The summer holidays are here, and chances are you're looking for things to fill your days with!

Here are some suggestions for the itinerary - whether you're enjoying some time to yourself, or if you're looking for some family days out for the memory bank. 

Walking the Mersey 

(Image - Alasdair Perry)

This little sojourn is not as daunting as it sounds, and can be as long or short as you'd like it to be.  The river Mersey has many stretches of riverside footpath which, at this time of year, are verdant, and fragrant with the smells of nature. 

The terrain is gentle, and can be walked or cycled easily. It is also varied, as fields give way to forest, and forest gives way to sandy banks. 

The stretch from Stockport to Cheadle in particular has a few different options. Walking West from the Pyramid, you can hop off at Heaton Mersey / Moor with its top independent high street, or you can carry on to Cheadle and / or Didsbury. Cheadle has cafes, clothes shops, a garden centre, and an excellent Oxfam bookshop!

Pear Mill

Once discovered, this hidden gem is always a favourite on the day out menu. This historic building is packed with independent businesses offering a huge range of activity options. 

The Vintage Emporium is one of the jewels in the Pear Mill crown, with a bewildering array of antiques and vintage clothes stretching for almost an entire floor of the mill. There is also a cafe, perfect for a break between browsing. 

Although there isn't much in the way of 'activities' for kids at the Emporium, imaginative youngsters will find much to enjoy in winding through the warren of shelves and admiring the objects for sale. What's more, there are other businesses based out of Pear Mill offering rock climbing, a soft play centre, and more. 

Worker Bee Markets

A Worker Bee Market in Edgeley (Image - Worker Bee Markets)

Worker Bee Markets take place regularly throughout Stockport borough, and are a perfect spot to spend a late morning / early afternoon. 

Art, bakes, crocheted cacti, decor... just a fraction of the things you might find at one of the markets, and that's having barely scratched the alphabet. The traders are all local, and purvey everything from street food to handmade carpentry. 

Check the Worker Bee website for a full list of dates - one for the diary is the Edgeley edition on 3 August!

Reddish Vale Farm (and park!)

(Image - Alasdair Perry)

Reddish Vale Farm is one of Stockport's most popular visitor attractions on Trustpilot. The place is proof that nobody is ever too old to coo over cute animals.

The farm offers the opportunity for visitors of all ages to say hello to friendly fauna, plus there is also a soft play area, a riding school, and food and drink. 

Further still, it sits in the beautiful surrounds of Reddish Vale Park, where there are plenty of walking trails crisscrossing this green corner of Stockport.  

Avro Heritage Museum 

This is one of those museums where you could easily spend a good few days... Avro Heritage Museum features a fleet of historical and replica aircraft, flight simulators, VR experiences, and a regular programme of events. 

Also on offer are cockpit tours of certain aircraft, and a cafe with panoramic views over the airfield. 

A great place to spark or indulge an interest in history, engineering, and, of course, aircraft. 

Dragon Miniature Railway / Dobbies Garden Centre

It's not often that you find a miniature railway within a stone's throw of a garden centre - that's what makes this particular outing such a worthwhile visit! 

Dragon Miniature Railway is based at Dobbies Garden Centre. It features meticulously designed steam and diesel locomotives, scaled down to run on a 7/14 inch gauge track. The railway also has a well-stocked second hand toy shop, funds from which are used to support the railway.

And there is just as much excitement to be found at Dobbies Garden centre, with its cornucopia of gardening and botany goods, plus a restaurant and a soft play area. 

Bramall Hall 

(Image - Alasdair Perry)

This one goes without saying! This beautiful historic hall offers a lot; the charming hall itself is wonderfully preserved, with grand rooms, secret hidey holes, rare late medieval wall paintings, and more.

There is also plenty of interest for kids, with regular activities and events. Further still, there is a cafe, a gift shop, and a lovely wooded park. 

Stockport Air Raid Shelters

(Image - Alasdair Perry)

And another which needs no introduction! Fresh from its feature on the silver screen (an appearance in Netflix drama Fool Me Once), the shelters offer an incomparable glance into civilian life during the war. Youngsters will enjoy the interactive exhibits, and the mysteriousness of the labyrinthine tunnels. 

Stockport Hat Museum

(Image - Stockport Council / Stockport Hat Musem)

Another much-loved tourist attraction, this is the UK's only dedicated hatting museum. It has recently re-opened following an extensive redesign.

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of looking around, here are some of the things to expect; you can, funnily enough, expect hats. But there's more to it than that! Interactive exhibits, factory tours, and more.

Some of the landmark hats include the Duke of Wellington's bicorne, a fez made in Stockport which found its way to South Africa (and back!), some statement hats from Manchester drag artists, and many more. 

Staircase House

One of the oldest buildings in Stockport, Staircase House really brings home the depth and colour of Stockport's rich past. If you do visit, you can also boast to your friends that you've seen one of the only surviving Jacobean cage-newel staircases in the country (there are three in the UK). What will they make of that!?

But in seriousness, the house tells an excellent story spanning more than 600 years of Stockport's past. And rather than reading about it in a modern museum, you can experience that history in the building where it happened. 

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