The Libraries Investigation, Part 1: Towns, Communities, Revitalisation, and Hope in Greater Manchester
My in-depth investigation into the many Greater Manchester towns and the challenges they face, as well their communities and their attitudes on regeneration.
ARTICLE CORRECTIONS (31/08/2025): Some tone issues regarding Droyslden. Clarification of library staff positions. This has now been fixed.
If you're in a major city in Britain or earn a good salary, it might feel like everything is fine. But for countless others in this country, inequality is worsening, and effective reform is long overdue.
If you go to the centre of Manchester, it seems that culture is thriving with events such as MCR Live as well as the massive Sam Fender concert at Wythenshawe Park a few days ago.
These events are culturally important. However, not everyone can afford the expensive entrance fee that kind of culture comes with at £71.50 per person.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are facing an increasing lack of community hubs, a clear and obvious lack of maintenance to public buildings, and increasingly non-existent transport services to even get to these events.
This is part of a wider investigative series on the deprivation that still exists in Greater Manchester. As a journalist, my aim and goal is to raise a spotlight on the challenges in these areas, as well as the communities that make it work, and what can be done to help these areas that have been left behind by national government.
Thank you for all public sector workers who were also willing to talk to me about the state of public services. All of you were so incredibly excited to talk about what is going on in your libraries and that passion really does shine through.
I would like to particularly highlight Angela in Droylsden Library for being so incredibly kind and they are really trying to make a difference despite the odds. We should all aspire to be more like Angela.
A crisis in the world economy and a real drop in living standards.
In my opinion, poor living conditions are the single biggest factor to the rise of the far-right across the world. It seems I’m not even the only one who thinks this. Even the UN is concerned about this.
And it’s no surprise why - when your 1960s council flat still has the same old single pane windows, is leaking water through the roof, and you are unable to access any kind of government assistance as you don’t qualify, you start to grow resentful of the system, the very same system that provides a social net.
According to the British Social Attitudes Survey, things are more dire than ever, with the bleakest statistics on record:
26% of Britons are struggling with their current income.
59% are dissatisfied with the NHS.
68% believe we are seeing record amounts of poverty in Britain.
This is a ticking time bomb. Governments all around the world are worried. Inflation keeps going up, settling in at 4.1% for July 2025. The 2% target set by the Bank of England has not been met since October 2024, and it is looking increasingly unlikely to be met. The economy is hitting stagflation, especially with the wars ongoing such as the Ukraine war and the war in Gaza impacting global trade.
This particularly hits places like Greater Manchester harder, as they have never received the correct levels of funding from National Government in the first place. Food bank use in GM keeps rising, in contrast to what is currently happening to the decline in the national average.
Only 38,308 new homes have been delivered by Homes England in the UK since April 2024 and March 2025. This is really not good enough, especially in the backdrop of 327,950 households in 2024 being entitled to support from the council, an increase of 17,100 year on year.
Assuming that this is an accurate count of homelessness, and there are doubts from the ONS about this being the case, it would take over nineteen years to house everyone at this rate. Clearly, this is not an acceptable situation and something has to change rapidly.
It’s not hard to see why there’s homelessness in Manchester. The average flat share in the Manchester City Council region costs £948 a month. A one bedroom flat is now considered a luxury for the minimum wage workers are now being completely pushed out of the city or sent to the very brink.
And a full time job is essentially an requirement to exist, with 18% of families in poverty having at least one adult in the family working full time in 2023-2024, up from 9% in 1996-1997.
I went to explore some of these left behind areas, and their communities. I visited six areas that have experienced either the lack of modernisation, are in the process of modernisation, or modernisation that has not been successful. Here is what I saw.
Droylsden
Droylsden is really struggling. And the town is not doing well.
From the fences that have not been painted for thirty years, to the complete car sewer1 that is the high street, to the fact we have actually been warned against visiting Droylsden by a queer friend of ours. It is clear that absolutely nothing has fundamentally changed for decades.
It has received zero funding, except for the Metrolink being extended up there to go to Ashton, and a new library. It is clear that there is still a small community up here, but I think most people living here have given in to the economic situation of the town by necessity. There’s nothing here to aspire to.
I am not joking when I say this town is grim. Next to the library, I saw graffiti which read DIAL 999 FOR A TAXI.
Droylsden is also the place where in Greater Manchester the British National Party came closest to winning a seat in 2008, getting 32.7% of the votes in 2008.
This is now a Labour seat, with Lib Dems, Conservatives and Greens in that order. It’s a very, very divided town, that simply doesn’t know what to do. It is screaming for change and funding.
It is sickening that in 2025, the GMP is still unable to provide statistics on the crime rate in Manchester since July 2019. I don’t know how this doesn’t cause more national outrage.
It’s a shame that Droylsden has ended up this way, because this town could have potential if it got the funding it desperately needs. It seems that the funding has stopped at New Islington.
It is certainly trying to creep into Holt Town, but it seems as if North East Manchester is still a backwater in a lot of respects. And who knows how Manchester City council will deal with the exceptional Hackspace we run in Manchester.
Fortunately, I think there is a simple solution to Droylsden’s immediate problems; just pedestrianize the town centre. One thing that Droylsden still has is an active high street, with many independent shops scattered about the place.
I think this is a great strength that, if utilised, could turn Droylsden from a backwater into a nice little commuter town into Manchester, as well as bring people from Ashton-under-Lyne and other surrounding areas to see what the town has to offer.
I can imagine a lot of opposition from car drivers that go through that area, but surely the health benefits of not having to live and relax near cars would be worth it, as well as the benefits it would bring to the local economy? Being able to also operate a library with the proper funding to do so would also really, really help, as the current situation is really quite dire.
Droylsden Library
Droylsden Library is operated by some absolutely lovely people, who despite the operational challenges continue to try and bring education to the local community.
It turns out that this is a replacement library, to the previous, old 1930s building that sat here. The new library is a dingy, dodgy, garish vision of the its past.
The old library was an absolutely beautiful building.
And now, it has become the equivalent of a generic sixth form college. I cannot believe that they did this to this building.
And the worst part is that the new library building isn’t arguably any bigger inside, it is still as cramped as it was before.
It was the first library in Tameside to be fully digitised. Inside, it was beautiful, and it was clearly designed by an architect that knew how to use the space in a smart way that made sense. It was welcoming.
And now? It looks like a prison inside, with the library so tightly packed with books it’s almost impossible to move around.

This is a shame. And as soon as you walk in, the weirdness begins.
The library puts an emphasis on Open+, a service that allows you to access the library when it is unstaffed with a PIN code. The trouble is, it’s pretty much always unstaffed. What was the point of building a new library to then not have any staff to operate it?
One point a reviewer on Google has raised is that with Open+, this library may be inaccessible to disabled people outside of staffed hours. You’re expected to call for help if you need it. You’re expected to manage the library on your own. This is unacceptable.
Many vulnerable disabled people rely on these spaces to apply for benefits, use the computers, and access other vital services, and many have access needs that simply can’t be met without staff present. There aren’t even any toilets available during Open+ hours for them.
I spotted no fewer than two signs front and centre warning about CCTV cameras being in operation. And, as insane as it sounds, this library uses security gates, and yes, I did hear them go off a few times. It’s crazy how hard this library has to fight to keep every book on their shelves. I mean, we’re talking about even potential real theft of the last few computers they have.
It was extremely busy. Angela could barely find the time to talk to us, with families of children coming in and out constantly. It was clear that this was a vital hub to the community, as there are no real other community hubs in Droylsden, despite a sizable population of 23,172.
But Angela inspires hope. Angela provides much needed hope in this incredibly difficult environment. And I hope that the councillors and heads of libraries understand that they need more people like Angela, people with ideas, people who are willing to try in environments that seem impossible and try and turn things around.
It was the only library that accounted for neurodiversity as it had objects to calm and ease sensory overload right as you walked in. That’s the level of inclusivity that we should be all aiming for.
It’s clear that Droylsden library is critical to the community. Regeneration plans show how grim the situation is currently. But the funding provided for all this regeneration is a joke. £100,000.
You can’t even buy a house in Droylsden for £100,000!
Any efforts at regeneration will remain dogged with funding issues. It will take years before anything is actually done about the town centre. And the crime problems will continue as there’s nothing to actually do.
I feel for the residents, it’s not a nice place to live in at all. And I hope that things will get better for them.
Leave a comment if you live near in Droylsden and have any ideas what we could do to make the place better.
Failsworth
I experienced harassment by the British Transport Police on the way, as they simply would not accept my concessionary pass as being a real concessionary pass. The continuing harassment of passengers on the Manchester Metrolink is a real problem.
TfGM is having funding troubles. But that doesn’t mean that Metrolink “Travel Safe Officers” should have complete cart blanche to enforce fare collection.
There are about eleven enforcement officers on this platform, and a sniffer dog, for the purpose of catching fare evaders. This isn’t acceptable.
I felt like a criminal even though I had a valid ticket. They were everywhere.
One of them stopped me, and asked me to bring my concessionary pass closer to his face, and then stated:
I can’t see your picture on the concessionary pass.
It was clearly visible. He really was not accepting that I was who I was purporting to be.
Absolutely fascinating. I wonder why the British Transport Police may have been doing that. Reminds me of when Bluesky’s age verification provider told me that my face wasn’t real. Online Safety Act, blocking porn, something about trans people…




So anyway, with a town name like Failsworth, you know that it’s going to be a fun one to explore. The minute I stepped into the town I smelt piss. Not a good first impression, Failsworth.
It is a former industrial mill town, with decent connections to Manchester, with the 83 and 84 buses, as well as very frequent, quick trams into the city centre. And yet, there is basically bugger all investment.
The high street is a complete joke. It is as if I loaded up the game Cities Skylines and placed down a bunch of shops next to a retail park. This has to be a joke, surely?
Thank god there’s a Hays Travel. As if that’s the most important thing that Failsworth needs.
The town centre is pretty non-existent. There is nothing in Failsworth, aside from maybe going to your local Tesco to shop and then proceed to go back to your Victorian terrace and commute to Manchester for work.
In a way, this town has not really changed since the Victorian era, only now it is more Bee Networked. For a population of 20,680, that’s quite sad.




The state of the river is disgusting - the extent of the algae bloom shows how it’s just not being looked after. It’s clearly polluted and not doing well. However, this is a known problem that’s been there since the Industrial Revolution, and something that Oldham Council is actively looking at fixing. Good job!
Did I mention that Failsworth is one of those areas that isn’t receiving a regeneration? It’s almost as if these regenerations are not equally distributed into areas that really, really need them…
Failsworth Library
While the state of the town is really not great, the one thing that Failsworth, and by extension, Oldham Council, have done really well, is to foster a community spirit.
And that’s evident in how much effort they’ve put into making a decent library. What they have done is turned the old town hall into a library, providing not only a library but a midwife clinic, which is a rather strange choice but I can see why.
Wow! That feels so incredibly welcoming, and something that I haven’t seen quite like it in any other library that I’ve visited for this investigation.
It’s clear that the community is trying to make the best of the situation and they have truly. The library has a lovely modern aesthetic blended with a bit of heritage and it feels incredibly cosy.
They even have a community Scrabble game! (Yes, I contributed. Feel free to check the library records for my word.)
I really, really like that they’ve chosen to work with the building’s architecture and heritage, rather than ignoring it and plastering over it. It gives the library a wonderful sense of authority.
That’s what happens when you move to a new town hall and have a whole town hall to work with. Sometimes, it’s all about being careful about which buildings are being used, and why.
A good selection of books, a nice view onto the river, it’s nice and airy. It’s a really, really nice spot, and all the people we spoke to were incredibly friendly.
Well, nearly everyone, one kid did ask me to stop another calling him a ‘little fart’, but that was quickly resolved by me giving him some life advice. ☺
As with the other libraries I’ve visited, this is also a community hub, with computers, a café, and meeting rooms. There was, however, one problem.
It’s clear that they are facing rather severe staffing shortages.
I noticed that the computers were down, and you were unable to scan in books to take out. It is likely that this has been the case for a while.
The same story can be seen with the community café, as although there is one, and it is beautiful, it wasn’t open when I visited, and I visited midday on a weekday.
This is really unfortunate, and highlights that a lot of the problems that public services in these towns face is the lack of staffing, as opposed to there being anything wrong with these buildings.
This can then spiral into these buildings not getting maintained, and then forty years later being forced to perform their original duties while pretending everything is fine, and that, is exactly what is happening in Failsworth.
What is clear is to me though, is that that the community eagerly embraces new ideas.
The fact that the library hosts a community Scrabble game. I love the fact that the staff in the library really care about how it progresses. It shows that Failsworth is full of people who take a challenge and see it as a way to push above.
Having myself worked with many people on co-production in Oldham before with the homelessness charity Depaul UK, it’s clear to me that the spirit of Oldham is to work with each other. And that is fantastic.
Stretford Mall. What can we do?
Human disasters in history have from time to time been known to be colossal. Hiroshima. Chernobyl. And then there’s Stretford Mall.
Stretford Mall is in an incredibly dilapidated state. It’s really difficult to see the disrepair of this building be at the state that it is, because at one point, this building represented the future of what could be.
And now, it’s filled with… nothing. There is nothing in Stretford Mall. Absolutely nothing. It’s in a really dire situation with this many vacant lots.
The mezzanine overlooking the place looks like a hospital ward. The most disgusting, dirtiest hospital ward that I have ever seen. There’s nothing in there, aside from a few struggling businesses.
And Restart, the controversial organization that people get referred to after twelve months of unemployment. Make of that what you will.
It may need a huge rethink. It will need something radical to really, really make it a building worth saving.
It’s because Trafford Council was still thinking inside the box. Trafford Council needs to think outside the box.
Take the roof off the box. Stop it being a box.
I’m not joking. Think of Stretford Mall as a Mall, except without the roof.
Enter my redevelopment proposal for Stretford Mall. Now obviously, some of the parts of the actual buildings may have to be rebuilt to make it 21st century, and that is OK.X
And then build a combined health, employment, and mental health cafe inside a big unit. Trafford puts a lot of effort into Bluesci Support, the Trafford Community Mental Health Services, and I’d love to see something similar the new Stretford Mall.
And don’t move the current library. The library staff very much love it. Just fix it. Fix it properly so you they don’t have to face horrific bodge jobs, which you’ll have to wait to see later in the article.
I literally just removed the roof. Here’s the before and after.
Doesn’t that fit in extremely well with the vision of Stretford as per the regeneration plans?
I was a day or so too early. The new high street was still being built. But Stretford. I will return.
Stretford’s Regeneration Efforts
What do I find interesting though, is the existence of graffiti everywhere in Stretford, to an extent I don’t find in most places in Manchester.
It seems to be prevalent everywhere. I struggled to see the point, I felt at first that Trafford Council’s regeneration plans were to make the place really sterile.


It’s clear that Trafford Council has plans to effectively turn Stretford into a case study, an example for other councils to follow, as well as to attract some serious investment into the place.
I mean look at it! It looks like something straight out of a brochure, something from Europe. On first glance, it looks like it’s a carefully manicured ecosystem, with locals working really hard at turning it into a little urban bit of nature.
Except then you look a little closer, and you see all the issues that suggest that this was a rush job by the council to make it seem as if they tried.
You start noticing the weeds in the grass, despite this being put in very recently. You start noticing how the path hasn’t been laid down remotely straight. And then, you notice how their design doesn’t account for… wind!



It’s very clear that the priority for Trafford Council was the junction, and then they built a whole masterplan in order to justify to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government that no, this isn’t yet another car focused development, we’ve made it green!
They copied the Dutch in terms of design, putting up Cyclops-esque junctions, but they completely forgot the reason why it works there is that the junctions don’t consist of six lane roads…
This is a stroadavenue. A residential street that is also trying to survive as a road, while also trying to be a posh avenue that has trees on the sides of it. An evolution on the stroad as popularised by Not Just Bikes.
The investors will definitely need a curated tour of Stretford, as if you go down just one side road, you can see that the place hasn’t placed since trash was collected by horse and cart.
Yep, welcome to the North. Supposedly this area is trying to become ‘posh’.
And I think this is my problem with all these regenerations. I think we should be also regenerating homes, and helping residents build streets that look pretty, and have gardens, rather than just focus on city squares. At the end of the day, where do people spend the most time? In their homes.
I understand the challenges of asking landlords to agree to revitalisation. I believe this should be at the heart of sociological research for the government to continue working on.
My favourite part of this regeneration has to be the pointless roundabout. I sat here for about ten minutes and watched as every single car completely ignored the roundabout.
This roundabout was not needed, and nobody asked for it. But some bureaucrat decided there must be a roundabout and now it exists.
I cannot blame this bus driver. This roundabout would be a nightmare to navigate properly
It’s not the first time I’ve seen something like this built in Manchester, a solution to a problem that never needed to be addressed.
…The Salford Cycle-a-bout. But that’s a story for another day. What were Salford City Council smoking?
Stretford Library
There were plans in 2022 to relocate Stretford Library to Stretford Mall, but this looks like it was scrapped. As of the time of writing, there still are no plans for the relocation of the library.
Which is insane, considering the building is falling apart.
This is the first library where it explicitly says I am not allowed to film or take photos of the library. As this is a public building, Trafford Council has absolutely no power to stop me. This does however, tell you how much Trafford Council does not want you to see this library. But the poor library staff who work there do.
It’s really well filled with books, and has received new computers, as well as a quite frankly massive collection of board games. Trafford has always been a bit of a posh area, and I’m not surprised that this library is decently stocked. There’s even a little children’s area, with nobody in it.



But that’s the Stretford Library that Trafford Council wants you to see. In reality, this library is falling apart, and it is extremely badly water damaged.
Just look at this wall alone. This is a real, functioning library in Manchester that looks like this - it is clear that the curtains were replaced after the damage took place, as well as that curtain cable, but there was no money to plaster the wall and repaint it. The upstairs is completely blocked off ‘for reasons of safety’, meaning only half of the library building is operational.
How can Trafford Council get away with this?
It is disgusting that a local library looks like this. I spoke to the staff member in the library and he said that while it does get fixed up from time to time, the underfunding is really, really stark, and it’s abysmal it’s in the state it is.
And there’s another thing I noticed outside the library as well - these cycle paths they’ve put down are exclusively being used by people with road bikes, aka fairly professional and proficient cyclists.
Of course. Because it’s Stretford. And your options are basically to go to down to Altrincham & Sale and for those people cycling is a hobby and not a mode of transport; or, Old Trafford - which to be fair, the council is also putting down cycle lanes in Old Trafford, so it may alleviate this problem.
The Old Stretford
The old Stretford still exists. You just have to know where to look for it. And the old Stretford gives us a bit of a glimpse of design lessons that were completely forgotten as time went on.
I went into the old subways, and immediately what stood out was that there was a fully functional, perfectly serviceable cycle network that was built during the 1960s.
And I would argue that this solution was much, much better, than the cycle infrastructure that we received. Now instead of the cyclists being separated safely from the road underground, they get to navigate a junction with six lanes on each road. For a novice cyclist, that’s extremely intimidating.
I get that these subways had problems with anti-social behaviour, but if they were repainted, properly lit, and some CCTV cameras were put up, these would work absolutely fine today, and we wouldn’t need to put pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks, buses, and everything else in one junction.
I think that’s insanity. I think the cyclists would love to use these fully separated subways once they are cleaned up properly and modernised, and with local artists commissioned to paint urban, graffiti style art on the walls, rather than the tired old white brick.
The council has made no effort at all to preserve this vital infrastructure. Instead, they now genuinely expect everyone to cross on the junction, which is quite intimidating. To the point where they have given up entirely on disabled access to these subways, and decided to concrete-in sections.
This realm of public infrastructure has effectively been neutered for reasons of ‘nobody cares about this crime infested subway, right?’
Please fix this, Trafford Council. Please do not just concrete over this whole thing. This is an asset, not something to be embarrassed about.
There’s no reason why these 1960s visions can’t work. After all, in most European countries, subways are a perfectly normal solution to ‘how to make this big junction not a nightmare to navigate if you’re not a car’.
You just have to design them smartly.
Just look at Wrocław, in Poland. If you have a huge subway network, you may as well put shops, ticket machines, and all sorts into them. That would help provide a justification to maintain these things, too, and I think it’s an idea worth thinking about.
The graffiti down here was really interesting, and I would highly encourage you visit. To me, it was actual local community art and it showed really how the community felt about politics at the moment.
I think people are fed up of generic gentrification and soundbites to local problems. People want to be part of the process. So let them.
Let them be part of the process. Because the locals are some of the most talented people you’ll ever meet. And so many of them are queers, too. I wish I went to Stretford Pride, but I just could not make work time wise.





Eccles
The only place on this list where I was actually a victim of a hate crime!
Eccles is a mess. On one hand, it has received the Metrolink, a new bus interchange and the Morrisons.
But on the other hand - it’s still Eccles. Not only is the high street getting worse with time, as shops continue to close, but the anti-social behaviour continues to increase.
As usual, there’s your usual kids on bikes being a menace, but during my little expedition to Eccles I actually got harassed by a bunch of them for using a cane to be able to walk. I mean seriously guys? Why?
There’s not much really to do in Eccles. If you want to eat out in Eccles, you really only have the Eccles Cross (a Wetherspoons), a bunch of other independent pubs, and the Morrisons Market Kitchen, and that’s it, really.
Everything is dead. There’s a ton of betting shops as well as discount shops on this high street, but there’s nothing else. It’s absolutely dire even for Northern town standards.
And why the fuck is the GMP advertising in a hospital?! I went in to not see a doctor, as it turned out; as the hospital never scheduled in the doctor. They made travel for hours and wait for 45 minutes. AND THEN I came out to this.
Oh joy. I love the Greater Manchester Police. I wish we had a competent police force that didn’t allegedly commit police misconduct towards the public. Allegedly, of course.
There have been attempts at regenerating the area. Nothing has stuck so far.
The Lime scooters that once were novel are collecting dust.
They built the Metrolink. They built a Morrisons. But I think we need to take inspiration from something truly great that exists in Eccles.
That time when it really, really worked, was when they rebuilt Eccles library in the 2000s.
Eccles Library
Eccles Library is one of the most impressive libraries I’ve seen in terms of transforming an old heritage building into something amazing.
It’s wonderful to look at. It has all the different portraits of historical figures on the wall and everything. I really do wish they were of Eccles locals, but having these ones I think is OK as well.
Eccles Library was reopened by Christopher Eccleston in 2010, the same one from the nineth series of Doctor Who, and I verified this with the library staff member.
He was from Langworthy, Salford after all, which is merely It goes to show that great people can be from anywhere.
What an absolutely gorgeous refurbishment. And it doesn’t feel cheap, it feels like someone actually put some thought into it.
It’s absolutely wonderful, all the different things to be getting on with in this community hub. Because this isn’t just a library, this is the Eccles Gateway Centre.
You’ve got the incredible kids corner, that kids can play in.
There’s actual employment support in the community that looks like they actually do probably give very good support.
There’s the Citizens Advice. There’s a credit union. The Welfare Rights and Debt Advice service. A dedicated hate crime reporting centre.
And most importantly of all, there’s a community project to provide clothes to people who the ones who need it in the community.



This is what happens when you work in partnership with developers, councillors, doctors, and everyone in the community. You achieve something that represents hope even in a place like Eccles.
What’s interesting about Salford Community Libraries is that you get a Salford Community Libraries card, and that is part of the same group that is facing issues with being financed properly at the moment.
While there are no staff cuts planned currently at the moment, it is worrying what the future may hold for Salford.
Regeneration, too, is coming for Eccles. And I am glad that there are some proud residents who actually responded and told the council something had to be down.
That Eccles Shopping Centre must be demolished.
And the council did listen, thankfully. Parts of it are being torn down as of the time of writing.
I wish it goes really well for Ecclesians. I really do. They deserve it.
We are more than our real footnote in history is being remembered for tragedy in the form of Stephensons’ Rocket crashing into a man there, and the Eccles cakes, now made in Ardwick. We are an entire community of people who love and care for eachother.
We are some of the most productive, hard working people in Greater Manchester. And we’re students too, because housing is relatively cheap here. Not that anyone can afford to buy.
But perhaps you can perhaps just about afford to buy a subscription to my journalism to someone special in your life? I appreciate any kind of support greatly, whether that’s emotional, journalistic, legal, or simply the good old financial way. I would like to be able to make even bigger stories in the future.
The people’s art is beautiful. It’s really evident people want to love about the places they come from. It’s worth being proud of it.
And I would like to add my voice to this, if that’s OK, as a former resident of Eccles, in the form of my own poem:
It’s clear that there are challenges. But when I look at that library I see hope. Hope, that things can be better in Eccles.
Stockport
Different is yet still Stockport’s approach.
Stockport has had an incredible time with its regenerations. The interchange is fantastic and one of the best in the region. The regeneration of Stockport town centre is fantastic, and it’s a really great, welcoming place to be.
There are still challenges with Stockport, notably the decaying housing stock. This is a problem that will always plague the place because of how old its housing stock is, and how cheaply it was built as this was truly one of the most legendary North’s working towns in its heydays. But now the Metrolink is coming, and it will change everything for Stockport.
And there is so much life in Stockport.
The Stockport Market is brilliant. It’s open every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 09:00 - 16:30. The Stockport Market is one of the biggest markets in Greater Manchester where trade is actively flourishing, as the Stockport Market was a key part of Stockport’s regeneration plans.
Stockport Council is incredibly ambitious, and I’m not surprised given the amount of Council Tax they are charging their residents. Trust me, as a person who used to live in Stockport Council territory, I really did feel fleeced every month by spending double to live in Stockport.
But I lived in Stockport, despite appalling conditions by my landlord the council was unable to address, because I could absolutely see what Stockport Council is trying to achieve.
This revitalisation will be absolutely massive, one of the biggest in the UK. And I think the council is doing absolutely everything right.
There are still so many challenges to revitalising Stockport.
The council is facing a lot of financial difficulties, and has the longest wait in the country for a council house. Some of the houses in Stockport are so dilapidated I’m surprised they’re still standing, especially near Adswood.
Despite the clear challenges, the fact is that I’ve seen two cyclists cycling down Stockport high street casually unlike in Stretford, and the fact the council is clearly learning how to do inclusive, and accessible mixed development properly.
There is so much community in Stockport. Everyone seems to know each other. And when I went, I saw an Asian food market outside the church, and it was such a delightful atmosphere. There is always something happening in Stockport.
Stockroom
And we get to the fun part.
Stockport just got a brand new library, as of 24th May 2025. It’s completely new, rebuilt from scratch and everything.
A £14.5 million project funded by the Future High Streets Fund, it was the perfect piece for Stockport Council to help revitalise the underused retail space in the Merseyway Shopping Centre as part of a wider £1 billion town centre regeneration.
It spans 135,000 sq feet, and took over five years to build.
When I came in, I had my breath taken away. Wow.
This library is absolutely what Greater Manchester needs. It’s something that I think can only exist in Stockport because of what it is, but that’s the thing. This is a custom solution for the local community, built with local people in mind.
It’s clear that the Stockroom was a huge collaboration between everyone involved, and shows the level of ambition in the Liberal Democrat-led Stockport Council.
I think that’s where progress really is, in new ideas.
It shows that when you leave matters to the more left-wing parties, things actually get done, rather than needlessly arguing about how much austerity we will perform today.
Austerity is pointless. Even George Osbourne knew it didn’t mathematically make sense, and went with it anyway. There is a single Conservative in this ward, and I would imagine their days are numbered.
Behind the Stockroom
I spoke to Emily Davies, who works for Stockport Council. Emily put an emphasis on the fact that, first and foremost the Stockroom was a space that anyone could come to create and discover.
The Stockroom is designed to have many high quality, free to attend events and workshops. I was actually invited to come to a fashion photography event on the 26th July, but unfortunately as a journalist with a hectic schedule there’s only so many things you can attend.
It’s a direct evolution from Storyhouse in Chester, which was already an amazing, fantastic conversion of an old cinema into something truly splendid.
Seriously, if you’re ever in Chester, go take a look. It inspired me to love libraries. I love the Storyhouse so much.
You can see the similarities between the Stockroom and Stockhouse - bright, airy, modern, and useful. Every object you see has a purpose. Every design choice has a reason, and at the same time it remains so incredibly beautiful and multifunctional. Did I mention I love the Storyhouse ethos?
There’s 16 libraries in Stockport, which is joint with Salford, and that also may explain why Eccles Library is absolutely brilliant.
I am starting to think that building more libraries leads to more experience running libraries, and it’s really how you make them truly successful, and not by reducing down closing hours to nothing, i.e. in Droylsden.
I hope that Stockport continues to develop in its direction. There’s still a hell of a lot of work to go, but I think that they have the right people, mindset, and community input to really truly make this a wonderful place for people to be.
I truly believe that this borough is going to be one of the most economically, politically, and culturally important boroughs in the future.
Chorlton
And then, finally, we come to Chorlton. Chorlton is special. Chorlton is different from everyone else on this list.
Chorlton is an absolute masterclass in how to do a regeneration. I have personally lived in Chorlton for two years, and there are so many lessons that can be learnt from Chorlton. I have feelings for Chorlton that I simply cannot put to print.
I’m biased, because I now live in Wythenshawe and therefore I most I pledge my allegiance to Wythenshawe; but I firmly believe that Chorlton’s community consists of some of the most wonderful and friendliest people you’ll meet in Manchester.
I have never seen a community so willing to help out. I have never seen a community that really, really cared about an area as much as Chorltonians do.
Chorlton in some areas is still quite rough, especially on the old council blocks. There’s actual stabbings that go on.
I’ve lived in a flat on Upper Chorlton Road where the walls were really made out of honeycomb cardboard, and I would hear squirrels every night delivering yet more excrement under my bathtub because my landlord was too cheap to plug the holes.
My book, Transition in Agony, when published, will go into all the detail and nitty-gritty of how shady that situation was.
And please, tell your kids to not modify their e-bikes to go fifty miles an hour down Upper Chorlton Road. It’s not worth the risk.
This is how it ends. I saw this while I was living there literally outside. And I was absolutely gobsmacked.
This image is from the MEN, but I’ve got my own photo saved on my hard drive somewhere. I couldn’t believe it.
Look past a few idiots on estates who just need help getting their lives together, and see that Chorlton is beautiful.
Look at this newly revisited, revitalised, and quite frankly, rejuvenated high street. It’s the best high street in Manchester at the moment I feel, the city centre excluded of course.
I ate at the Postbox Shawarma while waiting for my business cards to be printed at Blue Apple Printing in time for Manchester Pride today.
I love Blue Apple. Blue Apple have been serving the community for years with his printing services for years.
He literally didn’t have to. But he made sure that my business cards were printed the same day. The guy keeps doing overtime for people who need something printed urgently. There’s people constantly going in and out, all across Manchester. People like myself who have ADHD and he understands, and it’s OK, and he wants to help regardless.
This man to me represents the spirit of Chorlton, and I am not even joking. He is one of many that mean that Chorlton remains a very, very tightly knit community.
The Turkman Grill in the nearby Whalley Range is my absolute favourite for spicy kebab, but for £8.20 this is a ridiculous amount of good food: Delicious, tasty, and it feels so homely.
To Manchester Metropolitan University. Please leave the Rye Banks Fields alone. Seriously, what the fuck are you doing? Why is this beautiful piece of nature not considered a council organised park?
Sign the petition to Save the Rye Bank Fields and object to the planning application. Tell them to build houses elsewhere. There’s plenty of sites in Greater Manchester.
How the fuck can you take this away from this child? The Rye Bank Fields mean so much to the people of Chorlton.
Here are the locals on the same day helping each other out at the bus stop. Two strangers.
No wonder that this revitalisation was built with people in mind, because the people of Chorlton-cum-Hardy will not tolerate anything built without their consent.
It took a very, very long time to close Chorlton Cross shopping centre, because there were so many award-winning independent local businesses that were based there.
It was a building that beyond saving. It was on its last legs, and doesn’t fit in with what Chorlton is today. Everyone knew it had to go.
I couldn’t possibly cover every independent business in Chorlton, there’s just too many.
But I have to cover the legend. The infamous. The Barbakan.
The legends around the Barbakan are absolutely insane, and I love them. There are many, but I would like to discuss the canon event in Chorlton history’s that is someone trying to rob the deli.
Yes. They tried to rob the Barbakan. At 4:30am. When all the bakers were hard at work baking bread. I truly applaud this human being’s thinking process.
I’ve been going to the Barbakan for years. The quality of the ingredients is simply unparalleled with anything else you can get in Manchester (with the Unicorn Co-op next door being a close second) and this is where I do the shopping when I truly want to use the freshest, best ingredients.
The secret is that it’s a very tight, family run business.
I asked at one point about their produce:
Why is it called Andrew’s Sausage?
I was given a very long and detailed history just about how they came to make that variant of sausage they sell. I’m sure they could give me a thesis on every product they sell, genuinely.
They stock award winning jams. They are an insanely good cheesemonger. And they bake bread, daily, and there are so many different varieties to choose from. Even the new bakery in Bramhall is no match for the Barbakan. The original, and in my opinion, still the best.
And now.
I will show you.
Chorlton’s Best Kept Secret. (in my opinion, of course)
Comment down below if I have missed something!
Chorlton Library
I have spent weeks going round all these libraries in Greater Manchester. And I think that it is impossible to beat Chorlton Library in terms of revitalisation and regeneration.
It hasn’t just been revived from the dead. It has been transformed to something so beautiful that its old former self could only ever dream of.
Starting from the 1st April, this has been place for locals and visitors alike.
From the outside, you can see an accessible entrance with some attractive red hues, white tones, and shades of pink, plots, next to a beautiful heritage pub.
From the side, an elegant preserved frontage with every brick, pillar and pane painstakingly renewed.
It is a library has kept all its heritage. It has taken a whole year, and was a true challenge for locals like me because at one point they were down to only a small fraction of the library being accessible.
It was the work of the Scottish-American Andrew Carnegie to build this library in 1914, for the city of Manchester. You know. The guy that funded and personally oversaw the building of many, many libraries in the world, so he knows what he’s doing.
He also built Didsbury Library; I am excited to visit that library one day, too. I’ll actually update this story with a new article when I do, even if that takes a bit.
I always return to my stories eventually in time, so that my news is always up to date, and I don’t miss out on new exciting developments in my local area.
I cannot overemphasise how excited, happy, and truly inspired I am by this entrance. I am entering a serious institution of learning.
I spoke today to the staff member at the desk. He will be soon be reading this, and I hope that I do him justice. I cannot just casually do a piece on libraries. Libraries are a serious institution that I respect.
I do not mess around when it comes to libraries, museums and archives. I think librarians, archivists, and curators are human gods of knowledge that should be paid more, and their professions should be properly respected and recognised.
Because guess what? The people who built Google were fucking librarians too.
He was so excited to show me around the place, and for good reason. Every tile has painstakingly excavated. All the lettering is original lettering from when the building was built.
This is no Ecclesian Library where the people on the wall don’t relate to Eccles at all. This is actual local culture, heritage, and history that has been preserved for your viewing in 2025.
The interior has been kept as original as possible. Sadly, they don’t have the wooden cabinets anymore, but what they do have is a very, very modern selection of books, and even classes for AI for Absolute Beginners.
FOR ONLY TWENTY FIVE POUND AN HOUR AT A PUBLIC LIBRARY. I HAD TO STUDY AT A UNIVERSITY FOR THREE YEARS TO GET TO THAT CLASS.
I genuinely believe that one day, even Droylsden can get there too. You need community leaders to motivate these places into a new direction. You need the community to care about the places they are building.
The layout of the library is close to the original as you can possibly get.
When I walk into a library, and I see a copy of Trans Britain by Christine Burns. I know they are consulting trans people to books for the library. I want to be one of those people they consult, as well as many other trans people.
This is not a book you place accidentally at the front and centre of a library as you walk in. This isn’t a newly released book at all. It came out in 2018. And yet it’s the best book about trans liberation in Britain. I’ve got a signed copy myself on the shelf from the author.
This book represents hope. By being the first revitalised library to actively embrace trans people outright like this, with the perfect book right there on display, Chorlton Library is leading the way forward.
If I had one suggestion for Chorlton, maybe stock Before We Were Trans by Kit Heyam next? It’s a brilliant book on non-binary liberation, and how history is actually completely fucked, and Kit tries their very hardest to undo the mess that is cisgender, white colonists attempting to rewrite history.
10/10. Great read. I’ll review it on my Goodreads later.
There is so much history. Chorlton Library fell into complete disrepair in the 1980s. Unlike other boroughs, the people of Chorlton knew that it still can be saved, and it was worthy of saving.
It was not necessary to build a new library, or modify an exciting library, or replace and demolish a library and turn it into an institution. No. All that was needed was some love and attention.
In Britain, we have an obsession with knocking things down because we don’t build them right the first time.
Chorlton Library is what happens when you do. Because this country is capable of building things right the first time, and that’s why we have so many Victorian terraces, prewar houses and postwar flats that still survive all across the country, despite being built on a shoestring budget.
The vast majority of the time, those just need maintenance too. I am not a fan of throwing away what has worked really well in the past. Just fix it and modernise it if possible. I know sometimes it can be too far gone.
I would really, really highly recommend visiting Chorlton-cum-Hardy if you are ever around Greater Manchester, and talking to all these wonderful people, and looking at these independent businesses.
There’s a market that happens outside the library. There’s multiple markets. There’s the car boot in the Carlson Club. There’s a community garden in Ashville Surgery where they are pioneering social prescribing. There are so many things happening in Chorlton it’s impossible to put them down all to paper in one article about libraries.
I love Chorlton in my heart. There is something about Chorlton that not many places in Manchester can replicate.
Chorlton is still unfortunately an exception. I wish that all communities in Manchester cared so much that they too, could follow Chorlton’s example one day.
As I walk down the high street for the last time, I think to myself. What makes a good regeneration? And I think it’s really, really simple. Here is what I think city planners should follow as a baseline:
Early as possible engagement with the community involved leads to better results. Make sure that you really do talk to everyone.
Diversify your focus groups as much as possible.
Include queer people.
Include families.
Children.
The elderly.
The disabled.
Those who need the revitalisation the most as they are the most likely to be using these services.
As well as the working professionals who could benefit from the employment services as well the ability to upskill at work.
I want Stretford Library to particularly pay attention to this. I think Stretford could be a leader in this space if they balance this well.Working with a town’s heritage and cultural history. I see Bury Council proposing their plans, and quite frankly they seem absurd for the area.
And now. A quick tangent about Prestwich.
I have been to Prestwich to write this piece, and I think that their plans are ridiculous, and while there these fancy huge glass buildings about… outside dotted around the place are Victorian terraces. Just no.
Build something sensible, please. Something in keeping with the area. There is definitely interest within the community in making it better.
Just look in your library for ideas. For example, your library has recently started a community fridge where people can just drop off food items and come back for any they want, up to 3 items.
It’s a genius way for the community to avoid food waste and promote sustainable living. So instead of trying to aim for something big and ‘city like’, maybe build something out of sustainable wood and repurposed brick instead.
Rather than these massive glass panels, which really make it look like it’s going to be competing with Ellesmere Port for a new aquarium instead.
Go fix up the current library and build an extension. I think it’s time that the people of Prestwich get more books. There are only a limited amount of genres available and I would really, really like to see more.
Focus on building links in the community, and fostering independent businesses, and do not just force a generic Hub solution to everything. I’m screaming at you Manchester City Council, please think about the problems you are about to cause with that, with Wythenshawe’s regeneration.
You can read all about my thoughts on Wythenshawe in this article. I have since received an amazing response from the locals and I have been invited to discuss more at the Wythenshawe Central Network. I will be in touch as soon as I can, and I will write more articles about Wythenshawe as soon as I get more information.
And finally, I think it helps to have truly creative, ambitious people on board. Those who are not afraid. Put those who may see the world a bit differently on your team. People with decades of local knowledge. Historians. Sociologists. Psychologists. Doctors.
That, is how you build 15 minute cities that truly work. Co-produce the services. Use my work as well as the work of others to help guide that co-production.
It has been a truly, a wonderful journey, and my next article will be about what we should do about the rising homelessness and housing crisis. And I am planning to go even bigger with my investigations. Thank you so much for reading.
If you wish to support me financially, so that I can go even deeper with these articles, I also now have paid subscriptions turned on; or if you would prefer, you can donate directly to my Stripe. And once again.
Thank you.
car sewer (n.) - where you can see nothing but a sea of cars, and cars are in my opinion, all ugly
That was a very good article! I see parallels in Cardiff too. I completely agree about poverty and inequality being huge causes of crime. I would add to that a poor standard of education, especially in the domain of critical thinking. I wonder if there would really be a right wing in politics if everyone applied critical thinking, not automatically believing everything they see in the papers. Effective libraries should represent part of the solution to that problem.