PHIL FODEN GREW UP AROUND HERE
IF you should ever find yourself, as i did this past September, looking for a guide to the neat suburb of Edgeley, in the steep-sided town of Stockport, Greater Manchester, you could do worse than Terry John. Sturdy, shiny-headed, mile-a-minute gregarious, Terry grew up around here, and it’s clear from just a few hours in his company that while success in his work has enabled him to relocate to a leafier grove, on the edge of the Peak District, he remains a Stockport man to his bones. (To be clear, by “sturdy” I mean that Terry has the approximate dimensions of an industrial fridge freezer; by “shiny headed” I mean bald.)
Pristine in his new cagoule and his Tipp-Ex-white trainers, Terry’s patter is an endless scroll of local lore, his smile as wide as the viaduct that dominates the town, his laugh as loud as the trains that clatter across it. Terry has not forgotten where he came from. How could he? He’s still here.
We meet on a Saturday afternoon, under lowering skies, by the elegant covered market. A leisurewear Pevsner, Terry shows off the local landmarks and architectural points of interest: the Tudor façade of Underbank Hall (now a NatWest), the old stone gateway outside St Mary’s church, Robinsons Brewery, the view from the top of Crowther Street, subject of a painting by LS Lowry. He hymns the coming regeneration of the woebegone shopping precinct. He recommends places to eat and drink. Stockport has long been in Manchester’s dark shadow, but to hear Terry tell it, even at this time of political, social and economic crisis, here is a town on the up. A fellow mover and shaker from these parts, the late Tony Wilson, once described his own “heroic flaw” as “an excess of civic pride”. Terry surely wouldn’t go that far, but he’s a persuasive booster for his town. If they had any sense, they’d make him mayor.
It’s Edgeley I really want to see, though, not the historic town centre, for reasons that will become clear. So we jump into Terry’s executive saloon — adeliberately anonymous car, he says, because why draw unnecessary attention? — for the short drive. On the way, we pass the old Strawberry Studios, once owned by 10cc, where Paul McCartney and the Stone Roses recorded. “And Yazoo,” says Terry. “Remember them?” On our left, Edgeley Park, home of Stockport County FC, recently promoted to League Two — another result for the town, says Terry.
A sharp turn into a tightly packed network of red-brick terraced houses, first Grenville Street and then another turn on to Aberdeen Crescent, location of Terry’s childhood home. There it is, number 45
