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

The Stockport Show is a live stream for Stockport Borough promoting local businesses and helping isolated and lonely people to connect.

Check out The Stockport Show on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Stockport's Plague Stone

A look at the Stockport Plague Stone in Stockport Museum.

One of the places I highly recommend visiting in Stockport once the coronavirus quarantine lockdown is lifted is the museum in the Market Place.

It's full of interesting exhibits and artifacts.

One of which is a Plague Stone dating back to the 1600's. A very relevant exhibit given the current climate!

The Stockport Plague Stone

Visit the Stockport Museum website for more information.

Dodgeball with the Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club in Stockport

In my last Tuesday night session with the Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club I played 5, won 4 and lost 1 in games.

We also played a lot of fast-paced METEOR BALL games. That was superb FUN as you're constantly moving, dodging, ducking, dipping, diving and dodging. If you're hit or get caught out you run to the back wall and then re-enter the game.

I'm looking forward to returning to dodgeball action once the coronavirus pandemic is over.

What retro wrestling t-shirt shall I wear for my next dodgeball outing?

My 2020 record stands at 18 games played, 9 wins, 9 losses.

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My all-time Dodgeball Win-Loss Record stands at:

• 2005-2020: Played 987, Won 451, Lost 492, Tied 44.

By year:

• 2005-2013: Played 959, Won 437, Lost 478, Tied 44.
• 2014-2018: Inactive.
• 2019: Played 10, Won 5, Lost 5, Tied 0.
• 2020: Played 18, Won 9, Lost 9, Tied 0.

Related blog posts:

• Dodgeball
• Dodgeball - getting back in the game

Links:

• Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club
• British Dodgeball

Putting Green at the Park Square offices in Cheadle Heath

The first unplayable course visit of the year.

On New Year's Day we walked past the Miniature Golf course at the Park Square offices in Cheadle Heath, Stockport.

It's our nearest course. We've never been allowed to play it as it's for tenants of the offices only.

The Kitchen A-Team

If you need a new kitchen, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire - THE QUOTATION TEAM!

We spotted this 'A-Team' van in Cheadle Heath yesterday

Aka Multi Kitchens Ltd.

The Waste Team in Leeds and The Natural Tile Company in Belfast have cool A-Team vans too.

Darts at The Players' Entrance in Stockport

Playing darts at The Players' Entrance indoor sports park in Stockport.

Darts at The Player's Entrance in Stockport

Earlier today I called in to The Players' Entrance in Stockport's Merseyway shopping centre as the venue was hosting a special darts event.

Stockport darts superstar Nathan 'The Asp' Aspinall is competing in the PDC World Championships this month and the event saw the launch of a new partnership with the Stockport Disability Darts League and a link up with The Players' Entrance and Stockport schools.

The Stockport Disability Darts League set-up at The Players' Entrance

Nathan Aspinall is ranked number 12 in the world and is the 2019 UK Open champion, the 2019 US Darts Masters champion and was a semi-finalist in the 2019 PDC World Championships.

It was brilliant to meet Nathan and I had the chance to play against him in two games on one of the electronic soft-tip dartboards.

Nathan 'The Asp' Aspinall and me after our two games of darts. Guess who won?

The Playerss Entrance now has a disability darts area with dartboards and oche set-up so that players of any ability can compete against each other. The backing board has two dartboards - one for standing players and one for those seated - that can be quickly flipped after each player's throw.

I'm a big fan of both playing and watching darts. It's an inclusive game and can be picked up and played easily.

Visit The Players' Entrance website for more info, opening times and prices for the sports and games on offer.

Check out Stockport Disability Darts League for more information.

Visit Nathan 'The Asp' Aspinall's official Facebook Page too.

Dodgeball - getting back in the game

Playing dodgeball in Cheadle.

Last night I played dodgeball for the first time in over six years as I attended a session with the Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club.

One of the Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club balls

My last matches were with the Harpenden Dodgeball Club back in April 2013 so it was superb to be back in action.

The Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club run sessions on Tuesday evenings and it was brilliant to see a mix of people, ages and abilities playing the fun game.

Dodgeball is a fantastic game to play. It's easy to get into and you can play for fun or take it more seriously if you like

I'm looking forward to playing more dodgeball over the coming months.

Back in dodgeball action. I also picked up a win in the Last Man Standing match!

Check out Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club website for more information.


My all-time Dodgeball Win-Loss Record:

• 2005-2013 - Played 959, Won 437, Lost 478, Tied 44.
• 2014-2018 - Inactive.
• 2019-present - Won the Last Person Standing match (10/12/19).

Associations / Rules played under:

• Dodgeball UK (2005-2007)
• Get Back Into/UKDBA (2010-2011)
• England Dodgeball (2011-2013)
• British Dodgeball (2019-)

Teams played for:

• New Lutonians (2005-2006)
• The Dodgeball Assassins (2005-2006)
• Abingdon Dodgeball Alliance (2005-2007)
• Luton Dodgeball Club (2010-2011)
• Harpenden Dodgeball Club (2011-2013)
• Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club (2019-)

Related blog posts:

- Dodgeball

- Dodgeball - Then & Now (2010)

There's no I in Christmas

Spotted in Cheadle.

What's wrong with this picture?

I don't mind Christmas being shortened to Xmas, but I draw the line at this dropping of the 'i'.

A Christmas Frog in Stockport

Stockport's Giant Leap continues...

We were in town yesterday evening to attend a wonderful performance of A Christmas Carol at the Garrick Theatre. On our wander from Redrock to the theatre we spotted there's a new Stockport Frog outside the Merseyway shopping centre!

The new Christmas frog in Stockport town centre

Totally Stockport, the team behind Stockport's Business Improvement District (BID), organised Stockport's Giant Leap art trail consisting of 22 decorated giant frog sculptures dotted around the town centre during the summer.

It was a nice surprise to see the Christmas frog in town.

Ludicrous Christmas trees in Stockport

What a pair!

Festive street furniture

 

So Christmassy

How the second tree looked in 2016

Related blog posts:
- Christmas
- Christmas Trees

The World's Smallest Escape Room

A look at the World's Smallest Escape Room.

Escape the Van!

We had a look at the World's Smallest Escape Room when it parked up at the Halloween Spooktacular event in Bramhall, Stockport on Saturday.

There's one way in

Can you find the way out?

Check out the Escape the Van website to find out more.

Emily is a fan of escape rooms and has done a few with her sister Jo. I am yet to enjoy the experience of being locked up in a room with a time limit to escape.

Although we both did play at the marvellous Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in Wales back in 2009. That was the last of the Cyberdromes. Sadly it closed in 2010.

Back in time

Did you remember to put your clocks back an hour?

Here in Stockport we've gone back in time to the year '019'!?

019!?

My lucky day

I popped out to buy some magic beans earlier and spotted this new place to buy lottery tickets.

Sketchy and Blair Witchy!

Luckily the Wallet Inspector stopped me before I ventured in.

Happy National Mad Hatter Day

Today, 6th October, is National Mad Hatter Day.

A lot of hats in Luton

The occurrence reminded me of the time Emily and I helped break the Guinness World Record of 'Largest Gathering of People Wearing Boater Hats' while we lived in Luton back in 2014.

The event was organised by the Museum Makers team and saw 797 people turn out for the record attempt and SMASH the previous record of 250 boater wearers.

A pair of mad hatters

Luton is famous for it's hat industry. As is our new home town of Stockport!

Both football clubs are known as The Hatters and both towns have hat musuems.

The similarities don't end there as both towns are also under flight paths. You could call Stockport 'The Luton of the North', or Luton 'The Stockport of the South'. Though I can't imagine anyone would.

In fact it was the growth of the hat trade in Luton that contributed to the decline of the hat industry in Stockport.

Video from the official Guinness World Record attempt for the 'Largest Gathering of People Wearing Boater Hats' held at Wardown Park in Luton on Saturday 16th August 2014.

Comic Con at the Merseyway Shopping Centre in Stockport

A visit to The Comicon-Way.

I was in my element at the free Merseyway Comic Con!

We had a brilliant time at the free Comic Con at Stockport's Merseyway Shopping Centre on Saturday.

Cars from Transformers were among the attractions

This wasn't the Gottfried they were looking for. Move along

Fingers crossed there'll be another one in the future.

Meeting an Imperial Gunner at the event

There was plenty of 'plastic crack' on sale too!

The event was organised by the teams at the Merseyway and North West Comic Cons.

There's a RAGE ROOM in Stockport town centre!

A new Rage Room and Escape Room has opened in Stockport.

TRAPP'D and DESTROY'D - two new activities in Stockport

They're a fairly recent addition to the alternative activity / competitive socialising scene.

Have you tried one?

The last time I did anything like a rage room was playing the Crockery Shy at the Yattendon & Frilsham Fete back in 2012.

The Escape Room can be found on Facebook and online.

The Rage Room can be found on Facebook.

A wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man in Stockport

Spotting a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man in Stockport.

I've gone years without seeing any wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men and then I've seen three so far this month!

What a sight to behold

While walking to Stockport town centre today I turned a corner and heard the trademark flapping sound of an airdancer and saw the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man advertising Stockport Powder Coating Ltd on Brinksway Trading Estate.

Video of the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man advertising Stockport Powder Coating Ltd

Earlier this month I saw a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man on The Clubhouse Stoke's Crazy Golf course in Newcastle-Under-Lyme and another wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man advertising Mr Bubbli's Car Wash in Leicester.

Other inflatable advertising I've seen in Stockport borough include a Father Christmas wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man in Cheadle Heath, an inflatable advertising man at United Carpets and Beds in Hazel Grove and an inflatable at Toyota in Stockport.

I wonder where I'll see one next...?

Art and sculpture trails

A look at some of the art and and sculpture trails we've followed this year.

This summer we've seen a number of different art and sculpture trails pop-up in Greater Manchester and beyond.

Last year there was the Bee in the City trail in Manchester with 100 big bees and 130 little bees to spot. Some of those are still in situ.

A bee in Didsbury

There was also an ice sculpture trail in Stockport town centre last December and this summer the town has had a very popular frog trail with 22 decorated frogs to spot on the Giant Leap.

A froggy character was part of the Stockport Ice Trail last December

Edgeleap, the Stockport County frog

As fans of tickable lists, wandering and exploring we've enjoyed the different art and sculpture trails we've taken part in.

Earlier this summer the Trafford Centre had a Big Bug Tour and on a recent trip to the Lowry Outlet mall in Media City we saw there was a Bear Hunt.

Meadow grasshopper - number 8 on the Big Bug Tour

Sitting on a sitting Grizzly Bear - number 2 on the Lowry Outlet's Bear Hunt

The latest trail we followed was quite unexpected. On a trip to visit family and friends in Ipswich we noticed an elephant sculpture at the side of the road and soon noticed a lot more of them on the drive to our hotel.

Elephant number 1 - Pip - the first of the elephants we saw

They were part of Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice with 139 placed around Ipswich. In the short time we were in town we managed to find 55 of them.

Nine of the elephants on parade in Ipswich

We've also found quite a few more of the Space Invader pieces of street art by the French artist Invader on our trips to London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as well as seeing some reactivated pieces in Manchester city centre.

The seven Invaders in Gateshead

A selection of the Invaders in Manchester

The various trails and maps we've followed have seen us explore new places, see different things and also rediscover parts of towns and cities.

They're a nice way to bring communities together, attract and retain visitors to towns, shopping centres and malls, as well as raising money for good causes.

Do you have a favourite art-trail, or know of others? Do let us know in the comments.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Sculptures
- Tickable Lists

Merry Christmas from Stockport

Christmas has come early. Too early.

Merry Christmas from our local B&M in Cheadle Heath, Stockport!

This is the earliest we've ever seen a Christmas aisle in a shop.

I know the weather has been bad this summer, but surely it's too soon to be thinking about Christmas shopping.

The Simpsons ice cream van art

Spotting another Simpsons ice cream van.

It's always fun spotting Simpsons stuff while out and about and the family often appear in the artwork on ice cream vans, such as this glorious one we saw in Leeds.

We've also seen The Simpsons adorning Steve's Ices in Stockport.