I returned to Stalybridge for the second time on Friday – this time I cycled along the canal, which took me a little more than an hour but made me so happy. I felt like I was seeing a totally different side of the city and was so envious of people whose gardens lead directly onto the canal. I only had a few hours in the town because I had to be back by 3pm to collect my sons from holiday club, so I was only there from 11am to 1.30pm. Still though I managed to get two chats in, one prearranged and one serendipitous.

First I called in to Paul’s Tools, a shop opposite the train station which had caught my eye the previous day, because it has some unusual mannequins outside the shop (one is a teenage ninja turtle – either Raphael or Michaelangelo… it’s hard to tell!) I hadn’t intended to go and speak to the people inside but got chatting to the aforementioned Paul, who has lived in Stalybridge all his life. He pointed me down the street where the pub with the shortest name in the UK (Q) is a few doors down from the pub with the longest name in the world (The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn). He also told me Stalybridge is a key place in trade union history. I’m not happy with my portrait of Paul though so am going to have to pop back.

From there I went to meet Steven Barton, who runs a local food pantry from a shipping container outside the town’s Labour Club. He and his group support struggling households in the town with food parcels and other essentials and he says the need is growing massively as people’s bills rocket.

 

I had hoped to also fit in some street portraits and interviews but as usual I overestimated what I would be able to manage and had to leave it for the day. I had planned to return on Saturday with my kids and visit the Astley Cheetham Gallery, where this work will be shown but the rail strikes put paid to that.

I can only come to this work as an outside looking in, which is limiting at any point but especially so when time is short. I am not seeking to represent Stalybridge or to give an opinion on the place – that would neither be fair nor possible. I’m hoping to just gather a selection of different experience and present it for what it is, without making any big claims of how representative it is. I’m not really happy with anything I’ve shot so far – it all feels a bit rushed and I’m not yet sure of my angle – but I’m hearing interesting stories and views.

Over the coming fortnight my hope is to meet some people who run businesses or cultural enterprises in the area, as well as some more lifelong residents and a few new arrivals. I’m contacting some possible participants in advance but will also set aside some time to simply walk around the area and see who I meet. My next short visit to Stalybridge will be Wednesday but on Thursday and Friday I should manage a bit more time.