The Stockport Music Story

Did you know that The Jimi Hendrix Experience played twice in Stockport, Elton John did a gig at Stockport College and David Bowie slept on Edgeley Station after missing the train following a concert in Heaton Chapel?

All these stories and many more are documented in Stockport’s very own Music Map which features over 200 amazing illustrations by local artist Emily Flanagan.

The map is part of an exciting cultural project ‘The Stockport Music Story’ being delivered by Seven Miles Out, the organisational team behind Stockport’s award-winning monthly food festival Foodie Friday.

The project which documents Stockport’s musical history from the 1960’s to the present day, is attracting hundreds of cultural tourists into the town through the monthly Stockport Music Map Walking Tours which have been selling out since the launch in December.

Tour guide John Barratt takes visitors to significant musical landmarks such as Strawberry Recording Studios and its forerunner Inter-City Studios and the sites of legendary Stockport clubs The Manor Lounge, The Tabernacle and The Sinking Ship.

“I’ve always been a massive music fan of all types of music from northern soul to David Bowie,” says John. “I’ve been fascinated by Stockport’s musical legacy, ever since my older brother drove me past Strawberry Studios in the mid-1970’s to show me where 10cc recorded. We were on our way to Edgeley Park to watch a County match. As we passed Strawberry my brother pointed across at a white building opposite and said casually ‘and that’s where Jimi Hendrix played’. I remember thinking ‘wow, Jimi Hendrix played in Stockport!’ It was mind-blowing!

I couldn’t believe it! From that moment on I was obsessed with finding out everything I could about Stockport’s musical history.”

During the mid 1980’s John worked at Strawberry Recording Studios managing bands alongside Ric Dixon, one of the partners in Strawberry who had also co-managed 10cc. He then went on to manage the record producer Pete Waterman’s PWL North studios at The Church on Deansgate in Manchester where he worked with artists as diverse as N-Trance and Mark E Smith of The Fall.

The idea for the Stockport Music Map and Walking Tours started over lockdown when John and his wife Rosemary were thinking of ways of attracting people back into the town centre to support the new independent shops and bars that had opened. They approached artist Emily Flanagan whose illustrative work can be seen on street murals and shop windows on the Underbanks.

“We approached Emily because we love her distinctive playful style,” says John. “She has drawn everyone from The Beatles to Blossoms for the map. It just kept getting bigger and bigger because we kept finding out more information that we wanted to include! Now that the map is complete we’re working on a book that will tell much more of the detail behind the stories.”

Doing the research for the map, John has met some of Stockport’s incredible musical luminaries who have been guests on the tours such as Pete Maclaine and

Dee Christopholus, the singer with Wimple Winch, the resident band at The Sinking Ship who supported The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

“Dee has an amazing story to tell,” says John. “He booked Jimi Hendrix to play in Stockport and went out with him in Manchester after the gig as Jimi waited for his train back to London. Dee and his band mate Larry lived above The Sinking Ship in Royal Oak Yard. He was lucky to escape with his life when the club caught fire and burned down in April 1967. We invited Dee back to Stockport to share his memories and he met friends he’d not seen for fifty years.”

The next Music Map tour on Saturday 29th April will include as guests, the five Stockport teenagers from Mile End School who in 1970, booked David Bowie to play at the Poco A Poco club, Heaton Chapel, which is now the site of the Hinds Head pub.

Each music tour starts at a different Stockport Old Town venue and has included Syndikat, Angel Inn and The Red Bull on Middle Hillgate, a favourite watering hole of musicians who were recording at Strawberry Studios in the 1970's including Paul McCartney, Neil Sedaka and 10cc who used to go here regularly for a curry. Tickets for the tours can be booked through Skiddle.

To celebrate the music recorded at Strawberry Studios and associated with the town, John and Rosemary are organising ‘The Stockport Music Story’ concert at The Plaza on Thursday 14th September featuring local artists including Clint Boon of Inspiral Carpets, Fuzzy Sun, Pete Maclaine and The Tall Faces.

The Stockport Music Map is exhibited in Stockport Museum in the Market Place and prints are on sale at the museum shop and at The Warren.

“For me, the music map is all about giving credit to Stockport and the people who’ve made a difference in the town,” concludes John. “Local businessmen like Peter Tattersall who started Strawberry Studios with musicians Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman, and Joe Moss, who owned Crazy Face Jeans and was the original manager of The Smiths, deserve recognition for the important contribution they've made not only to the British musical landscape but right across the world.”

The Stockport Music Story is supported by Arts Council England Lottery Grants