Man About Town – February 2026

By Greg Hall

Without wanting to start this month’s article on an uncharacteristically pessimistic note (I am, after all, a walking ray of sunshine most of the time, just ask my wife and children), I firmly believe February has few redeeming features. This might be because it is the month where I become one year older, but it is equally cold, wet, and sufficiently equidistant between the magic of Christmas and the warmth of Easter to render it utterly disagreeable.

That said, if you are lucky enough to still have romance, passion and deluded optimism in your love life (or, alternatively, you run a card, gift or flower shop), there is always the one shining beacon in an otherwise dire twenty-eight-day (or twenty-nine if it’s a leap year) period to look forward to: Valentine’s Day.

If you Google ‘most romantic places in the world to spend Valentine’s Day’, Sandbach doesn’t feature in the resulting list. However, if you disregard the obvious choices, like Paris, Venice and Hanley, then restrict your search to ‘romantic places in the UK’, then ‘romantic places in Cheshire’ and finally ‘romantic places in south Cheshire not including Peckforton Castle, Beeston Castle and Little Moreton Hall’, Sandbach comfortably makes the top twenty. Result.

We do, after all, have a plethora of dining and drinking options to sate the Romeos and Juliets of the town, gift and flower shops for the more traditional offerings, and a petrol station by the M6 for anyone leaving it especially late. Then, if you’re feeling particularly amorous, there’s a lingerie shop for those still young and virile enough to entertain that sort of thing.

However, joking aside, we live in a beautiful town, so if you’re thinking of celebrating with the love of your life in a more understated manner, there is still plenty to enjoy. Why not start a romantic walk by our famous Saxon Crosses, where the 9th century stones represent a timely reminder that love, like the crosses, is enduring and solid, but requires patience, occasional restoration, and keeping children well away from it.

Next, the two of you can head up (or even down) the high street, visiting our artisan shops and market stalls, not to mention the cafés, eateries and bars. Admittedly, many of those places will be restricting diners to set menus, but there is something special about squeezing yourselves into the corner of an overflowing restaurant, struggling to hear each other over the noise of other diners, then pondering whether you should have booked earlier and if you can still afford a dessert.

However you intend to spend it, I hope your month is filled with love and happiness.