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I'm Lily

Yorkshire raised. Now slightly less up North and a bit more to the West, trying to be a journalist in my adoptive city of Manchester. Currently @ Manchester Confidential.

Graduate of the University of Manchester, former Opinion Editor @ The Mancunion. 

Using podcasts about America in 1968 and gratuitously thick books on Stalin to service my historian credentials.

Beyonce stan, so pop-culture adjacent by nature.

Recent Articles

Confidentials •

A decade from now: Andy Burnham's 10 year plan for Manchester

Last night, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham presented a wide-reaching 10-year strategy to reshape Greater Manchester, calling the next decade “the best in the city region since the Victorian period.” 

The announcement came at the newly renovated Campfield Market in Castlefield - now a co-working and event space. Burnham unveiled the Greater Manchester Strategy 2025–2035 to regional leaders, community partners and business figures....

Lily Wallen speaks to Morgan Sports Car Club Chair Jann Robinson

How many of us can say with certainty that we’re truly,
unwaveringly, obsessed with the nuts and bolts of our jobs?
If I had previously thought I could place myself in that
camp; after an hour in the passenger seat of Jann Robinson’s
motoring world, I realised that few of us embody the meaning
of ‘vocation’ more than her.
“I’ve just driven back from Yorkshire, so apologies,” she says,
then, as if to prove the point, “I’m in my ’jamas.”
When we speak on a Monday evening, Jann has just
completed a drive from Yorkshire to Malvern, returning from
the Morgan Sports Car Club’s Annual General Meeting, held
over the preceding weekend.
Confidentials •

Front Page 11/04: Look for a Book, La Discotheque and Classic Cars by the river

Look for a Book ahead of Festival of Libraries

Festival of Libraries returns to Greater Manchester’s libraries from 4 June to 8 June, with the likes of Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce and scientist and stargazer Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock taking part.  

Ahead of the festival will be the Look for a Book challenge, from Friday 23 May to Sunday 1 June, where 500 copies of Dame Maggie’...
Confidentials •

'Despotic and batwinged fabulous’: Abigail’s Party, The Royal Exchange, reviewed

I’ve spent some of the worst two hours of my life in a theatre. Up in the gods, knees pressed to chest, water bottle out of reach to fix the parch caused by pre-show wine. Watching The Lion King and wanting to be mauled to death.

Abigail’s Party at The Royal Exchange, on the other hand, feels nothing like an exercise in penance. Chronicling the descent of a neighbourhood drinks party from the awkward to the polygamous, this tale of ‘70s subur...
Confidentials •

Has Deansgate Locks had its day?

But the truth is, to this 21-year-old at least, people want something slightly less on the nose these days. Something that looks harder to get into. Not that access would require a certain amount of Instagram followers, but that it’s harder to find, in a derelict building or much more intimate in size and atmosphere. Somewhere a libertine instinct might guide you to, rather than 8-for-4 Sourz shots.

And with that, the pendulum has swung to spots like Hidden and The Loft, the former mindful of upkeeping its industrial edge despite its recent revamp. Northern Quarter, although fit to burst, feels empowered. Students are willing to shoulder the burden of a £13 double for a place where they can dance and talk. Spots like Lost Cat are Manchester’s downscaled answer to multi-level madness, and Gay Village has acquired the Locks’ sing-along monopoly.
Confidentials •

A Design for Life: How Manchester’s best-dressed are reclaiming style from the algorithm

“That’s a Miu Miu girl,” I said as a woman walked past in an ultra-low-rise pleated mini-skirt and a midriff-baring crop top - essentially the skirt again, just worn higher up. The look was unmistakable, a spit of the Miu Miu set that dominated 2022. 

Having no doubt filtered down from the dizziest heights of haute couture, through various levels of mid-luxury and high street imitations, it was now striding though Albert Square as I sat with...
Confidentials •

Navigators opens South Manchester hub

In response to a growing number of young people across South Manchester using their alternative education service, Navigators has opened a new community learning centre and activity hub in Wythenshawe to support young people who are missing from mainstream education.

Aiming to provide a stable learning environment for hard-to-reach young people, Navigators' expansion strengthens their position as a leading provider of specialist education in...
Confidentials •

Front Page 14/02: Marr’s guitars, Moovin lineup, and Mozz’ return

Stockport’s Foodie Friday to host Strawberry Studios celebration

Foodie Friday, Stockport’s monthly street food festival, has revealed the lineup for its Strawberry Studios Forever Celebration Concert, promising a night dedicated to music recorded at the iconic Strawberry Recording Studio.


Due to start at 7.30pm on Monday 31 March at The Plaza, concertgoers can expect performances from P...
Confidentials •

Owens Park: Nostalgia and a crisis of accommodation

“That sense of a special time and place is something you take through your life,” reflected BBC journalist Ben Gallop on his year in Oak House from 1986-87.

Owens Park, with its 19-storey tower, and Oak House were built on the University of Manchester’s Fallowfield Campus in 1964 and 1973, respectively, and have since gained an outsized reputation as Manchester’s - if not England’s - most iconic university halls....

Lily Wallen laments on the state of British Overseas Territories after a month in Turks and Caicos

October saw the UK’s commitment to its Overseas Territories make headlines. As Starmer relinquished British control of the Chagos Islands and made a shaky appearance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, it became apparent that the fresh Labour government will maintain the business-as-usual approach to Commonwealth allies and Crown Territories. That is, sidestepping Commonwealth demands for reparative justice just to periodically reassure Britain that its hold of over a dozen Overseas Territories isn’t going anywhere.
The Mancunion •

Main Library Musings - Rant column #2 - The Mancunion

Sainsburys. See the burgundy and orange, hear the klaxon-like malfunction of the self-services, feel the money drain from your pocket.

I’m sure, if you’re a Fallowfield or Withington based student, just the name of the place invokes the despair of lumbering down those flat escalators with a dissociative stare, thinking to yourself, “how did I actually just spend £25 when all I came in for was mayo?”

Since moving into Oak House almost three years ago, big Sainsbury’s has been a looming monolith in my cheap little student life. It may as well change its big orange sign to say, “I don’t know how I ended up here; I’m literally the worst option for students.”

Big Sainsbury’s offers absolutely no bang for your buck. I mean drop an M&S in the middle of Fallowfield and I definitely still wouldn’t shop there, but at least I could galivant around the aisles, ogling at their latest flavour of “the absolute best of the best, scrumptious pink lemonade” or whatever, and fantasise about the life I wish I was leading.
The Mancunion •

Community strength is the best thing about university. Long-live my house share! - The Mancunion

It’s once again approaching the best day of the year. Spirits are joyously high around campus, wardrobes are ransacked for any thread of green glimmering from the depths, and The Vic is probably changing its kegs as you read this. No, Santa Claus isn’t coming to town; St Patrick is due to hop off the 143 at any moment, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
The university experience has taught me a lot about essays, Londoners, and the uselessness of an umbrella in a Mancunian storm. But perhaps my...
The Mancunion •

Main Library Musings - Rant column #1 - The Mancunion

Have you ever experienced such a profound, mind-boggling thirst that the dryness of your mouth could rival Jesus’ after 40-days-and-40-nights in the Judaean Dessert? No? Well, I have, and it was in Blue 3.

When will people stop using the second stream of the water fountain as the first is already in use? Yes, I know there are 3 available taps on the fountain. No, that doesn’t mean all 3 should be used simultaneously, reducing the rate of water to no more than a measly dribble.

It’s seriously painful. There I am just trying to fill up my £2 Primark bottle in peace and suddenly I’m choosing between weirdly tense eye contact or watching water fill my bottle at the speed of a 142 during rush hour.
The Mancunion •

Former University of Manchester student jailed for Just Stop Oil activity - The Mancunion

University of Manchester alum Phoebe Plummer faces six months in prison following their arrest at a slow march for Just Stop Oil in London. Their hearing took place on November 16.
The 22-year-old, who first garnered media attention last year with their defacement of a van Gogh painting using soup, is to be remanded in prison until May 16, 2024.
They will put forward their plea at Southwark Crown Court on November 30.
Plummer was remanded under Public Order Act 2023, section 7 by Judge McDonell...
The Mancunion •

Solidarity pop-up gig hosted in support of University occupiers - The Mancunion

Supporters of the University of Manchester (UoM) Rent Strike held a pop-up gig on February 14, in solidarity with the ongoing building occupations and wider strikes happening across campus.
The gig started at 3pm under the arch of Whitworth Hall, with a performance from Vice Vera, a member of Manchester Metropolitan University’s (MMU) UCU. This was followed by singer OORYA, who finished just after 4pm.
Crowds from various societies – such as Manchester Leftist Action, Occupation Solidarity, and...
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