The Stockport Pyramid

The Stockport Pyramid is reopening in 2025.

One of the first landmarks - among many fine buildings - we noticed when we moved to Stockport in 2016 was the Stockport Pyramid.

The Stockport Pyramid

Not many towns in the UK can lay claim to being home to a pyramid!

A view of the pyramid across the M60 

The Stockport Pyramid had been home to the Co-operative Bank until 2018 and the building had been empty since then.

Views of the Stockport Pyramid in August 2020

It was originally planned to be the first of five pyramids in Stockport's own Valley of the Kings. That plan didn't come to fruition and the Stockport Pyramid sits on in the Kings Valley industrial and trading estate next to the M60.

A view of the pyramid from a train into Manchester on the viaduct

Plans have now been approved for Royal Nawaab to create an Indian dining destination including a restaurant and banqueting hall in the building.

It'll be interesting to make a booking and get to go inside for a look around the intriguing building.

The Stockport Pyramid was completed in 1992 after five years work. Standing 36.6 metres (120 feet) in height, the Stockport Pyramid is somewhat smaller than Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, which stands 147 metres (481 feet) high. However, the striking structure has become a familiar sight to people in the town, those passing on the M60, or passengers on trains on the lines across the viaduct.

Visit the Royal Nawaab website for more information.

It's good to be gluten free, sometimes

While living with Coeliac Disease isn't the best thing in the world, the fact that having to be incredibly careful about every little thing you eat or drink does make you get excited about new products you see while out shopping. Lately the Co-op has been getting me interested and excited about food again as they've launched a lot of new gluten free items in their Free From range.

It's always exciting receiving a free from food parcel!

While having our own dedicated free from section in a supermarket is convenient it's also nice to see 'normal' food products being made gluten free as standard.

I've been tweeting with the team at the Co-op and they were kind enough to send me four of the new soups in the range to try out. From l-r they are Tomato & Lentil, Red Thai Chicken, Carrot & Coriander, and Chicken & Vegetable. I've tried the Chicken & Vegetable soup already - as well as the Minestrone - as I picked them up in a two for £3 deal recently. They taste really good and are large portions, very filling. The pots do say they serve 2, but I'm not one for sharing!

The Co-op has been adding to its range of gluten free products for a while now and I'm looking forward to seeing what else they have in store for people who need gluten free food options.

Link:
- The Co-op website

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- The Co-op

A gluten free burger in a gluten free brioche-style bun!

We're always on the lookout for new and interesting gluten free food and we made a great discovery at Waitrose in Lutterworth, Leicestershire at the weekend when we spotted the packs of brioche style buns made by Just: Gluten Free Bakery!

What a find!

For dinner tonight we cooked up some gluten free burgers from the Co-Operative and put them in the brioche buns. They were delicious.

A fine burger, topped with bacon and cheese and stuffed in a nice brioche style bun. The free from Onion Rings from Tesco were great too. Note the healthy items on the plate

Check out the links below for more info on Just: Gluten Free Bakery.

Links:
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery website
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery on Twitter
- Just: Gluten Free Bakery on Facebook

Related blog posts:

- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Gluten free Eggy Bread with Bacon and Cheese

Trying out a new recipe from The Co-operative.

We're always looking for new and interesting things to cook and eat and we really liked the look of the Eggy Bread with Bacon and Cheese dinner idea on a recipe card from The Co-operative.

Dinner for last night was from a Co-Op recipe card for eggy bread with bacon and cheese. As a Coeliac we used Genius Gluten Free bread. A very tasty dinner

Check out the recipe for the Eggy Bread with Bacon and Cheese (and lots more ideas for dinner) at the Dinner4tonight website.

Links:
- Dinner4tonight
- The Co-operative Food
- Genius Gluten Free

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Emily's cooking

Glutamel Gluten Free Baguettes

Over the weekend we were in Felixstowe, Suffolk and had a look in the Co-Operative supermarket at the station and were pleased to see a number of gluten and wheat free foods that we hadn't seen before!

One of the products that looked good and was reasonably priced were the ready to bake baguettes that came in packs of three.

Glutamel Baguettes are gluten free, wheat free and dairy free. They taste great

We bought two packs and have enjoyed eating them with a variety of fillings. They taste great and have a very good texture and consistency. Well done Glutamel.

Looking on the Glutamel website there are a lot more items available from the brand. I look forward to hopefully finding more on sale near us in Luton, Bedfordshire and on our travels around the UK.

I'm also really pleased that the team at Glutamel have ensure the products are gluten AND wheat free (with no codex wheat starch) so I'll be able to eat the lot.

I'm looking forward to using some of the baguettes for garlic bread, another item that's not easy to get hold of as a Coeliac.

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac Disease
- New Free From range at the Co-operative

Links:
- Glutamel
- The Co-Operative

New Free From range at the Co-operative

Spotting the Co-operative's new Loved by us Free From range of products.

Another day and another new gluten free cereal! Having been tipped-off about the new gluten free Corn Flakes from Nestlé a couple of days ago, yesterday I spotted that the Co-operative has rebranded its Free From product range - and now includes a Honey Coated Puffed Rice breakfast cereal.

I had a bowl of it for breakfast this morning and it tasted great. Not too bad for £2 a box. Another gluten free cereal for my fellow Crazy Golfer and blogger Phil Botto at The Cereal Quest to eat.

The new Free From Honey Coated Puffed Rice at the Co-operative

Unfortunately for me as someone with Coeliac Disease (and high sensitivity to oats) I was annoyed to see that the Co-Op's Free From Chocolate Digestive Biscuits are made from Oat Flour. I do hope Oat Flour doesn't become the norm for making 'free from' foods. I've had a few run-ins with biscuits, cakes and cereals that have been marked as 'Gluten & Wheat Free', but tucked away on the ingredients list are the evil oats.

The Chocolate Brownies sound and look nice, if a little small considering the large box they're in!

Three of the newly re-branded Free From products at the Co-operative

The new Free From sliced white loaf looks to be a good size and consistency (from what I could tell through the packaging).

The Co-operative's new Free From bread and spaghetti

There were a number of other products in the new pink and yellow (formerly brown and yellow) branded Free From range at the Co-operative that I'll no doubt be trying over the coming months and years.

Links:
- The Co-operative Food
- The Cereal Quest
- Coeliac UK

Related blog posts:
- Cereal
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac