We explored Harry Styles' roots in Cheshire village on new walking tour

For Harry Styles fans, there's no better place to be than the small Cheshire village of Holmes Chapel. Even if you don't know much about the village's famous pop star son, it would be hard not to notice the homage paid here.

Through village signs emblazoned with his name to posters adorned with his face, and shop windows displaying knitted dolls crafted in his image, reminders of his legacy are inescapable. The local train station ticket office has been transformed into a shrine, dominated by a life-size cardboard cut-out of Styles.

Although Styles has not resided in the village for over 14 years, that doesn't deter his loyal fan base, affectionately known as "Harries", from globe-trotting to catch a glimpse of his childhood surroundings.

The community has now established official walking tours to guide the Harries through key locations associated with Styles' early life. The purpose of these tours is not only familiarity; it's also to maintain safety by directing fans towards designated routes

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This includes a scenic trek through fields leading up to the compelling Twemlow Viaduct railway arches - reputedly the scene of Styles' first kiss. Dubbed "Harry's wall", this location seems to hold special significance for the Harries, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Of course, they're also keen to visit the old bakery where he used to work on Saturdays.

Before his life was transformed by The X Factor at the tender age of 16, he was a familiar face at Mandevilles, a village bakery in Holmes Chapel, where he served sausage rolls and scones. Today, a giant poster of him as a Saturday boy, proudly holding a floury loaf, adorns the bakery.

The white coburg loaf that he's holding in the picture, priced at £1.74, has become the shop's best-selling item. Naturally, the poster has also become a popular spot for selfies.

Holmes Chapel, prior to Harry's fame, was mostly known for its M6 congestion. Now, this otherwise quiet village has become an unexpected hub for emotional fan pilgrimages from all over the globe.

The announcement of the tours sparked a frenzy of excitement. On Friday, I attended the first preview tour and was amazed to see representatives from nearly every national newspaper, American TV network CNN, and even a German radio station.

We gathered at the train station, where station master Graham Blake is somewhat of a local celebrity. Graham, 62, has worked at the station for 25 years and knew Harry when he was a young boy.

He followed Harry's journey on The X Factor, waving him off on the train to London, and now helps commemorate his legacy. He's seen a surge of fans disembarking at Holmes Chapel, eager to explore their idol's hometown.

The station office is blanketed with photographs of Harry Styles, along with a jam-packed visitor's book full of heartfelt messages from adoring fans. Every couple of months, these messages are sent over to Harry's team so he can read them.

Mow Cop local, Graham, recounts, "I've known Harry since he was little, I did his young person's rail card. He was very polite, very cheeky."

He added, "When One Direction started we'd get a trickle of fans here, but now we're getting at least 25 a day. They're a lovely bunch."

In order to manage the influx of fans wishing to tour Harry's hometown, The Holmes Chapel Partnership, a local voluntary group, held auditions in the fashion of 'X Factor' and recruited 11 tour guides. Starting in June, these tours will run every Saturday, then increase to daily tours throughout the school summer holidays.

Together, we embarked on a near three-hour stroll around Holmes Chapel, retracing the steps once walked by Harry himself.

Speaking to the young fanbase during the tour - primarily teenage girls - the profound impact Harry has on their lives was evident. One fan shared that joining the tour allowed them to feel "gets them closer to Harry".

Isabella Boughey, a 21 year old guide and avid Harry Styles fan, candidly shares her thoughts: "Coming to Holmes Chapel makes you understand why Harry is Harry."

Among the enthusiasts on these tours are 18 year olds Phoebe Hodges and Mia Tesolin, hailing from Canberra, Australia. They've embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime European adventure recently, with Holmes Chapel surprisingly being one of their must-visit spots.

Mia shares: "We've been to Greece, Italy, France and Spain but Phoebe always wanted to come to Holmes Chapel."

Phoebe, tightly holding a white loaf from Mandevilles, adds: "I'm very much into the scenery around here, and the tour has been really good, I've learnt a few things I didn't know about Harry."

The youngest tour guide is Ben McCormick, just 16 years old, yet he speaks with an assurance that belies his age. Fans will undoubtedly be thrilled to learn that he also attends Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, where Harry was once a student.

He expresses his astonishment at how far fans have travelled to visit Holmes Chapel. "We had someone here from Bangladesh last week. And one woman took a longer flight from Singapore to the US just so she could do a four-hour stop off in Manchester that meant she could come to Holmes Chapel."

Guiding us through the tour in his pink hi-vis vest labelled "Harry's Home Village", we reach the historic village store Sam Dale's. Here, we're each given our own blue hi-vis vest for safety during the next leg of the tour - the lengthy trek to the viaduct.

Before the tour begins, we are each given slate hearts and encouraged to write a personal message to Harry Styles. These will be laid at Twemlow Viaduct as our individual tributes to the pop star.

Ben, one of the tour guides, explains that Manchester North Rail, who own the 1941-built railway viaduct that stretches 500 yards across the Dane Valley, aren't pleased with the amount of graffiti left by Styles' fans on the brickwork.

He warns: "They've said if fans don't stop writing on it they will close it off to the public and none of us want that."

I take my slate heart and consider what to write. "I love you Harry," suggests one of the tour guides, but I feel it needs something more thoughtful.

"Your phone number? " jokes Vicki Reynolds from Tyldesley, who is on the tour today with her daughter Daisy Sullivan, 14, and her friend Lillian Boulton, 13.

The young girls are crafting quite emotional messages to Harry, so I decide to use a lyric from his song Fine Line - "You've got my devotion" - for my slate message.

Vicki, 44, confesses she's as big a fan as her daughter and they were excited to join the preview tour on Friday, having visited the village before as fans.

Vicki shared: "We first came to Holmes Chapel three years ago and it's really picked up since then, there's now lots of Harry things and it's just so friendly."

She commented on the tours, saying: "It's a good idea, as the first time we walked our own route to the viaduct so it feels much more organised and a lot safer."

Safety is one of the key reasons given by the village partnership for setting up the £20-per-person tours. Countless fans had been traversing the bustling Macclesfield Road to hop over a stile to reach the viaduct.

Yet, on the guided tour, we take a "safer" path across fields, albeit it must be admitted there's a rather steep incline to manage and a somewhat shaky stile to leverage yourself over prior to reaching the Harry Potter Mecca.

Our tour guide, Ben, once again reminds us here that there's to be "no littering or picnics" and certainly no graffiti as we're motivated to "enjoy this amazing structure". All those present on the tour duly comply, but there are two girls already having a picnic down here when we show up, followed by a steady stream of people off the tour arriving and participating in wall defacing.

The viaduct is, however, genuinely breath-taking, overlooking as it does the local pastoral landscape. Two or three of the arches' brickwork are now scrawled with messages for Harry from admirers worldwide who have made the pilgrimage here.

While some Harry Styles fans have been leaving heartfelt messages at the village where he lives others are being urged to stop leaving graffiti.

One sign reads: "the sound of your voice is my home"; while another simply says: "wishing I was the green feather boa".

However, some fans have taken to leaving slate plaques at the village, as a more permanent reminder of their visit. This has led to requests for the practice to stop.

Once fans have completed the tour they are encouraged to explore the local shops, where they can take advantage of discounts and offers.

For Sam Dale's shop manager Mandie Maddock, the influx of Harry Styles fans has been warmly welcomed by the local community. She is even giving away free watermelon lollies with every purchase made by those on the tour.

Mandie, 41, said: "All we see in here is smiling faces, people are so happy to be here and that makes for a much better day for everyone. It's just fantastic."

"People don't realise how long this village has been hosting fans, it's been going on for 14 years now and we have some people who come over every other week."

"They're all so happy, and let's face it there's much worse teenagers could be doing than walking around the countryside smiliing."

Harry's Home Village Tours start on Saturdays from June 8, and then weekdays from July - September. Tickets are priced at £20 per person with a maximum of 16 people per guided tour, to book see here.