'You turn the corner and it's like turning the clock back': Stockport's hidden idyll
manchestereveningnews.co.ukJust a few yards from the rumble of traffic on one of Stockport's busiest roads, there's a hidden idyll that's steeped in history.
Vale Close is one of Heaton Mersey's oldest streets. The picturesque cobbled lane is lined with mews-like terraces that once housed the workers who powered the Industrial Revolution.
But many, if not most, of the thousands of people who drive past every day probably don't even realise it's there. "When you turn the corner it's like turning the clock back," says Glennis Shea, 76, who moved onto the close three years ago. "Everyone that comes to see it says it's like stepping into a different world," adds husband Peter, also 76. "They can't believe it's just off the main road." READ MORE: The idyllic Greater Manchester street nobody wants to leave - with one negative Nowadays Vale Close might be an island of old world charm, but in the mid-1800s it was at the cutting edge of industry and commerce.
Originally Heaton Mersey was a largely rural area made up of three small hamlets. But in 1765 well-known industrialist Samuel Oldknow established a bleachworks on the north bank of the Mersey at the foot of Vale Close.
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