Every house on Broadway in Altrincham is surrounded by huge imposing gates. The wealthy residents living along this street have paid around £3m to live here, and privacy comes at a premium.
The street has just been revealed as the most expensive in the north west with an average house price of £3,184,000 along with neighbouring Barrow Lane with an average of £2,998,000.
Our reporter Louisa Gregson visited the street to see what it is like living there.
I stand outside one of the palatial homes, its seemingly never ending sash windows barely visible above the mammoth black gates that surround it. An avenue of fir trees bob around in the cold, winter wind.
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As I head towards the intercom to see if I can speak to the owner, a van slides past me as I am looking at my phone, sending a text. I smile at the driver absent mindly, but he doesn't smile back. Instead he winds down the window, glaring at me and asks suspiciously, "Are you OK, can I help you? I own that house."
When I explain who I am, he softens - the air of suspicion evaporates and he gets out to talk to me. He is a construction manager in the area, he knows the houses and their owners well. He knows what they paid, how they keep their houses secure and both the positives and the pitfalls of living in the most expensive street in the north west.
The major priority for every owner, he tells me, is security.
"Some people have insane levels of wealth and just because of that, they have so much security," he explains. "Every bit of security has to be bullet proof. You have to be confident the glass can withhold a big hammer.
"Some people have one guard or more actually inside the house, physically monitoring CCTV cameras. Some home owners pay a company to monitor them. Security costs more than most people's annual wage but when you have hundreds of millions in the bank, it is necessary."
He tells me some people will pay six figures for a sofa. One man, he says, bought a house for £6.7 million but didn't like the interior - so he spent £4million on changing it to his taste. It's only sensible therefore, he explains, to splash out on keeping safe and secure.
"I say to clients, if you didn't have security and something happened to your loved ones, your little ones, and you could go back in a time machine and pay for security - what would you pay?".
"It would be priceless," I offer and he answers: "Exactly."
But, he says, having so much security can create the risk of making a family feel imprisoned, so it's important to try to make it as unobtrusive as possible.
"It is about setting up systems that allow families to go about their normal life without realising it is there," he says. "They don't want to feel like they are in a prison - it can go a bit far and is unenjoyable.
"Some people have a dual comms system, you press a panic button and it rings security and police at the same time. But often it is security people who get here first."
However, crime can be a problem in the area.
In one week there were three robberies, he says. "One man was robbed by masked men wearing balaclavas who held a machete to his neck and to his wife's neck. In any place where there is a concentration of wealth you will get this."
While this fear of security sounds daunting, the man, who wishes not to be named, says there are many positives too.
"The capital growth here is the highest," he adds. He points to one sprawling, impressive house and says: "In 1994 that house was bought for £220,000 and it is worth £3 million now - it is a considerable jump.
"There are 27 houses on Broadway. That is never going to increase, it is a completely private road. It is a no through road and the road is nice and smooth - you don't want to compromise on that if you have a fleet of sports cars."
"People will spend a big premium to be on Broadway," he tells me, saying there is a huge amount of kudos in the name of the street and what it personifies. "It's the name Broadway," he says. "It is like Rolls Royce versus Mercedes."
Nearby, Barrow Lane has been named as the other most expensive street in the north west. The prettily picturesque, country lane is lined with attractive detached houses, all in varying styles.
Security is much more relaxed and I am able to wander up driveways and knock on front doors, which are opened by warm and smiling home-owners.
One elderly lady buzzes me in through her gates as I struggle to hear her as she tries to talk to me from her front door. She is not well, and struggling to speak, but tells me her name is Ann Hindle and she has lived at the attractive property for 40 years.
"It's very pleasant" she says. "There is no passing traffic, it's peaceful and a cul-de-sac. There is a forest at the end for a walk, I have been very happy here."
Also a fan of the lane is homeowner Anil Dhand, who worked in importing and exporting garments. He likes the nearby restaurants but agrees there is little community interaction.
"It's just pretty quiet, people keep themselves to themselves," he says. "I have lived here for 20 years, the people here are nice kind of people - not d**k heads."
NHS consultant, Dr Mohammed Iqbal, who founded Community Association of Pakistani Physicians speaks to me from an upstairs window.
He bought his stunning house in 2000, and attributes the sale to "the intelligence of his wife." He tells me it cost nine times his annual salary but she knew it would be a sound investment and told him they must buy it.
"The drawback is people do not speak to each other, there is no interaction, and so there is no way of knowing how people are doing from a happiness point of view," he says.
"I was brought up in a very poor family and living in any street is a blessing for me," he says. I ask him how he got from his humble beginnings to where he is now and he replies: "Hard work." Humbly he adds: "I am very grateful but I am not proud."
In response to concerns about crime in the area, chief inspector Shoheb Chowdhury of GMP’s Trafford District said: “Greater Manchester Police are fully committed to reducing crime in across GMP and this does not exclude Trafford. We are committed to responding to incidents fast and engage with our local community regularly through providing regular policing presence across Trafford and Altrincham.
“We regularly hold police surgeries at key locations offering crime prevention advice and run activities in partnership with the local council, community safety team and other organisations to help educate the community on how best to keep themselves, their loved ones, and properties safe.
“We invite members of the community and residents of Broadway to come along and speak with our officers and report any issues or concerns they may have, and we can help them further. Our officers hand out crime prevention leaflets and resources such as home and personal safety kits, window shock alarms, personal attack alarms, CCTV doorbells and much more.
“We have monthly PACT (Partners and Communities together) to discuss local crime and anti-social behaviour issues and our neighbourhoods’ teams communicate and promote these events though our social media informing the public of the locations and times of the meeting and are involved in a range of community activities.
“These are just some of the activities we do when engaging with our local community, providing visible presence within the community is of the main tasks that local neighbourhood team and our PCSOs have. Our Neighbourhood Officers work tirelessly with the community to ensure the safety of the public is upheld and to prevent any harm or crime being committed."
You can report information to GMP by calling 101, 999 in an emergency or via our reporting tool on the GMP website: www.gmp.police.uk
Alternatively, you can report information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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