High Peak Autos

Stockport Air Raid Shelters

Stockport · 3.1 miles

A network of underground air-raid shelters runs for almost a mile beneath Stockport, about six miles south of Manchester, and was excavated in red sandstone to provide refuge for civilians during the Second World War. Work began in September 1938 and the first tunnel opened on 28 October 1939, although the town did not experience bombing until 11 October 1940. Four separate shelter systems were created, the smallest designed for roughly 2 000 occupants and the largest originally for 3 850, later expanded to accommodate up to 6 500 people. After the war the tunnels were sealed in 1948, but the largest section has been accessible to visitors as part of the town’s museum service since 1996. Among the individual sites, the Brinksway shelter in Edgeley was built over the 17th-century Brinksway Caves and could hold 1 085 bunks and seats for 1 735 people. The Chestergate shelter, often referred to as the “Chestergate Hotel” because of its chemical toilets, electric lighting and a canteen, originally housed 3 850 users before an expansion doubled its capacity. It was formally opened by the Mayoress on 28 October 1939 and now operates as a museum, with admission charges applied and opening times listed on the venue’s information page. The Dodge Hill shelter in Heaton Norris was sized for around 2 000 people and has been the focus of a few emergency incidents in recent years. Visitors can reach the site from Stockport town centre; the museum is managed by the local council’s museum service. Admission is not free, and the current opening schedule is published online, allowing planning of a visit to explore the historic tunnels and their wartime fittings.

Hat Works

Stockport · 3.1 miles

Visitors to Stockport can explore the story of the town’s former hat-making heyday at a museum housed in a nineteenth-century mill. Set on Wellington Road South, the site lies between the town centre and Stockport railway station and is listed at Grade II. The museum, which opened in 2000, occupies Wellington Mill, an early fire-proof cotton-spinning mill erected in 1830–31 before being converted to a hat works in the 1890s. Exhibits trace the development of local hat production, from manual craft to mechanised industry, and include examples of the equipment once used in the trade. The mill’s origins lie with Thomas Marsland, whose family built a large calico-printing operation in the early nineteenth century. After a series of partnerships and leases, the building passed to the Ward Brothers, a hatting firm, in 1895 and remained part of the hat industry into the 1930s. The structure retains its 200-foot chimney added in 1860 and reflects the broader industrial growth that made Stockport a centre for silk, cotton and later headwear. Earlier, smaller displays of hatting artefacts were shown in Stockport Museum and the former Battersby hat factory before the dedicated venue opened. Admission to the museum is free, and the site is reachable on foot or by public transport from the town’s main station. No on-site parking is mentioned, but the location on the A6 provides easy road access. As a local museum, it offers insight into the region’s textile heritage without charge.

Christ Church

Heaton Norris · 3.1 miles

Ruined church of which only the steeple survives. Gutted by fire in the 1970s.

Gorton Upper Reservoir

Reddish Bridge · 4.3 miles

Gorton Reservoirs are two reservoirs on the boundary of Tameside and Manchester in the North West of England. They are Gorton Upper Reservoir and Gorton Lower Reservoir. The upper and lower sections are separated by a road supported by a stone bridge consisting of a series of arches. They are owned and maintained by United Utilities.

Gorse Hall

Stalybridge · 4.3 miles

Set on a hill that overlooks the Cheshire Plain and the Pennine Hills, Gorse Hall lies just outside Stalybridge in Greater Manchester. The area, once a 35-acre estate of meadow and woodland, takes its name from the common gorse that grew abundantly there. Today the site is recorded as a park on OpenStreetMap and forms a green space bordering Dukinfield. The estate once contained two large houses. The older hall, whose origins may reach back to the 17th century, formed part of the manor of Dockenfeld held by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Duckenfield during the English Civil War. After Lady Dukinfield Daniel’s death in 1762 the property passed to the artist John Astley and later to his relative Francis Dukinfield Astley, who added a hunter’s tower in 1807. In 1836 John Leech, a cotton manufacturer, erected the New Gorse Hall; his daughter Helen was the mother of author Beatrix Potter, a link commemorated by a small rabbit statue in the grounds. Both houses fell into ruin; a lone fireplace and painted floor foundations now mark where the homes once stood. The site was also the scene of a 1909 murder that led to the demolition of the remaining structure. Since 1999 the Friends of Gorse Hall, a local community group, have leased the land from Tameside Council and maintain it for leisure and educational purposes. Visitors can wander the woodland paths, view the historic remnants and the rabbit statue, and enjoy the open landscape without any specified admission fee or built-in facilities noted in the available sources.

Avro Heritage Museum

Woodford · 6.2 miles

The Avro Heritage Museum occupies the former fire-station of Woodford Aerodrome in Woodford, Greater Manchester, England. Set on the site of the historic aerodrome, the museum opened to the public on 13 November 2015 after a redevelopment funded by BAE as part of the aerodrome’s sale for redevelopment. The conversion was carried out by Conlon Construction together with Cassidy + Ashton, following planning approval granted on 20 May 2014 and construction that began in August of that year. The new building provides roughly 11,700 sq ft of space, about 70 % larger than the earlier Avro Heritage Centre that had been housed in the personnel block and operated by appointment only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Inside, visitors can explore an exhibition hall and a dedicated gallery that showcase the Avro Heritage Trust’s collection of more than 30,000 artefacts related to aircraft development. The display includes a series of murals formerly situated in the employee restaurant at Woodford. Supporting facilities comprise a café, reading rooms and classrooms, allowing for both casual visits and organised educational activities. The museum’s location within the former aerodrome complex makes it a focal point for those interested in the region’s aviation legacy, and recent planning approval in January 2026 confirms that an expansion is forthcoming. Access is via the surrounding Woodford area, with the nearest town identified as Woodford on OpenStreetMap. Admission details, opening hours and transport links are not specified in the source material.