Pear Mill Vintage Emporium

Tricky to find but oh so worth it. The Vintage Emporium at Pear Mill, which you’ll find on an industrial estate in Bredbury, Stockport, is the largest vintage lifestyle centre in the North West. 

Here, there’s over 65 independent shops, each selling trinkets and time capsules from years gone by. The beauty of this place is that you never quite know what you’ll find, from ancient artefacts to military uniforms to Victorian photography. 

There’s also a bunch of upcycled gadgets and gizmos, furniture and clothing as well as taxidermy and old signage from in and around Manchester. Some of the items can be haggled down, but other rarer, one-off hidden gems will be fixed on price.

As you could spend literal hours here exploring every nook and cranny of the warehouse, it’s handy that there’s a vintage tea room at the back for enjoying a slice of cake and a cuppa when all that browsing has you parched. Occasionally, there’s live performances from vintage-style artists singing wartime era songs.