A campaign to mount a statue of Stockport tennis legend Fred Perry in Mersey Square is gathering momentum after winning the financial backing of a former mayor’s charity fund.Fred, the first ever player to win all four grand slam titles, is remembered at the Wimbledon Championships in the form of a statue. But no such monument stands in his hometown. Instead a 14-mile path, which runs from Woodford to Reddish, bears his name. However, a campaign to commemorate the great man in the centre of Stockport was given a boost after Eric Pyle pledged £9,000 from his charity fund.
Born the son of a Labour MP in 1909, Fred grew up in Portwood and became a world champion table tennis player before switching to the larger game at the age of 18. He went on to win 14 grand slam titles, led Great Britain to two Davis Cup triumphs and was the last British man to win Wimbledon. He was made a freeman of Stockport in 1934.
[For a more complete biography of Fred Perry and his Wimbledon statue, click here. Bill]
Building projects on top shortlist
Two Stockport buildings have made it on to the shortlist of a prestigious property awards event being held on Friday. Staircase House and Houldsworth Mill have been named among the most outstanding building projects in the North West by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Staircase House has been nominated in the conservation category while Houldsworth Mill has been shortlisted in regeneration.
Steve Burns, Stockport’s assistant director for regeneration said: “Both buildings are excellent examples of very successful projects, where sensitive restoration has produced some outstanding results. Having just won the British Urban Regeneration Award for Houldsworth Mill and a Civic Trust award, among many others, for Staircase House, we are proud to be recognised by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.”
Church’s fund raising plans rejected
Church plans to build new homes and then sell them to fund refurbishments have been branded ‘horrific’ and rejected by councillors. The Parochial Church Council was refused permission to construct semi-detached houses on land at St Mark’s Vicarage on Berlin Road, Edgeley. The development was turned down because its position at the top of a slope means it would overlook neighbouring property.
Proud to be loud
Stockport has been lampooned in the latest addition [sic] of The Rough Guide to England for inventing karaoke.
In the Manchester section, author Phil Lee writes: “Only one blot stains the city’s modern reputation: it was in Greater Manchester, Stockport to be precise, that a certain Roy Brooke invented the sing-along machine in 1975, later adapted by the Japanese into karaoke”.
It is the only reference to the borough, in the soon to be published, seventh addition [sic] of the travel guide.
