Food & Drink Festival takes place in grounds of Grade I listed gem
Visitors will flock to the grounds of historic Baguley Hall as it opens its gates for the first time in half a century.
The inaugural Baguley Hall Food & Drink Festival takes place on Saturday 22 August from 11-4pm. Free entry.
The landmark event is hosted by Heritage Trust North West (HTNW) which took over the hall at the end of last year with plans to revive and eventually re-open it.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY: Interview members of the HTNW team about the forthcoming event and first phase plans to bring Baguley Hall back to life. Contact Dickie at richardpfelton@gmail.com
Although visitors cannot enter the hall itself just yet, guided tours inside are set to start later this year. Visitors at the Food & Drink Festival will be among the very first to sign up for the tours.
Baguley is a medieval manor house that dates to the 13th Century. It is Manchester’s oldest building. But it has been boarded-up for almost six decades.
The preservation charity hopes the community will get behind their drive to bring Baguley Hall back to life. People will be able to make donations at the event – and all money raised will be invested back into the hall’s restoration and reuse.
Michael Guy, Heritage Trust North West CEO said: “It feels very positive and symbolic to
open the Baguley Hall grounds for the first time in decades. We have lots of fantastic local artisan food traders as well as live entertainment.
“We also hope that when visitors step through the gates for the first time that they begin to visualise how Baguley Hall could become a vital community asset in the future.”
Heritage Trust North West has outlined initial plans for a café on site as part of a first phase of work. It is also set to offer tours of the site and inside the building later this year.
Saturday 22 August offers an invitation to the community to come along and speak to members of the HTNW team about the visions for this historic gem situated in Hall Lane, Wythenshawe.
It’s also hoped music fans will pop-in on their way to the Lewis Capaldi concert that evening at nearby Wythenshawe Park.
In November Historic England selected HTNW to take on ownership of Baguley Hall. The preservation trust has been saving and conserving buildings since 1978.