Strawberry Recording Studios

22/10/2026

From today, celebrating 50 years of Strawberry Recording Studios South at Dorking Museum, including items from the Strawberry Archive https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/

18/10/2026

27/09/2026

Stockport Music Story unveiling today of the latest poster to grace the Stockport Station underpass - and the addition of 10cc into the underpass art gallery. Thanks to John and Rosemary and all those who supported the event. Art for art's sake!

14/09/2026

31/08/2026

"Why had those early Factory releases had that magical Hannett sound? The young genius had been able to plug in his digital thingy into the outboard racks of a major world-class thirty-six track studio that was in Stockport - Stockport ladies and gentleman, Stockport, because 10cc were a Manchester band and they had taken the proceeds of the delicious I'm Not In Love and had reinvested in their home. Reinvested. Built a f**k-off studio. Respect." (Tony Wilson 2002)

How did a major recording studio, that played host to Manchester's finest (10cc, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Sad Cafe, Barclay James Harvest, Happy Mondays, James, The Stone Roses, Factory Records, Granada Television etc etc) as well as artists from across the world, end up in Stockport? To hear from the man who started it all and built Strawberry up over 20 years, come along to the Strawberry Studios Forever talk (with book signing session) at the amazing Louder Than Words Festival on Sunday November 15th at 12pm. Tickets are available at https://tinyurl.com/y7kzfus8

Details of the amazing 2026 Louder Than Words Festival programme can be found at https://louderthanwordsfest.com/whats-on/

(Tony Wilson and Martin Hannett in Strawberry photo copyright of Roger Barnes)

14/08/2026

Saved into the Strawberry Archive, thanks to the generosity of Tim Eastwood, is this 2" master tape for Barclay James Harvest's 1980 single (Life is for Living / Shades of B Hill). Alongside BJH, producing and engineering in Strawberry were Martin Lawrence and Mark Cockburn (both sadly no longer with us).

Tim Eastwood, along with John Moulds, ran Axis Audio Systems from above Strawberry between 1988 and 1998 and, amongst other projects, helped John Lees equip Friarmere Studios in Saddleworth. Luckily for the Strawberry Archive, this was the tape that Tim managed to rescue from the skip when Strawberry closed in 1993. Of all the bands who recorded in Strawberry North, Barclay James Harvest were probably the longest-serving as they recorded in Strawberry when it was still Inter City Studio and above the Nield and Hardy's music store in the centre of Stockport!

11/08/2026

The international appeal of Strawberry and it's a small world!

When Peter Tattersall's daughter, Paula, and her family were on holiday in Spain they came across Angelo, a big Joy Division and New Order fan, who was sporting tattoos of Ian Curtis and a strawberry! It seems that Angelo grew up listening to English music and, at the age of 25, even came over to visit Manchester and Stockport to trace the landmarks of the bands he loved. Having found this out, Paula presented Angelo with a copy of the Strawberry Studios Forever book and Angelo declared "You made my WEEK!! It's the craziest present I ever got. I really appreciate it. I'm gonna keep it like a real treasure, It's a piece of history of a man who is a true legend of music"

04/08/2026

Happy 84th birthday to Strawberry founder, managing director, producer, engineer and musician...Peter Tattersall. This 1968 photo of Peter in Strawberry was taken by Eric Stewart, who had just joined Peter as a partner in the Strawberry business. More photos and details of Peter's life can be found in Strawberry Studios Forever, available now direct from Empire (https://www.empire-uk.com/strawberry.htm)

13/07/2026

Ahead of Wednesday's semi-final, we are struggling to find a link between Strawberry and Argentina (unless anyone knows differently??)

So we will remain on the South American continent and remember Paraguayan harpist Francisco Yglesia visiting Strawberry in the early 1980s, firstly to record a cover of the M*A*S*H theme tune and then to record his Shimmering Harp album, both produced by Strawberry legend, Kevin Parrott. Francisco actually returned to Stockport in 2009 to record an album in St Thomas's Church (with a retro Strawberry presence in the shape of Kevin and engineer Richard Scott), produced by Kevin's son, Joules.

For more details about Francisco's continuing career and amazing music, visit https://www.franciscoyglesia.co.uk/