Macclesfield: Silk Town, Cheshire Edge, and the Peak District Foothills
Macclesfield made silk. The mills arrived in the eighteenth century and by the 1830s the town had over seventy silk mills, producing everything from buttons to furnishing fabric. Paradise Mill, now a museum, preserves working Jacquard looms in their original setting. The silk industry collapsed through the twentieth century but left a town of handsome mill buildings, many converted to flats and offices. The population is around 52,000. Macclesfield sits on the western edge of the Peak District, with the Cheshire plain stretching out below and the moors rising behind.
The town is part of the Cheshire East unitary authority. Manchester is seventeen miles northwest, Stockport ten. Macclesfield station provides Northern services to Manchester Piccadilly in about 50 minutes. The town centre along Mill Street and Chestergate is compact. For adult companionship, Macclesfield is covered by Cheshire Constabulary. The proximity to Manchester and Stockport means the town sits within the greater Manchester market while falling under a different police force.
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Macclesfield made silk. The mills arrived in the eighteenth century and by the 1830s the town had over seventy silk mills, producing everything from buttons to furnishing fabric. Paradise Mill, now a museum, preserves working Jacquard looms in their original setting. The silk industry collapsed through the twentieth century but left a town of handsome mill buildings, many converted to flats and offices. The population is around 52,000. Macclesfield sits on the western edge of the Peak District, with the Cheshire plain stretching out below and the moors rising behind.
The town is part of the Cheshire East unitary authority. Manchester is seventeen miles northwest, Stockport ten. Macclesfield station provides Northern services to Manchester Piccadilly in about 50 minutes. The town centre along Mill Street and Chestergate is compact. For adult companionship, Macclesfield is covered by Cheshire Constabulary. The proximity to Manchester and Stockport means the town sits within the greater Manchester market while falling under a different police force.
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