Harry Styles fans are flocking to the village of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, where Styles grew up, to take part in Harry’s Village Walking Tour.
Those wanting to join in and learn all about the singer travel to the area and are handed a map showing the route of the two-mile tour, which takes in an array of spots made famous by having once being part of Styles’s life.
Fans will visit W Mandeville bakery, where he worked as a teen, before wandering over to Fortune City Chinese – where he once took Taylor Swift. Inside the bakery there is a life-sized photo of Harry on show and there is memorabilia for sale such as aprons, sweets and even Harry Styles wooden spoons.
The walking tour continues on to the Twemlow Viaduct and fans can sign their name in the same spot where Harry once signed his name in One Direction’s film This is Us.
And fans are already lining up to join in the tour to get as close as possible to the life of the 29-year-old heartthrob.
Judy Abdelikareem, 19, travelled from her home in Gothenburg, Sweden and told the Manchester Evening News: “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.”
She visited with friend Inez Castanheira, 21, from York who added: “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.”
The official walking tour was put together by locals who were overwhelmed with visitors, and were worried about tourists getting hurt because they were walking on narrow country paths with no pavements.
Railway ticket officer Graham Blake, 62, waits at the train station with the maps, which encourage visitors to walk through residential areas and then follow the River Dane to visit the viaduct.
He said the walking tour is great as it puts Holmes Chapel “on the map”.
He said: “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.”
