The Mancunian Way: 'Medieval Manchester'

Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.

Here's the Mancunian Way for today:

Hello,

We're just a few days into May and it's already looking set to be a pretty busy month all round. We've got the King's Coronation coming up this weekend (with an extra Bank Holiday to boot), then we're continuing the festivities with the Eurovision in Liverpool the weekend after.

Not content with just that, the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run will take place on Sunday, May 21, where 25,000 runners are expected to make their way through the city in aid of charities close to their hearts.

It's nice to see plenty of things going on in the city-region to keep us all busy and entertained, and hopefully the weather will make a good turnout for us as well...

Whilst Beth enjoys an extended Bank Holiday weekend, I'll be taking over Mancunian Way duties today where we'll be looking at low local election turnouts, the medieval building of the north and a little Dutch café making waves. Let's begin.

On Bank Holiday morning, as many of us were having a lie-in or recovering from a hangover, nurses up and down the country were on the picket line sharp and early.

The industrial action was part of a 28-hour strike coordinated by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union which began at 8pm on Sunday and ended at 11.59pm on Monday.

Union members voted to reject the latest government offer of a 5 per cent increase after saying the real-terms pay cut they have been experiencing for years is now pushing people out of the nursing profession whilst also putting patient safety at risk.

Leah