Stockport

Stockport made the hats that covered Victorian heads—and never forgot it. Hat making was established here by the 16th century; by the 19th century, Stockport and nearby Denton formed Britain's leading hatting center. When London firm Miller Christy bought a local company in 1826, mechanized production began in earnest. By 1884, Stockport exported over 6 million hats annually.

The town's first water-powered textile mill opened in 1732—the first in northwest England. Silk and cotton followed hats as major industries. The viaduct that carries the railway across the town center, completed in 1840, remains one of Britain's largest brick structures: 11 million bricks arranged in 27 arches.

World War I severed overseas markets; local industries in former export destinations established themselves. Even so, over 3,000 people still worked in hatting in 1932. The last hat works closed in 1997, but the identity persists: Stockport County FC is nicknamed 'The Hatters.'

Wellington Mill now houses the UK's only museum dedicated to hatting—the Hat Works Museum. The building itself represents industrial archaeology: a working mill preserved to show how felt hats were manufactured from rabbit fur and wool.

By 2026, Stockport is part of Greater Manchester, balancing heritage tourism with contemporary development. The question: can a town famous for what covered heads reinvent itself in an era when heads go bare?