It’s been a long 5 months since the last trip blog, a dark winter, marred by illness and brightened only by the opening of H Beauty. I buy my ticket from the new look desk at the train station, noting the rant posted on twitter by an angry Welsh person earlier that week. They were unhappy that Transport for Wales ( who operate the station) are “subsidising” an English station. A day return to the hometown of Tess Daly, Yvette Fielding ,Ricky Hatton and Fred Perry costs £24.30.

I buy a copy of the Chester Standard to read on the train. The headline about the closure of the Grosvenor Hotel comes a week after the issue was extensively debated and discussed online. It has been 13 years since my first visit to Stockport, coincidentally 13 years since @Shitchester began. Before online news took over it used to be exciting when the Standard came through the letterbox, reading the letters page which would be 2 pages of local debate. It was a happy moment if you got your comment got quoted in the Chester Chronicle’s online round up. Now that world has faded into memory- The Standard’s letter page is a quarter of a page with 2 posts about national issues- everything else is online rows and outrage now. However its nice to touch base with the printed word for a while , separate from all the noise of the internet. 13 years and so much has changed! I had never heard of Mike Jones, Gavin Matthews, Sam Dixon etc. Chester BID weren’t formed yet, we had no professional theatre and the last cinema in Chester was about to close. It was a simple time when I had no idea where things were going to lead, to the new friends and enemies I’d make along the way. Before the weight of it all where former friends and collaborators ignore you in the street and pretend they never knew you – up to 8 on that tally.

There is interest as soon as I arrive in Stockport. The underpass leading from the station has been newly decorated with art celebrating the town’s musical legacy. Adorning the walls are artworks showing some of Stockport’s own musical exports – including 10cc and Blossoms – plus others which commemorate a host of interesting musical episodes in the town’s history. These include a performance by Jimi Hendrix in 1967, or when David Bowie slept overnight on the station platform after missing his last train. Funded by . Avanti West Coast, the famous musicians who recorded at Strawberry Studios feature heavily. I exit the station , through a path of modern office blocks, an NHS facility and a hotel.

Ignoring the impressive pillars of the town hall, I head to the first item on today’s itinerary, following google maps to reach Stopford House, the 1975 built concrete masterpiece which houses council offices. It was famously used as the police station in Life in Mars and I find the steps that Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt would walk down , almost 20 years ago. There is a huge deserted concrete plaza in the middle which is perfect for watching the clouds roll by. Everywhere and nowhere at once.

Next up is The Hat Works– when I visited 13 years ago it was closing for refurbishment and I haven’t found the time to go back since. The approach via another attractive public square is dominated by a tall chimney, where no doubt they used to drop bowler hats from the top to give them the perfect shape. The museum is free to enter.

The first area features a huge array of hats. The colourful displays supply a sensory overload of densely packed cabinets- hats of all types: work hats, fur hats, drag queen hats, plant based hats. There are hats to try on and a 1960s mini. A display of hats made from bird feathers and body parts tells the visitor that many of these species were threatened with extinction due to the fashion craze of the 1800s, leading to the formation of the RSPB.

The basement hosts the factory floor, more of a traditional museum display , although updated to represent contemporary concerns including the links to the slave trade. On the wall a content warning advises visitors that there are references to slavery, the use of animal products, and inequality, with feedback welcomed . The mill tower is 200ft tall compared to a T rex just 19ft and the 11 million brick Stockport Viaduct just 111ft. Here I learn the origin of the phrase “mad as a hatter” all part of the harsh working conditions that our ancestors coped with. There is a large collection of vintage machinery, one of the contraptions resembling the teleport pod from “The Fly”, as well as a recreated office space. The museum is well worth a visit.

Back on the google maps I head to the historic Strawberry Studios, where many famous artists recorded from 1967 to 1993. More on this later. Heading back to the town centre reveals a wealth of interesting street art, some of it organised and some adorned across a couple of abandoned tower blocks. A street art trail is available which includes a large mural of Hendrix commemorating his 1967 visit.

Next up is the historic Underbanks shopping area. More art, including a giant tiger moth adorn the walls of the area which feels vibrant , with lots of development work going on. Stairways and alleyways add to the cool feel, which is packed with specialist and artisan shops. One selling recovered 20th century furniture, a few record shops, cafes and rare mags. The Underbank Bar and Kitchen is decorated with a massive Joy Division Unknown Pleasures mural. The multiple levels and the cobbled paths make this an evocative place to explore.

Eventually I am in the main shopping area, the 1965 built Merseyway shopping centre, which has all the usual high street names including a Poundland with a large coloured mosaic front in company colours. Again, it seems very healthy with relatively few empty units. I pause to listen to a pan pipe busker dressed in native robes.

Intruiged by a sign that says “This place is for everybody” I enter the cleverly named Stockroom (https://www.stockrm.org/) . Sitting right in the heart of the shopping district in a former retail space and open for just under a year, Stockroom feels like Stockport’s version of our own Storyhouse and has been clearly influenced by that model. The friendly and uplifting community space features a library, a children’s creative space, a cafe and an archive centre. It cost £14.5 million and was funded by the Government’s High Street Fund. Its packed inside, with people from all generations enjoying the space. It also features an extensive toilet block, the height of civilisation. Basically if our empty BHS has toilets in , we would be on top of the world. I stop for a cake and a drink, pleasant service compared to 2 bad coffee shop experiences back home in the same week. A brilliant place and I’m sure Stockport residents are proud of it.

Off up some more cobbled streets to visit the Market. The current building dates back to 1861 and is well maintained with a good mix of traders. The Lego stall is the highlight for me, where I pull out my phone to show pictures of my work and discuss brick matters before making a purchase. There’s a deli, a sweet shop, produce and Cafe O Mara where a pot of tea costs just £1.60. For food hall fans, just over the road is The Produce Hall – a mix of food traders operating inside a historic market building. It opened in 2019 and is a great social space and obviously a big hit with locals, being busy at 2.30 in the afternoon. https://theproducehall.com/. Visitors order via an app, everything at our fingertips these days- with a choice of pizza, gyoza, Cambodian or Asian fried chicken. A service bell rings and my Guinness chicken pizza is delivered. The brick walled toilets downstairs are probably haunted by the ghost of a tormented fruit seller. The Produce Hall is another massive hit for the town.

After ticking off the Sarah Harding mural from my list of things to see, I backtrack to the Stockport Museum. Alongside standard natural history exhibits of the area and a pair of skeletons the real treat is the section dedicated to Strawberry Studios. It is full of musical relics and a listening booth. The Smiths recorded “Hand in Glove” in Stockport and Joy Division recorded their debut album here. A series of black and white photos of the band document this musical history. I listen to Solitaire by the recently dead Neil Sedaka in the listening booth; a spine tingling vocal performance .

In the basement of the museum a photography exhibition of market traders and city life in the 1970s is a precious record of times gone by. I navigate back to the town centre via more walkways and slopes , eventually arriving at the Plaza Cinema (coming up next the Shakin Stevens story). An impressive art deco building from 1932 it was restored to life as a theatre/cinema in 2000. It’s brilliant. Opposite the cinema a boarded up brick building declares an “Entrance” to nowhere- great content for the discontented urban explorer.

Coming towards the end of the day I head up the romantically named Plaza Steps – you can imagine Batman or Sherlock Holmes walking up these (or down) and I eventually emerge opposite the Viaduct. I only glimpse it from a distance but find the River Mersey flowing beneath a bridge in another wide open space.

Returning back to the train station after an interesting day, a tea at the Starbucks costs a mad £3.80. There are also an air raid shelter here, if you need another reason to visit.

Where to next ? Southport, Salford.. Stoke would probably be a good/ bad one.