'Millionaires in our town avoid us while we fight for an Aldi'
Part of a market town is split into two communities - groups of wealthy business owners and families who've been campaigning for a new Aldi.
When Pat Marney came to the Longridge area of Knutsford, Cheshire, in 1976, there were no shops, no pubs and few opportunities for young people. She was a 22-year-old expectant mother, who'd stay at home on the new estate while her husband went to work.
Pat, who was one eight siblings, and her husband had moved out of nearby Manchester for the new life. Knutsford, at first, did not warmly welcome the newcomers who moved into the newly built estate on an old tip, which was quickly nicknamed "Ratridge". The rest of Knutsford had developed as a market town, with thriving local businesses, Manchester Evening News reports.
She said: "I was away from my family for the first time. It was heartbreaking at first... Ours was one of the last houses to be finished. They moved people in before the estate was built. Other people told me when they came there were no shops, no pub, the pavements were just mud paths."
Knutsford's main high street is an affluent area with expensive boutiques (MEN MEDIA)Rose Oliver, one of the early tenants, also shared her experiences with Creation of a Community, an online history of the estate. She said: "People in Knutsford were not friendly, and they treated Longridge residents as 'interlopers'." She added that shopkeepers would serve Knutsford people ahead of Longridge residents, even if they were behind them in the queue.
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This created a divide between the more middle-class people in Knutsford town and the working-class who moved to Longridge, with those in Knutsford viewing Longridge people as "riff-raff".
Almost 50 years later the close-knit estate is now home to the third and fourth generations of the original families. Despite the fading ties to Manchester, many say they still feel disconnected from a town that's home to soap stars, Premier League footballers, a Booths supermarket and a Bentley car dealership.
Longridge is an overspill estate in the market town, built in the 1960s and 1970s (MEN MEDIA)Sarah Pownall, who works in the Welcome community centre and has lived on the estate all her life, said: "It's an expensive place. They always say it's a town of two halves. You have the rich and the well-off parts, but then you have Longridge which is one of the poorest pockets."
The mum, a resident of Knutsford, added: "If my son needs new shoes or I need new clothes we don't go into Knutsford. It's all expensive boutiques." Instead, she and her family opt to shop in Altrincham or Wilmslow.
She said the community now has an Aldi supermarket after a long fight for affordable shopping options. However, she noted that the pandemic has exacerbated financial struggles for many, saying: "But with Covid people are struggling even more. The food bank we run really took off during Covid and we're now finding we are helping a lot more working families."
On Tuesdays, a stark example of the economic disparity in the town can be seen at the children's centre on the edge of the estate. Here, around 20 people gather in the rain to access a weekly food pantry run by the charity The Bread and Butter Thing. For £8.50, they can purchase three carrier bags of food, including fresh fruit and vegetables, which would otherwise go to waste.
Sarah Pownall called Knutsford 'a town of two halves' (Staff)Rachel Thomas from the charity said: "We go into areas that are food insecure or don't have access to affordable food. Until Aldi opened in Knutsford it was Booths and Waitrose and lots of people just can't afford to shop there. With the cost of living being what it is we are seeing more and more people using our service. A lot of people who wouldn't want to use a food bank come here because there's a pride and a dignity in being able to pay for your food."
At the centre of the estate is the Falcon Bearer, which claims to be the "cheapest pub in Knutsford". Alan Taylor, a lifelong resident of Knutsford, managed the Falcon for 14 years. He recalls watching the estate being built as a child. "All of a sudden there were children in school who you'd never seen before," Alan, now 66, said over a lunchtime pint.
"Knutsford is an upmarket town - there's always been an upper-class and a middle class here. So when the estate was built there was a bit of snobbery, but it was totally unnecessary. I had the pub for 14 years. The people here are good. There was hardly ever any trouble It's a good place to live."
Longridge follows the Radburn principle - a housing design concept that originated in New Jersey, USA. This design sees the back yards of homes facing the streets, while the fronts face each other across shared commons. Despite its labyrinthine layout of closes, cul-de-sacs and walkways, all 300 or so homes on the estate share the same street name - Longridge.
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While many tenants have purchased their homes under the right to buy scheme, a significant number remain social housing. A three-bedroom terrace house on the estate is currently listed for £190,000. This price is significantly lower than Knutsford's average asking price of £577,000, but it remains unaffordable for many residents, particularly young or first-time buyers.
The community wasn't welcomed initially by the rest of Knutsford, which branded it 'Ratridge' (MEN MEDIA)Lee Marney, son of Pat, said: "The main problem now is Longridge is not big enough,. We need houses for the next generation. There are lots of people living with parents or grandparents because they can't afford to move anywhere else in Knutsford. Their only choice is to move away, to cheaper places like Northwich or Winsford, but that's hard if you have a young family - you lose that family network."
He added: "There are people moving to Manchester because there's more social housing. You have a Manchester overspill estate where people are now going back to Manchester."
Sarah Pownall from the Welcome Centre praised the virtues of the estate despite the challenges and said: "We have three or four generations of families living on the estate. Everybody knows everybody - it's that type of place. My son can walk to school on his own, he can go out play out and wander off and you know he's not going to get into trouble. I live and work here and I love it."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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