Life in Northern Towns

Oh Altrincham ! You do disappoint me so. I've been going to this place for years and it should be better than  it is. Recently there has been lots of regeneration work done to the main pedestrianised shopping area. It has been a slow transformation, but they have done a good job. Before the work was done it was an uninspiring 60s built shopping centre, now it's a steel, glass and paved shopping confection. So technically it should be a more aesthetically pleasing shopping experience.  The trouble is the rest of the town has fallen into decline.  Stamford New Road (A538), next to the train/bus station, looks quite desolate these days with lots of empty shop fronts and even some of the charity shops have closed down.  The recession has really hit this town hard.  It's not just me saying it either, there have been reports in the media that a third of the shops remain empty and it's one of the highest rates in the country.  There used to be so many shops here...

So from Hale we headed over to the village of Lymm .  I'd never been to Lymm before although I have occasionally passed through the outskirts, but never made it to the village centre.  It's quite easy to miss as the roads tend to bypass the centre and you have to be quick to pick up the signs. Parking is a bit of a nightmare in this village as the car park isn't that big.  We had to park round the back in a nice little housing estate, which is a stone's throw from the centre. I really didn't know what to expect from Lymm apart from a couple of charity shops, but I really liked what I saw. Lymm town centre is built on a hill, with a lovely weir at the bottom with gallons of water crashing down from Lymm dam.  Oddly at the top of the hill is the Bridgewater Canal with lots of ducks and barges passing by. Lymm must be a popular destination for canal dwellers and tourists as not only it's very pretty, but also full of cafes, restaurants and pubs. ...

It has been a while since I've posted as life has a habit of catching up on one.  Anyway essay is done, cold recovered from and it's time to pull one's finger out to write some blog. So a few weeks ago another Saturday came along and I dusted off the map.  We've done Cheshire quite a bit lately and we'd planned to go Lancashire way. However the weather wasn't promising so we didn't want to go too far a field. Hale and Hale Barns are always a good bet, especially when you decide to do lunch there.  The one thing I find about going from Hale Barns to Hale is that I always get confused where it is and what side of the road to look for to take the turn to Hale as it is poorly signposted.. Our first stop was Hale Barns as they have a nice little Oxfam there.  The ladies in the shop were training a new volunteer as we had a browse.  We didn't find much, but the stuff there is always quite interesting.  Opposite Oxfam is a 60s style small precinct with...