Stockport made hats for the world, and this is the country's only museum about it, inside the Wellington Mill tower on the A6. It reopened in March 2024 after four years of refurbishment and the main galleries are free: a Gallery of Hats running from Edwardian bonnets to punk, with stations where kids can try replica hats on, which is the part they remember.
The catch is the calendar. It opens Thursday, Friday and Saturday only, 10am to 4pm, with last admission at 3.15pm. The Victorian factory floor, full of original machinery, is seen by guided tour on selected dates at £8.50 a head (£7 concessions), booked ahead. A community cafe covers the drink and cake stop, and it is a short walk from Stockport station.
Be realistic about scale: this is an hour, maybe a bit more with a tour, so treat it as the free anchor of a Stockport morning rather than the whole day.
What it costs: Galleries free. Guided tours of the factory floor run on selected dates and cost £8.50, or £7 for concessions, plus a booking fee; book through the events calendar on Stockport Council's website. Companions of disabled visitors go free.
Arc's monthly art club at Hat Works in Stockport, where adults and children make things together. Drop in between 11am and 3pm, with a suggested £3 donation per artist if you can afford it.
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