A Look Around...Longlands, Stalybridge

I NEARLY bought a house in Stalybridge.

About six years ago, we looked around the Tameside town, for a suburban step on after two years in the city centre.

"The view is of smokestacks and hills and clunking, gritty industry, peeping over the former mill. Bloxham prefers this working landscape to something more sterile."

It was a fairly lively place with some nice houses on the outskirts of the main town centre. In the middle of it all was a mill, recently picked up by Urban Splash to be redeveloped and partially rebuilt under the name Longlands.

Eventually, we bought a house in Salford and I’d not been back to Stalybridge since. Until last week. Longlands is finally finished. And it’s looking rather good actually.

It’s not a million miles away from your typical Urban Splash mill conversion – plenty of exposed brick; white walls; lots of space in the hallways.

There’s a good amount of difference in the design of the apartments too – many of them are split level with big bedrooms and bathrooms (some upstairs, some downstairs) and some cute design touches. A split stairway confused me so much I walked into a coffee table. It all feels a bit European. I like it.

The old building has more character than the new, naturally, but there are some sympathetic features in the more modern blocks that keep them in touch with the sites industrial past. A big courtyard gives plenty of outdoor space too and many of the apartments higher up have generous balconies.

The view from one of them is of smokestacks and hills and clunking, gritty industry, peeping over the former mill. Bloxham prefers this view of a working landscape to something more sterile. “I’d rather look at this than Salford Quays,” he says. It’s dramatic, certainly. You can see water and rail arches too.

Once outside, however, it’s clear that Stalybridge itself could do with some tender loving care. The Millpond, the big pub that seemed to be at the heart of the town’s revelry when I last visited, is boarded up. Half the roof is missing. It’s not the only pub looking sorry for itself too.

The high street was deathly quiet, although it was a grey and drizzly mid-morning. Like so many towns of a similar ilk, the main activity seemed to be emanating from a branch of Gregg’s. I found a deli called ‘Say Cheese’ where I bought a decent handmade pork pie and a strong coffee in a polystyrene mug.

It feels odd when there’s a lack of Starbucks, such is their dominance now. No chains? Ah, hang on, there’s a massive Tesco to suck the remaining life out of the plethora of independent retailers in Stalybridge. And if that doesn’t do it, the nearby Aldi will.

So how does Bloxham’s introduction to central loft living fit in to all of this? Well, it’s raised the bar in terms of style and it’s also likely to attract commuters in and out of Manchester.

Best address is town? Possibly. But now the town has work to do in order to keep up.