Harry Styles fans are flocking to his home town for a new 'Harry's Village Walking Tour'. 'Harries' consistently descend upon Holmes Chapel to follow the footsteps of their idol.
The village has produced its own map of the two mile tour which the local railway station ticket officer gives away for free. The ‘Harry’s home village’ walking tour takes fans past W Mandeville bakery, where he worked as a teen, and Fortune City Chinese - where he once took Taylor Swift.
Inside the bakery, there is a life-sized photo of Harry, who is about to finish his world tour, and fans can buy wooden spoons, sweets and aprons as keepsakes. Fans also can visit his childhood home and sign their name at Twemlow Viaduct – where Harry, 29, once signed his name in One Direction's biopic This is Us.
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Judy Abdelikareem, 19, has travelled from her home in Gothenburg, Sweden to visit the village with her friend Inez Castanheira, 21. Judy said: “He’s like a superstar – that’s why everyone comes to visit. I’ve always wanted to come to Holmes Chapel and sign the wall and now I’m finally here.
"We meet up often and bond and fangirl over Harry – we went to Wembley to see him last month and we went to Stockholm to see him last year. It’s just great to be here and to be able to see the bakery and the wall. I’m flying back home tonight so I had to come before I left."
Inez, of York, said she was inspired to travel to the ‘really cute’ village after seeing an increasing number of fans visit and post TikTok’s about the place. She said: "The village is really cute – the bakery was as well. We’ve seen loads of videos on TikTok about coming here which was one of the main reasons we decided to come. We’ve been able to sign our names and write a message on the wall which is really nice. I wasn’t expecting it to look as good as this.
"I just thought it would be a bit of pen with people’s names on it but people have actually taken their time to draw things on the wall which is really nice."
Railway ticket officer Graham Blake, 62, even gives fans a Harry Styles tour map for free at the train station to help the fans plan the best route possible. It was launched this summer after locals feared that fans were endangering themselves by walking on narrow paths next to main roads that have no pavement.
Supporters of the singer are instead encouraged to walk through residential areas and then follow the River Dane to visit the viaduct. But Graham doesn’t think the fans coming to the village is a bad thing as he thinks it ‘puts our village on the map.’
He said: “It puts our village on the map – I’ve had to create a Facebook page for all of the fans. We’ve had fans visit from Uruguay, Japan, Colombia, Canada and we’ve had loads of people from America visit.
"He has friends who live here though so I know he comes back to visit when he can. Everyone here has time for the fans and everyone here has a story about Harry – it’s such a small village so everyone knows everyone."
Graham says he has known the Watermelon Sugar singer since he was ten-years-old and sold him a railcard when he was traveling down to the X Factor in 2010. He even said that Harry's mum Anne Twist, 55, travelled down to London on the train after he was spotted with Caroline Flack - when he was just 17 and she was 32.
He said: "I first met him when he was around ten-years-old but I met him properly when he was about 16 and traveling down to London. He used to go down on a Tuesday and come back on a Thursday so I sold him a young person railcard to save money.
"I even joked to him ‘when you’re famous, give me it back and I’ll sell it on eBay but he’s never given it me back. His mum once came into the station and said she was going down to London to see him and tell him off.
"She said it was when he was seen leaving a nightclub with Caroline Flack just after the X Factor. He was always very cheeky but very polite and would always ask you how you was and would make conversation with you. He really deserves his success."
