Billy’s Monthly Round Up - Pints, Blogs & Static Audio

So that’s May done and dusted.

It’s been a bit of a month for me personally, but business-wise, I feel like we’re really off on the right foot.

Now, you might be asking yourself, “Why am I reading this?”

Honestly… I can’t answer that, you clicked the link. But I can tell you why I’m writing it.

I’m Billy, and as Tom likes to call me (with what I hope is affection), I’m GR8R’s “Glorious Leader.” When I started this platform, I wanted to be completely transparent. I didn’t want us to feel like some shady company full of suits, hiding behind a screen and pumping out content just to sell ad space.

This should be a place you, yes you reading this, can come to for a trip down memory lane. For proper recommendations for your weekend without the kids. Or, if you’ve moved away and fancy a few days back home, somewhere you can check what’s happening and what’s worth your time.

If you want to spend your weekend in the city centre, there’s loads of channels telling you where to get the best smashed avo or a mocha chai tea that’ll blow your socks off. But no one’s shouting about the lakeside pub in Buy or the independent coffee shop-slash-art-gallery in Rochdale that doesn’t do mocha chai tea, but does a damn good cappuccino. That’s where we come in. 

But why should you trust us?

We’re not backed by a celeb. We haven’t got a billion followers. And you’re right to question that. 

Right now, as of May, we’re just three young-ish people, living in Stockport (originally from Stockport, Tameside and Manchester), who genuinely love where we live. And we want to show that by being open and honest.

We’re doing that in a few ways:

• On the bottom of every page on our site, you’ll see a label called “Values and Ethics.” We’re under no legal obligation to have that. But we want it there. Every time we start a new series or make a new video or blog, those are the guidelines we’ve set for ourselves. If you ever think we’ve let you down or not stuck to those, reach out. 

• We put everything to a vote. Even though I (Billy) built the platform, there’s three of us now, and we’ve agreed that every decision gets put to a vote. It’s a proper little democracy.

• I’ll be doing one of these little updates every month, no matter how far this goes. Even if I eventually step away from the blog side of things, I’ll still pop back on once a month to do this.

The plan is to let you know what happened the month before, the good, the bad, the annoying, and the frustrating, so you’re not left guessing what’s going on behind closed doors. I’ll also share anything I can about what’s coming up, new series, what’s launching, what’s dropping, so you’re always in the loop with your channel.

So May… its been a real month, and we’ve been busy.

We’ve upped our followers by 150%, which has been amazing! We finally went on camera with our first Best Seat in the House — which was an interesting experience.

The video you’ll have seen was actually the second one we filmed. First, we took a trip to The Fisherman’s Retreat in Ramsbottom, Bury. What a place. If you’ve not been, you’ve got to go! We’ll do a proper video on it. We sat there with a pint, scripting it out. Tom took the lead on that one. Halfway through filming, a steam train went past in the distance, did its little toot, unbelievable! Proper picturesque, just a lovely quiet spot away from all the hustle.

Checked the footage later… and the audio lead had packed in. Nothing but static. 

Livid.

So, we left, ordered a new cable, and I went to the Hare and Hounds on Werneth Low for take two. And I’m glad I did. That’s where the idea for the series first came to me. It was a proper nice day, the views were class, and even though I’ve not made a penny from the videos or blogs, I just sat there with my pint and thought — how lucky am I? this is my job! Talking about places I love, to people who’ll hopefully love them too. Helping folk feel a bit more connected to where they’re from. Can’t really ask for more than that.

Away from the camera, I’ve been putting the hours in on the website.

I’ve started cracking on with what I’m calling each borough’s “master page” — a place where we can give you a proper introduction to the area, a few good spots to eat, a nice walk, and some hidden gems you might not have come across. I’m working backwards alphabetically, so Wigan and Trafford are done. At the time of writing this, I’m on Tameside, then it’ll be Stockport, and so on.

We’ve also finished putting together our Greater Manchester FAQ. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to find the most frequently asked questions about the region — from “is it a city?” to “why is it called Greater Manchester?” — and we’ve tried to answer them all as clearly and honestly as we can. Hopefully it clears up a few things (and sparks a few more conversations).

The blogs are coming thick and fast now too. If you’ve got any ideas for topics you’d like to see us cover — whether it’s nostalgic stuff, hidden places, or just daft memories — drop a comment below or message us on socials. We’d genuinely love to hear what you’d like more of.

Tom’s kicked off his first blog now that the football season’s winding down. He’s turning his attention to some of the other brilliant sports we’ve got going on across Greater Manchester — rugby, cricket, even the odd ice hockey team — and shouting out the clubs that don’t always get the spotlight.

Roch is working on some pieces about music — looking at which local artists are touring, who’s emerged from Greater Manchester over the years, and how the region’s shaped music past and present. There’ll be a bit of history in there, a bit of what’s coming up, and hopefully something that gets you digging back through your playlists.

Video-wise, our main series are all live on the Projects page — you can click that in the top header of the site to see what we’re working on and what’s coming soon. But we’ve also had a new idea that we’re excited about: an A–Z for each borough. Proper mix of the obvious and the obscure — could be places, people, foods, sayings, anything. I won’t promise we’ll launch that in June, but if we can get at least one borough done, ill be a happy bunny!

So yeah, we’ve been busy — and plan to be even busier. But it’s how we like it. And when you enjoy what you’re doing, it’s totally worth the effort.

That’s all from me this month. I hope you’re enjoying these little updates — let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to see in them going forward. Whether it’s behind-the-scenes stuff, shoutouts to other local creators, or just a bit of what we’ve been loving lately… I’m open to it all.

Until next month — cheers for reading.

Flying the Drone at Hare and Hounds

Tom At Fishermans Retreat

More Drone flying

We have fun