Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester which, in the 1800s, was famous for its hat-making industry which gave the town’s football team, Stockport County, its nickname of ‘The Hatters’. At the height of the industry the town exported over £6 million hats a year! The last factory closed in 1997. There is a Hat Works Museum in the town but it’s currently closed for refurbishment, which is a shame as I should have liked to have gone. Stockport is also the location of the start of the River Mersey, which is formed by the meeting of the Rivers Tame and Goyt, and is the location of the largest brick structure in the UK – the Stockport Viaduct – which was built in 1840 and contains some 11 million bricks! The Waterstones is located in the Merseyway Shopping Centre in the heart of the town.
Stockport Plaza
This stunning Grade II listed Art Deco building first opened as a cinema in 1932, and its equipment included a Compton organ which is still used today. It was refurbished in the 1950s to include a stage for performances. It became a bingo hall in 1967. More restoration work took place in 2009 with some of the funding coming from the National Lottery, and further renovations took place between 2012 and 2016 and is now fully restored to the original 1932 décor. As well as being used as a cinema and theatre, the Plaza has been used as a filming location for various TV shows. We timed our trip to Stockport perfectly, as the Plaza was open for the Heritage Open Day scheme so we got to look round it. It’s absolutely stunning as you can see from the photos. I took LOTS!
Below, clockwise from top left
Underbank Hall (a 15th century town house), Two of Stockport Market (1962), the Stockport Viaduct (1840) and The Stockport Pyramid (1992 – originally offices for the Cooperative Bank, but currently empty).
Janet's Adventures in Waterstones 