Say it quietly, but Poynton, a small town with a big personality, is on the up and its café culture is a rival for noisy neighbours Wilmslow and Alderley Edge.
Poynton is a perfect town in which to sit and watch the world go by and its unique shared space village centre brings with it a tranquil vibe despite being at a busy junction between Stockport and Macclesfield.
'It’s a fantastic place to live and the success of the shared space scheme is a great example of why it is a pleasure to live here,' says Michael Bell, who relocated to Cheshire with his wife and young children around a decade ago.
'It’s given people time and space. Pubs and café have made use of the space to create a friendly shared culture and pedestrians have much more freedom than in other town centres. You can easily see there’s eye contact between pedestrians and motorists. Everyone gives way to everyone else and that promotes positivity and good habits'
Michael points to easy transport links, and proximity to walking and cycling networks as plus points to life in Poynton.
The sense of community is strong, with well-used community sports facilities and organised activities, such as the town’s annual Party in the Park. 'All events are well supported here and the local sporting scene is thriving, with cricket, football and tennis at Poynton Sports Club,' adds Michael.
Swimming is also a big part of Poynton life. Swimming coach and local accountancy practice director, Karen Hunter, says the Poynton Dippers, based at the town’s leisure centre has more than 100 members.
Karen founded Nolan James Chartered Accountants, based at the Armcon Business Park, London Road South, alongside Ruth James,16 years ago.
She says: 'Poynton has a lot going for it as a place to live and work. The schools here have an excellent reputation and people often say they were advised to move here because of them. There’s a keen sense of community and many residents participate in activities and use the town’s facilities.
'A café culture has developed and people sit outside the town centre bars and restaurants in the evenings. It’s a small town with a heart.'
Adding to that sense of community is the small, yet vibrant independent retail and restaurant scene. Locally owned venues such as the Vine Hop and the Flute & Firkin have a loyal following and were namechecked by people I spoke to in the town.
The Flute & Firkin, on Park Lane, serves beer brewed just 300 yards away at Neighbourhood Brew Co, founded by Jake Astbury and Corinne Goode, of nearby Cheadle, in 2022.
Fig & Fennel was also recommended for its innovative food menu. Chef and owner Lee Ashcroft enjoys working with local suppliers from Cheshire and across the North West. The restaurant is thriving despite a stuttering start when the 2020 Covid lockdowns caused Lee to temporarily shut the doors just 12 weeks after opening day.
The Cask Tavern is another popular watering hole and is owned by nearby Bollington Brewery, serving a wide variety of drinks including the brewery’s own Bollington Best Bitter, and White Nancy, named after the Cheshire landmark.
Meanwhile, Stockport-based Robinsons Brewery has carried out a major refurbishment at Poynton’s historic Farmers Arms pub, with even Daisy the Cow, the pub’s popular bovine model, enjoying a makeover.
Aged just 21, abstract artist Alex Morris took the bold step of launching a business in Poynton in late 2023. The gallery, at the Greener Grocer, Park Lane, opens each weekend. Alex is well-known in the town, as he volunteers at a charity shop and the Clay community coffee house run by Poynton Baptist Church.
Independently run boutiques in the town include Zig Zag, Prickly Pear, Angie’s, and Eternal Envy. The town also has Mates, a well-stocked DIY store and a Waitrose.
St George’s, Poynton’s impressive parish church, dominates the town centre and has a war memorial and war graves.
On the outskirts of Poynton, as you head towards Hazel Grove, you will find the popular Brookside Garden Centre. The site is owned by Klondike and Strikes, which has a second Cheshire site at Astbury Meadow, near Congleton. Brookside is perhaps best known for its impressive miniature railway, open Thursdays to Sundays and on Bank Holiday Mondays. The site features The Really Useful Station Shop and an aquatic shop known as The Fish Room.
As a town on the up, it is clear Poynton is popular, with housing developers, with much work taking place to either build new houses or extend established homes. There’s been a major new development to the south of the town at Woodford, on the former aerodrome site, now known as Woodford Garden Village.
But there are still vast areas of open space to enjoy, including the 21-hectare Poynton Park and Pool, with access via South Park Drive.
VISIT
Lyme Park
Known for its starring role in the 1995 BBC adaption of Pride and Prejudice, Lyme Park is around six miles by road from Poynton.
Lyme Hall is said to be the largest home in Cheshire, and it is surrounded by extensive formal gardens and a rugged deer park.
The estate is owned and managed by the National Trust and is open to the public. It was the home of the Legh family for around 500 years.
A generation of TV viewers will know it as Pemberley, the fictional home of romantic hero Fitzwilliam Darcy, played by Colin Firth, in the 1995 BBC adaptation of the Jane Austen novel.
CYCLE OR WALK
A keen cyclist, Michael Bell, uses his bike to aid his daily commutes from either Poynton, with lines to Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent served by Northern Trains, or nearby Stockport station, a major railway interchange.
There are several excellent routes for cyclists including the Middlewood Way, accessible by car from car parks at both the Nelson Pit Visitor Centre, Poynton, and Bollington. It offers 11 miles of well-maintained routes reclaimed along the path of an old railway line.
The centre’s name alludes to Poynton’s history as a centre for coal mining, as does the Anson Engine Museum. It’s perhaps hard to comprehend when visiting the town in 2024, but Poynton was home to Cheshire’s largest mining community, with coal brought to the surface from the 16th century until the 1930s.
Situated on the site of the old Anson Colliery, the engine museum is a magnet for enthusiasts from Great Britain and beyond. Visitors have come from all over the world to view the unique collection of ore than 250 gas and oil engines, many of which are maintained in running order.
A good way to explore the area’s history is via one or more of the eight circular walks from the Nelson Pit Visitor Centre, some of which take in Lyme Park, the Macclesfield Canal, and the Gritstone Trail.
Cheshire East Council has produced a walk leaflet and downloadable pdf for the eight walks. These include a six-mile walk from Nelson Pit, via the Macclesfield Canal, Lyme Park, Bowstones, and Lantern Wood.
THE NELSON PIT WALK
From Nelson Pit Visitor Centre, exit the car park, turn left along the road to join the Macclesfield Canal at Mount Vernon Wharf, just before bridge 15.
Turn right under bridge 15 and continue along the canal until the next bridge, number 16, (Hagg Bridge). Turn right, then immediately left over the bridge. At the bottom of the steps turn slightly right across the field and through a metal kissing gate.
Follow the road uphill, turn right in front of the farmhouse, (Green Farm). Where the road forks, turn sharp left and through the waymarked gate, adjacent to the stone farm barns.
Walk uphill and then left over a stile to enter Lyme Park. Head uphill and then down towards the Lyme Park car park.
Reaching the T-junction at a cattle grid, with the house ahead, turn right and after a few yards walk through the high gate and on to the Gritstone Trail.
Follow the path adjacent to the drystone wall, through a high gate, and follow the wide track ahead through the trees. This is Knightslow Wood.
Follow the wide track on the left, ignoring the narrow track on the right. At the brow of the hill cross a ladder stile over a drystone wall, straight ahead passing a house with large radio beacons. Cross a stile, turn left onto the road in front of Bowstones Farm. Here you will see the Bowstones, which are believed to be the remains of Anglo-Saxon crosses.
Exit the Bowstones and turn left down an asphalt road. At the bottom of the hill as the road turns sharp right, cross a stile on the left. Head uphill following the track. Cross three stiles and continue uphill heading for a row of trees on the horizon.
From here, you will walk close to the front of Lyme Hall and cross the car park before walking uphill again and out of Lyme Park.
Walk towards the Macclesfield Canal and Mount Vernon Wharf before returning to your starting point
