Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Wilmslow have some of the most desirable postcodes in the UK, and three happy residents tell us why...
Prestbury
I’ve lived here for about 23 years, and I’ve seen you rise, fall and most certainly rise again. I really fell in love with you. I originally had my eye on Wilmslow, and just kind of stumbled across you: I came across a house for sale, and I don’t think I even needed to go inside to know this is where I needed to live. I felt it straight from the outset: this feels like home. And it’s been home ever since.
I have a little joke with myself, because there can be weeks gone by (outside of lockdown) where I don’t leave you. I’m probably known for two things here: for Dress (the Dress Agency of Cheshire), and for being ‘that poodle lady’.
I’ll be very much seen in my dog walking gear: no make-up on, my hair scraped back and with three crazy, miniature poodles, Olly, Eddie and Coco. It’s lovely to always recognise the same faces here. I love it; you offer contemporary dining and evenings out, yet you are rustic and I really take in some calm when I’m in the village.
There’s something about the graveyard here at St. Peter’s church – I don’t know what it is, it’s just not a scary graveyard. It doesn’t matter when I walk through it; it’s so peaceful. I also love the fact that if you take time to look at the headstones, they have been hand-carved with the most beautiful typography. It’s the 800th birthday of St. Peter’s this year, which is really special.
And of course there’s the black and white house, the Priest House, which during the plague times is where the priest would give his sermon from the balcony. I suppose it’s a bit like coronavirus today.
And harking back a little bit to my own shop, I’m in a building called St James House and I hear it used to be a ladies fashion shop many years ago called Ann Penningtons. There’s people who live here now, who are probably in their 60s, who remember Ann Penningtons because their mums and grandmothers used to shop here when they were kids. It was very well to do.
You’re also hiding some lovely walks – I’ve discovered most of them since I’ve had my dogs over the last 10 years. The first 10-12 years I didn’t walk much into the outer countryside, which is literally on our doorstep. To be here 10 years and not even walk down the Bollin almost feels like a crime.
For me, you offer a little bit of everything. It was really proof of the pudding in terms of lockdown, that even though we couldn’t actively use the traders, you gave comfort to the community. I’m lucky enough to live on a private road (it’s only a small house), and I only said to my husband the other day, in a few years, we’ll be the old folk on here. No-one moves; everyone has been the same owners of the same houses for such a long time, so they become more than neighbours.
And you’re very pretty. This end of the village is now absolutely bustling: you’ve got the barbers, the fresh skin clinic, Lilac Cottage, the Rodney – everything has filled up. You’ve got beauty therapists, you’ve got physios, there’s a little house shop, a men’s clothing shop, my women’s clothing shop. You’ve got cafes and restaurants.
I love you, Prestbury, for many reasons – you’re just so in my veins now and I really do call you home.
Christine Colbert x
Wilmslow
I am from a mega metropolis, the city of Istanbul, while my husband is born and bred in Cheshire and lives here in Wilmslow, so marrying him made this place – you – my new home. Lucky me.
You have a friendly, calming feeling but with a modern hit. You may not offer the 24-hour mega city life, but you are home to nice places to eat out, to meet with friends – and you have a couple of great boutique shops. Grove Street is one of our favourites as a family.
The food is very good here, too. The Turkish restaurant, Konak Cafe, is my husband’s favourite; Suburban Green is good for nice conversations with friends, delicious food and a warm environment.
But mostly I enjoy the outdoors here, because that part was always missing in my life. Now, in the morning after breakfast, I can go out on a walk into your wonderful countryside.
You have lots of beautiful places for outdoor walks – besides the very popular Carrs Park, Wilmslow Park (or Bollin Valley) has nice scenery and a little waterfall, and the Lindow Common is a hidden gem, not only because it is a beautiful site, but also for its archaeological discovery: The Lindow Man. I have a degree in prehistoric archeology so the mystery of the Lindow Man naturally stole my attention.
The good thing is, you are still in the countryside but are not cut off from the hustle and bustle, so we still have the luxury of reaching a restaurant, or bigger cities like Manchester or London.
I have a three-year-old son and I think you might be one of the luckiest places to raise a child. It’s calm here; family orientated. The humans – the people living here – are the positive for me.
You are welcoming to entrepreneurs of every level: it’s almost as if you collect people here, in a centre for entrepreneurship. You can feel the buzzing energy of these people with their different ventures, and meet any level of business people in the networking groups.
You ooze an encouraging synergy, which I feel may be attracting these entrepreneurs to you. As a professional photographer, besides the beautiful countryside, these empowering people portraits and their stories are very attractive to me. You have that young energy, and by that I don’t mean age, but rather people like me, in their 40s, who are encouraged to start something new. When we are calmer, we can create more, see more, think more.
Senem Peace x
Alderley Edge
There’s more to you than just the bling and the flashy cars. You’re actually more diverse than people think. You do get a bit of a reputation – certain people live here, like footballers, or people with money – but when I moved here, I realised you were full of people from many different nationalities, professions and backgrounds. There are people here who have lived in different places – like me.
That’s why I feel at home: your population is quite diverse. I am from Germany, and I met my husband living and working in London. I’d had enough of London and wanted to live somewhere a bit quieter, and not as manic, and we moved to you four years ago.
You’re perfectly located; if we want a flavour of the city, we can be in Manchester in half an hour on the train. Then you have Manchester Airport, which is really attractive for travelling. We live quite centrally in Alderley and it takes about 15 minutes by car, and with me having my family in Europe, that is really important to me.
I’ve got my business here – this is my studio – and actually, you have so much here in walking distance that I don’t often feel like I need to get out.
My children go to your local primary school which is a great school; it has outstanding Ofsteds rating and the teachers and staff are all lovely.
Then you’ve got the high street. You’ve got a couple of lovely clothing shops and I like to support local, so I shop at Tuula or The Edit. I get my lunch at Real Food, which is across the road and has a bunch of what I like, a salad bar - that healthy food is what I was missing before.
And then you have the nightlife. My husband and I do like the occasional night out – date night – and it’s nice to walk and not have to worry about one of us having to drive. We like to go to Gusto, Yara, and we like the Bar and Grill.
You are located in such a gorgeous area: you’ve got The Edge, which is really beautiful, and people travel quite a way to get here and enjoy you. You even have the local park, where I spend a lot of time with my small children. We can hang out there; have a picnic. You have the Cricket Club we enjoy going to, usually just socially to sit out for a drink. It has a really nice view, and when you’re sitting there on a nice summer’s day, it almost feels like you could be on holiday.
You’ve got a number of hairdressers and beauty treatments on the doorstep. And that’s another lovely thing about you – you’ve got lots of places for exercise. You’ve got Barrecore here, you’ve got Yogalife just off the high street, and Runway Pilates, too. So you’ve got three types of exercises that women really love.
For me, the beauty of you is that I never really need to drive anywhere because I have got it all within walking distance. And now I’m used to your convenience, I don’t want to give you up.
Katharina Wrather x
