Stockport in the 16th century was known for the cultivation of hemp and rope manufacture. In the 18th century the town had one of the first mechanised silk factories in the UK. Stockport’s predominant industries of the 19th century were the cotton and allied industries. Stockport was also the centre of the country’s hatting industry which by 1884 was exporting more than six million hats a year.

Since the start of the 20th century Stockport has moved away from being a town dependent on cotton and its allied industries to one with a varied base. It makes the most of its varied heritage attractions, including a national museum of hatting, a unique system of underground WWII air raid tunnel shelters in the town centre, and a late medieval merchants’ house on the 700 year old Market Place.

Local historian Roy Westall has used 180 black and white photographs and maps to produce an intriguing and attractive history of Stockport.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Forced to give up his career in the chemical industry due to illness Roy used the opportunity to promote his adopted town of Stockport, where he had settled when he married, and to continue his research into his family tree, which he traced back over ten generations.

He has frequently acted as a voluntary guide for Quarry Bank Mill at Styal and has held the post of Membership Secretary and Treasurer of Stockport Heritage Trust.

235 x 165 mm | paperback | 128 pages | 180 illustrations