Styal

Hat Works

Stockport · 6.2 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.

Stockport Air Raid Shelters

Stockport · 6.2 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.

Christ Church

Heaton Norris · 6.8 miles

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

Gorton Upper Reservoir

Reddish Bridge · 9.9 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.

Mayfield Park

Brunswick · 9.9 miles

Mayfield Park is a park in Manchester city centre, England, covering an area of 6.5 acres (2.6 ha). The city centre's first new park in more than 100 years, it was officially opened on 22 September 2022.

Imperial War Museum North

MediaCityUK · 11 miles

Overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal on Trafford Wharf Road in Trafford Park, Imperial War Museum North occupies a site that was a key industrial centre during the Second World War and suffered heavy bombing in the Manchester Blitz of December 1940. Classified as a military museum, it examines the impact of modern conflicts on people and society and is the first Imperial War Museum branch in the north of England. The museum forms part of a cultural quarter that includes the Lowry centre and MediaCityUK opposite at Salford Quays. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, the building presents three interlocking shards that symbolise air, earth and water; the 55-metre air shard houses the entrance and a viewing balcony above the canal, the earth shard contains the exhibition galleries and the water shard accommodates a café with canal views. The permanent collection arranges chronological and thematic displays, supplemented by hourly audiovisual presentations projected throughout the gallery space, while a separate gallery hosts temporary exhibitions. Since its opening on 5 July 2002, the museum has run a volunteer programme, partnered with Manchester Museum from January 2007. Admission is free and the venue offers step-free wheelchair access. Opening times are published on the museum’s listing, and the nearest town identified by OpenStreetMap is MediaCityUK. As a national museum, it receives core funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and generates additional income.