🥨 A word from Helen, editor/writer at The Knot

Catching the train to Manchester Airport from Stoke is, let’s face it, a bit of a pain. You have to change at Piccadilly, stress about the connection, drag your luggage off the train, find the new platform, and board another train all while hoping your connection won’t be cancelled or delayed.

So, it’s great to hear that a new service will provide a direct rail connection between Birmingham and Manchester Airport so you don’t have that stressful change to worry about when you’re off on your hols. This hourly rail service will run between Birmingham New Street and Manchester Airport and call at stations in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Cheshire.

The route will be rolled out in two phases: phase one will see a new service introduced between Birmingham and Crewe from Sunday 13 December 2026 and phase two will extend this service to Manchester Airport from May 2027. The new route will call at 17 stations, including Stafford, Stone, Stoke-on-Trent, Longport and Kidsgrove in Staffordshire.

The rail link has been re-established after being withdrawn in 2003 following a wider restructuring of local/through services. Petitions were taken to Parliament by local MPs Gareth Snell and Adam Jogee, with the former first raising the case for a direct Stoke-to-Manchester Airport route in Parliament back in 2018. Jogee highlighted the issue last September during a Commons debate on regional transport inequality.

Have a great week, and don’t miss Wednesday’s piece about why the PM has paused local government reorganisation and what that means for us here in Stoke.

Good News 🎉

🚆 Rail Links are improving. West Midlands Trains is improving links between Birmingham and Manchester Airport. It has confirmed that the new service between Manchester will be introduced in phases, with services between Birmingham, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe launching in December 2026 before being extended to Manchester Airport in May 2027. West Midlands Trains has added that the new service will also deliver later evening trains, improved Sunday services, and hundreds of new rail connections to Manchester Airport for passengers travelling from Staffordshire and the West Midlands.

🥋 THE KNOT’S PERSON OF THE WEEK – Libby Wood 🥋

Stoke-on-Trent grandmother Libby Connor needed a walking stick to get around last year. Seven months after a full knee replacement, the 57-year-old karate instructor won gold in sparring and silver in Kata at the GKR Karate World Cup in Telford this July. Following surgery at Nuffield Health last December, she set hourly reminders to complete her rehabilitation exercises, determined to make it to the World Cup. Early in the new year, Libby tested her progress at a regional tournament and came home with two gold medals. At the World Cup, she came through heats against around 17 or 18 competitors in her 55-to-64 age division before reaching both finals. She took silver in Kata, then completed a clean sweep in Kumite to win gold. Well done Libby, awesome achievement!

Libby at the karate World Cup this July, where she took gold and silver medals following a knee operation last December

🍎 Social Supermarket opens. Bus fares may have been capped to £2 but many of us are still feeling the pinch. That’s why we’re chuffed to hear about a new social supermarket opening on 9 October in Newcastle, which aims to fight food poverty, cut food waste and build community. Run by Community Cupboard CIC, it will be based next door to The Junction Café & Printshop, and is supported by Aspire Housing and The National Lottery Community Fund.
🚬 Crackdown on dodgy shops. Two premises have been issued with closure notices by the city council’s trading standards team. UK Mini Market in Hanley saw seven test purchases of counterfeit cigarettes between July 2025 and July 2026. This led to 160 packets of illegal cigarettes, 16 pouches of illegal hand rolling tobacco and 52 pots of illegal shisha being seized, all hidden in a roof cavity on the premises. Moorland Vapes had an inspection in May 2026, which seized 71 packs of illegal cigarettes and 1,140 non-compliant vapes. Despite warnings, a test purchase of counterfeit cigarettes was subsequently made.
Both premises have been ordered to close for three months.

🥘 New curry house for Burslem. It opened earlier this month, is called Multan Courtyard, and serves authentic Pakistani meals like charsi karahi from its location in St John’s Square. Other menu items include desi breakfasts with halwa, channa, paratha and chai, plus traditional English breakfasts and a lamb roast. Breakfast is served 8am-1pm, while dinner is 5pm-11pm.

Get along to Multan, a new currry spot in Burslem in St. John’s Square

👻 Our Top Five Don’t-Miss Events this Week. It’s nearly Halloween and events are turning spooky. Under cover of candlelight, the Mystery Ensemble will be playing songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas and more at Tim Burton’s Universe (31/10, 6pm for 6.30pm) inside Stoke Minster; tickets from £19 and the minimum age is six. There’s also Halloween Theatre Night – A Fright in the Museum at Middleport (31/10; doors 6pm, show starts 7pm), where you’ll spend Halloween in the presence of vampires, ghouls and Egyptian mummies in this one-man theatre show written and performed by Jonathan Goodwin; tickets £18.

Another great Heritage Open Day event over at the Butter Market in Leek: Celebrating Textile Heritage in the Staffordshire Moorlands (18/09; 10am-3pm) will explore Leek, Cheadle and Tean’s textile-making past with vintage fashion displays; admission is free, just drop in. If you love a bit of ska, The Beat featuring Ranking Junior are playing The Underground (21/11, 7pm-11pm), with support from The Perry Tones and DJ Steve Sos; tickets £25.

One more from us: check out the inaugural Stoke Ceramics Fair (17/10, 10am-4pm), which will feature more than 40 makers from across the county showcasing their work at Stoke Minster.

🥨 Most popular stories from the last week on The Knot

💁‍♂️ Citizens Advice opens new hub in Potteries Centre: We got the lowdown from CEO Craig Browne on the new space, which will eventually be spread over two levels
📚 Stoke’s Book Festival is coming: This cool literary happening will take place on 03/10-10/107 and you can get tickets for individual events here
🤘Petition launched to revive Heavy Metal Holocaust: If you want to sign the petition to revive this legendary 1981 event, visit the Lemmy Forever website

Direct trains from Stoke station to…