Hidden deep beneath the streets of Stockport lies a series of forgotten underground structures that tell the story of the town's history.
Away from the surface of modern day life is a network of subterranean areas, which have all at some point served an important purpose to those living above.
While now defunct and in many cases abandoned, these underground places still exist beneath the town today.
We spoke to Phil Catling, also known as the Tunnel Inspector, who discovers, investigates and documents man-made and man-used spaces underneath Britain.
Based in Stockport, and with a niche expertise in health and safety, history and archaeology, he has explored a large portion of the abandoned sections of the town, taking photographs along the way.
Most of these spaces are not directly accessible to the public, with special permissions needed to gain entry.
Some exact locations have been deliberately omitted. But all lie underneath the streets of the town.
Take a look at some of the amazing reminders of Stockport's history that lie hidden beneath the streets of the town centre.
Warning: Each of these places have been accessed by a trained professional with full permission obtained by the landowners. Accessibility may vary and not every place is safe to visit. If you wish to explore these places, please visit www.tunnelinspector.com who will help advise with your subterranean adventure.
Historical toilet blocks
The telltale sign of a classic underground public toilet is the glass bricks on the floor, and a series of steps leading below the surface.
Stockport has several historical toilet blocks hidden underground, some dating as far back to the Victorian era - when public toilets were first introduced.
Built with high quality materials and furnished with fine ceramics and tiles, these toilet blocks would have once been beautiful to look at.
Caves
Carved into the sandstone by the Mersey, Maggie's (Brinksway) Caves date back to 1670 this series of caves has had a variety of uses over the centuries, including a rock dwelling, a brothel, navy quarters, a factory basement, and is now mostly used as shelter by homeless people.
A huge historical vault
Deep under the streets of Stockport there is a now-disused two-storey underground storage facility containing planning records that date back almost a century.
The paperwork is all understood to be council-related, which were labelled as "keep indefinitely".
Air raid shelters
Stockport has a labyrinth of chambers dug under the town during World War II to protect locals during air raids. There are three sets of underground shelter tunnels, one at Brinksway, one at Dodge Hill, and the largest at Chestergate.
The Chestergate shelter, with a capacity of over 6,000 are the largest civilian shelters in the UK. Around 100 meters of these tunnels have been restored back to how they were in the 1940s, and lit to allow visitors.
However these shelters are actually around a mile long, with a large part of these inaccessible to the public.
The Brinksway deep level shelter was dug into the red sandstone on which the town centre stands on.
After the end of the War, the tunnels were sealed up and remained as they had been when they were used.
The Dodge Hill tunnels were the smallest and could accommodate around 2,000 people. These too are virtually intact.
Service and access tunnels
There's a network of service and access tunnels running underneath the town, including below the art gallery, Weir Mill, historical water tunnels and more, all at once time or another providing access to areas of Stockport below the surface.
The purpose of these utility tunnels were to serve the businesses of the town, whether it be supplying water or alternative access to buildings via an underground shortcut.
Disused railway tunnels
There are a series of disused and backfilled railway tunnels in a number of areas of Stockport - most notably at the site of the former Tiviot Dale railway station.
The station closed on 2 January 1967, but the lines surrounding the entrance to the station were left in place until 1982.
The tunnel is cut into the sandstone and bedrock underneath Stockport, and it passes underneath the Dodgehill air raid shelters.
Ice House
Before refrigerators, ice was stored in an inverted brick cone within an underground structure.
This particular ice house, dating back to the 17th century, is found at the Old Rectory on Churchgate and was made so that the vicars could have ice with their drinks.
It's since been cleared out by the Heritage Trust, with iron gates placed at the entrance.
Dungeons
The dungeon is the name given to the Stockport Old Town lock-up, which has stood since the 15th century.
It was made with just two cells, but more cells were added as the population and lawlessness increased.
Prisoners were held in the dungeon before punishment was dished out in public on the marketplace.
A bunker - that definitely isn't a bunker...
The concrete giant that is Stopford House has a multi-storey car park and boiler room in the basement.
It was built in 1975 at the height of the Cold War, and was built to bunker standards - with bunker technology and a top of the range air filtration system.
But its definitely 100% not a bunker.
It's also the same building John Sim threw himself off in the BBC series Life on Mars.
Ancient Wells
An ancient well was discovered around five years ago when a team of workers digging a drain broke into a void - which is likely to date back to the 17th century.
The well doesn't appear on any plans or historic maps, but it is though to be linked to the nearby mills, which used water and turbines as a source of energy.
Crypts
Underneath St Mary's on the Marketplace lies underground tombstones - one of which belongs to Robert Crowther, a silk manufacturer from Heaton Norris.
His gravestone lies directly under the floor of the chancel in the church, accessible only by a tiny hatch.
