Check out the favourite Manchester hotspots of TV’s Cold Feet stars
Cold feet has been on TV for 22 years and as well as falling in love with old pals Adam, Pete, Jenny, David and Karen, viewers have been wowed by the Manchester setting
COLD FEET has been on TV for 22 years and in that time we have fallen in love with old pals Adam, Pete, Jenny, David and Karen. But viewers have also been wowed by the Manchester setting.
Here the stars of the ITV1 series – which returns on Monday night – tell Emma Cox their top places to eat, drink and shop in the city.
Fay Ripley (plays Jenny Gifford)
I always stay at the boutique hotel King Street Townhouse when we’re filming. It’s a real home-from-home for me.
The best tapas is El Gato Negro on King Street. But for a light salad and glass of wine, go to Piccolino on Albert Square. I’m a coffee snob but the Department of Coffee and Social Affairs on New York Street is excellent.
The Northern Quarter looks like Greenwich Village in New York and has a really cool vibe, it’s fun to wander around. For shopping there’s a big Selfridges – if the sales are on. And the people are so damn nice. Living in London, you really notice it.
John Thomson (plays Pete Gifford)
I’m all for independent shops because I’m a big foodie. And Burton Road in Didsbury, where Cold Feet is shot, is a melting pot of independents.
It’s a great place to meet, eat, drink and be merry.
In Manchester city centre you have Spinningfields and First Street, which are both up-and-coming areas.
It’s all changing. They are like little hubs of dining. In fact, there is a lot of development going on throughout Manchester, which is great to see. I’d sum up Manchester in three words – cheap, friendly . . . and inclement.
Hermione Norris (plays Karen Marsden)
I love the Royal Exchange. There are lots of jewellery stores, pop-up shops and places to have a coffee.
You can see a play there – it’s my favourite theatre. I was there in 1994 for five months.
I always try to see something there when I am in Manchester. The theatre is in the round, it’s a good size and it’s a lovely haven in the middle of the city centre.
The people are wonderful. There is a really strong sense of community. It’s tangible.
Everyone takes care of one another and you really feel that. It’s a privilege to have been part of that.
Robert Bathurst (plays David Marsden)
A lovely place to walk is Fletcher Moss Park on the outskirts. It has wetlands, woods, wildlife habitat and wonderful rockery.
Manchester has a fascinating history. It has no parks because it was built for industry, so it lacks green spaces for leisure.
We have filmed in a place called the “ragged school”, where young women were given accommodation then sent to the mills to work.
You can see that history all around you.
But so much of the modern city is gleaming glass and chrome now.
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James Nesbitt (plays Adam Williams)
The girls stay in King Street Townhouse, which is owned by a woman called Sally who used to do the make-up on Cold Feet years ago.
Closer to town, the Principal Hotel is great. That’s where we all stayed when we did the pilot.
In Burton Road, there are fabulous restaurant like Volta, run by Luke Cowdrey, a DJ who used to work at the famous Hacienda club.
For fresh air, there’s golf in Northenden and Mere. And Chorlton Water Park is a fine nature reserve.
Manchester is in a great location. Any drive out of town takes you to some beautiful countryside.