A walk around Edgeley

Geograph Blog ::

A walk around Edgeley

A walk around Edgeley past Stockport County football ground, into Edgeley Park and along Castle Street with its pubs and lamppost artwork. You can see this trip plotted on a map on the Geo-trips page Link .

One day I decided to have a little look around Edgeley as the place isn't especially well Geographed and I was interested in looking at the lampposts on Castle Street.

I got off the bus half way along Mercian Way and made my way down to Hardcastle Road and looked at Stockport County Football Club. Stockport County moved to Edgeley Park, then home of Stockport Rugby League Club, in 1902, having previously played at Green Lane in Heaton Norris. The team currently play in the Conference North League. The Cheadle End stand was opened at the beginning of the 1995-96 season, is two tiered, covered and all seated. It is generally reserved for home fans who enter via turnstiles 17-19 on Hardcastle Road. A prominent sign reads:

NO ALCOHOL OR GLASS
BOTTLES TO BE BROUGHT
INTO THE STADIUM

It is prohibited under Stadium Safety Rules
for spectators to bring alcohol or
glass bottle or other containers
into the ground. Please deposit
responsibly in a nearby bin

At the end of Hardcastle Road I turned left on to Reservoir Road and down to the footbridge with its overflowing litter bin. Left is Sykes Reservoir #1 and right is #2 Three reservoirs originally provided water for the Sykes Bleaching Works and are now part of Alexandra Park and used for fishing.

A footpath leads back towards Hardcastle Road. Overlooking the #2 reservoir is a flowerbed and a commemorative stone that reads:

THIS LAND WAS PRESENTED
TO THE
CORPORATION OF STOCKPORT
FOR THE PURPOSE OF A PUBLIC
PARK OR PLEASURE GROUND
BY
THOMAS HARDCASTLE SYKES &
ARTHUR HENRY SYKES, ESQUIRES
TO COMMEMORATE THE 50th
ANNIVERSARY OF THE REIGN OF
HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA
IN 1897,
AND WAS OPENED TO THE PUBLIC
ON THE 1st DAY OF MAY 1889
BY
JOSEPH LEIGH ESQ.
MAYOR.

I left the park and walked back into Edgeley where I discovered the Conservative Club which was founded in 1888 .

Castle Street used to be the main thoroughfare through Edgeley before the building of Mercian Way as a bypass. Post box SK3 24 is a double-box.

Nearby is a Salvation Army charity shop and the Sir Robert Peel public house.

On a lamppost is a piece of artwork. The text reads:

"AS A CHILD I USED TO BE SENT TO THE
MAYPOLE TO GET A PAT OF BUTTER.
I THOUGHT IT WAS LOVELY.

THEY USED TO HAVE 2 WOODEN
BATTERNS THAT THEY TAPPED ON
THE SIDES OF THE BUTTER AND
THEY WOULD STAMP THE TOP
WITH A THISTLE"

As part of the Stockport Arts Trail, an independent group of young people, working towards an Arts Award Qualification at Stockport Central Library, created the images for one face of the artworks, located on lampposts in and around Edgeley. Historic photographs from the libraries archives are on the other face, giving people an idea of how the area looked in times gone by.

This one has an image of bootmakers, Bostock & Co.

Further up the street is The Pineapple and Edgeley Chippy. The pub displays a Guiness sign.

On the corner of Newton Street is another pub The Jolly Crofter which has a rather faded sign

The next lamppost reads:

"On Saturday nights my dad used to take us Stockport Market in those days it stayed open till 9pm.

It was a great event everyone from round here would go. And we'd always go to Woolworths on the way home to buy sweets."

On the reverse is an old view of Stockport Market as well as an "Alcohol Restricted Area" notice.

The lamppost at the top end of Castle Street has an old photo of a train at Stockport Edgeley station. The text reads:

"My dad was a guard on the trains every family holiday we had, started at Edgeley Station."

A last look down Castle Street

On the corner of Castle Street and Mercian Way is . It was a Robinsons pub "The Grapes" before being converted into Barbicans Coffee House. It recently closed and is up for sale again.

There are another eight lampposts with artwork around Edgeley but they will have to wait for another day.