Serving as an art installation space, a community centre and, of course, a café (the coffee is excellent), Nexus Art Café is a welcome – and welcoming – alternative to the copy and paste world of modern coffee shops. To step into Nexus is to enter another, altogether more interesting, world.

As of September 5th, on Friday and Saturday nights Nexus will be the home of our alcohol-free bar, The Umbrella Café.  It was only fitting that for such a unique venture an equally unique venue be found. Set in the city’s Northern Quarter, Nexus has, for years, provided a relaxing, quirky and family friendly atmosphere close to the heart of Manchester city centre.

Here we speak with Café Manager, David Lowther, and Events Co-ordinator, Nancy Porter, about the history of Nexus Art Café and what makes the place so special. David told us,

“Nexus started off as a Methodist…