Find food and fabulousness in the creative suburb
Ahhh, nostalgia does funny things to us. Like imagining a mis-spent youth of Bohemian creative life in Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
It always was a creative suburb where anything seemed possible - an impromptu party, or a drink in a bar frequented by edgy pop stars. As Dr Johnson may have said ‘to tire of Chorlton is to tire of life’. Ok, I’m waxing lyrical, but happily, Chorlton has lost none of its sense of being outside the mainstream. Of course there are the lovely big Victorian houses and cool bars and restaurants but it is still its own thing, which is one major reason to visit.
Bored with shopping in the big city? It is worth exploring Chorlton for its clothing, vintage and craft shops alone. Here you’ll find shops stocked with cool, fashionable clothing, and others that sell fabulous vintage furniture and if you want quirky, the there’s even a pet boutique.
And the area around Beech Road remains a lovely place to saunter and buy something special, as a gift (for yourself) maybe?
And it’s not just a place to shop for little luxuries, Chorlton’s food shops make it a brilliant neighbourhood for foodies.
It is one of the first places in Manchester to have a destination bread shop and deli, selling loaves stuffed with olives and sun-dried tomatoes, bagels and croissants warm from the oven. No wonder people travel here especially.
The area displays its slightly hippy-ish ethos in its brilliant wholefood shops that are stocked with an array of organic produce.
But it’s a location that is prepared to move with the times as a recent revolutionary experiment proves.
For one day only Beech Road became the country’s first ever ‘cashless’ shopping area with businesses accepting only card payments. The British Retail Consortium says that cash use has dropped 14 per cent in the past five years and predicted physical currency would disappear inside 20 years so the ‘cashless day’ was being used as to test customers and business reaction to the idea.
About Chorlton
Historically Chorlton was a village on Lancashire’s southern border with Cheshire and a township within the ancient parish of Manchester. It was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1904.
Where is it?
Chorlton-Cum Hardy is about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. It borders Stretford, Sale, Didsbury, Withington and Whalley Range, with the River Mersey running past it along its southern boundary.
