Welcome to my mini-tour of Stockport, my home town. I will also eventually include the surrounding areas too.

Stockport's claim to fame is the viaduct, the second largest brick structure in Europe (or is it?).

I have been asking for a while now what the largest is, and I am now informed it's the Goeltzschtal viaduct in Germany. See http://www.netzschkau.de/html/goeltzschtalbruecke.html for a picture of it, although the page is in German. Thanks to Roland for letting me know.

However, I've had another suggestion. The railway viaduct that stretches from central London to Greenwich. About 5 miles long from what I'm told. No doubt the debate will go on.

Anyway the Stockport viaduct carries the main London-Manchester railway line across the River Mersey valley. Stockport station has links to most of the UK, when there's no leaves on the line that is.

While I'm on the transport angle, the other thing Stockport is famed for is the 192 bus route, which has been running as long as I've lived on this planet. Probably longer. This run's from Hazel Grove to Manchester, and is said to be one of the busiest routes in the UK. It runs along the main A6, the main North-South road through Stockport.

Stockport is split East-West by the M60 motorway (I remember them building it. Showing my age now!!). The picture shows the Pyramid, the first building you see when travelling in from the west, which now houses the Co-operative Bank.

The other mode of transport that used to go from east to west is the old railway line which used to come from Gatley through Tiviot Dale station (which was already closed when I was a kid, but the station buildings still existed), through to Woodley. I remember travelling down Lancashire Hill and seeing the freight trains going along the line. However, the tunnel under Tiviot Dale was damaged when the motorway was built, and the line never reopened. Few reminders of those days now exist, and it's a shame.

Another view of the viaduct, along with the trams on the streets can be seen from the photo on the left. I'd better just say that I don't own the copyright for this photo, so I apologise if you do and will obviously remove it or credit you (with a link to your website as well) if you care to contact me and can prove your copyright ownership.

The photo is taken from the old fire station and with the river on the left and Heaton Lane on the right. The building at the far right is the old tram depot which is now Heaton Lane car park. The bus station is now on the left stretching back to the viaduct. And Merseyway is more or less under where the photograph is taken (I think).

The main shopping area in Stockport Town Centre, is the Merseyway Shopping centre. The main entrance to this is shown in the picture, and hasn't changed much in the time I've known. In fact, looking at the picture, it does look dated with a bit of a concrete appearance. To be fair though, it has improved since this photo was taken. I'll take an updated photo when I get the chance.

Another area of Stockport that hasn't changed is the market, and in particular the old market hall which I believe is a listed building (unfortunately I haven't got a picture of this as yet). A lot of the towns around Manchester have good markets, and I think Ashton's the largest (I used to think Oldham was the largest, but a recent visit made me think again). Stockport's market may not be the biggest, but it's certainly one with a lot of character. It is believed to be on the site of Stockport castle.

Below the market is Little Underbank. (The market and market hall are on the road on the bridge shown in the picture).

Little Underbank is another side street with varied shops. My memories of the street were the old record shop (you remember records. Black vinyl things that you put on a turntable and delicately put a needle on to play) on the corner and Winter Jewellers (now a pub). As a kid, I would be fascinated by the 3 figures that chimed on the hour every hour (the figures still exist, but the chimes have now long gone. Shame). I deliberately used to make my mum and dad wait if the time was close to anything o'clock just so I could see (and hear) the chimes.

Further up the street on Lower Hillgate is another place that's well known to Stockfordians (yes that's what people from Stockport are called). It's the Robinsons Brewery.

Robinsons have been brewing beer since 1838 and they produce a number of draught beers including Unicorn Best Bitter, Hatters and Old Stockport.

I can't say I sampled all of their beers, and I have to say (grudgingly) that Robinsons don't produce the best bitter in my opinion. However one good thing about the human race is their individuality, so while it might not be my best pint, I'm sure there are hundreds more who do rate it top of their list.

Tours of the brewery are available. Check out their website for more details of their beers, history and pubs along with an online shop to buy various gifts for the stockfordian beer connoisseur in your life. Actually, I think the website is quite well put together.

Just to move away from the old for a moment, two recent (in my terms, i.e. the last 15 years) developments have been the Hat Works museum and the Air raid Shelter tours. While I can't comment on personally on whether they are worth a visit, I have heard it second hand that the Air Raid Shelter's are good.

You may be wondering what the significance of the Hat museum is. Well, Stockport is supposedly famous for it's hats in days gone by. The local football team, Stockport County is nicknamed the Hatters. No doubt the Hat Works museum will be able to give you more information if your interested.

While I've given Stockport County a mention, I'll share a couple of highlights I remember in there generally lower division footballing years. Firstly there was their draw with Liverpool. Yes, you read right. In a cup match (I believe), many years ago, Stockport County managed to get a draw with the mighty Liverpool. Liverpool did win the second leg though.

Secondly, I remember a football season many years ago when Stockport County (who were doing well at the time) were actually in a division above Manchester City. My brother was torn. He used to go down to Edgeley Park on a Friday night to support Stockport, then go to Manchester City on a Saturday to watch some real football (his words!!). Suddenly he found his team in a lower league!!

Anyway I digress. Back to Stockport.

The final thing I must give a mention to is the Plaza Cinema/Theatre. Dominating the end of Mersey Square, this theatre was only restored in the late 90's and opened a few years back. In a time when closing theatres seems to be the norm, this is a grand achievement, with the hard work and dedication of the band of volunteers which included my parents.

Stockport Plaza's website can be found at http://www.stockportplaza.co.uk. Pay them a visit, and remember to mention where you found them.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my mini-tour of Stockport. Like I said at the top, I am hoping to expand this page in the future, to include some of the areas around Stockport. Please e-mail if you have any suggestions.

All the pictures on this page were taken by myself. (excluding the old photo of Mersey Square). If you wish to use them for a project or web page yourselves, you are free to do so, but please mention this web page as the source for the photos. Thanks for your cooperation..