

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

BEST OF

Books 21

Literary landmarks: Five of Manchester’s best books Manchester has produced some incredible books, and this is a rounded look at some of the city’s literary landmarks Jacob Folkard Books Editor

M

anchester is known for its links to classical and modern literature. From Charlotte Brontë starting Jane Eyre at The Salutation pub, Marx and Engels working on various manifestos from the John Rylands Library, to David Scott’s Mancunian detailing Manc life in the 90s and 00s - Manchester has left a mark on authors and readers alike.

The Guardian reported that “Manchester always had an edgy, radical feel as a city. Great authors through the ages have always tried to capture it.” With that in mind, lets take a tour of Manchester’s literary landmarks through the ages.

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson Kicking the list off is Jeanette Winterson’s semiautobiographical novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. Winterson was not only born in Manchester, but she is currently a professor of creative writing at UoM! Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is based on Winterson’s childhood and tells the story of a young girl adopted into a highly religious household who, as she grows into her teenage years, finds herself attracted to another girl. It is an incredible coming-of-age story. It’s especially good for little moments of homesickness or nervousness which naturally come with the

move to university.

Weaving together religion and sexuality, it is without a doubt a modern classic.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Although made famous by the Stanley Kubrick film, Anthony Burgess’ novel is a truly harrowing work of art. Burgess was born and educated in Manchester, having attended Xaverian College and Manchester U n i v e r s i t y itself. There is now a plaque remembering him on the outside of the Samuel Alexander building!

His tale of ultraviolent youths in a near future dystopia is as good as it is terrifying. Touching on many fascinating ideas, from free will to gang mentality, it’s a true tour de force. If you’re looking for a gripping, gritty, and horrifying yet humorous read, Burgess’ novel is the perfect place to look. Be warned, however, as it does touch on many themes that carry strong trigger warnings and could be distressing for some readers.

The Condition of the Working Classes in England by Friedrich Engels Perhaps not the most

glamorous portrayal of Manchester, but a massively important one that marks

Manchester as one of the most important world cities over the past 200 years. Engels’ comments on the industrial revolution were drawn from his 1842-1844 stay in Manchester.

The book was read by Karl Marx upon his second meeting with Engels, who was mightily impressed by it. Marx and Engels actually met and studied at Manchester’s Chetham’s Library.

If non-fiction is much more your scene, this is definitely a must-read. A massively important feature of the canon of political literature and a literary reminder of Manchester’s incredible position at the forefront of the world’s industrial revolution.

North and South

by Elizabeth Gaskell Continuing on the theme of Manchester’s role in the industrial revolution, E l i z a b e t h Gaskell’s social novel is one of her most famous.

It tells the story of a southern woman who comes and settles in the north in the fictional town of Milton (based on Manchester itself). It portrays the hardships of the Industrial Revolution, particularly the relations between the rich employers and the poorer employees.

Gaskell’s protagonist becomes a supporter of the poor, allowing the book to become a fascinating exploration of the industrial revolution on a personal level.

Gaskell herself is intertwined with Manchester in so many ways: her house (which you can visit) is a five-minute walk from the University, her husband was the

longest serving chair of the Portico Library in the city centre and she is buried in Knutsford, just outside Manchester.

Gaskell is also a hugely interesting literary figure and definitely worth a Google to see how she relates to everything from pet cows to Charles Dickens and John Ruskin.

A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney Mixing it up a bit, Shelagh Delaney’s play cannot be recommended highly enough.

Set in Salford, A Taste of Honey follows 17-year-old Jo as she navigates life’s tribulations, most notably her strained relationship with her vulgar mother. It’s the perfect example of an ‘angry young man’ play as it showcases the protagonist’s anger and disillusionment with the state of modern society.

Delaney’s inextricable connection to Salford also informed how she presents her characters; she wanted to combat the conventional stereotype of northerners as ‘gormless’, attempting to shift the Londoncentric views that informed both theatre and society.

Furthermore, Delaney questions the state of 1950s Britain and its relation to race, class, sexuality, and gender. It is a play that embodies not just Manchester at a certain period, but Britain as a whole.

Cosy reading spots in Manchester Looking for the perfect, relaxing spot to enjoy your weekend read?

Here are a few cosy reading cafes to take a look at Hannah McQuinn Books Writer

W

ith the stress of Midterms mostly out of the way for students, there may be a little more time to explore cosy reading spots in and around campus. Taking the afternoon off to peruse a bookshop and cosy up with a delicious hot chocolate really is the perfect way to take the mind off studying. Here are my hidden gems when it comes to cosy reading spots!

Slightly off campus, but only a short walk or bus ride away, Didsbury Village Bookshop is like no other Bookshop I have been to! Lined with Penguin Orange

classics, Folio editions, and Art History texts, this bookshop is nestled at the back of The Art of Tea café.

Not only is the bookshop beautifully arranged and packed to the brim, but it’s also home to a huge variety of classical texts that would suit anyone. Stumbling across the bookshop myself with a friend, I was so surprised to see a variety of texts preserved so well over time. Plus, once you’ve picked a book from the store, you’re welcome to read in the gorgeous adjoining café!

Next, a little closer to Fallowfield and campus is Café Blah. Located in Withington, Café Bla fills up quickly so be sure to get there in the morning for

a guaranteed spot. Withington perhaps being an unexplored location by freshers, Café Bla is a hidden beauty when it comes to reading spots.

Hosting its own mini book library at the back of the café, its cheap drinks prices beat Fallowfield’s Costa any day of the week. Combined with its vintage decoration and fireplace, Café Bla is perfect for a relaxed afternoon reading.

Now we have all heard of Blackwell’s bookstore on campus, and as an English Student, I have certainly spent a lot of my time there! But have you heard of the Whitworth Art Gallery Café?

Being a lesser-known study or reading spot, with its huge glass

windows and fantastic setting overlooking Whitworth Park, this Café is an underrated find. Run by the University’s hospitality team, Whitworth Art Gallery Café is also free entry. Now is the time to take yourself and your book into the gorgeous café and look around the fascinating gallery.

And finally, if you are looking for somewhere in town, Chapter One Books is the place to go!

Located just outside Piccadilly Gardens, Chapter One Books is one of the most well-known cafés Manchester has to offer. It certainly does not disappoint with its cosy sofas, antique paintings, and intriguing hot drink selection.

Instead of heading to Café Nero or Starbucks in town, Chapter One

Books is the ideal independent business to support and spend your afternoon in. I would recommend the beetroot latte.

So, why not cosy up with something which isn’t a textbook, and head to one of our recommended spots around Manchester!

BEST OF

22 Arts

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

City of Art: Best galleries in the city

‘On the sixth day, God created Manchester’, and he threw in some great art galleries too Owen Scott Arts Editor

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espite the soaring cost of living, art in Manchester remains free.

Outside the street-scape art of graffiti and collectives, galleries and institutions are working to connect with the changing political and cultural landscape outside. Supporting the arts, in the face of rising costs and greater cuts of funds, has never been more important. So, here’s a list of our favourite art galleries in Manchester (and the Northwest), where you can see some great art and connect with a masterpiece for free.

HOME, Manchester

HOME is probably the gallery everyone is most familiar with.

As an arts centre, cinema, and theatre complex, HOME boasts five cinemas, two theatres and, most importantly, 500m2 of gallery space.

Located just out of the city centre, it’s easy to get to from University or anywhere in the city to break up your afternoon.

Featuring work from many local artists, it’s a great place to experience the exciting and flourishing Manchester art scene.

Manchester Art Gallery

If you like more classic art, Manchester Art Gallery is for you.

Located right in the city centre, a stone’s throw from St Peter’s Square, it contains work from some of the biggest names in British Art, such as L.S. Lowry.

The gallery’s collection ranges from Pre-Raphaelite paintings to ceramics from 1,100BC, as well as costumes and clothes from throughout history.

It’s not all classic art though, there is always an interesting exhibition on. In May 2023 that was the Dandy Style exhibition. The exhibition took you through menswear as it has evolved and changed, exploring the clothes and styles of figures like Oscar Wilde to modern day fashion icons like Mick Jagger and Harry Styles.

Right now, HOME’s collection consists of three artists, with experimental AI inspired art and film-making. It’s open late, which means you can visit for a late-night gallery trip, and, there’s a bar and restaurant so you can drink and eat your way around the gallery too. It’s not a gallery to miss and its glamour is a rite of passage for all students to experience at least once.

The Lowry, Salford Quays

Although it’s a little further out, The Lowry (in Salford) is just a bus or tram ride away. Although there are, of course, many of L.S. Lowry’s iconic Mancunian works on display, The Lowry also contains many dynamic exhibitions addressing modern day issues, such as LGBTQ Salford which allows residents and visitors to pin their own experiences of being LGBTQ+ or an ally to Salford based illustrator Hannah McLennan-Jones’ map of Salford.

Located adjacent to ITV’s and the BBC’s home in the North, MediaCityUK, The Lowry is a gallery on the cutting edge of art today.

The Whitworth

A little closer to home than The Lowry, The Whitworth is part of our very own University of Manchester, and is located right next to the University, in Whitworth Park itself.

Perfect for a quick visit in between lectures or on a sunny day in the park, the gallery has a wide range of works on display and events taking place.

One such event is UoM’s very own Monica Pearl’s Queer Salon, an evening of wine and discussions of how far the queer community has come and how far it still has to go to achieve equality.

The gallery has a range of rotating exhibitions too, such as the Traces of Displacement collection, which details the humanitarian concern of human displacement in the 20th and 21st Centuries.

The work here is varied, but has a real community feel, with work from amateur artists and collections that discuss Queer-ness, the loss of children, and immigration.

The gallery opens late on a Thursday (until 9pm!) so is perfect for a midweek trip; it also boasts an excellent café for studying, with a scenic view over the park. The Whitworth is great for your quick dose of culture while you’re at the University.

Tate Liverpool

Now, of course, this one isn’t technically in Manchester, but the Tate Liverpool is in the Northwest and only an hour’s train journey away. Containing some of the most innovative and important art of today, it’s unmissable and, most of it, is free.

The gallery recently had the works of the shortlisted (and winning) artists of the Turner Prize 2022, such as Ingrid Pollard’s and Veronica Ryan’s stunning exhibitions, on display.

There’s also an emphasis on themes of migration and colonialism, so the work is in an important dialogue with the world outside. If you like modern art, that speaks to the past and to the future, then the Tate Liverpool is an essential stop for you and, after you finish, you can have an incredible day (or night) out in Liverpool as well.

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Fashion 23

BEST OF

Natsu Fest: The Last Dance

What’s next for the community clothing brand?

From an early collaboration with Wagamama to starting a music festival in his backyard Alice Henderson Fashion Editor

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atsu Fest is back again, for its third and final rendition. We speak to Natsu Clothing’s founder, Dhara Nat Sufraz Patel, a Politics and Chinese student in his final year of university, to find out what the next event will entail, and what the future holds for Natsu.

The upcoming event on June 28 is affectionately named Natsu Fest: The Last Dance. Dhara, the founder of the Natsu brand, references the documentary series The Last Dance in the title. "The name makes sense," he explains. "This event will be the last Natsu Fest ever. And it also marks the end of my, and most of my mates’, time at uni. It’s both a celebration of what Natsu has achieved over the years and a chance to spend time together."

The event welcomes all students. Dhara is hoping for a turn-out of 200 attendees.

Natsu Fest: The Last Dance will be a mix of 90s rap and hip-hop, soul, and RnB. Mixle will make a debut headline performance, alongside performances from Half Price Dream, Sam Seccombe, and DJ Sketch. Natsu has always prided itself in supporting student and Manchester-based artists, giving artists and DJs opportunities to perform for a new audience.

The first Natsu Fest in 2021 recruited artists using the Manchester Student Group Facebook group. The line-up included Artists Begum, Sheafz, and DJ Muffin. The 2022 event worked on the same premise: at Manchester Academy 3, with over 150 tickets sold, there were

performances from artists such as Sasha Little, Mixle, Saint Nusu, and Messy Bao. Dhara told me that he "never intended to put on a second Natsu Fest," but after a conversation with friend and current Activties and Culture Officer, Robbie Beale, he saw "how doable another Natsu Fest would be if the Students' Union were to assist."

With Natsu's four-year anniversary coming up in June, he also has a few collaborations planned to celebrate. The first is with the creative collective, No Face, and the second is with DJ collective Anthro. He looks to help them both with merchandise releases and recommends anyone reading to check them out.

After he leaves university, Dhara hopes Natsu’s popularity will continue and that Natsu clothing will continue to grow. He explains that Natsu clothing "has already been worn in over 32 countries across the world, including South Korea, Brazil, and Uganda." Among Natsu’s other achievements, this is something Dhara is incredibly proud of.

“

It's important for anyone with a platform, no matter how big or small, to help give back to local charities."

Similarly, Natsu clothing is a community brand. Dhara explains that it's "important for anyone with a platform, no matter how big or small, to help give back to local charities." Natsu Clothing's ethos of being a sustainable, inclusive, and

community-based brand follows the same logic. The brand makes regular donations to charities supporting student-related issues, such as young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, homelessness affecting young people, inequality of black minorities, women, and the cost of living crisis. Natsu’s support for the local community is something Dhara is eager to keep going.

“

No matter how crazy you think your idea sounds, just do it.

What are you waiting for?"

On a personal level, Natsu has created memorable experiences for Dhara and his friends. Most notably, he tells me that when visiting a Wagamama before lockdown, he saw "they already sold a Natsu beer, a passionfruit pale ale. (It was unrelated to Natsu Clothing)." He "wanted to try and get some ale" for himself. He sent Wagamama a message on Facebook explaining that he wanted to buy ale, but couldn't see where they were sold. They replied, seeming enthusiastic, and sent Dhara and his housemates a crate of their Natsu Wagamama beer. "It was a complete surprise. But it made our lockdown much more interesting."

Dhara will always remember Natsu Fest and his work on the brand fondly.

In the far future, Dhara considers that he "would like to pursue Natsu full-time," He hopes one day Natsu Fest "will be the size of Warehouse Project" and for that

"Natsu Clothing will still be a recognisable brand amongst students for years to come." He adds that he "wants to see it become a lifestyle brand in all forms of media, including television, print, music, and more."

Thinking about how Natsu has changed his university experience for the better, Dhara adds some advice for other students wanting to pursue their own business - "As my Grandad once said, aim for the sky, not the ceiling.

I think a lot of students are sitting on some great ideas.

No matter how crazy you think your idea sounds, just do it.

What are you waiting for?"

If you want to check out Natsu, you can find tickets to Natsu Fest: The Last Dance on their website, as well as their Instagram, @natsuclothinguk, for updates.

Creative Director: Will Harvey Photographer: Bianca De Leon @bamca.img Models::Begum Karakus, Melenini Ajoko, Temitope Williams, Audry Shelford, Jordanno Sutton, and Will Harvey

Fashion Soc x LGBTQ+ Soc Fashion Show The charity show celebrated 'Queer Expression'

Imogen Mingos Fashion Writer

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oinciding with Fashion Month in March, societies from the University of Manchester decided to organise their own charity fashion show, which was a huge success!

Fashion society and LGBTQ+ society worked together to put on the show themed ‘Queer Expression’. They showcased donated clothing as well as garments and jewellery from local designers, and the makeup was done by the UOM Makeup Society. All profits raised were donated to the Proud Trust: a charity that provides “education, support & advocacy for LGBTQ+ young people and their communities.” So, for those of you who missed the event, don’t worry you can read all about it in my account.

As President of the Makeup So-

ciety and a content creator for Fuse TV, I was at Academy 2 a few hours before the event.

Academy 2 was turned into a catwalk, with horizontal rows of seating creating a runway down the middle. A handmade collage with headshots of models, designers, and organisers was stuck on one of the walls, and flowers sat in glass bottles on a table at the back. Pride flags and carnations lay on the chairs for front-row admission guests.

The room was swathed in purple light and had a gentle haze from the smoke machine, creating a somewhat gothic-meets-Midsom-

mar vibe with the flowers. Claire and the Neighbourhood played in the background.

Once the audience had time to grab drinks and get seated, it was time for the night to start. The models walked out with confidence and professionalism, sporting everything from handmade crochet tops and trousers, an openback blazer, handprinted up-cycled tote bags, and fabulous dresses. My personal favourite was a handcrafted blazer with pins, patches, and badges, reading ‘Love is a Revolution’ on the back. There were necklaces, earrings, and waist beads made by one of the models

and designers (@plumwingdesigns) which tied all the looks together beautifully.

Organisers from Fashion and LGBTQ+ society, Anou and Tyler, respectively, closed with a short but sweet speech about the show and the Proud Trust charity before the auction began.

Most of the pieces showcased on the runway were available for bidding during the auction. The profits from the garments and jewellery would go to the Proud Trust and money from drinks bought at the Academy 2 bar was used to fund the tech team for the event. There was a mad frenzy

as people chatted to models and designers, and queued up for bidding. I bought two pairs of earrings which I’m very happy with, and my friends bought a range of clothing items. Whilst this was ensuing, Torture from Torture and the Desert Spiders played live music for the audience which was beautiful.

Overall, the fashion show seemed to be a huge success. It was lovely to be part of such a collaborative and positive experience. For a full list of designers for the show, see @ fashionsociety.uom and for more photos check out @lozzamedia.

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

BEST OF

24 News

“Whose streets? Our streets” chants echo during Reclaim the Night

This years Reclaim the Night protest saw hundreds of students marching from Fallowfield to the Students’ Union in protest against gender-based violence Alice Shakeshaft Deputy News Editor

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his year’s Reclaim the Night saw around 1000 students marching from Fallowfield to the Students’ Union in protest of genderbased violence. Speeches made highlighted the damage of gender-based violence, the need for intersectionality and calls for international solidarity.

On the evening of November 30, Oxford Road erupted into chants.

Onlookers cheered and beeped car horns as protestors chanted “Whose streets? Our streets” and “Stop the violence, stop the hate” in calls to end gen-

der-based violence.

Students marched down towards the Students’ Union to hear speeches given by several members who had helped organise the march.

Celina Pereira, the Students’ Union’s Wellbeing and Liberation Officer, spoke first. She said, “we are standing here for all those who have been robbed of their bodies, their rights and their lives.” She made calls for people to, “recognise sexual violence and call it by its name.”

Speakers emphasised the need for intersectionality when speaking about gender-based violence.

They presented the struggles faced by trans people: “trans

people especially are more likely than not to experience sexual assault, yet most sexual health services are strictly gendered”. Studies show that 47% of trans people are subject to sexual assault.

“

We are standing here for all those who have been robbed of their bodies, their rights and their lives..

Voting patterns from the LeadMCR elections Which race was the closest?

Jacob Hartley News Editor

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ver 10,000 students voted at the recent SU elections, constituting 20% of the entire student body. The final hour of voting saw 1295 voters, a record for an hour of voting in election.

This is up from last year, but down from the year before that, which had thousands more participants.

The most votes (6147) were cast for Union Affairs Officer by over 1000 votes, while the fewest votes cast was for the Officer for the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (3984).

However, due to a number of spoilt votes, the vote for the Faculty of Science & Engineering saw the fewest ‘good votes’.

While 4164 votes were cast, nearly 400 (391) votes were spoilt, resulting in only 3773 countable votes.

The largest margin was in Activities and Culture - Robbie Beale was, in the first round,

ahead by over 1500 votes.

The closest run vote was for Wellbeing & Liberation Officer. Syd King was ahead by fewer than 50 votes after the first round, but due to the transferable nature of the voting system, Aisha Akram overtook, eventually winning.

Students involved in societies were more likely to vote in elections. 1 in 3 students who are in a society voted, compared to 1 in 5 overall.

Some societies were more engaged than others. Taylor Swift Society lead with nearly 60% voting participation.

Drama Society followed closely behind with 58.9% participation, while Roller Society, dedicated to all things roller skates, was third in participation.

Other notable high-voting societies included Women in Science & Engineering (WISE), the Language Society, and Gigs and Bands (GABS).

GABS was set up in 2021 by Robbie Beale, who successfully ran for re-election this year,

as the Activities and Culture Officer.

In comparison, Durham University’s SU elections had the lowest turnout in decades - only 6.1% of students voted. Durham’s elections for President was uncontested.

Similarly, at the University of Oxford, under 4000, out of approximately 26000 students, voted in elections, representing around 15% of their students.

Following this Laya Hooshyari spoke about the need for international solidarity within feminist movements. She presented the oppression of women globally and called for “solidarity and help from our sisters, comrades and all people” declaring that “without international solidarity we are alone”.

She ended her speech, saying “we have to raise our voice. Our voice should be reached to all the oppressed. Should be heard on every street. So that we are all emancipated from oppression”.

Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, delivered the final

speech, emphasising the need for change. “We cannot in five, 10, or 20 years time be stood here having the same conversations”.

If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article or at the march, there is support available:

Survey says: UoM second most romantic University 61% of UoM students meet a partner at uni Rosina Read News Reporter

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new survey sampling 30 UK universities finds that 61.74% of students at the University of Manchester meet a romantic partner at university.

The study, carried out

by The Knowledge Academy, used a sample of 3500 past and present students from the top 30 UK universities.

In the survey, the University of Manchester ranks as the second best university for falling in love, coming second to the University of York at 63.30%.

Of the Manchester sample, 20.87% married their University partner, and 42.61% had children with their University partner.

Holly, a second-year student at the University of Manchester, said “I would think it would be lower

than that [....] Lots of people are so career-driven now, and just focused on their studies at uni.”

The figures for Manchester were notably higher than the average for the 30 Universities sampled.

The overall average for meeting a romantic partner at University is 35.63%, whilst marrying a university partner is 12.17%. The average for having children with a university partner is 24.37%.

Whilst at University, figures from University of Manchester students found 97.18% (average: 90.14%) have a short-term relationship (less than one year), and 2.82% (average: 9.86%) had a long-term relationship (more than one year).

The best university for finding the person to marry was Queens University Belfast (21.50%), with the University of Oxford rank-

ing second, and Manchester third.

The University of Manchester is the only university to rank in the top three both for finding a romantic partner at university and for marrying a university partner.

The University of Aberdeen ranked lowest of the 30 universities for finding a romantic partner, with 6.40% participants finding love at university. The University of Leeds ranked lowest for marrying a university partner (5.00%).

Similar studies in the past have made similar conclusions on the University of Manchester’s likelihood for relationships.

One Day University Love League’s 2011 study found, from a sample of 2000 UK graduates, 20% meet the love of their life at university. At the University of Manchester, 21% found love (ranking fifth).

Features 25

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

“If you say you’re going to do something, do it” says Bev Craig

Councillor Bev Craig joins us for an interview after delivering a speech at Reclaim the Night, where she talks about the changes that the council is attempting to make in Manchester Shikhar Talwar MMG News Producer

B

ev Craig, the leader of the Manchester City Council and former Wellbeing Officer at the Students’ Union (SU) gave a speech at this year’s Reclaim the Night march calling for more progress to be made on sexual harassment in Manchester. Afterwards, she sat down with The Mancunion, to discuss her memories of Reclaim the Night during her tenure at the Students’ Union and her initiatives with the city council designed to make Manchester safer at night.

During her speech at the march, Craig lamented the current state of affairs and said, “We cannot in five, ten, or twenty years time be stood here having the same conversations.” There is some cause for optimism though, as she said “it was a great march and it was great to see so many people” and suggested that progress has been made. She also lauded the increased diversity of the protestors on the march and the range of speakers from marginalised groups.

Craig remarked on the increased male involvement with the march, “I think having the participation of men in it is actually quite an interesting development.

It can be quite powerful when we think about some of the societal changes that we need to see.”

During her time at the SU,

men were either not invited to participate or sent to the back of the march.

Going forward, Craig said that for things to change, more wider societal, political, and legal conversations need to take place. She cited her own work with Manchester City Council and their discussions around making misogyny a hate crime, “categorising it [misogyny] in a way that gives some legislative backing to it – I think that needs to happen as well. Of course, we’ve seen challenges around police forces across the country and some of the attitudes that are there. I think there is a whole raft of things that need to change.”

Change is slowly coming in, adding, “We’ve done a whole bunch of other things to make sure that people from other marginalised communities are feeling safe, but we’ve been at the forefront of tackling some of those big issues for quite some time.”

We asked Craig about the long waiting times for access to sexual trauma counselling at St. Mary’s hospital, to which she replied “[The Council] has seen its

budget cut by more than £428 million a year since 2010. We’ve tried to get extra money flowing into St. Mary’s [and] see extra resources go into there.”

She went on to acknowledge that there is work to be done “I do think there is a challenge for accessing counselling support, people need it [sooner] rather than six, eight months down the line. And we’re working to do everything we can to try.”

Craig elaborated on her Night Time Charter, an initiative launched by Manchester City Council in collaboration with nightlife venues to provide a safe environment for female workers between the hours of 6pm to 6am.

Previous attempts at addressing the issue had involved slogans like ‘safe nights out’ but for Craig these never quite worked, “That rhetoric has always jarred with me. It puts the ownership on people who would ultimately end up becoming victims to moderate their behaviour.”

For her, it’s important for businesses to assume some responsibility “It’s about putting accountability on the organisations that profit off of Manchester’s nightlife. So not just the bars and

clubs. But McDonalds and the places you go to grab something at the end of the night, these are places that could be really good places for safety.”

It speaks to Craig’s wider goals for the Night Time Charter,

which is to incorporate safety into every part of Manchester’s thriving nightlife. She stressed the importance of speaking to architects early on in any new building projects and explained how their decisions can also affect night-time safety.

“For our climate change targets, we’ve changed our street lighting to LED lighting, but that actually makes it feel darker so it doesn’t feel as safe. So if you’re able to have those conversations when you’re designing things at the beginning, you can ask architects to reduce your carbon footprint whilst making people feel safe.”

So far, 125 businesses have signed up for the charter but Craig is confident that with time the number will rise to match London’s five year old scheme which has over 600.

The scheme is seeing some early successes and there is optimism for its future “It’s really flipping the way people think, we’ve done training sessions for some of those businesses, which have done things like active bystander training, with the door staff and the people running the bars at night. It has been really well received.”

One of the concerns of Manchester’s night time safety is spiking. In November 2021, protests such as the End Spiking Now march and the Girls’ Night In bar and club boycott took place in reaction to the increased number of spikings happening across the city at the time. We asked what changes have been made since.

Craig said that the council has put a lot stricter rules on licensing, particularly on city centre venues which ensures they have appropriate anti-spiking measures in place. It is a policy she remains committed to, “I’m a big fan that if you say you’re going to do something, do it, but do it for meaningful and lasting change.”

T h e C o u n c i l has also

added a focus on the policing and monitoring of spiking cases. Craig expanded on this, saying she has had conversations with police on improving how such crimes can be reported.

“

I’m a big fan that if you say you’re going to do something, do it, but do it for meaningful and lasting change The previous year’s Reclaim the Night focused heavily on the safety of sex workers, so we quizzed the councillor on what support systems are in place for sex workers in Manchester. “We work through a lot of charity organisations, MASH (Manchester Action on Street Health) is probably the biggest one, but there’s also Men’s Room that work with our queer communities.”

For Craig, working through charities is far more effective, “people find public organisations and authorities a bit preachy, which can make it difficult for people to come forward for the support they need. So we really just work closely with the charities to give that support.”

Finally, she spoke of her willingness to listen to the student population of Manchester, “I’m really keen to hear more about what the specific student experience is like, not just on campus but in the city.”

Looking forward Craig wants to identify where the council can be more active in improving the lives of students, “One of my main takeaways has been to think about what more can we do. And that isn’t just putting more responsibility on the existing services, the university or Student’s Union. But to think, are we engaged enough? And are we having the right conversations?”

You can watch Craig’s interview below:

26 Features

BEST OF

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Helping an older neighbour: More than just volunteering

As we grow older, we grow more detached from the world, often without choice. Manchester tackles this with its community programmes, sparking life back into the retirement years Finlay McBride Features Writer

S

at opposite me, comfortably reclined on a black leather sofa, I find a man waiting on my arrival. A look of excitement on his face, he instructs me to pop the kettle on. “Milk and no sugar son”, he remarks with a smile.

It’s a dark Tuesday evening and I’m making my weekly call to see someone by the name of Tommy.

Tommy and I possess a unique friendship. Separated by 70 years of age, experience, memories, and life, we met through the charity Manchester Cares. Aged 90, he lives alone and is largely dependent on the support of friends, neighbours, and charities.

Manchester Cares strive to reduce loneliness and isolation amongst older and younger people, an issue which is largely overlooked and under-addressed in comparison to other societal stresses. It was through their ‘Love Your Neighbour’ campaign that Tommy and I met.

The programme encompasses a oneto-one friendship initiative which aims to bridge the evergrowing disconnect between older and younger generations.

At the induction meeting I attended many months ago I was asked why I wanted to be a part of the programme. My response came naturally, leaving my mouth before I had time to think. I explained that my grandparents always did a lot for me when I was growing up and now as they age, I feel it important to reciprocate the kindness I received during my childhood.

I expressed how alarming I found the general lack of acknowledgement that so many young people show toward elderly people. After taking care of my grandparents, and making visits to their neighbours or friends, I’ve formed a deeper understanding of the daily struggles elderly people face. It was through discovering this new sense of compassion that I wanted to support the community of South Manchester and help others, like my grandparents, whose monotony is ageing them quicker than any illness or injury.

Those who have had similar experiences caring for a grandparent or looking after an elderly person will share my

sympathy. But there are many people who don’t, who feel uneasy around elderly people or worse, address them with the awkwardly condescending tone one uses when talking to a toddler. I always wince in those moments, asking myself whether that person understands that they’re speaking to someone who’s probably lived their lifetime nearly three times over.

My time with Tommy has been great. He’s a real character, Manchester through and through.

Growing up in Collyhurst, my meetings with Tommy usually centre on a story of his childhood. I often find myself in a fit of laughter w i t h To m my peering back at me with a look of

confusion, puzzled as to what he said that was so funny. He doesn’t realise how amusing the events of his childhood are, how distant his they’re youth is from mine. To him there’re merely memories of the past but to me they sound like scenes from a film.

One Saturday morning, tucked cosily in a set of blue pyjamas, Tommy told me about his time in the military. As a teenager he was flown out to Sabratha, northern Libya, to join a peace-keeping regiment as part of mandatory national service. “It was a real surprise,” he explained. “Far from Collyhurst, I can tell you that”.

For someone who hadn’t

ventured much further than the outer stretches of Greater Manchester it’s hard to imagine what Tommy experienced stepping onto the sand-washed runway in Tripoli. Looking back, Tommy expressed that he hadn’t quite realised the dangers until now, “when you’re a young man at the age of 19 you don’t have the sense of caution you do at 90.”

Tommy has also described growing up during the Second World War. He can still recall the stillness and silence that followed after the s o u n d of an

air raid siren, the violence and distress left in the aftermath of a bombing and the push and squeeze in queues for rations. Tommy chuckled and voiced how it wasn’t all doom and gloom, explaining that “many of us young children had a great time, with school only on three days a week and the American soldiers would always give us sweets and chewing gum”, he was only seven at the time.

There are many more stories I’d love to share, though some of which Tommy probably wouldn’t be best pleased if I did - not that my delivery could ever rival his.

Tommy is an excellent storyteller and an even more remarkable man.

Regarded as a true community

hero, Tommy has dedicated a large proportion of his life to helping others. In 2014, Tommy was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours and awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to older people and to the community of Manchester.

When in conversation with one of Tommy’s priests at a parishioner’s coffee meeting he told me that the “folks round here call Tommy fish and chips,” with me having produced a look of confusion he explained, “That’s

because he’s always in them newspapers for all of the fantastic works he’s done for our community.”

Sat inside Tommy’s small front room I find myself being transported through a memoir of recollections, experiences, happiness, and despair. Having a close bond with somebody much older than yourself helps you to regain your sense of perspective. I think that’s one of the reasons why I’ve always taken pleasure in spending time with my grandparents, their friends, and Tommy. When placed next to a person who has seen it all, your problems no longer feel that significant.

Young people have a habit of foregrounding their own issues before taking a moment to acknowledge others’. We tend to

lose touch with reality, blinded by our own insecurities, stresses, and fears. I guess when you haven’t experienced that much of life it’s hard to see beyond any ongoing anxieties. For that reason, I recommend joining a programme like ‘Love Your Neighbour’.

Getting to know an older neighbour in your community doesn’t just offer them the opportunity to reconnect with someone younger than themselves but it can provide you with a new outlook on life, the fulfilment of helping a person through struggle and gain a genuine, long-lasting friendship. Closing the distance between older and younger generations by instilling the idea that these relationships can be mutually beneficial is exactly what the amazing team at Manchester Cares is striving to achieve.

Loneliness is something that many of us experience at some stage in our lives.

Despite how sociable university is said to be, that feeling of isolation is perhaps more common than one would presume.

For most people however those feelings are short-lived, but for others like Tommy, loneliness is persistent.

Social isolation among adults aged 65 and above is experienced by one in four, according to CDC. In England, AgeUK found that around 2 million people above the age of 75 live alone and more than a million older people say that they go over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member.

There are many ways in which you can contribute toward combating this issue. Joining buddying schemes like that of Manchester Cares is one way. Age UK’s Trafford branch is another charity seeking to undermine elderly isolation within the Greater Manchester area and more closely rooted within the student community is Assist Withington, which provides a range of support services and activities for older people, designed to help them to continue to live independent, active and fulfilling lives.

For more information, please explore the charities below: • Manchester Cares via ‘Love Your Neighbour’ • Age UK Trafford • Assist Withington

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10 Science

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ISSUE 7 / 28th February 2023 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Science 27

Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw: Black holes,strikes, strikes and fame Black holes, and fame

In a recent catch-up with everyone’s favourite scientists, we picked Brian Cox and Jedd Forshaw’s academic minds on the key issues currently facing science black hole is a point in space where gravity is so strong, not even light can escape it. It is thought that sun a recent event organised permassive black holes could lie at

by UoM’s physics society, the centre of all galaxies, including ‘PhysSoc’, Brian Cox and Jeff Forour own. shaw presented the ideas in their Both Cox and Forshaw believe latest book, Black Holes: The Key that the ground-breaking nature to Understanding the Universe. of black hole research means it’s The seminar, held in aid of the essential for the general public mental health charity CALM, exto understand, with Cox arguing, plored the physics behind these “We’ve got a glimpse of a new theofascinating objects, including elery of space and time from studying ments of thermodynamics, quanthese objects - it’s important to antum mechanics, and relativity. yone who wants to understand the Speaking to Cox and Forshaw origin of the universe. Was there before their talk began, it became even a moment of creation? We’re clear that they are firm friends as not going to know that before we well as long-time collaborators, know what we mean by time.” enjoying themselves as they Forshaw agreed, asking, “Why argued with each othshould anyone be interested in er about how best going to see the Mona Lisa? Physto start the interics is often view. They met thought of when Forin terms shaw was of its utiliCox’s lecty, but it’s turer in more its the midcultural 9 0 s value that they interests me.“ H o w e v e r , they’re were also keen t h e to note same that the a g e philosophd e ical implispite cations being of the reteachsearch do er and not exclude it from having practistudent. cal and technological relevance, Since citing the crossover between the then, they study of black holes and quantum have pubcomputing. This new field of relished a numsearch could revolutionise data ber of popular encryption and computer processscience books ing power and is benefiting from together, including extensive financial backing.

Why Does E=mc^2?, Academics in the media The Quantum UniAs Professors of Particle Physand Universal. verse and ics, Cox and Forshaw combine Their latest work is aracademic life with science comguably their greatest chalmunication, albeit with slightly lenge to date, aiming to bring different emphases. Alongside his the physics of black holes, work in the public arena, Cox constill hotly debated by retinues to teach a first-year modsearchers, to a non-speule with Forshaw and supervises cialist audience. some postgraduate students.

The The imporHe made it clear that this is an importance tance of blackof aspect of his role he values deepblack holes ly, telling me that the media side of holes A things was “almost an accident”.

“If you ask me what am I, what do I do, I say a physicist. I’ve been here since 1993 at Manchester, so I cannot imagine a life or a job or a career with-

Emma Hattersley Science Editor

I

out being at this university”.

“Even though I don’t have a great deal of time at the moment because I’m making television programmes and doing other things…. the thing I enjoy doing most is being an academic”.

This was illustrated by seeing him at the bar after the talk, as he and Forshaw chatted with physics students. Pints were on Cox, fulfilling his promise in 2020 that he would buy all his students a drink post-pandemic, due to the difficulty of their university experience in lockdown.

Despite his love of university life, Cox also recognises the importance of his media role, stressing that “if we’re to maintain and increase funding and interest in physics and all academic subjects

actually, then you need to have a bridge to the wider public.”

He brought up one of his heroes, Carl Sagan, and the analogy in his book ‘Cosmos’ of the Great Library at Alexandria, to illustrate the dangers of “academic institutions that are essentially ivory towers, closed off from the rest of society.”

“Sagan said that there’s no evidence that any of the knowledge that was stored in that library was ever transferred out of the academy.... when the barbarians came to break down the gates there was no one to defend it.”

Cox would like to see an expansion of mass communication across academia, saying, “the ideal world is where as many academics as possible are allowed and enabled and encouraged to spread their knowledge and expertise.”

In contrast, Forshaw spends most of his time as a lecturer and researcher, with a particular focus on quantum chromodynamics. A (more than) full-time role in itself, he still finds time for science communication, including working as a science consultant for the media, giving talks to the general public, as well as his books with Cox. He

explained, “I come from a working-class background and I was lucky that I managed to get into a situation where I can do the work that I do….a part of it is wanting to make these ideas accessible.”

“There is a selfish aspect as well which is that I get to think about bits of physics that I enjoy.

To explain things clearly to people who are not experts, you need to understand what you’re talking about really well, so it gives me an excuse to really get to grips with some of these things in a way that I might not do if I was just working within a research context.”

This passion for the science involved appears to be the key to the success of Cox and Forshaw’s books. They both agreed they don’t really plan to start new projects.

Instead, they get interested in an area of physics, and d e c i d e they better write a book to learn m o r e about it, with Cox a d d i n g “I have no idea what the next bit of physics is gonna be this is the fun of it!”

University strikes As the interview drew to a close, I was keen to hear Cox’s perspective on the recent strikes of university staff, which have highlighted systemic issues in British academia. He stated that “I think, along with many professions, if you look at the wages of academics, they’ve declined rapidly in real terms over time,” but emphasised that it was part of a broader issue, rather than being restricted to a university setting.

“At a wider level what we’re talking about is building a prosperous country and a prosperous ecosystem which involves education and research at the highest level and that’s a prerequisite for funding the [ecosys-

tem]… there’s a virtuous circle somewhere, and I don’t think we have it at the moment.”

Cox also suggested that he would like to see a wider overhaul of the British university system.

When asked how non-science students could get more involved in STEM, he noted that there were opportunities for such students to take science courses, but that he would like to see this extended. He said that he admired this aspect of the US education system, stating that his “utopian vision for universities would be that students have the time and the opportunity to study a wider range of subjects.”

In the meantime, reading popular science books, particularly

Cox a n d F o r shaw’s, is a great place to start. Black Holes: The Key to Understanding the Universe is available now.

28 Science

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Behind the lens: Manchester’s own Astrophotographers

Research that provides stellar screen savers! Astrophotography has become increasingly accessible and here at the University of Manchester we spoke with two student astrophotographers about their experiences capturing the far regions of space.

Freya Anderson Science Writer

A

t 7:30pm on a Thursday night, in the cosy Niels Bohr common room on the sixth floor of the Schuster Building, I found the Astronomy Society holding their weekly star gazing and board games social. This quiet but entertaining group goes on trips to Jodrell Bank, hosts a stellar lecture series, and recently observed the Comet c/2022 E3 ztf in February. With a regular attendance of 40 members, the society welcomes all students enthusiastic about space.

I am assured by society members that not a week goes by when UNO is not played, or rather argued over, and with access to the balcony for telescopic star gazing I can see why this is such a popular society. Tonight it is Women in STEM day, and so we are watching Hidden Figures, a movie about a team of female African-American NASA mathematicians working on the space programme.

I’m here to meet Dhruv Mistry (a third-year Maths and Physics student) and Iman Jasni (a second-year Mechanical Engineering student), two keen astrophotographers, to discuss their star gazing experiences How did you first get into astrophotography?

Dhruv: “Learning about the universe is related to my course (Maths and Physics) so I had a natural attraction to it. I used to watch lots of Carl Sagan documentaries about space when I was younger.

“At the society, I’ve been able to get into astrophotography, we go out on the balcony with the telescopes on a clear night. Last Saturday we tried to see the C2022E3 comet and we got about two minutes of good weather exposure to capture it. But it’s great to test the equipment out and use the imaging software. The society also puts announcements out if there are good conditions so you can join in if you are free.”

Iman: “During the pandemic as we all got locked in it got really boring inside, which is strange because the internet supposedly brought all human knowledge to our fingertips. But people started to realise they became more introspective of themselves.

“At the time I thought the sky would be a fun hobby so I talked about it with my parents and they bought me a telescope, I did not ask for it, but we all found it amazing!

The moment I got that telescope

the moon was an easy target and I showed my parents.

“They lived through the space programs and they know about the Apollo mission but they had never seen surface pictures of the moon before. So when they saw how bright the moon is through a telescope, and how the shadows of the craters looked on the surface, my parents broke into tears. From

started University. When I first joined AstroSoc, it was a slow start because I am quite shy.

“When you come to another country and you are the minority you have this mindset of there are certain things I should/shouldn’t do but over time these guys have been very accepting and now I am part of the committee.” Iman is the Inclusion Officer and resident

Due to bad weather and mount problems the stack is only nine minutes of exposure, but it turned out quite well.”

Iman “Actually, most of my work is separate from the university, once I got my camera it was just a matter of time finding target after target...the brightest [galaxy] that we have is Andromeda. Three months ago in Platt Fields Park, I

then on I wanted to capture the moon.

“But attaching a camera to the end of a telescope is way more complicated than one might think and that’s where the journey starts, three years ago before I

astrophotographer.

Do you do all of your astrophotography at the society?

Dhruv “I went camping in Snowden to see the stars with no light pollution, and I recently got a picture of “M51 Whirlpool Galaxy”.

got it on a very clear and not too humid night.

“So far that’s my best [photo], I have yet to beat it. I tried to go for Orion’s nebula, but it was a full moon at the time. White light is comprised of all light, so when the

moon shines the very faint details have gone, so it’s not as beautiful as I wanted it to be.

“Now I know what I can do I want to do it again, and reaching that point I keep forgetting it’s a really long journey and it’s hard.

But with hindsight you know you can do it again, it’s not the end of the world anymore. The satisfaction is comparing with yourself and seeing yourself improve” What would you say to people who are interested in joining the society or getting into astrophotography?

Dhruv: “It’s quite simple now because there are so many cheap cameras that don’t have to be hightech to get a good star image. The main thing is the area, the land and the time you have to get the shot. It forces you to travel and go camping. Anyone can get into it and it’s definitely something to experience.”

Iman: “Photographers who already have a camera just need to point the camera up at night to bring the heavens into their hands.

You are freezing time in your hand and you can freeze galaxies in time, or rather back in time.

“The James Webb Telescope has given us a new pair of eyes, or rather one eye, but seeing in a different light. What we see with our naked eye is tiny in comparison to what the spectrum of light is.

“The people in this department, in this building [Schuster] study all light: from radio waves, which is what we use to send messages online, up to ultraviolet which we are afraid of giving us skin cancer.

We can use ultraviolet to see different molecules on planets far away from our own system. For me, knowing that [it went from] people like Galileo looking at the sky, to us now ‘seeing’ chemicals and gravity is amazing”.

At AstroSoc, Iman is planning to run an astrophotography competition and is going to hold a workshop in a few weeks at a social night. Iman said it will cover “how to take pictures of the sky so I can level the playing field so everyone knows that they can be part of it.

For example when the right time is, weather and light pollution, which cameras and software to use and how to use [them]”.

Iman plans to display the pictures on projections in a celebration for the society. Iman said, “Some of these people don’t know where to go, they have done it but need somewhere to share it. The society wants to be that platform.”

Horoscopes Summer 2023 Astrological Prophecies from UoM’s very own Astrology Queens

Sagittarius (23.11 - 21.12)

Capricorn (22.12 - 19.01)

Aquarius (20.01 - 19.02)

Beware of the Beryl Bikes.

Don’t worry, you won’t be wearing skinny jeans for much longer.

Try not to fall in love with the first person you meet at uni...

Pisces (20.02 - 20.03)

Aries (21.03 - 20.04)

Taurus (21.04 - 20.05)

You think you’re going to become that girl at university but actually you’re just Josie from Fresh Meat

Stop taking half decent pictures of your homemade meals for your food account, you aren’t an influencer.

At least mop up your crusty floor.

Make sure to update your profile picture before you join the flat group chat ... you will be judged.

Gemini (21.05 - 20.06)

Cancer (21.06 - 22.07)

Leo (23.07 - 22.08)

You’re pres playlist consists of Bruno Mars and Jason Derulo. We advise spicing this up before connecting to the aux.

Future advice, Blue 2 is for the wrongens, don’t make the mistake of studying here

Sneaking in your parent bought M&S foodshop isn’t gonna hide your upper middle class upbringing

Virgo (23.08 - 22.09)

Libra (23.09 - 22.10)

Scorpio (23.10 - 22.11)

LED lights are so last semester, get yourself a sunset lamp to truly impress your one night stand

Within a year at UoM you will have a mullet and a selection of tote bags

Jacket potatoes will become your staple diet at university, this is not the time for a health glow up

Mancunion Crossword 05/05/2023, 16:07

The Mancunion's First Crossword! - Crossword Labs

The Mancunion's First Crossword!

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Down 1. The newspaper formed here 200 years ago (8) 3. OXO cubes, cargo ship destination (9) 4. Withington cafe where you can’t fill your car (4) 6. A more accurate distance for the Curry Mile (9) 7. Street oriented soap opera (9) 11. The Way through the City (9) 12. Manchester rapper named after letter of the alphabet (5) 14. Andy Burnham’s favourite colour (6) 15. Manchesters’ buzzing industrial history (3) 17. Colour of six-time Premier League winners (4) 18. The German philosopher who did his business in Manchester (4) 13

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5 6 7

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Across 9

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2. 12 pastry shops in the City Centre (6) 5. Peak District town famous for bottled water (6) 8. Peaky Blinders filmed here, Bowl (11) 9. Manchester drink celebrated with a statue (5) 10. Name of Fallowfield campus shared with toilet manafacturers (8) 13. “misery multiplication”, inverted, band (11) 16. The land of Milk and ____ (5) 19. Manchester Science and ____ Museum (8)

30 Year in photos

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Open Day Issue WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Year in photos 31 From left to right: Top: Fight Night (Antonio Ross, @reflectionless.ross), King Violet at Live from The Hive (Laurent Swyngedauw, @lozzamedia), Reclaim the Night (Ibiwunmi Balogun, @i3film), Yard Act (@reflectionless.ross).

Middle: Strictly Come Manchester (@reflectionless. ross), Fuse FM Studio (@ lozzamedia), Türkiye Earthquake Appeal (Shikhar Talwar, @tinkle_pingu), Fashion Soc x LGBT+ Soc Charity Fashion Show (@ lozzamedia) Bottom: Radio Panel at the Women in Media Conference (Lily Young), UoM Filmmaking Society - Sticks (@lozzamedia), Fashion Soc x LGBT+ Soc Charity Fashion Show (@ lozzamedia), Motion (Liam Ting, @chunho.ting)

Artwork: Matt O’Rourke Instagram: @musing_bits. Shop on Etsy: MusingCards.