A gateway to the Peak District, there are walks, industrial history and a legendary musician's legacy to tempt a visit, Macclesfield was referenced in the Domesday Book and was once home to a thriving medieval market, receiving its charter from Edward I in 1261.into an Industrial Revolution powerhouse, Macclesfield took to weaving silk after the industrialist Charles Roe opened the town’s first silk-throwing mill in 1743.
For a budget option and convenient transport links, the Premier Inn Macclesfield South West has comfortable rooms – including accessible options – in the leafy suburb of Gawsworth. It’s handily located next to The Rising Sun for classic food pub. Doubles from £70.Recreating the buzz of a medieval fair, the Treacle Market, hosted on the final Sunday of each month, sprawls food and craft stalls across the Market Place and the Old Butter Market.
The former Cat and Fiddle pub, located on a high-altitude pass above the town, has been reborn as Britain’s highest distillery, with the gin and whisky stills monitored carefully by new owner Karl Bond of the. The company supplies its spirits across the world and hosts regular tours and tastings at weekends and there is also a bar., the town’s former Art Deco cinema, is an all-day food hall with street food, coffee and craft ales.
Local independent tourist guide, Trevor Stokes runs a tour of sites associated with him. The most moving stop is Curtis’s grave beside Macclesfield Crematorium, a location featured in Anton Corbijn’s 2007 film. The tour ends at Proper Sound, a record store and café with a collection of Joy Division memorabilia.
You could also follow the Macclesfield Art Trail Map to trace 20 public art installations around town, including two swifts by street artist Peachzz at the train station and a mural by Becca Smith in the Churchill Way Car Park which juxtaposes the Cheshire Cat with the cover of the Joy Division albumTo stretch your legs further, there are trails through Macclesfield Forest – with its timber plantations, reservoirs and red deer – on the edge of the Peak District.