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Written and Photographed by Andy Barson Visitors Introduction This is a gallery of pictures showing the architectural marvels of Stockport in Cheshire, on the outskirts of Manchester, North West England, for those unlucky enough ( or should that be lucky enough ? ) not to have visited. My qualifications are residential rather than architectural, but having lived here for 20 years I think I know enough to comment. Stockport is like a bag of multi-coloured bricks that was emptied out into a steep-sided valley. There is no one theme apart from a sense of industrial heritage. Kind of working class but with aspirations. Work hard and you can move into a big house. The Cotswolds may have soft, honey-coloured stone but up north we have hard, red brick. Economical enough to build factories, warehouses and a truly huge railway viaduct. But amongst these industrial gems are scattered some truly awful architectural abominations that were thrown together because they were (a) cheap to build and (b) quite trendy at the time, without any concept of 'fitting in' with the surroundings. Which is a pity because Stockport is close enough to the Peak District hills to have some symbiotic relationship with the great outdoors. Take the buildings of Stockport and drop them onto a great plain with a square transport grid and a handful of roundabouts and you would have a nowhere town in Sleepyville, Dullshire. But spread up and down the 240 million year old sandstone cliffs they take on a more majestic presence. Buildings jostle for light like sunflowers in a overgrown garden. They shout 'look at me!', I'm the true centre of Stockport. Stockport is a focus for people travelling. Whenever a steep valley blocks the path of least resistance then everything squashes together for fear of being left out. The river Goyt and the river Tame join in Stockport to form the Mersey which flows into the Irish Sea at Liverpool. A railway viaduct carries the Intercity trains between London and Manchester, and then past the Lake District, Carlisle and through to Glasgow. The great West Coast line. Stockport is only 8 miles by road to Manchester International Airport which with two runways carries most of the air traffic in the North West. The red, sandstone cliffs were carved out to make way for the M60 orbital motorway as it is now called, which snakes its way through the valley from South Manchester towards the reservoirs of Audenshaw. Buses ply their way up and down the busy A6 arterial route into the centre of Manchester. Stockport has a 'people busy doing things and going places' air about it. The not-quite-a-city achieved great things in the past, wobbled slightly when its cinema closed, but then surged forward with confidence and optimism for the future. New buildings, new entertainments, perhaps even, shock horror, a destination for tourists. Yes, there is a tourist information office. Not the busiest place in town but at least it puts out a clear message that it is the sort of place people could visit. If it was raining and there was nothing else to do. No, that's too harsh. The intrepid explorer of Stockport must surely visit the Air Raid Shelter ( Stockport's very own underground bunker carved into stone ), the Hat Museum ( well somebody has to make them ), Staircase House, Vernon Park ( a sea of tranquillity above the smoke ), the famous market, the Art Gallery, the pubs with locally brewed beer and a short hop away, the black and white splendour of Bramhall Hall. Not forgetting that 20 minutes down the A6 is perhaps the finest country park in England, Lyme Park. Also within easy reach is Quarry Bank Mill at Styal and Etherow Country Park in Marple. But it still has some way to go. There is the battle for land between industry/commerce/cars and the residential, traffic-calming, greenness of parks and ponds. It has yet to cover the spires and chimneys with solar panels and windmills. It is knee-deep in the grease and chip fat of take-aways but lacks the café-restaurant culture of say Altrincham or Hale. Fashion is a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms. But perhaps most of all it needs a defining architectural style, something to say this is what Stockport is and will be in future. If I was in charge I would build a tower of red brick and glass for the sole purpose of taking people up in a lift to view the valley. Only by seeing what we have from above will people care what we do on the ground. Mini-History ( as if you care ) Stockport was originally a Saxon village. Although nobody knows for sure, its name could have come from Stoc, a stockaded place or castle and Port, a wood. So a castle in the wood ? Agricola recognised its strategical advantages and fortified Stockport to guard the passage of the Mersey in AD79. Strangely, though both Cheadle and Bramhall were referenced in the Domesday Book of 1086, Stockport itself received no mention ! It did have a market though, well before it was officially granted in 1260 AD. In the 2001 census, the whole borough of Stockport had a population of 284,528. Magic Moment ( you care now ) Being listed as No. 12 in the Idler book of Crap Towns, published by Boxtree 2003. The 50 worst places to live in the UK. Quote 1: Stockport is a small town in South Manchester. Much of Engels' research for Marx's Communist Manifesto was based on the appalling working conditions in the town's hat mills. And to be honest it's gone down hill ever since. Quote 2: The overriding 'look' for Stockport's locals is a shaven head with optional Fila cap/visor perched on top, a Reebok shellsuit, the legs of which are tucked into a pair of overpowering patterned socks and a pair of Rockport, Timberland or Kicker boots. Gold jewellery is popular, usually incorporating sovereigns and/or marijuana leaf motifs. The male uniform is fairly similar. Quote 3: Entertainment includes avoiding being glassed in one of the town's many pubs, avoiding being stabbed on the infamous 192 bus and avoiding leaving your house as much as possible. What a nerve ! At least one of the residents made an effort to enter the competition. Useful Links Yes, Stockport has made it into the bible of
everything, Wikipedia. The official photo site. Perhaps you are interested in the lost Stockport canal
? Vintage Photo Archive For the visitor...
My Bonus Photos
Aerial Photo Click here for a large aerial photo of Stockport. Picture Details All pictures below were taken by the author with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5. Click on the picture to load a high resolution 1280 x 960 jpeg. Please ask my permission before using the pictures. Contact Details Got anything interesting to say about Stockport ? Then email Andy right now. The 19th Century philosopher Friedrich Engels wrote in 1844 that Stockport was "renowned as one of the duskiest, smokiest holes in the whole of the industrial area". ---------- The Gallery ---------- NEW PICTURES OF STOCKPORT 2008 - CLICK HERE
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to 21 November 2008
