Fred Aldous, the Manchester family craft shop now in its fifth generation

For generations of Manchester makers, artists and students, Fred Aldous has been the first stop for materials and inspiration. The family business has been trading since 1886, and it remains one of the city's best-loved independent shops.

Its origins lie in the cotton industry. Fred Aldous was a mill worker who realised that the bulky baskets used to carry cotton around the mills were inefficient. He began importing cane and willow and set up his own basket-selling business to supply them.

As the textile trade changed, so did the business. When cane sales declined in the second generation, the family moved into craft materials, and the founder's son is said to have spotted a gap in the market for crafts around the 1920s. That decision set the course for the company's next century.

Remarkably, Fred Aldous is still in the hands of the same family, now in its fifth generation. Director Mark Aldous has spoken about how the move into crafts helped the business weather difficult times, a story of adaptation that has kept the company going for well over 130 years.

The Manchester shop on Lever Street, by Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter, is packed with tens of thousands of products, from paints and paper to tools for all kinds of making. It has also hosted events such as the International Photobooth Convention, reflecting its playful and creative spirit. For students and professional artists alike, it is the kind of shop where a quick errand can easily turn into an hour of browsing.

The business has grown beyond Manchester too. It opened a shop in Leeds in 2015 and later added a branch in Sheffield, bringing its mix of art and craft supplies to more of the North.

In an age of online shopping, Fred Aldous remains a place where people still enjoy browsing in person, picking up materials, asking for advice and discovering new hobbies.

The Lever Street shop is a short walk from Piccadilly Gardens, and its range can also be explored online before visiting.