How One Of Manchester’s Best Buildings Was Saved: The Miraculous Story of the Manchester Monastery
In 2026, Gorton Monastery celebrates 30 years since the founding of the Monastery of St Francis and Gorton Trust & our other reports
The Church and Friary of St Francis, designed by Victorian architect Edward Welby Pugin and completed in 1872, closed its doors as a working church in 1989 and fell into years of neglect and vandalism. At its lowest point it appeared on the World Monuments Fund's Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World - alongside Pompeii and the Taj Mahal and the building was purchased for just £1.
Following a £6.5 million restoration programme, Gorton Monastery reopened in 2007 and now operates as a vibrant events venue, community space and home to Manchester Camerata chamber orchestra.
In this video we sat down with Elaine Griffiths, CEO of the Monastery of St Francis and Gorton Trust - the driving forces behind the restoration - and Grahame Birtles, one of the monastery's tour guides, who brings the building's extraordinary history to life. Together they tell the full story of how a community refused to let one of Manchester's greatest buildings disappear.
This is one of Manchester's most remarkable stories of luck and coincidence, underpinned by hard work, commitment and dedication, in a way, embodying Manchester.
Our Other Reports:
No New Doctors? Resident Doctor Strike Explained
We spoke with resident doctors to see why they are continuing strike action after negotiations broke down with the government.
In a nutshell, the heart of the dispute is pay restoration - doctors argue their salaries have been eroded in real terms for over a decade, and that the government's proposed deal, which would spread increases over three years, fails to address that.
The BMA accused the government of moving the goalposts during negotiations, with a 3.5% pay offer coming in below the current rate of RPI inflation.
Jewish & Muslim Communities Come Together To Celebrate Passover
Jewish and muslim communities came together to celebrate passover at St. Peter's Square in Manchester.
Passover represents the Jewish story of freedom, marking the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Na'amod - a UK wide movement of British Jews - invited muslim communities in Manchester saying that passover should signify a freedom for all.
Katy, a spokesperson for Na'amod said that passover signifies a freedom for all and used the opportunity to call for a stop to the escalating state-backed settler violence in the West Bank alongside the end of the genocide in Gaza.
Na'amod is currently calling for MPs to uphold international law and call for an end to the ethnic cleansing and banning imports to the UK from illegal settlements.