Our village is being ruined by Harry Styles fans who risk their lives to see where he grew up & had his first kiss
FURIOUS residents slam Harry Styles fans, who risk their lives to visit his childhood home, for ruining their idyllic Cheshire village.
Holmes Chapel locals live in fear their home will be “spoilt” and “overrun” by the singer’s dedicated fandom as they arrive to see where their idol grew up.
The obsession resulted in a trail, which features many of Harry’s old haunts, including the bakery where he worked as a teenager before finding fame.
Superfans were even willing to risk their lives to reach a viaduct where Harry is said to have had his first kiss.
“These fans risk life and limb walking down the A535 on a narrow overgrown footpath to cross the road and climb over a stile with a steep drop on the other side,” according to the Holmes Chapel Partnership.
Lorraine Hughes, from nearby Middllewich, said: “It’s a lovely village so it doesn’t really need a Harry Styles.
“If it was overrun by fans it would be a shame.
“I like to come to enjoy a quiet coffee, so I might have to tell some of them to please bugger off!”
The 69-year-old added: “But I don’t mind his music. I liked One Direction too.’
Margaret Thompson, 72, said she welcomed the new walking trail, even though she doesn’t “know that much” about Harry or his music.
“But I don’t want the village overrun or spoilt,” she said.
“As long as it’s small groups of fans there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Mum-of-two Sarah Manning, 34, said when she moved to the village a few years ago she was baffled by the number of fans.
“I used to see them outside taking photos,” she said.
“It was only later that I realised it was where Harry used to live.’
She added: “I’m not that excited by the new trail or more fans coming to the village.
“But if it creates more employment that’s OK.”
Harry, 29, was still a schoolboy at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School when he rose to fame, aged 16, on the X Factor in 2010.
His family were eventually driven out of the village as fans regularly camped outside the singer’s former home.
The new trail takes in W Mandeville’s Bakery, where Harry used to serve up pies and pastries from behind the counter before finding success in the music industry.
Fans can see his “favourite Chinese” – the Fortune City Chinese Restaurant and the Twemlow Viaduct where he wrote his name in the One Direction ‘This is Us’ biopic.
It also passes Hermitage Primary School, where Harry started some of his first music lessons as a child.
A popular route destination is the viaduct, where Harry is said to have had his first kiss, and hoards of fans will now have to cut across a bridge and several fields.
This comes after concerns a growing number of fans were risking “life and limb” by walking along a busy road.
It is tradition for superfans to leave messages of love and support on the columns’ brickwork, known as ‘Harry’s Wall’.
I like to come to enjoy a quiet coffee, so I might have to tell some of them to please bugger off!”
Lorraine Hughes
A woman at the bakery, who wished to remain anonymous to avoid fans’ questions, said she worked alongside him when he started as a 15-year-old.
“He worked hard but I had to give him a gee-up now and again,” she said.
“He used to go out to the bakehouse to sing and listen to the radio.”
She said Harry fans from all over the world regularly pop into the bakery, where a huge placard of him holding a loaf hangs on a wall next to framed photo of One Direction eating the bakery’s pies.
The woman added that she was unaware locals complained about the number of fans and Harry had been “great publicity” for the village.
Kate Mills, 46, said she found all the Harry hysteria “funny” and fans often walked around the village in a “Harry haze”.
She said the village was particularly busy with fans in June, when Harry played the Manchester and London’s legs of his Love on Tour world tour.
“The fans arrive very excited and often walk around without looking where they are are going,” she said.
“`But you can have a bit of chat and laugh with them when they’re here.
“I can’t imagine going on a pilgrimage myself, but hey it’s up to them.”
Donna Griffin, and her son James, who’s the same age as Harry and attended the same primary school, denied that fans cause a “nuisance” in the “quiet village”.
They too found it “funny” so many make the long journey to see his old haunts and follow in his footsteps.
These fans risk life and limb walking down the A535 on a narrow overgrown footpath to cross the road and climb over a stile with a steep drop on the other side,”
Holmes Chapel Partnership
“To us, the bakery is just a typical family-run bakery and the Chinese restaurant is just a typical Chinese restaurant,” said James, 29.
Donna, 55, added: “Harry used to have more of a connection to the village, but since his mum moved away he’s not been back for a long time.”
But for Harry fans Jess Lucas and Aira Malik, both 18 and from Manchester, the trip to Holmes Chapel is well worthwhile.
Aira said: “It’s basically what we’ve wanted to do for a while.
“So we put the plan into motion and now we’re here.”
The Holmes Chapel Partnership, which created the route, said that now Harry was a global star “even more fans” were making the pilgrimage to the village “to see the sights of his teenage years”.
A map showing the new trail will help “guide fans more safely to their destination”.
And this is not the first time Harry hysteria has led to a fan risking their life.
Footage captured during the Glasgow leg of the former One Direction star’s Love on Tour gig, showed a man falling through the air after toppling over the balcony.
Another superfan, Kelsy Karter, took her love for the singer to a new level when she had his portrait tattooed onto her face.