Ultimate Guide to Chester and Cheshire

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Macclesfield What’s in a name? A trip out to Treacle Town reveals much more than just a market town. Macclesfield is a market town with many a name. Some abbreviate it to Macc. Others call it Treacle Town thanks to some sort of medieval incident that involved a horse, cart and a barrel of treacle, the locals apparently scooping up the sticky remains and making merry with it. Silk Town is another moniker, a reference to the 70-plus silk mills that once thrummed on Macclesfield’s streets. It’s a reminder of the wealth that flowed through a town that was at one point the world’s biggest producer of finished silk – and was once also surrounded by walls and ramparts, with a castle on top. And for several years my eldest laboured under the impression that the town was, in fact, called Mackerels-field, but that’s another story. (“I did think it was odd,” he later said, “because there are no fish.”) The town may be historic but its main draw is altogether more modern. The monthly Treacle Market (last Sunday of the month) was set up only in 2010, and while there is no treacle there are 160 stalls that cluster around Market Place and the streets leading off it, a selection of antiques and vintage, flowers and plants, and artisan food and drink stalls that are among the best I’ve come across. In its short life the market has been shortlisted for or won several national accolades (among them a nod from the BBC’s Food & Farming Awards), and it’s little wonder. The Grade II-listed St Michael & All Angels Church (Market Place) overlooks the market, its churchyard hosting community stalls, while live music, kids’ activities, performances - and occasional events in the neighbouring Town Hall (Market Place) - all make the Treacle Market a hugely enjoyable, family affair. It gets busy, but there’s usually a parking space to be found off Churchill Way. 54
Macclesfield’s past is evident in its cobbled, winding streets, home to boutiques such as ethical bridal store The Conscious Bride (Church St) and the Cherry Blossom Bakery (Church St), or in tiny independent eateries such as Tempranillo (Back Wallgate; good for tapas). Even among the high street chains of Mill Street are a few indies, including The Print Mill, showcasing the wares of local makers, and, on the corner with Roe Street, Cheshire Fish, which pretty much does what it says on the tin. Special mention must be given to the Café Nero that overlooks Market Place. Yes, it’s a chain, but its surprising size and big picture windows make it a winner for bigger groups and families – plenty of room to get a seat or to stash a buggy. It’s also dog friendly (as most of Macc seems to be). IMAGES FAR LEFT: TOWN HALL / ROUNDEL: TREACLE MARKET / LEFT: MILL STREET MISSION MEMORIAL / ABOVE: WHITE NANCY Get closer to history at the Old Sunday School (Roe St, free), which is squished between a car park and a hulking great B&M Bargains store. It opened in 1814 as a school for the town’s mill-working children (who’d be toiling in the mills from the age of just six); today it houses exhibitions dedicated to Macc’s past, a sweet little café, shop and a community cinema. The nearby Silk Museum (Park Ln, £4.50, kids free) isn’t quite as grand as its name suggests; its rather tired displays illustrate the process of silk-making. A more up to date articulation of the past can be found in the biennial Barnaby Festival (15-24 Jun 2018). Like the Treacle Market it was set up in 2010, though it has its roots in the 13th-century Barnaby Fair. Street theatre, live music, performances, a parade and exhibitions all feature, in venues right across the town. The 2016 event featured the everbrilliant Wild Rumpus, and the festival was granted Arts Council support for the first time in 2017 – expect good things for this year’s affair. Out of Town Out of town Macclesfield is remarkably well placed for a rural outing, sitting as it does between the Cheshire Plain and the Peaks. Kerridge Hill can be glimpsed from Market Place, for example, while the Grade II-listed White Nancy at its peak can be seen for miles. Originally built for the Gaskell family (of which the author Elizabeth, of Cranford fame, is its most famous member), the cone-shaped monument is regularly whitewashed to keep her pristine. She’s also regularly decorated and currently sports the Manchester bee – a sign of solidarity after last May’s atrocity. The views from Kerridge Hill are spectacular; walk up from nearby Bollington, starting (or ending) your walk at the Vale Inn (Adlington Rd). You don’t get much more local than the local ales served here - they hail from the Bollington Brewery, just 150 feet away. The 11-mile Middlewood Way is also nearby, a former railway line that leads from Macc up to the edge of the Peaks – good for cyclists and walkers alike. Macclesfield Forest (park at Trentabank Reservoir, SK11 0NE) was originally a royal hunting ground, a patch of land prized by royalty for its deer hunting. Part of this ancient forest formed the lands given to the Legh family in the 14th century as recompense for supporting Edward III during the Hundred Year War – and that land forms today’s Lyme (Disley), the deer park, gardens, house, moors and adventure playground that are cared for by the National Trust. Like much of Macclesfield the views at Lyme can be breathtaking. Head up to Park Moor for the best. 55
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Ultimate Guide to Chester and Cheshire

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