Beautiful chapter, @Mancunian! John is very lucky to have found Philip and Emily. Or should that be that Philip and Emily are very lucky to have found John?
I knew the Thomas Street area reasonably well many, many years ago. My grandfather had a greengrocer business in Stockport and, during my school holidays, I would often accompany him to Smithfield wholesale market, which wasn't too far away. If I remember correctly, Tib Street was one of the streets linking the market with Thomas Street. In those days Tib Street was famous for all the pet shops on it. Being absolutely besotted by animals as a child, it was one of my most favourite streets.