Philip James area guide: Heaton Moor

Located to the north-west of Stockport, Heaton Moor is one of Greater Manchester’s most affluent up-and-coming suburbs. With its wide tree-lined streets and high-quality Victorian housing, many people are labelling Heaton Moor the ‘New Didsbury’. But what’s it like to live there? And how affordable is it? Two of our property experts give us the low-down …

Philip James Partnership Director Sally Ann Smith takes a look around her favourite area and tells us why it’s such a cracking place to live

 “Heaton Moor is fantastic for shopping, drinking and eating out. There’s an abundance of men’s and women’s clothes shops, hairdressers, barbers, bars, delis, coffee shops, florists, restaurants, hardware shops, furnishing and soft furnishing shops.

Eternal Envy is a fabulous boutique which stocks some really exclusive brands, no need to visit Manchester City Centre for an outfit for your night out. Moo Boutique further down Heaton Moor Road is also a fabulous little shop which offers handmade one off designs as well as some sought after styles from recognised designers. Cinderella’s on Shaw Road is a popular well established Dress Agency, for people wanting to earn some extra cash selling their old clothes or pick up a designer bargain. All good quality high street designers here, well worth a look.

Blazier is a cracking little hair salon on Heaton Moor Road and offers good value for money with cut edging styling and knowledge, the salon is relaxing and they also offer beauty treatments too. For the local rockers in the area, Bop Local are hosting regular monthly events at The Moor Suite, six quid on the door, so popular last month they had to shut the doors at 10pm, XFM DJ’s play till 1pm in this old conservative club, a massive hit with late 20’s and 30’s local crowd.

La Casona has been serving tasty authentic tapas on Shaw Road now for some time, they have happy hours daily, it has a lovely ambience, a great place for chatting, drinking and eating good food. Very reasonable, always have a good selection of specials available.

Valentino’s is packed nearly every night of the week, not many restaurants can make this claim in the current climate, traditional, friendly, family Italian restaurant on Heaton Moor Road, never fails to hit the spot whether you go for a glass of wine and the spicy chilli olives or a plate of tasty homemade lasagne and garlic bread dripping with garlic butter, this is a great restaurant very popular with the local residents who make a visit to Valentino’s a weekly ritual.

Damson is a nominee of many awards and it’s easy to see why – it’s a beautiful venue with fantastic service. It may be a bit pricey; more a dinner venue than a lunch one, but when I went there recently the food was superb. The pork tenderloin with creamy mashed potato, seasonal greens was perfection, as was my vanilla Panna Cotta with little ginger fruit and nut biscuits and cranberry compote.

Backs Deli is a foodies heaven lots of scrumptious food; cakes, sauces, dressings, quiches, sandwiches, many homemade treats with the finest ingredients! They have a small seating area for you to stop for a bite of breakfast or lunch, they also have daily meal deals which should have the supermarkets running scared, nothing pre-packed, last week was homemade fresh pasta and meatballs with a spicy tomato sauce washed down with a good bottle of red, just like momma used to make, all for £9.00 – it’s well worth a visit. Just a few doors away, newly-opened coffee shop Juniper specialises in great coffee, smoothies, and tasty generous Italian Paninis.

Heaton Moor Road also has a great card shop called Belly Button, plus some great charity shops, supermarkets, a launderette with service wash, pharmacy, doctors, dentists, printers, fishmongers … and sun bed shops too!

Heaton Moor pubs are some of the best in south Manchester. The Plough and The Crown are your typical pub which serve good ales, wine, have beer gardens, fruit machines, karaoke and the football, always busy mixed age group, regular crowds. Town Bar is always jammed with your Bop Local crowd, good music, good drinks, nice decor, and a covered smoking area to the front (which is always very busy on Friday and Saturday nights)

The Elizabethan, the place everyone refers to as a main landmark in Heaton  Moor, is a large old pub, quite traditional but with a contemporary interior. The beer garden to the front of the pub is packed to the rafters the minute the sun comes out.

But it’s not just shops, bars and restaurants that make Heaton Moor such an exciting place to live, it’s got an active community too. There’s a fantastic local old cinema called The Savoy, a regular Farmers’ markets, an annual music festival and a dedicated bi-monthly magazine called “Moor Mag”. This glossy local magazine is distributed across the area and available in all bars and restaurants (and our branch at 218 Heaton Moor Road!)”

Philip James Wilson Director Mike Wilson reveals why Heaton Moor is such a popular choice and selects his five favourite properties for sale;

Didsbury has always been one of Manchester’s most popular areas, mainly due to location and its superb housing stock. The good news about Heaton Moor is it has all the same qualities, but it’s much more affordable.

There is an abundance of converted Victorian houses, making it perfect for single people and young couples, and for growing families there are plenty of 2 and 3-bed terraced houses and workers cottages. And the kids will have plenty of places to play with the lovely green spaces of Heaton Moor Park and Thornfield Park.

Many of the streets are tree-lined, which makes the whole area feel upmarket and exclusive, and the transport links are great for commuters too. Heaton Chapel Railway Station takes you into central Manchester in 20-minutes, and you’re only a few minutes’ drive from Junction 1 of the M60.

We’ve always got a great selection of houses and apartments to choose from. Here are my five favourite properties to buy;

32 Heaton Road, Heaton Norris
Classic Victorian Detached Villa Full of character complete with cellars

20 Buckingham Road West
Stunning Detached four bedroom family home built by Gordon Emery in 1963, occupied by the current owners from new and modernised throughout

59 Tatton Road North
Fabulous location, 5 minute walk to the trains, 10 mins into Piccadilly, three spacious bedrooms, plenty of scope for improvement

16 Green Lane
Fantastic location, only 5 minutes stroll from our office, four bedrooms, low maintenance garden, single garage – Norris Bank school catchment (Recently achieved Ofsted Outstanding)

Flat 5, Belvedere Gardens
Two beds, Two bathrooms and Duplex – Stunning Development, secure electric gated car park, sandwiched between Heaton Moor and Moor top. 

Philip James Wilson,
218 Heaton Moor Road,
Heaton Moor,
Stockport,
SK4 4DU.