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Bryony Rowe moved to Manchester aged 21 for what she hoped would be an exciting new chapter in her life. But while her friends were out enjoying everything the city had to offer, Bryony would often make her excuses, telling herself she hadn't earnt the right to let her hair down.
Looking back now she realises the warning signs she was seriously ill had been building for some time. She'd force herself to spend three hours at the gym every day, and punish herself if she hadn't perfectly controlled her food intake.
Bryony would later discover she suffered with bulimia and orthorexia (an obsession with 'pure' or 'healthy' food). And she is by no means alone.
In today's Mancunian Way we'll take a look at how the number of girls and young women diagnosed with eating disorders and self-harm has surged since the start of the pandemic and discover the difficulties many face in getting care and treatment.
Elsewhere we'll hear from a home-owner paying the price for Britain's exploding mortgage timebomb, and we'll take a look back at one local council's hugely ambitious but ultimately doomed attempt to tackle its own housing crisis.
And we'll go behind the scenes of an unassuming local shop in Bolton hiding a spectacular secret.
The hidden condition growing among young women
Since the start of the pandemic, the number of girls diagnosed with eating disorders and self-harm has surged. Analysis of GP records shows that since March 2020, eating disorders were 42 per cent higher than expected for girls aged 13 to 16, Sophie Halle-Richards reports.
That figure was 32 per cent higher for girls aged 17-19, according to a study conducted by the University of Manchester, Keele University, The University of Exeter and mental health charity The McPin Foundation. Reports of self-harm in girls aged 13-16 were also 38 per cent higher than anticipated, but in boys, there was no increase in rates of eating disorders detected.
Dr Magdalene Sampson is Consultant Clinical Psychology Lead at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust's Eating Disorder Service. She said the service had seen significantly more people asking for help during the pandemic - and since.
"This is a trend that has been seen nationally and internationally as well as in Greater Manchester," she said. "The conditions of the pandemic resulted in significant challenges for those with eating disorders including the lack of control and uncertainty over many areas of life, support and engaging in usual areas that provide structure, meaning and purpose not being as available, food insecurity, focus on exercise etc."
For Amy, lockdown led to a mental health spiral which saw a 'destructive' pattern of anorexia 'blow up.' Speaking to the M.E.N last year, the then 17-year-old said her mind became 'consumed with food.'
"As my training and mobility, such as walking to, from and around school, was stripped from me during the pandemic, I over-trained even more in an attempt to compensate for not training ‘properly’ and I under-fuelled to a greater extent," she said.
"The pandemic gave me a lot more thinking time, so my mind became consumed with food as it had no other occupation."
After going to see a GP about her condition Bryony Rowe was placed on a waiting list for 18 months before finally being referred to a therapist. She received two years of intensive Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and, now aged 30, has been in recovery for a number of years.
"I always compare an eating disorder with an addiction because you're addicted to the same feeling," she said. "You honestly don't notice you're doing it so it's hard for people to understand how ill I actually was."
The research also highlights the disparity in health care between rich and poor communities. In the 10 years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, diagnosis of eating disorders in girls were more common from more affluent areas.
That gap has widened since March 2022, with diagnosis for girls in the least deprived areas 52 per cent higher than expected - compared with 22 per cent for those in the most deprived areas. Experts have warned that this could be due to differing services available.
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at eating disorder charity Beat, told the M.E.N he was 'shocked but not surprised' at the figures. "This much-needed research has also raised some pertinent questions around care inequality," he said.
"The rise in diagnoses in less deprived areas cannot be attributed to any one cause, but in general people in those areas will have easier access to primary care, making it more likely that eating disorders will be spotted earlier. We know there is still a postcode lottery and these gaps must be addressed so that everyone can get the help they need as quickly as possible."
A room with a view
At first glance J&S Mini Mart in Blackrod, Bolton, is an everyday convenience store on a busy village road. But the unassuming local shop is hiding a pretty special secret, as Chris Gee reports.
Behind the nondescript façade there are jaw-dropping views of the West Pennine moors and beyond. Images of the spectacular panorama, which can be enjoyed from the upstairs of the rear of the properties, emerged after the owners applied for planning permission to extend the shop and create a three bed flat on the first floor.
The sweeping view contains Rivington Pike, Winter Hill and much of the West Pennine moors, along with parts of the Smithills estate and the Douglas river valley in the foreground. Understandably the owners also hope to build a balcony to make the most of the spectacle.
Bolton council will decide on the application in the coming weeks.
'How are people meant to live?'
Leanne Kearey, 33, has seen the mortgage on her home in Chadderton, Oldham go up by almost £500 a month. As her fixed term ended, Leanne was forced to find a new two-year fixed deal on the semi she shares with her husband and young daughter.
But it's seen their monthly payments rocket from £1,120 to £1,600 a month."It's horrific - how are people meant to live?" she told property writer Phoebe Jobling.
"With gas and electricity rates rising constantly too, and the cost of living at an all time high, something's got to give.We now have to find an extra £500 a month just to retain our home. It feels like we’re paying so much more, and for what?"
With interest rates at a 15 year high, following the Bank of England's decision to increase the base rate to 5% last week, Leanne is one of hundreds of thousands of homeowners finding their mortgage just got a hell of lot more expensive. According to online comparison site Money Expert, around 700,000 fixed-rate mortgages are coming to an end in the second half of 2023.
On Friday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed he had reached an agreement with banks and lenders to assist mortgage holders grappling with high interest rates, but declined to provide government support. Leanne says that's just not good enough.
"I’ve lost all faith in our government, I don’t believe there’s anything they will do to help people like us in this situation."
High-rise estate's spectacular fall from grace
Back in the mid-20th Century, a country still reeling from the Second World War was facing its own housing crisis. In towns and cities across the UK families were living in in cramped, squalid terraces in horrendous slum conditions.
The solution, in many cases, was to build. In the late 50s Salford council set about the largest building project in the city's history.
And when Kersal Flats, a vast high-rise estate housing around 2,500 people, opened in 1962 it was hailed as the future of housing with the spacious, modern flats among the most sought after council tenancies in the city. But just 30 years later the estate was demolished in an explosion so huge it entered the Guinness book of Records.
So what went wrong? Here we take a look back at a spectacular fall from grace.
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Weather etc
Temperatures: Wednesday will be overcast changing to light rain by late morning. Maximum temperature 21C.
Road closures: Temporary traffic lights due to roadworks on A57 Mottram Road at Station Road in Hyde until 6am on June 30.
Trivia question: Kersal flats briefly overlooked the nearby Castle Irwell racecourse before the track's closure on November 9, 1963. Which legendary jockey won the final race, the Goodbye Consolation Plate, watched by more than 20,000 spectators?
Manchester headlines
- Residents have described the desperate attempts to save a grandmother who died following a police chase. Kathleen Kirby, who was in her 60s, suffered fatal injuries when she was hit by an Amazon delivery van which had been hit by an Audi TT being pursued by police along Bolton Road in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan. Read more
Manchester United briefly closed the megastore at Old Trafford this morning due to an anti-Glazer protest. A group of around 100 fans began to gather outside the megastore at 9:45am in a planned protest to disrupt United's launch of their new home kit. More here.
- A major cancer research project in memory of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding will look for early signs of breast cancer in young women. Stockport-raised Harding died from the disease aged just 39 in 2021 and one of her final wishes was to find new ways of spotting breast cancer early when it is more treatable.
Worth a read
Ben Arnold took a look round the Manchester Aquatic Centre as it re-opened to the public for the first time following a £37m refurbishment. The centre, home to one of just three 50m pools in the North West, was opened by the Queen in 2000 and was designed for use in the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
But it's been closed for two years while the pool was refitted, a play area for kids was built and new gym facilities installed. It's been finished just in time for the World Para Swim Championships, coming up next month. Read more.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Lester Piggott.
