The Battle of Stockport Borough

There can be only one winner!

As there is a lack of sport going on anywhere at the moment The Stockport Show has organised The Battle of the Borough to find out which bit of Stockport is the best!

The Battle of #Stockport Borough UPDATE

After we launched this last night we have been amazed by your response so far Stockport 💙

Listening to your feedback, we've made some small tweaks to teams as Davenport becomes Davenport & Cale Green and Cheadle becomes "The Cheadles" pic.twitter.com/0A9TgtemlD

— The Stockport Show (@StockportShow) April 1, 2020

There are a number a mouthwatering clashes and the event has certainly got me and fellow Stopfordians excited.

Each day two areas of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport will go face-to-face in a live poll on Twitter and Facebook every day to decide the ultimate champions.

My area - Cheadle Hulme - is competing as The Cheadles alongside Cheadle Royal, Cheadle Village and Cheadle Heath. Our first round tie is with Reddish.

I've got a bit of a soft spot for reddish as it's home to Reddish South railway station. One of the UK's least used stations and one of the stops on the infamous once-a-week Parliamentary ghost train!

I'm really looking forward to following the action as it unfolds.

Which bit will be declared the best bit of the borough

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A trip to Reddish South railway station

Visiting Reddish South railway station.

Last year we watched the TV programme Paul Merton's Secret Stations and were interested to hear about the once a week 'parliamentary' rail service from Reddish South railway station in Greater Manchester.

Reddish South railway station. A very quiet spot

When we moved to Cheadle Hulme last summer we noticed on a local map that Reddish South was one of our closest stations here in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport!

The station's timetable makes for grim viewing

Yesterday we went to explore the station. Unfortunately we didn't see any trains pass through Reddish South and we didn't fancy waiting for the next and only service - the 09:27 to Stalybridge. On Friday!

Five days early, or two days late, for the next train from Reddish South

The station is one of the quietest in the UK, and the least used in Greater Manchester, with only 38 passengers using the station in 2015/16.

A view of Reddish Station from down the line

Ticking off another railway station visit on our travels

The station has a Friends group that are campaigning for a regular service from Reddish South

Practicing my hailing motion for when we actually catch a train from the request stop

An old unused tunnel to the right

A view of one of the old and unused platforms

The station has no facilities for passengers at all. At least Denton, another station on the Stockport-Stalybridge Line, has a bench.

Distinctly lacking in facilities

You can find out more about the station and service from the Friends of Reddish South Station group.

Watch episode 3 of Paul Merton's Secret Stations to see Reddish South station.

Further information about the station can be found on the Northern Railway website.