On a brighter note, the tourist scene in Stockport is much improved.  I bought a Multi-Site Ticket which entitles me to enter the  Air Raid Shelters, Bramall Hall, Hat Works and Staircase House once.   On production of my new Senior Rail Pass this cost just £9.50 and gives me a reason to return as I only managed to see Staircase House today.  This is a beautifully restored townhouse situated in the Market Place.  

The house is famous for its rare Jacobean cage-newel staircase.   An audio guide explained who lived here and how they did so over the centuries.  

The timber building dates from around 1460. Very little is known of the property's early history. The first residents of whom there is a definite record were the Shallcross family who owned the House from 1605 to 1730.  They were members of the landed gentry in Derbyshire.

In its later years the House was used as a cafe and a shop.  In the 1990s it was used as storage for Gardner's Green Grocery and Fruit stall which stood in the market, immediately in front of the House itself.

Following a major fire in 1995, the second of two arson attacks on the semi-derelict building, the restoration work began. 

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staircase_House