A B&M Bargains and the place where Tommy Shelby got married - surprising places bought and sold by the Queen in Greater Manchester
13.06.2022 - 08:27
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The Queen has one of the largest property empires in Europe - with a portfolio worth billions of pounds. But among the castles, estates and palaces she also owns a few places you perhaps wouldn't expect.
They include pubs, public toilets and motorway service stations - and some of the unlikely acquisitions are right here in Greater Manchester. Over the years the Queen has owned the land occupied by Altrincham Retail Park, currently home to a B&M Bargains, Sports Direct, Boots and The Range, a bungalow on a cul-de-sac in Ramsbottom and the old Oldham County Court building.
READ MORE:
Wall's Ice Cream and a dog called Judy: Manchester's Whit Walks of the 1960s
A little further afield she also owns the Tabley House estate near Knutsford, which is home to St Peter's Church, the setting for Tommy Shelby's wedding in the third Series of Peaky Blinders, parts of the promenade at Blackpool and renowned gastro pub The Inn at Whitewell in the Forest of Bowland. Elsewhere the 96-year-old monarch also owns Regent Street in London's West End, and more than half the UK's entire seashore.
The sovereign, who last weekend celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, can hold property in several ways. There is private property belonging to the Queen personally - such as Balmoral and Sandringham House, which has been passed down for generations - and the land she owns in right of her Crown as the Crown Estate.
It is one of Europe's largest property groups, in charge of real estate worth more than £15billion. But the question of who owns the Crown Estate is complex.
The company's website explains: "The Crown Estate belongs to the reigning monarch 'in right of the Crown,' that is, it is owned by the monarch for the duration of their reign, by