High Street Culture
Find out what’s coming up in our four-year programme of cultural activity across England's High Streets Heritage Action Zones, continuing until 2024.
Improving Stalybridge's Civic Hall will create an anchor for reinvigorating the high street and a programme of cultural activities will encourage locals and visitors alike to spend more time at the town's heart.
Stalybridge sits in the foothills of the Pennines and developed around the many mills built along the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The wealth created by the cotton industry during the Industrial Revolution transformed Stalybridge into a prosperous, confident town and a centre for textile manufacture.
Following the global financial crisis, Stalybridge has considerably changed, impacted by the property market downturn and competition from online retailers. In the early 2000s, Stalybridge enjoyed a nightlife boom and was even nicknamed 'StalyVegas', but many of these venues are now closed and remain empty. Recently the high street has suffered from low footfall and a number of historic buildings in the area have fallen into poor repair.
With £1.3 million of government funding, delivered through Historic England, the High Street Heritage Action Zone will see planned improvement works on the Civic Hall which will be an anchor for reinvigorating the high street.
Historic shop fronts will be improved on Market Street and locals and visitors alike will be encouraged to spend more time in the centre through cultural events, including a heritage walk which will connect the town's key western gateway to its Historic Quarter.
Find out what’s coming up in our four-year programme of cultural activity across England's High Streets Heritage Action Zones, continuing until 2024.
Below you can find just some of the progress being made in the Stalybridge High Street Heritage Action Zone. For more, follow us on Twitter @HistoricEngland
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