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...

We had intended to go to Chester .  We had been a few times, but one of the biggest problems going to Chester by car is the parking - IT IS HORRENDOUS!  There are two car parks I go to, but both were packed and the traffic made it impossible to find another car park.  There's a park and ride scheme on the edge of town, but by this point I had lost the will to live to even bother trying that.  If you are intending to go to Chester, I really do recommend you take the train instead.  Although remember to take the express train rather than the one that stops at every stop.  If I remember correctly it adds about half an hour onto the journey. As I was more than a little hacked off trying to find a place to park, I thought we should go to the Hoole Road area instead and check out the little shopping area there.  From my research I knew there was a charity shop in the vicinity. So we headed back down the A56 to Hoole.  We did attem...

Ooh! Frodsham is a lovely place to visit. Before going to there all I knew about the place was that Gary Barlow was originally from here and my Dad recommended it.  My Dad's recommendations have been known to be misses rather than hits, especially after the Morecambe debacle, but this time he came up trumps. Off the M56 at Junction 11 we turned left and headed to the 'Historic Market Town' of Frodsham.  Driving into town the houses looked rather nice and well turned out.  On entering the town we had a choice of parking either on the main stretch of road where there was plenty of on street parking, by the station or at Morrison's (left at the junction).  We decided to park at the station, although we shouldn't have as it was just for rail passengers - well it was a Saturday, there were plenty of spaces and it was free. Anyway we walked into the town and we were pleasantly surprised.  All the pubs had plenty of character - the Cholmondeley Arms, the...

Our final stop on our road trip was Northwich .  We have been to Northwich a few times now as it does have quite a few charity shops and can be quite good for shopping.  Parking in Northwich is relatively straightforward as there is a large car park behind the local Magistrates Court – free too which is a bonus.  On this visit we parked in the Cooperative Supermarket car park near the centre with 3 hours free parking.  I decided to park there for a change as we always get stuck in the traffic on the A559 turning towards Manchester. Northwich town centre doesn’t look good when passing through in a car, as the shopping centre is one of those damned featureless, concrete confections from the 70s.  Town planners from the 60s and 70s have a lot to answer for, including the pedestrian subway that tunnels underneath the centre of Northwich.  I have never liked pedestrian subways in general as they smell like toilets and are the home to muggers, skateboarding ...

Where do I start with Winsford ? First of all I'd never heard anything of interest about Winsford before this trip, except I'd seen it on the map years ago when I had to come up with a town name for a school essay. Secondly the Wikipedia entry did not really prepare me for the 'delights' of this place. Now having been to the place I can read between the lines of the Wikipedia entry: "local Salt Mines" means it's a working class area; "New Town" means it has appalling, concrete-based architecture from the 60s and 70s; and "population migration from Manchester and Liverpool" means there is a Chav element to the population. I am from Manchester and I have worked in overspill council estates like this place so I can legitimately point this out. However I digress slightly - after negotiating the numerous roundabouts to Winsford we ended up in the town centre, which consisted of a 70s style shopping centre with a multi-storey car park to ac...