Neal Keeling

Salford is updating its Local List of historically and architecturally important buildings and places, adding around 140 sites after a review supported by Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The initiative follows decades of losses, including the Ambassador cinema, Salford gasworks, Salford Quays cranes and the University of Salford's Stirling Prize-winning Centenary Building. A restored Buile Hill Mansion is presented as evidence that investment can reverse neglect. Heritage officer Joanne O'Hara and council leaders say the project is intended to protect working-class, industrial and built heritage while improving residents' surroundings and opportunities. Residents and businesses can submit views during a six-week consultation before the expanded list is considered by the council.

Artist Mark Kennedy is creating a 7-by-5-foot mosaic of late The Fall frontman Mark E Smith on the former Oasis Aquarium building in Broughton, Salford. The design is based on a photograph Kennedy took while walking with Smith through Heaton Park after working together on The Fall album Your Future Our Clutter. The project has the Smith family’s blessing and financial support from Salford City Council, and is intended to honour the musician’s deep connections to Salford. The mosaic will join existing murals and mosaics celebrating Smith in Manchester and Prestwich, reinforcing his continuing cultural legacy in the region.

Ron Ellis, a 32-year-old drag performer and manager of Sauna Sauna in Northwich, disappeared in the early hours of May 3, 2010, after celebrating his birthday in Manchester's Gay Village and returning to the sauna. Cheshire Constabulary now believes he is dead, but has not established whether he took his own life or was killed. Investigators are particularly interested in a heated one-way telephone conversation shortly before his disappearance and are appealing to sauna customers, former employees and taxi drivers, many of whom may have information but have been reluctant to come forward. Ellis's bank account and medical records showed no activity, and his close relationship with his disabled brother ended abruptly when he vanished. No one has been arrested, and police are asking witnesses to provide information confidentially.

A 30-image gallery revisits Adswood council estate in Stockport through photographs taken by geography teacher Phil Portus in late 1978 and early 1979. The images document poor housing conditions, including peeling paint, broken windows and waterlogged cellars, while also showing residents’ resilience and collective efforts through the BEA Tenants Action Group to secure improvements. The estate is also identified as the childhood home of Angela Rayner, who later described growing up in poverty there.

Eight defendants were sentenced at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to defrauding five vulnerable elderly people across Cheshire, Rochdale, Coventry and Northamptonshire between July and September 2023. The offenders used bogus or badly completed building work, forced victims to withdraw cash or sign cheques, and laundered the proceeds through several bank accounts; total losses reached £97,000. Rival members of the group even argued over access to one victim after draining his account. Two victims died before the case concluded. Michael Doran and Liam Bayley received the longest prison terms, while the other defendants received suspended or shorter sentences.

England’s over-75s football team will play Germany at Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park on July 30, marking 60 years since England’s 1966 World Cup victory. BBC Radio Manchester presenter Mike Sweeney, aged 78, will make his fifth appearance for the Silver Lions and play at right back. The independently organized match was arranged by player-manager Ken Pollock, with Oldham Athletic providing the venue despite the team receiving no infrastructure support from the Football Association. England will wear red shirts inspired by the 1966 side, and proceeds from the £5 tickets will go to charity. Sweeney also recalls watching the 1966 final and says the match demonstrates that football and physical activity can remain meaningful in later life.

Terry Lewis, the former Labour MP for Worsley, has died aged 90. Remembered as “El Tel,” he represented the Salford constituency from 1983 to 2005 and built a reputation as an outspoken, independent-minded backbencher who challenged his own party and famously told Prime Minister John Major to “resign you plonker.” A staunch socialist, Lewis opposed the Iraq War, benefit cuts, student grant abolition and the part-privatisation of air traffic control, while campaigning on issues including premium-rate sex lines, tobacco health warnings and development in Worsley. He later quit Labour, accusing it of abandoning its socialist principles, before rejoining under Jeremy Corbyn. Friends, local politicians and broadcasters praised his dedication to constituents, accessibility and commitment to working-class communities. He leaves a son, David.

Greater Manchester residents cannot routinely access accurate street-level crime figures because GMP's iOPS records-management system has been unable to produce reliable data for police.uk. The problem follows earlier failures identified by inspectors, including an estimated 80,000 crimes left unrecorded in one year, and has produced implausibly low figures for places such as Piccadilly Gardens, Moss Side and Longsight. Although GMP has improved significantly under Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson and received the highest national performance rating, the data gap remains. GMP plans to replace the system with Mark43, but the new platform may not go live until spring 2027, with publication of local crime data taking additional time.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is investigating three firefighters who allegedly gave children rides on a fire engine during a station open day, an action believed to have taken place on a public highway. A firefighter criticised the inquiry as excessive, noting the ride was brief and intended to support community engagement, and suggested growing frustration within the workforce. The service declined to comment on the ongoing disciplinary process, which will assess potential health and safety breaches and the number of rides given.

Tributes honour Terry Lewis, the former Labour MP for Worsley who has died at 90. A long-serving Salford representative, he was known for his socialist principles, independent voting record and dedication to constituents. Leaders including Rebecca Long-Bailey, John Warmisham and Bolton’s mayor praised his commitment to working-class issues, opposition to cuts and strong local impact. His career included years on Bolton Council before entering Parliament in 1983, and he later left and rejoined Labour over ideological concerns.