The Mancunian Way: D-Day remembered

Hello,

On June 6 1944, Allied forces from Britain, America and the Commonwealth gathered on five beaches in Normandy, ready to launch the biggest naval and airborne invasion the world had ever seen.

D-Day is now known as the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany and war in Europe. Today, 80 years on, 23 veterans who are still able to travel have made the trip to France in order to commemorate the attack.

Today is a chance to remember the sacrifice made by so many - and leaders from across the world will gather to mark the anniversary.

At the Manchester Evening News, we’re taking the opportunity to remember some of the brave men from our region who put their life on the line 80 years ago. Veteran Norman Coleman, from Stalybridge in Tameside, is one of the many men from Greater Manchester who was sent to Normandy in 1944.

In 2014, Norman's daughter, Marion, told the M.E.N: "Just before they landed he looked back and it looked like he could walk back to England, there were so many ships and crafts in the Channel. The smell and the noise is something he can remember now."

Later, Norman helped to liberate Belgium and the Netherlands, before heading to Germany to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. When he returned to Britain he worked in engineering and went on to have three children, five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

He was later awarded France's highest honour, the Legion D’Honneur. Norman died in 2015 at the age of 92.

Harry Evans, who fought in the South Lancashire regiment, spoke to the M.E.N in 2014 and recalled preparing to be thrown into battle.

"We knew what it was going to be like," he said. "We were all very quiet, making jokes just to be happy, but everybody was frightened to death."

You can read more stories from veterans here.

‘I would hate to think that Manchester could be home to some of the pretentious places that London has started to produce’

That’s what restaurateur Zack Isaak told reporter Adam Maidment when they sat down at Spinningfield’s newest establishment.

Middle Eastern restaurant Habbibi aims to transport people to Dubai - or, more specifically, the home of a friendly neighbour in Dubai. Here, Mr Isaak says it is all about old-school hospitable service.

“When we say house wine, that doesn’t mean it’s because it’s the cheapest,” Habbibi’s general manager Simon Khan told Adam. “It means it’s the wine I would be more than happy to recommend to you if you were at my house.

“When you look at the culture within the Far East, if you were to knock on someone’s door during dinner time, you would be asked to come inside and join them for food,” Simon explained. “That’s our intention here. It’s coming back to that old-school style of owning a restaurant.

“Everyone’s a VIP - everybody is important. I have worked at some very high-end places in London and I would hate to think that Manchester could be home to some of the pretentious places that London has started to produce. It doesn’t work for restaurants when they’re supposed to be hospitable.”

Adam says you can expect Middle Eastern-style tapas, described as ‘fusion-style cuisine at its best’. You can read more about Spinningfield’s newest opening here

'Our hearts are broken'

Earlier this week, we brought you the news that beloved Ancoats bakery Trove was closing after a ‘forfeiture notice’ was posted on the door.

It was later revealed that the company behind Trove had entered liquidation with more than £1.6 million of debt.

Now, the owners have confirmed that all three of their sites will be closing. In a post on Instagram, owners Marcus and Katie Saide said that they had been' struggling mentally, physically and financially for a while' and kept the business going when they 'should have ended it'.

You can read more here.

'I've always voted Labour... but this might be the last time I do'

Now to Ashton-under-Lyne, where MP Angela Rayner is on the brink of becoming deputy prime minister.

The constituency is something of a Labour stronghold - but speaking to the M.E.N, voters had mixed feelings about the party, and about Rayner herself.

Some saw her as a ‘working class woman making good for herself’, but for others, her appointment as deputy leader of the Labour party in 2020 has taken her away from the reality in the town.

You can read more about what constituents had to say here.

Holiday hassle

You’ll still need to stick to strict liquid rules if you’re flying out of Manchester Airport this summer after they missed the deadline to install new security scanners.

Next Generation Security Checkpoint (NGSC) Scanners were set to be rolled out across major airports ahead of this summer with the government setting a nominal deadline of June 1. The scanners remove the need for travellers to stick to the strict 100ml liquid rules and place them inside clear plastic bags.

Manchester Airports Group, which manages Manchester Airport as well as East Midlands, and Stansted airports, estimates its scanners will be fully deployed by next year. More here.

Weather etc

Friday: Cloudy changing to light rain in the afternoon. 16C.

Roadworks: Bentley Lane in both directions closed due to roadworks from Baldingstone (Walmersley) to White Carr Lane (Nangreaves).

Manchester headlines

• Town hall exit: Manchester council chief executive Joanne Roney CBE is set to leave the town hall after seven years. She is expected to become top boss at troubled Birmingham council. More here.

• Murder: A group have been jailed after a man was stabbed to death as he sat drinking a takeaway coffee in Piccadilly Basin. Ahmed Alsharan was stabbed in the heart and pushed into a canal amid the city centre brawl. More here.

• Headbutting: A 43-year-old man has been found guilty of headbutting football pundit Roy Keane at the Emirates stadium after Arsenal played Manchester United. More here.

Worth a read

The family of Regan Tierney have spoken out after she was ‘killed’ at the hands of her partner in their former Salford home.

After five years of delays, her inquest is finally set to be heard next month. Her family hope it will bring to light that Regan failed to be protected by the very people who were meant to keep her safe. More here.