Weir Mill Stockport: Rita Ray's, Bodega and Kontrol Open

The first three businesses at Weir Mill are now open. A sports bar, a wine bar and a pilates studio have taken units in the restored mill under the viaduct, with three more food and drink operators still to come.

Kontrol Pilates opens today, Monday 24 August. Bodega, a wine bar, opened at 2pm on Friday 21 August. Rita Ray’s, a female-focused sports bar, opened before both. The dates were confirmed by the developer, Capital&Centric, in its own announcement on 21 August.

“We’ve been talking about the line-up at Weir Mill for a while now, so it feels great to finally be at the point where our doors are opening,” said Anthony Powell, head of Work&Social at Capital&Centric, in that announcement. Councillor Micheala Meikle, the council’s cabinet member for economy, regeneration and skills, called it “an exciting milestone in bringing this landmark heritage site back to life”.

Weir Mill is a Grade II listed former cotton works on the River Mersey beneath the viaduct. Capital&Centric’s project page records 253 rental homes there alongside the commercial space, and describes the scheme as part of the town centre regeneration being delivered by Stockport’s Mayoral Development Corporation.

Who is open, and when

Rita Ray’s

Independently owned, and described on its own site as a sports bar that is proudly female-focused while showing men’s and women’s sport in equal measure. There are four HD screens, one of them 100 inches. Food is limited to bar snacks, and the bar says customers are welcome to bring in food from the other Weir Mill food spots. Children of any age are welcome except at 18+ events, there is baby changing and a high chair, and it is a Challenge 25 venue. Well behaved dogs and cats are allowed on a lead.

The address is Unit 2, Calico House, 1 Woodhead Lane, SK3 0GQ. The bar says its address may not yet show correctly on mapping apps because the development is new, and to head for Chestergate if so. Opening hours:

• Monday to Wednesday, 4pm to 11pm
• Thursday, 2pm to midnight
• Friday, midday to 1am
• Saturday, 10am to 1am
• Sunday, 11am to 10pm

The bar is fully accessible. Groups of more than six are asked to book.

One thing to know before you drive down: Rita Ray’s says Weir Mill is a car free development, with the only on-site parking being blue badge spaces under the viaduct. It points visitors to the bus and rail stations, both close by, or to the town centre car parks.

Bodega

A European-style wine bar in the Engine Room, the part of the mill that Capital&Centric says dates to the early 19th century and once housed the boiler that powered the whole works. It serves wine by the glass, lager, charcuterie and sharing plates, and also sells bottles to take away.

Behind it is a temperature and humidity controlled vault holding up to 1,500 bottles. Under a membership the bar calls the Cellar Club, members store their own bottles there and can have them served by the glass for a corkage fee. Co-founder Tom Wilmot described the idea as combining “a wine storage concept with a membership model that is in an inclusive setting”.

Kontrol

A pilates studio at Weir Mill, Chestergate, SK3 0AG, opening today. Its own site lists four class types: Re-Form, which teaches the principles of reformer pilates; Re-Flow, a harder reformer class; a mat class; and private sessions. The studio has nine reformers, which it says are set higher than usual.

Practical points from the studio’s own FAQ:

• grippy socks are required, and can be bought at the studio
• allow time for an induction if you are new: the FAQ says arrive ten minutes early, while the Re-Form class page says fifteen for anyone new to a reformer, so take the longer figure
• the doors are locked once a class starts and latecomers lose the pass
• mat and Re-Form classes are open to pregnant clients, who must say so when booking and tell the instructor on arrival
• the studio is ground level with step-free entry and an accessible toilet, but there are no lockers
• there is no dedicated parking; the studio points people to street parking and Redrock, under five minutes’ walk

Founder Vanessa Lees grew up in Stockport and set up the studio after a career as a health and beauty editor.

Still to come

Three more operators are named but not yet open: Social Trattoria, Prologue and The Jane Eyre. The Jane Eyre was confirmed in June and already trades in Ancoats and Chorlton. Capital&Centric has not published opening dates for any of the three.

What it means for you

If you are heading down this week, the practical bits matter more than the launch photography. Rita Ray’s does not do full meals, so plan to eat elsewhere on site or bring something in. Kontrol classes need booking and grippy socks, and being late means losing your place. Above all, do not drive expecting to park: the development is car free apart from blue badge spaces under the viaduct, and both businesses point people to the stations or to a town centre car park, Kontrol naming Redrock as under five minutes away. Our guide to parking in Stockport has the current tariffs, and Stockport roadworks and travel covers what is shut this week.

For the town centre, three trading units is a small number against a scheme of 253 homes, but Capital&Centric describes these as the first of its operators to open their doors. Whether the rest of the line-up follows, and how quickly, is the thing worth watching.

Related pages: Things to do in Stockport, Parking in Stockport, Stockport trains to London.