Proposed Tours Around Staircase House

 Members of Stockport Heritage Trust were given a private tour of Staircase House as a rehearsal for a new kind of photographic opportunity which will be offered to the public soon.

After a short guided tour, members with all shapes of camera equipment were let loos around the house to photograph wherever they pleased.

 The whole experiance took around 2 hours and was a great success.
Many rooms were open that would not normally be seen and this included access to the staircase itself.

Stockport Market Consultation results

Many thanks to one of our Trust members [RKB] for collating all the results below, and to other members as well,  who manually inputted all the data at very short notice. Please click on X-Large to view :-

St George's Day in Stockport

St. George tries his hand against the dragon as volunteers from the market traders and the Heritage Trust hand out roses to passers by.










A stall manned by Trust volunteers, in costume,
displayed old photographs of Stockport as well as black and white images from the Northwest Film Archive.

Old Rectory Ice House unveiled

Dr. Peter Arrowsmith unveiled the Old Rectory Ice House today, which has been recently cleared out by a small group of hard working Heritage Trust volunteers. Temporary lighting was provided by a Trust volunteer, and refreshments were provided.
A new Stockport Town Centre Heritage Trail plaque was also unveiled.
The Trust has a new free A2 Town Centre Trail leaflet, which was also launched.
It was Rev Scoones' penultimate service today as he's retiring in April, and he also attended and said a few kind words after the unveiling.

[It'll always be full of leaves in autumn...].

Edward Street Mill - Windmill Excavation

This morning a viewing of the recently unearthed remains of the Edward Street windmill took place, arranged by Paul Hartley of Stockport Council.  An archaeological excavation and documentation of the site was in progress, and we were guided by the archaeologist's team leader.

The windmill stood on the site of the former Hollingdrake's car showrooms on Edward Street, adjacent to the Town Hall, which as a building closed for the last time in 2015.  It was built in 1784-85 to provide power to the Edward Street Mill.  Wind power was superseded at the mill in 1795 when a steam engine was installed.  The mill had closed by 1842.  Local groups used the windmill as a meeting place, including the Independent Methodists (1817 - 1820), and from 1818 by the radical 'Stockport Union for the Promotion of Human Happiness'.  The windmill was demolished in 1857.  In 1922 the foundations of the windmill were discovered during construction of Hollingdrake's showrooms, and they were preserved under the first floor of the building.

The site was re-discovered in mid-January 2016, and is soon to be cleared to make way for a new build (Stockport Homes).  Archaeologists have performed a rapid documentation of what they have unearthed, and information panels illustrating the history of the site will be on display in the new building.

The Bishop of Stockport The Rt. Revd Libby Lane visits our SHC and St. Mary's

The Mayor's Carol Service took place in St. Marys Church, 16th December 2015.
Our Bishop of Stockport The Rt. Revd Libby Lane, who was consecrated on 26th January 2015 at York Cathedral by Archbishop John Sentamu, took part in this service. Previously she'd been the vicar of St. George's Church, Heaviley.
She is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Chester and is the first woman to be appointed as a bishop by the Church of England.
[A Suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop of diocesan bishop. They may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own]. 
Libby was born in 1966.

Stockport Colour Calendar 2016

 The Stockport Heritage Trust Colour calendar for 2016 is selling out fast.
Get your copies from the St. Mary's Church Heritage Centre, Bakers News, Station Convenient Stores, Davenport Post Office, Jacksons News or Stockport Market.

And hurry they may not last until Christmas.

Rev. Roger Scoones is retiring

On the  29th November, 2015 Rev. Scoones  announced that he will be retiring in March next year

Roger started as Rector in 1996, after being the Vicar at Congleton.

Here's a pic of him I took in 1998.

Before 1996, I had never been in St. Mary's Church before as it only seemed to be open on Sundays for services. 

After Roger became our Rector, one lunchtime I called in; I recall that he was alone in the Vestry. He and I had a long chat; we both have an interest in photography, together other shared interests and we quickly became good friends. 

In 1996 the Trust was homeless and all our monthly meeting were in the Pack Horse, and the Trust had been looking for empty affordable premises for a while.

I approached Roger on behalf of SHT to propose running, just a 3 months initially, a trail of a Heritage Centre display in the empty Choir Vestry, which had just been refurbished after a fire.

It took almost a year to negotiate this 'trial' with the PCC. The next 18 years are history. 

The small handful of early volunteer members when Iain McLean was Chairman worked as trojans together to furnish, man and create the our museum/centre;  we were open even then on all market days. 

Sadly most of these loyal volunteers are no longer with us today.

Without Roger's full support over the intervening 18 years, we wouldn't have our 'new' splendid Heritage Centre today.

I really hope that Roger has a long and happy retirement.

Phil [R]

Stockport's Heritage: The Widest Bridge in the Country?

Stockport's Heritage: The Widest Bridge in the Country?



Or, in old money, this bridge is 21.658 chains wide.

The Widest Bridge in the Country?

Does Stockport have the widest bridge in the country or maybe even the world.
In 1940 the new Merseyway Bridge was opened. It was a road that covered the river and stretched from Lancashire Bridge in the east to the Bear Pit in the west.

 For many years Rochdale have claimed that they had the widest bridge in Europe but this was disputed by the Stockport Heritage Trust.

As Rochdale have now uncovered their river they have no more claim to the title and the Heritage Trust intend throwing down the gauntlet to challenge any other claims.

On Sunday 22nd Nov. at 10am, a group of Trust members gathered at the newly revealed Lancashire Bridge and measured the length of the Merseyway Bridge.

It measured 435.7 meters, can any town better that?